Contractor hangs himself as BBMP fails to pay his dues of Rs 5 crore

A debt-ridden civil contractor, who was the vice president of BBMP Contractors’ Association, committed suicide by hanging himself at his office in Jnanabharathi on Monday morning.

Ravi, 32, a resident of 2nd Cross in NGEF Layout, Nagarabhavi, had left his home around 5 pm on Sunday, telling his family he was going to meet some friends. Meanwhile, a few of his friends called him up but he didn’t respond. They went to his house and met his wife, who had grown anxious that he hadn’t returned yet. They then went to his office on the Jnanabharathi campus of Bangalore University. They knocked on the door but didn’t get a response. They then opened the window and peeped through it, only to find him hanging from the ceiling fan.

Police said they found a note in which Ravi had named the people who had lent him money. Sources said Ravi was upset the Palike hadn’t paid him dues of Rs five crore. He had met senior Palike officials, urging them to release the money as he had to repay loans.

Angry over the incident, BBMP contractors staged a demonstration in front of the BBMP head office, demanding action against officials who hadn’t settled Ravi’s dues, thus driving him to suicide.

BBMP Administrator T M Vijay Bhaskar said the Palike had almost scrutinised the works for 2013-14 and would make the payment accordingly. The BBMP is to pay Rs 600 crore as dues. The scrutiny of the works for 2014-15 will start soon, pertaining to pending bills worth Rs 1,500 crore.