BENGALURU: State BJP leaders carried out the threat of drawing the attention of parliament to cases of suicides of two police officers—MK Ganapati and Kallappa Handibag—with state unit president B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday urging the Union government to order a probe by officers of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into both cases.

During Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Mr Yeddyurappa alleged that two deputy superintendents of police ended their lives as they could no longer endure pressure from ministers.

Investigation by officers of CBI would help unearth factors which forced these two police officers to cause self-harm, he said adding the state government was not keen to use the services of honest officers.

Mr Yeddyurappa said hours before he committed suicide, Mr Ganapati charged in a television interview that minister K J George and two top police officers had harassed him but the local police did not register an FIR till the court in Madikeri ordered them to.

Mr George resigned after the court spelt out its order. Besides, honest officers including deputy commissioner of Mysuru, C. Shikha, could not function because of constant interference and pressure from politicians.

Another upright officer, Anupama Shenoy, resigned as deputy superintendent of police because senior officers did not back her when she took up cases against local politicians. He said BBMP assistant commissioner Mathai was transferred 24 times, and even senior IAS officer Rashmi Mahesh was not spared when it came to frequent transfers by the state government.

Due to much interference and harassment by politicians, officials were not able to work, Mr. Yeddyurappa stated. Congress members, Mudda Hanumegowda, Chandrappa, Dhruva Narayana and others, objected, wondering how the Speaker could allow BJP MPs to raise issues which were state subjects in parliament. They resorted to a dharna as a mark of protest.