Patil should have surrendered, says Acharya

Patil, who is also the chairman of Hyderabad Karnataka Development Board (HKDB), has been untraceable after his followers allegedly assaulted Srimanth Pattedar, the personal assistant to HKDB Secretary Shalini Rajneesh on June 8 in Gulbarga city. Pattedar was hospitalised after the incident.

The police have booked cases against Patil and his followers. Three of his associates were arrested and released on bail, but the police have not been able to trace Patil. Shalini had sent a report to the government giving details of the case as narrated by Pattedar. On Tuesday, Gulbarga Deputy Commissioner R Vishal despatched his report on the incident to the government.

Planning Department Secretary Sanjiv Kumar said the department will go through the report submitted by Vishal, who is also the district magistrate, and then present it before the chief minister.

Acharya said: “Amarnath Patil should have surrendered before the police. The information I have is that he is absconding. Instead of aggravating the problem, he should have taken legal recourse.”

Official sources said that since Patil is an MLA, “tracing him” will finally have to be a political decision. The reports of the secretary as well as the DC would be submitted to the chief minister in a couple of days, sources said.