Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa is directly responsible for contractor Santosh Patil’s death, the latter’s elder brother Prashanth Patil alleged on Tuesday.
“My brother had a cordial relationship with Eshwarappa. He even visited Eshwarappa’s residence. The minister is cooking up a story that Santosh was not known to him. We won’t conduct the funeral till Eshwarappa is arrested,” Prashanth told reporters in Belagavi.
He said Santosh had told them that he was yet to receive payment for works worth Rs 4 crore he carried out, which had landed him in a financial crisis.
Eshwarappa had filed a defamation suit against Santosh. He had stated that there was a threat to his life, Prashanth said. The family wants justice for the death, he said.
“Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and former CM BS Yediyurappa belong to our community. They should ensure justice,” he demanded.
“Initially, I had decided to lodge a complaint when Santosh went missing. I didn’t lodge a complaint following the news that my brother ended his life,” Patil said.
Santosh’s wife Jayashree called the death a murder, demanding that a probe be conducted and Eshwarappa be brought to book.
“There was injustice, as Eshwarappa did not release funds. This led to my husband’s death. It is a murder. There should be a probe and the minister must be punished,” she told reporters in Belagavi.
“He was under pressure as bills were not cleared for the works, which forced him to take the extreme step. He had told me that Eshwarappa had asked him to undertake the works, but demanded a 40% commission. He didn’t know how to repay loans he had borrowed if the commission was given. He had even pledged my gold ornaments for the works,” she said.
‘Probe will reveal the truth’
Terming the 40% commission claim by contractors as baseless, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said,” I don’t know why Santosh ended his life. A probe will reveal the truth.”
The contractors did not provide evidence for their claims, he said.
Cong seeks action
Five Congress workers, including Shivamogga Youth Congress city general secretary Darshan Shyam, were injured in caning by the police when they attempted to picket Eshwarappa’s residence over Patil’s death at Malleshwaranagar in Shivamogga.
The police stopped the Congress workers at the railway gate. But the protesters refused to disperse, prompting the police to use canes.
They were taken into preventive custody and were released later.
They sought the minister’s resignation and demanded that the police arrest him. Security was tightened near Eshwarappa’s residence.
Over 200 workers took out a torchlight procession from Shivappa Nayaka statue to Eshwarappa’s office on Nehru road in the evening, demanding that Bommai sack the minister.
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