KALABURAGI: The allegation by a farmer of Shiroli village of Sedam taluk, Shivakumar (38), who died by suicide on Thursday after releasing an audio recording claiming that Education Minister Dr Sharanaprakash Patil -- who is also Sedam MLA, was responsible for his suicide has stirred up a hornets’ nest.
Kalaburagi SP Adduru Srinivasalu told TNIE on Friday that though Shivakumar’s wife filed a complaint at Sulepet police station, stating that her husband died by suicide because of debt and no one was responsible, the police will investigate the case from all angles. The audio clip has gone viral after Shivakumar’s suicide on Thursday. The Sulepet police station sub-inspector, under whose jurisdiction Shirole village falls, will be the investigation officer, he added, A senior police officer, on condition of anonymity, said that the audio recording blaming the minister is not enough to book a case against the minister. “The police have to get the original audio clipping recorded by the deceased before his death and have to get details as to when it was recorded, who was there with him at the time of recording and who made it viral and when,” he added.
The audio clip has to be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, which will despatch a team of audio-video experts working in Hubballi. The team will confirm whether the voice in the audio clip was that of Shivakumar, whether it was edited before making it viral, or only parts of it were leaked, he added.
The police team also has to find out how Congress activists, including the minister, harassed Shivakumar. After probing all these aspects and if truth is found in the allegations, the police will book a case against Partil, police sources said.
Narasappa, a Shivakumar’s relative, said some Congress activists manhandled the deceased a few days ago and he had to be admitted to a hospital in Kalaburagi.
“I need police protection as Congress activists will not spare me,” Narasappa said. Sources said Shivakumar (38) had tried to commit suicide twice earlier due to personal reasons. Though married for 15 years, the couple did not have any children, which was one of Shivakumar’s worries. He had borrowed Rs 70,000 from Karnataka Grameen Bank and Rs 1-2 lakhs from private money lenders for cultivation. He was upset as he had lost his crop because of drought, the sources added.
As the issue has turned political, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba, Kalaburagi MP Umesh Jadhav and former MLA of Sedam Rajkumar Patil Telkur have demanded the resignation of Patil.