Bengaluru: A contractor in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district, about 70 km from capital Bengaluru, has died by suicide, reviving allegations of corruption against the Basavaraj Bommai-led government ahead of the big elections next year. The contractor has been identified as TN Prasad (50). He was tasked to complete a government project under Smart City Project worth 16 crores.
In April, KS Eshwarappa had to resign from the state cabinet after a huge controversy over the suicide of a contractor. Eshwarappa, who has now been cleared, was named in the police case filed over the suicide, accusing him of being ‘solely responsible’ for his death in his last messages. Opposition Congress has been raising the corruption matter in the state government with its ‘PayCM’ campaign, accusing the Bommai-led BJP government of charging 40% commission on public works.
The Karnataka Chief Minister has dismissed the Congress campaign as an ‘evil design’ and ‘politically motivated’. In the present case, police sources say, the contractor was depressed over the government’s failure to clear dues, and pressure from the loan sharks forced him to take the extreme step of ending his life at an inspection bungalow, the same building that he was renovating.
‘He died by suicide on Thursday. A case under CRPC sec 174 was registered for unnatural death on Friday. We found a suicide note that he left behind. He has simply said no one is responsible for my death’, NDTV reported, quoting an investigating officer . Contractors’ Association president, Balram, said that the man had accrued huge amounts of loans. He even sold his house five months ago to repay the debt, he added.
‘Clearance of bills was due. It was delayed for long. He was depressed when he was speaking to me yesterday on the same. He said ‘I have been running from pillar to post asking them to clear bills, but it’s getting delayed’. But we had no clue he would die’, said Rajendra, a fellow contractor and friend of the victim.
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