Contractor's death: Oppn demands Eshwarappa's arrest on murder charges & dismissal from Cabinet
Bengaluru(PTI): The opposition Congress in Karnataka on Tuesday demanded the arrest of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa and his dismissal from the Cabinet following the death of a civil works contractor who had accused him of demanding 40 per cent commission on a contract.
Patil was found dead in a lodge in the coastal town of Udupi on Tuesday with police suspecting it to be a case of suicide.
"Santosh K Patil is a BJP worker himself, has clearly said that Eshwarappa is directly responsible for his death. This comes under the ingredients (of offence) under Section 300 of the IPC warranting punishment under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC," Congress leader Siddaramaiah told reporters.
"Immediately Eshwarappa should be arrested and he should be dismissed from the cabinet forthwith. The Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai should not allow him to continue as minister in his cabinet since he is facing the murder charge. It is a serious offence punishable with life imprisonment or death penalty," the former Chief Minister said.
Patil from Belagavi district had earlier alleged that Eshwarappa had demanded 40 per cent commission on the value of the contract work executed by him. The minister not only dismissed his allegations but also filed a defamation suit against him.
In his purported message on social media, Patil allegedly held the Minister responsible for his death.
Referring to a DySP M K Ganapathi who committed suicide during his tenure as the Chief Minister accusing the then home minister K J George of exerting pressure, Siddaramaiah said based on the private complaint, a case was registered and accordingly, George had resigned.
The same precedence must be followed, Siddaramaiah said.
When asked about Eshwarappa's statement that he himself has filed a defamation suit against the contractor, Siddaramaiah said, "What Eshwarappa says is not important. He should be dismissed from the cabinet, a case must be registered and he should be arrested based on what Santosh Patil has said."
The Congress general secretary and Karnataka in charge Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that communal passion is being flared up in Karnataka to "cover up rampant corruption" in Karnataka, which is "evident from the instant case".
Later in a series of tweets, Siddaramaiah said the "entire BJP is responsible for his death".
"Sequence of events suggest that Santosh Patil did not take the decision in haste. He had written letters to @PMOIndia @narendramodi & @MoRD_GOI @girirajsinghbjp to provide relief from corruption by @ikseshwarappa. The entire @BJP4India is responsible for his death," Siddaramaiah tweeted.
Calling the Basavaraj Bommai government in Karnataka as '40% BJP Sarkar', Siddaramaiah said, "Narendra Modi should be ashamed to coin the slogan 'Na Khaunga, Na Khane Dunga'. He should limit himself to writing scripts for Bollywood films, instead of running the govt. I am not sure if he is capable to do even that."
Later, Congress activists staged a demonstration in the city demanding the arrest of Eshwarappa and his expulsion from the Cabinet.
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UP man gets life term for electrocuting mentally challenged wife to death in Bareilly
Bareilly (UP) (PTI): A local court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his mentally challenged wife by repeatedly electrocuting her while she was tied to a cot, lawyers said on Thursday.
Additional district government counsel Harendra Singh Rathore said Additional Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar Singh on Wednesday convicted Vinod Kumar (45) for killing his wife, Satyavati, in Chaina village of Bareilly district and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on him.
According to the prosecution, he was allegedly frustrated with his wife Satyavati's mental illness and often assaulted her.
Rathore said the prosecution examined nine witnesses to establish the charges against him.
As per court records, on the night of May 1-2, 2022, when Satyavati was asleep, Vinod tied her hands and legs to a cot using ropes and then connected an aluminium cable to an electric board to repeatedly administer electric shocks to her.
"She writhed in pain, but the accused continued to electrocute her until she died," the prosecution said.
The court observed that the murder was carried out in an inhuman manner.
After committing the crime, the accused threw the rope and cable on the roof and left for work at a brick kiln around 2 am to create a false alibi.
He later tried to mislead the police and the victim's family by claiming that Satyavati, whose mental condition was unstable, had accidentally died by suicide after grabbing a live electric wire.
However, the victim's brother, Sanjeev, a resident of Shahjahanpur district, suspected foul play and lodged an FIR under sections 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Nawabganj police station.
During the trial, the prosecution relied on the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Faraz Anwar, who stated that multiple electrocution marks found on different parts of the victim's body could not have been self-inflicted.
The police also recovered the rope and electric wire used in the crime on the accused's identification, officials said.
