UDUPI: Based on the complaint given by the family members of contractor Santhosh Patil who died due to alleged suicide at a hotel room in Udupi, Udupi town police have registered a case naming Minister for Rural Development and Panchayatraj K S Eshwarappa, his associates Basavaraj, Ramesh among others under section 306 of IPC (abetment of suicide). Police have also invoked section 174 of CrPC registering it as an unnatural death report (UDR) case.
As the family members reached the hotel by Tuesday late night, they said until the minister Eshwarappa and his associates were arrested, they will not allow the body to be shifted from the hotel for post mortem and other further procedures.
Family members alleged that Santhosh ended his life due to the abetment of suicide by the minister and his associates who sought a 40 per cent commission to release the money for the road work worth Rs 4 crore conducted as a prelude to the local Sri Laxmidevi Temple festival in Hindalaga village in Belagavi district.
Fingerprint and the FSL experts have entered room number 207 at the hotel in Udupi around 9.30 am and the procedure is being conducted.
Sources told TNIE that as two nights have passed, the body has decomposed. A foul smell has been emanating from the room, police sources said. After the inquest procedure gets over, the FSL staff will be taking the various samples from the spot to the lab for further analysis.