UDUPI: Udupi police, who were investigating a case against former RDPR minister and BJP leader KS Eshwarappa who was facing charges of abetting the suicide of contractor Santhosh Patil from Belagavi, have cleared the former minister in the case. The police filed an 85-page long ‘B’ report before the 42nd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bengaluru, which is the special court for cases against elected representatives.
It may be recalled that Patil had written to PM Narendra Modi claiming to have invested Rs 4 crore on building roadsin his village in Belagavi based on oral instructions byEshwarappa. He had asked the PM to direct Eshwarappa tosettle his bills. Accusing the minister of cheating him, Patil had alleged that he had to
offer Rs 15 lakh in bribe to the rural development department to get paid.
Reacting, Eshwarappa said, “I denied the charges when it were made against me. With the blessings of mother Goddess Chowdeshwari, I got the clean chit and am now free of all the charges”.