Karnataka Congress leaders D K Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, and others were detained on Thursday as Bengaluru police stopped them from marching towards Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s home, demanding the resignation of BJP Minister KS Eshwarappa in connection with contractor Santosh Patil’s death.
“The Constitution is under attack in Karnataka,” party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told Indian Express, asking why Eshwarappa has not been arrested or asked to resign despite an FIR having been registered against him.
Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister were booked on Wednesday for abetment of suicide, under IPC Section 306, in connection with Patil’s death.
The deceased BJP worker, hailing from Belagavi had accused Eshwarappa of harassing him for “40 percent commission to clear payment of about Rs 4 crore for road projects completed” over a year ago. Meanwhile, Eshwarappa, has refused to resign.
Earlier today, Bommai had said that any action would be taken only after the post-mortem examination report of Patil. “Post-mortem was done yesterday and now preliminary inquiry(report) will come and based on that we’ll proceed,” he said.
