Jarkiholi alleges DK Shivakumar’s plot against minister Eshwarappa in contractor death

Santhosh Patil, 40, died by suicide on Tuesday, after accusing Rural Development Minister KS Eshwarappa of defaulting on payments for road work implemented in the Hindalga village of Belagavi. The Congress has demanded the BJP minister’s arrest.

However, Jarkiholi claimed on Thursday that a group of people, including “a Mahanayak”, involved in a 2021 attempt at framing him in a rape case were behind the contractor’s death. “I will be holding a press conference on Monday and I will expose details of what happened in the lead up to the death of Santhosh Patil. The same team that was involved in my case is involved in this conspiracy against Eshwarappa. We will discuss with the party high command and speak,” the BJP MLA said in Belagavi after visiting Patil’s family to offer condolences.

“Eshwarappa should not quit as a minister for any reason till a probe is carried out. I have suffered for a year after being accused in a false case. The same thing must not happen with Eshwarappa. If the probe finds his involvement, let him receive any punishment from the courts,” Jarkiholi said. “I will reveal the truth on Monday. He (Patil) should not have died,” he said. “Santhosh Patil is an old party worker. He was with me when I was in the Congress. He later came to the BJP.”

“After consulting the party leadership, I will seek a CBI probe into this case and my CD case. My case is also still pending. If the probe is done, the role of the ‘Mahanayak’ will be exposed. The same team is involved,” he said.

The “Mahanayak” is believed to be Shivakumar. In 2021, when he was accused in a rape case, Jarkiholi said that a “Mahanayak” was behind the allegation. In response, Shivakumar had said “people know all about the exposures (by Jarkiholi)”.

In March 2021, Jarkiholi was forced to quit as water resources minister after a private video of his with a young woman was aired on local television channels. He was accused of rape by the woman. Jarkiholi also filed a counter-complaint of extortion attempts by an unidentified gang, which he claimed had recorded the sex video.

On February 4, 2021, a special investigation team of the Bengaluru police filed a closure report in the sexual assault case, stating that it had failed to find evidence to file a chargesheet against Jarkiholi. The woman challenged the closure report in the Supreme Court, which has imposed a stay on further proceedings in the trial court.

According to police sources, the investigation found no evidence to establish the woman’s claims that the minister had offered her a government job in order to coerce her into a sexual relationship. The woman had initially approached him in the guise of being part of a studio and sought permission to shoot videos of dams in the state and entered into a physical relationship with him, they said. It was also found, they said, that two other suspects had roped the woman into a plot to frame Jarkiholi.

Initially, in March 2021, Jarkiholi claimed the sex video was a fake but later told the police that he had been honey-trapped by a gang of extortionists. The police apprised a sessions court last year of this statement during an anticipatory bail hearing for two former media employees linked to the extortion case, which is still under investigation. The police then said investigations had revealed that the two suspects were part of an organised attempt at trapping Jarkiholi in a compromising situation for extortion.

Apart from Jarkiholi, the BJP general secretary CT Ravi and Health Minister K Sudhakar have also raised doubts about the allegations of abetment of suicide made against Eshwarappa. “We will know the truth about who told him (Santhosh Patil) to carry out road work for the government without an official order only through an investigation,” Ravi said.

“It prima facie looks like a case of political conspiracy. An investigation will reveal the truth,” Sudhakar said.