K’taka contractor death case: Police probe forgery charges against letter approving works

Four days after the contractor’s death, BJP legislator Eshwarappa had resigned from the Karnataka cabinet on April 16.

Ten days after contractor Santhosh Patil’s body was found in a lodge in Udupi district, Bengaluru police have started an investigation into a letter claiming that the department of rural development and panchayati raj had granted sanction for 108 works, including that undertaken by the 37-year-old contractor.

Vidhana Soudha police confirmed that have registered a case against unidentified miscreants under Sections 465 (forgery), 468(cheating), 469 (forgery) and 470 (forging documents) of the Indian Penal Code. (Representational photo)

The deceased, in his purported suicide note had blamed former rural development and panchayat raj (RDPR) minister KS Eshwarappa for forcing him to take the extreme step, alleging that the latter had demanded a 40% commission to release funds for the works undertaken by Patil.

Four days after the contractor’s death, BJP legislator Eshwarappa had resigned from the Karnataka cabinet on April 16.

The document labelled with the letterhead of Asha Aihole, former president of Belagavi Zilla panchayat, had started circulating on the social media platforms after the contractor’s death. The copy of the document, which HT has seen, has notations in green ink allegedly marked by RDPR department officials, granting sanction for the 108 works.

The letter shows Aihole had first written to the RDPR principal secretary on February 15, 2020 and as per the notations on the letter, on February 17 permission was granted for the works. It also states a work order would be issued on March 5 and has the RDPR seal.

The police said it was based on this letter that road work on Hindalga village was taken up by Patil.

Talking to HT, Asha Aihole said that she did write the letter, recommending sanctioning the said works.

“I have sent the letter. Because there isn’t enough fund with the district administration, it is practice for us to send such letters to the department. Apart from that, I did not receive any response to the letter and I’m not aware of any permissions being granted. Even I came to know about the letter claiming permission was granted after seeing it on WhatsApp,” she said.

RDPR additional chief secretary LK Atheeq said that the department had received the letter from Aihole, but no work orders were released.

“Since there were no funds available, we had filed the letter. The letter which is doing rounds on WhatsApp and has green markings on it is not issued by any government official. It appears to be a case of forgery. So, we have registered a case with the Vidhan Soudha police station,” he said. He also said that approvals for projects are not given on such letters.

Vidhana Soudha police confirmed that have registered a case against unidentified miscreants under Sections 465 (forgery), 468(cheating), 469 (forgery) and 470 (forging documents) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the first information report (FIR) registered after Patil’s death, in 2020-21, ahead of the Sri Lakshmi Devi fair at Hindalga in Belagavi, some local leaders and seers had met Eshwarappa in Bengaluru. They requested him to undertake roads construction work at the earliest as the fair was nearing. The minister told the delegation to go ahead with the work and assured to take care of the expenses later.

Following this, Santosh Patil and the other contractors completed works worth ₹ 4 crore with their own money, without government funding. The contractors met Eshwarappa and his associates Ramesh and Basavaraj several times, requesting for the bills to be cleared, but they kept demanding for 40% commission to clear the bills, the FIR stated.

“The Belagavi Contractors’ Association wrote a letter to the central government regarding the matter. Similarly, contractor Santhosh Patil alleged in the media in March that minister KS Eshwarappa had demanded a 40% commission. Prior to this, Santhosh had confessed this to his wife Jaya and the complainant Prashanth. When they asked why he was regularly going to Bengaluru, he said that minister KS Eshwarappa had to clear his dues. After this, he recorded a video where he said that the minister would be responsible for his death,” read the FIR.

The police have sought the help of the forensic science laboratory (FSL) team to ascertain notes written in green ink stating that order copies are to be issued and to identify the authenticity of the document.

Even though the department claims that projects approvals are not written on such recommendation letters, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai had come down heavily on the practice of giving oral permissions to projects by the RDPR department. On April 20, he said in case any work is carried out based on oral instructions, the concerned assistant engineers, assistant executive engineers, panchayat development officer or the section officers will be held accountable. In rural areas, Bommai said panchayat development officers and executive officers will be held accountable.

“… on many occasions, oral orders are given in the Panchayat Raj bodies. After learning about this, I have directed the urban development department and the rural development and panchayat raj department that no work should take place on the basis of oral instructions. I have ordered that all the instructions should be in writing so as to have a system. This will be implemented soon,” Bommai had said. The state also set up committee on April 19 to look into such matters.