By IANS,
Bangalore : A senior Karnataka government official who was brutally assaulted May 15 for exposing scams in house-building cooperative societies and was on life support at a hospital here died Sunday, police said.
S.P. Mahantesh, 48, passed away early Sunday, deputy commissioner of police B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda told reporters.
However, the police are yet to arrest any of the attackers. “We have got vital clues,” Gowda said.
Mahantesh, a Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officer, was working as deputy director of the audit branch of the state’s cooperative department.
Mahantesh’s family members told reporters that he had exposed large-scale irregularities in several house-building societies in allotment of plots to senior officials and politicians.
Around 80 house-building cooperative societies in the state, most of them in Bangalore, are now under government scanner for irregularities.
Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda expressed shock and regret at Mahantesh’s death and said police had formed four teams to nab the attackers.
Mahantesh was assaulted on the night of May 15. Doctors at the private hospital where he was under treatment said he had suffered severe internal head injuries. He was on life-support for the last four days.
Police said Mahantesh was found unconscious by some auto drivers near a hotel after the attack and police admitted him to hospital.