Bangalore, July 23: The Aam Aadmi Party held a protest condemning the decision of the police to give clean chit to former minister K S Eshwarappa in the suicide case of contractor Santhosh Patil.
Speaking in the protest held at freedom park in Bengaluru, A A P Bengaluru Political Activities President Channappa Gowda Nallooru said, “The state government is trying to reinstate the tainted minister Eshwarappa in the Cabinet, and for this reason, it pressured the police to give him a clean chit.
The police have confirmed that Santosh Patil had sent a death note on WhatsApp against Eshwarappa before committing suicide. Hence it is condemnable that Eshwarappa was given a clean chit without even conducting an inquiry. By this, the state B J P government has sent a bad message that it is in favor of the criminals.”
“B J P government which stood by Eshwarappa when the incident took place, declared him innocent even before inquiry. Later when the Aam Aadmi Party was about to lay siege to the CM’s house, Eshwarappa’s resignation was obtained. But the family of Santhosh Patil has been treated unfairly by conducting a shoddy investigation into the death.
Yielding to political pressure, the Udupi police prepared a report in just three months without interrogating Eshwarappa. The state police department should withdraw this flawed report,” demanded Channappa Gowda Nallooru.
“Eshwarappa should be arrested based on the death note. The case should be handed over to judicial enquiry instead of handing it over to CID which works under the government. The people of the state should get to know the harassment that Santhosh Patil had gone through because of Eshwarappa.
There is widespread corruption in the State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department under the leadership of Eshwarappa, but no proper investigation has been done despite the Aam Aadmi Party’s struggle for this. It is a tragedy that B J P, which was criticising K J George even though the CBI investigation was conducted in the case, has not even bothered to conduct a proper police investigation against Eshwarappa. There should be a comprehensive judicial inquiry into the RDPR scams and Santosh’s case,” demanded Channappa Gowda Nallooru.
