Officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that they had recovered a bullet from the room in the Madikeri lodge where Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) MK Ganapathy was found dead in July last year.
The Hindu reported that a 10-member team of the CBI, accompanied by experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) visited the crime scene on Tuesday, and recovered a bullet.
The room in Shri Vinayaka Lodge was locked up till the CID completed its probe, and then opened to customers following which it was sealed again two weeks ago, when CBI officials began their probe, The Hindu report adds.
The investigation authorities also reportedly questioned two men, Jagan and Belliappa from the lodge who had provided evidence in the case, along with the doctor who conducted the autopsy and the Tahsildar who held the inquest, Deccan Chronicle reported.
However, the CBI is yet to officially confirm the development in a statement.
Ganapathy (51), was found hanging on July 7, 2016 in the lodge at Madikeri in Kodagu district, about 250 km to the west of the state capital of Bengaluru.
In a television interview given hours before his death, Ganapathy had accused Karnataka Minister KJ George, Additional Director-General of Police (Intelligence) AM Prasad and Inspector-General of Police Pranov Mohanty, of harassing him.
The state's Crime Investigation Department (CID), which had initially begun probing into the case, had given a clean chit to the accused minister and the two senior police officers stating that "there was no evidence to establish the charge of abetment against the accused".
After a plea by Ganapathy's father MK Kushalappa, a CBI probe was ordered into the case by the Supreme Court.
"Let the CBI investigate, it is supposed to finish the investigation within three months. Let the CBI give the report, then I will react. Earlier, in the same case, I resigned (on July 18, 2016) and only after the CID submitted its report, I was taken back into the cabinet (on September 26, 2016). Let the investigation happen now, after which I will react," George told mediapersons last month.
IANS inputs