Karnataka: Councillor among 7 booked for abetment of 42-yr-old’s suicide

Seven people, including a city council member, have been booked after a contractor died by suicide. The contractor had allegedly been harassed over unpaid bills.

At least seven people, including a city municipal council member were booked after the police found a note allegedly written by a contractor, who died by suicide, officers said on Sunday.

At least seven people were booked for abetment of a contractor’s suicide. (Representaional Image)

According to police, the 42-year-old contractor, a resident of BT Patil layout died by suicide on Saturday after battling for life for four days at Hubli Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) hospital. The deceased was working as a contractor since many years but the state government departments had not paid his pending bills despite his repeated reminder to clear bills. He had also availed loans from friends and unable to repay loans, he allegedly died by suicide, police said.

In a note, the contractor accused one Prasanna Gadad, contractor Doddappa Gowda, city municipal council member Channappa Kotya, former city council member Upendra Raju, Muni Vijayakumar, Mohammed Raffi and Mallikarjuna, of harassing him over financial issues, police said.

“My son is honest and never cheated anyone,” the deceased contractor’s father said. He added that his son had availed loan from a few people.

“Although he requested the creditors to give some time, they used to harass him. He visited government offices to clear bills but nothing was done,” he said. “We have registered an FIR under IPC section 306 (abetment of suicide) against all the persons,” Koppala town police inspector Santhosh Hallura told HT. Appropriate action will be taken against the accused.