BELAGAVI: The family of Santosh Patil, the Belagavi-based contractor who died by suicide at a hotel in Udupi in April, moved the special court for cases concerning elected representatives, challenging the clean chit given by special investigation team (SIT) of the Udupi police to former rural development and panchayat raj minister KS Eshwarappa.
A month ago, Udupi police had filed a ‘B’ report, saying there was no evidence to support the accusation that Esh-warappa had any role in Santosh’s suicide.
However, in a death note, Santosh had alleged harassment at the hands of Eshwarappa, who he said was demanding 40% commission to clear pending payments. The suicide had created an uproarand Eshwarappa was forced to resign from his ministerial post. On Tuesday, Santosh’s cousin Prashanth Patil submitted a petition questioning the clean chit. He expressed displeasure at the way police investigated the case and demanded a fair re-investigation by a different agency.
“Injustice has been meted out to my brother as police used the inquiry to help the accused,” Prashanth said. “We have challenged the clean chit and the court has instructed police to submit details the investigation report alongwith call recording details (CDR). It has also told the police to submit the CDR of prime accused KS Eshwarappa. ” The court has asked for these details to be submitted by September 17, he said.
Just a week before the po lice submitted the ‘B’ report, Jayashree, Santosh’s wife, had written to the governor, alleging that police were conniving with the main accused and sought his intervention. She had alleged that Eshwarappa used his political power and money to influence the investigation.
FacebookTwitterInstagramKOO APPYOUTUBE