NEW DELHI, April 12: In a shocking incident, contractor Santhosh K Patil, who had accused the Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa’s associates of demanding 40 per cent commission for a contract, was found dead at a private lodge in Udupi on Tuesday morning.
Patil reportedly sent some messages to the media and his friends early this morning, saying that he was committing suicide and alleged that Eshwarappa was directly responsible for his death.
In his purported suicide note, Patil urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and senior BJP leader and former chief minister YS Yeddyurappa to help his wife and kids after his death.
“RDPR minister KS Eshwarappa is solely responsible for my death. I am taking this decision keeping my aspirations aside. I request with folded hands to our prime minister, chief minister, our beloved lingayat leader BSY and everybody else to extend a helping hand to my wife and kids,” he wrote.
Patil reportedly wrote the note to the media and his friends before he disappeared, sources said. He was later found dead at the Udupi hotel. The police, however, said his friends were staying adjacent to his room adding that the matter was being probed.
Reacting to Patil’s death, Eshwarappa said he learned about his suicide through media and reiterated that he did not know him. He said he had asked the Chief Minister to conduct an inquiry into the incident and turned down the demand of the opposition Congress seeking his resignation over the contractor’s death. “There is no question of resigning. We have to wait for the verdict of the court in the case I had filed against Santosh Patil. I make it very clear that I am not at fault anywhere,” Eshwarappa said.
Eshwarappa last month denied the bribery charges after Patil wrote a letter to Union Minister Giriraj Singh, accusing his associates of demanding 40 per cent commission in the ₹ four crore work he had carried out in Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah blamed the Karnataka BJP for his death. “The death of contractor Santosh Patil is tragic and a result of ‘commission politics’ of @BJP4Karnataka. My deepest condolences to the family & friends of Santosh Patil. May justice be served for his sacrifice,” he tweeted.
Santosh had written a letter to Modi against Eshwarappa alleging that the minister and his associates were harassing him for giving the commission to clear bills for civil work that he carries out on the Minister’s instructions. Patil, who identified himself as the national secretary of a right-wing group called Hindu Vahini, had alleged that he was allotted ₹4 crore work and even after completing it, funds were not released. He further stated that Eshwarappa’s aide has been asking for a 40 per cent cut. Patil had also given interviews to the national media accusing Eshwarappa of corruption. Later, he was found hanging from the ceiling fan of the hotel room, by police after he was reported to have gone missing, leaving a note behind.
Following the incident Bommai said an impartial probe would be conducted into the death of this Belagavi-based contractor who is survived by wife and a one-and-half-year-old child.
(Manas Dasgupta)