‘Going on journey of no return’: Contractor who accused BJP minister found dead

The contractor who accused senior Karnataka BJP leader K S Eeshwarappa of taking 40% commission has been found dead in a hotel in Udupi, reports said.Reacting to the news, Eeshwarappa said, “I have no clue why he wrote my name (in the death note).”

In a shocking development, contractor Santhosh K Patil, who had accused senior BJP minister K S Eeshwarappa of taking 40% commission, has now been found dead in a hotel in Udupi on Tuesday. He allegedly penned a death note in which he stated that Eeshwarappa was ‘directly responsible’ for his demise.

Contractor Santhosh Patil who accused BJP minister of corruption found dead.

According to police's preliminary investigations into the death, the earlier rumoured missing Belagavi-based contractor, who was also a BJP leader, has been found hanging from the ceiling in Shambhavi hotel in Udupi. Patil had reportedly sent out the “death note” to his friends via WhatsApp.

Police have reportedly said that Patil, who is said to have spent over Rs. 15 lakh on bribes alone till now, said in his death note that, “I am going on a journey of no return. Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa is directly responsible for my death, and he should be punished. 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. I thank all my friends, I also thank the journalists for highlighting my problems.’’

According to reports, Patil asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to give protection to his wife and child after his demise. “I request Mr. Yediyurappa, a senior leader of the Lingayat community, and anyone who can help my family, to help them out,’’ he wrote.

Reacting to the incident, Eshwarappa said he had no information about the suicide. "I have no information. I had filed a case (defamation suit) against him for levelling the charges and the case was admitted. I am learning about the suicide from you (media)," Eshwarappa said. 

To a query that Patil had blamed him for his death, the Minister said, "He could have written it but I have no information about it. I have no clue why he wrote my name in the death note and why he accused me. Only he can answer but he is no more."

Former CM Siddaramaiah called it the ‘result of commission politics’. 

After a few officers visited his home in Hindalaga village on the evening of April 11, Patil's wife told reporters that she was told Patil was going on a picnic with two of his friends. He was speculated to be missing soon after. His wife also told reporters that she did not thinking anything of it as it as a usual occurrence.

The accusations levelled against Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa by Patil was through a letter that said the BJP government in Karnataka demands 40% commission or bribe from contractors for every project.

According to the latest allegations, Patil had claimed that Eshwarappa charged him 40% commission for a work order. “I did not wait for a work order because Eshwarappa said he is the Minister and the final authority on this. So, I started the project. After that, the Model Code of Conduct came into effect because of by-elections in the district due to which, they said, they couldn’t give me the work order then. But Eshwarappa told me to not worry and continue with the work,” Patil had previously told The NewsMinute.

Patil had also accused officials in the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) of corruption as well.

The now-deceased contractor had said in late March that he has been receiving threat calls after he sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, detailing the corruption practices in the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Ministry of Karnataka.

Patil, who was also a Hindu Vahini worker, founded by Yogi Adityanath, had warned that if his pending bills are not paid, he will be driven to take his own life, The Hindu reported.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said that an impartial probe will be conducted into the death of the contractor.

(With PTI inputs)