Mangaluru : The food and civil supplies minister U T Khader said that the state government in no way is connected to the IAS officer Anurag Tewari’s mysterious death to the alleged corruption in the state food and civil supplies department, of which he was the commissioner.

Khader said, “Tewari was with the food and civil supplies departmemnt for just 132 days and he worked for just 38 days. After being posted in the department on January 4, he was sent on election duty to Punjab and Uttar Pradesh from January 18 as an observer. Few days after his return to duty, he again went to a month’s training till May 8. Yes, he had sought extension of leave and his request was sent to the government for approval. We cooperated fully with his official works and on his part, he was also working well,” Khader said, adding that the state government is in no way connected to his death.

“There are reports that the officer was about to expose a scam worth Rs 2,000 crore. During his tenure in the department, he never told me about it nor he discussed it with his colleagues. However, I have sought details from secretary of the department. The secretary also has said that Tewari never informed him about any scam in the department in writing or orally,” Khader said.

On the decision of the Uttar Pradesh government to set up a special investigation team (SIT), Khader said that the state government too wants the case to be investigated fairly.