Santosh K. Patil, a BJP worker from Belagavi district, who reportedly ended his life after sending a message to his friends blaming Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K.S. Eshwarappa for his death, had repeatedly hinted at taking the extreme step in the past couple of months, if issues he found himself trapped in were not resolved.
In his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patil had said he was caught in a debt trap as he had carried out 108 works based on the assurance of Mr. Eshwarappa, who was now neither issuing work orders nor clearing bills.
He said in his letter that the Minister’s associates were pressuring him to “provide commission for completed work” and he was under “great tension” and had “a huge pressure of creditors” who had given him loans on interest. If the payment and work order was not given immediately as promised, Patil said that he had no option “except suicide.” He had got no response for the letter. He had told media persons that he had met several senior BJP leaders, again to no avail.
Mr. Eshwarappa had denied all these allegations. The Minister said that he had neither any association with Patil and nor had he done any work for his department. The Minister then filed a defamation case against Patil.
A few days later, Patil released a video message in which he recounted his ordeals. “I have released my photographs with the Minister, details of my BJP membership as well. I request the Minister to not try to deny facts,” Patil said in the video.
In his letter to the PMO and the video, Patil did not claim he was awarded a contract from the RDPR Department, but claimed that he had completed 108 civil works worth ₹4 crore on the “assurance” of Mr. Eshwarappa, which was not kept. In the video message, Patil appealed to Mr. Eshwarappa and BJP leaders to resolve the issue. “Eshwarappa will be responsible for any disaster that may happen,” he had said.
In a WhatsApp message he had purportedly sent to his friends just before ending his life, Patil again blamed the Minister for his death. “Mr. Eshwarappa is directly responsible for my death and he needs to be punished appropriately. I have taken this decision sacrificing all my desires,” he said in the purported message. However, the police have claimed they have not recovered any death note from the scene of crime and are yet to acknowledge this WhatsApp message and bring it on record. The Opposition, meanwhile, has said the message was as good as a dying declaration.
