BJP member and contractor Santhosh Patil, who accused senior Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa of asking for a bribe worth 40% of the total cost of a project, was found dead on Tuesday, April 12 in Udupi.
Preliminary investigations suggested that the contractor took his life in a lodge close to the main bus stand in Udupi. Santhosh, who is from Hindalaga in Belagavi, had been missing since Monday, April 11, and police officials are investigating a message he purportedly sent his friends stating that Eshwarappa was ‘directly responsible’ for his death, and that the Minister should be punished.
Apart from Eshwarappa, Santhosh had accused officials in the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) of corruption as well.
Earlier, Belagavi police had launched a search for the contractor Santosh Patil after learning that he had sent a message to his friends that he had decided to end his life. In the message sent to his friends on April 11, Patil said Mr. Eshwarappa is ‘directly responsible’ for his death, and that the Minister should be punished.
“I am going on a journey of no return. I have taken this decision after suppressing all my wants and desires. I have brought some friends with me, after lying to them that we are going on a picnic. But they are not responsible for my death,’’ he said in the message. “I thank all my friends I also thank the journalists for highlighting my problems,’’ he wrote, according to the police.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to protect his wife and child. “I request Mr. Yediyurappa, a senior leader of the Lingayat community, and anyone who can help my family, to help them out,’’ he wrote.
A team of officers had visited his home in Hindalaga village and spoken to his family. His wife said that he had left home saying he was going for a picnic with his friends Santosh and Prashant on April 11 evening. “He often does that, and I did not think this time was any different,” she told the police.
According to a report in The Hindu, Santhosh had sent a message on Monday, a day before his death, to a friend saying that Eshwarappa was “directly responsible” for his death.
The message read, “The sole reason for my death is Eshwarappa, Minister of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj. He should be punished accordingly. I have kept aside my dreams and taken this decision. My wife and son should get help from the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, and senior Lingayat leader Yediyurappa.” He added that RDPR Minister KS Eshwarappa should be punished.
He reportedly wrote in the message that he was taking a journey of “no return” after suppressing his own wants and desires. Adding that he had brought some friends with him by telling them that they were all going for a picnic on the evening of April 11 — which was also confirmed by his wife — Santhosh said that his friends should not be held responsible for his death.
