Karnataka contractor’s death: Eshwarappa booked for abetment, says won’t resign

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On Monday night, Patil purportedly sent text messages to his friends and journalists in Belagavi, where he hailed from, alleging that Eshwarappa should be held responsible for his death. Late on Tuesday night, the Udupi town police station registered an FIR on the basis of a complaint filed by Patil’s brother, Prashant, which named Eshwarappa.

On Wednesday, the Opposition Congress approached Governor Thawarchand Gehlot and sought Eshwarappa’s dismissal from the Cabinet, and his arrest.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai confirmed that Eshwarappa had been booked for abetment, and said he would speak to him and “discuss some issues”. A defiant Eshwarappa said he would not resign and would await a full police investigation into the “conspiracy” that led to Patil’s death.

“An FIR has been registered. I will be speaking to Eshwarappa. We will discuss some issues on the phone and I will also discuss some issues in person as well,” Bommai said in Mangaluru. “We need to have a discussion on the incident that has occurred and the FIR that has been registered,” he said.

“The Opposition is trying to find fault in the matter but an investigation will reveal the truth. We have to find out if there are any persons behind this incident. There is a lot of background to the incident and it has to be investigated,” Bommai said.

Addressing a press conference in Shivamogga, Eshwarappa said: “There is no question of resignation at all. The state party president, Nalin Kumar Kateel, and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai have been informed about this. I want to tell the people of Karnataka that we have to conduct an exemplary investigation and find out who is behind this conspiracy. This is my demand. Who instigated Santhosh to do all this? Who sent him to Delhi? Who authored the death note for him? Only an investigation can reveal all this.”

“There are no valid documents to show that a contract was awarded, so the department has said that a payment cannot be made. The state Congress president, D K Shivakumar, is making baseless allegations,” he said.

Some BJP legislators like M P Renukacharya hinted at the involvement of Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Congress legislator from Belagavi Rural constituency — where the road work was carried out — in the alleged conspiracy to instigate the contractor. Hebbalkar, a close associate of Shivakumar, said a case should be registered against her if she was found to be involved in any way.

Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy also called for the minister’s resignation. “My advice to the government is that if it does not want to be embarrassed, the minister should resign. But when you look at the circumstances of the death, there are many reasons for suspicion, that there may be some unseen hands involved. The state should first obtain the resignation of the minister and then find out the truth… the circumstances behind the incident,” he said.

Meanwhile, Patil’s family members have refused to accept his body until the accused are arrested.

Patil, who identified himself as a national secretary of a group called Hindu Vahini, first raised the allegations against Eshwarappa in early March. On March 11, he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh, alleging that Eshwarappa and his associates were harassing him for “40 per cent commission” to clear payment for road projects in Hindalga gram panchayat area in Belagavi district. “…K S Eshwarappa told me to complete road work on 12-02-2021. We believed him, and completed more than 108 works with a cost estimate of Rs 4 crore,” he said in the letter.

Police sources said Patil had borrowed money and carried out the work without being awarded any work order or official contract by the state government.

Eshwarappa had claimed that he did not know Patil, and filed a defamation case against him on March 14.

In a reply sent to the Union Rural Development Ministry on March 28, Karnataka Additional Chief Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department, L K Atheeq, said the department had “not received any request for sanction of works, nor has the government sanctioned any works referred to by the complainant”.