Court seeks case papers in Karnataka contractor’s suicide
Bengaluru: The Special Court for Peoples Representatives in Bengaluru on Wednesday asked the Karnataka police to submit all documents pertaining to the contractor’s suicide case in which ex-minister K S Eshwarappa is the main accused.
The family of Santhosh Patil, the contractor from Belagavi who committed suicide alleging a demand for 40 per cent commission in contract work by Eshwarappa’s aides, has questioned the clean chit given to him in the court.
Prashanth Patil, cousin brother of Santhosh Patil, has submitted a petition questioning the clean chit to Eshwarappa by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The court has directed the Udupi city police, who investigated the case and gave a clean chit to Eshwarappa, to ensure submission of documents by September 17.
The counsel for the petitioner, KBN Swamy stated that no documents are attached to the final report in the suicide case and sought directions in this regard to the police department to submit all documents.
The court consented to the demand and asked the police to submit the documents, especially those which they have not attached to the final report.
Swamy later told the media that the final report on the suicide is incomplete. After verifying the documents, objections will be filed.
Prashanth Patil stated that he did not agree with the clean chit given to Eshwarappa. “My brother is meted out injustice as the police have conducted inquiries to help the accused.”
“The court has asked for submission of all evidence, information on movement of my brother, data from his mobile, call list and CCTV footage regarding the suicide case,” he said.
The petition alleges that the SIT sleuths has filed a B-report (closure report for want of evidence) under political influence and asked the court to entrust the case to a different agency.
The Karnataka police had submitted a closure report recently in connection with the suicide case.
Following the death of Santhosh Patil, then Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwarappa was forced to resign from the cabinet.
The Congress party which had launched a campaign against the BJP government demanding the sacking and arrest of Eshwarappa, had cried foul in connection with the submission of the closure report.
State Congress president D K Shivakumar stated that the BJP government is hushing up corruption cases against its leaders.
He alleged that during the course of investigation, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, former CM B S Yediyurappa, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra had given the accused Eshwarappa a clean chit.
Opposition leader Siddaramaiah had stated that Santhosh Patil had left a note stating that Eshwarappa is directly responsible for his death. Even then, Eshwarappa was not questioned and investigated even once.
Jayashree, the wife of Santhosh Patil, had given a submission to Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot listing her objections to the police investigation. She said that they will approach the court in connection with the closure of the case and urged the investigation of the case by the CBI.
Santhosh Patil had committed suicide in April 2022. His suicide note claimed that he was ending his life as he is not able to pay 40 per cent commission for the Rs 4 crore worth work he had done. He had held Eshwarappa responsible for the extreme step.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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