There seems to be no immediate closure to the civil servants' public tussle with RTI activist Gangaraju now dropping a bombshell claiming to be in possession of a private photo of IPS officer D. Roopa Moudgil.

His claims follow Moudgil's demand for a probe into the deaths of civil servants in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

Talking to the media, Gangaraju who hails from Mysuru and the person who spoke to Roopa in an audio clip, said that it is not in him to assassinate the character of a woman by releasing the photo.

Gangaraju maintained that Roopa is assuming that he is supporting Rohini Sindhuri. "Why is she forcing me repeatedly to complain against Rohini? Provocation is a big crime," he asserted.

"Punishment is more for conspirators. Those who have passed the IPS exams, don't they know it? What can I say about the personal chats and photos which have been sent to me? Won't it be a character assassination if the photos of a woman are released?" he questioned.

Gangaraju further asked that being a woman how can one send private pictures of another woman and provoke others to speak about it? "Even I have a photo of yours sent from your mobile very similar to photos released by you. Can I release it to the media? This is the difference between you and me. I got the photo yesterday," he said.

"If she argues that I don't have the photo, I will send it to her. The person on the other hand has also responded. At some point, someone would have shared their pictures and it should not be made a big issue," Gangaraju maintained.

Gangaraju had also advised Roopa that if she had any internal issues, she should sit with Rohini Sindhuri and sort it out.

Roopa had released personal pictures of Rohini Sindhuri and charged that she had sent them to three IAS officers. She also released screenshots of deleted WhatsApp messages and claimed that Rohini had posted nude pictures.

On Monday, the Karnataka government transferred senior IPS officer D. Roopa Moudgil, who served as the Managing Director at the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited, and IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri, who served as the Commissioner for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments without showing postings.

Both civil servants were engaged in a verbal spat in public regarding corruption and personal matters. The development had severely embarrassed the ruling establishment.

Both officers have been given gag orders by the government. They have been given strict instructions against going to the media or social media handles. (KB/IANS)