MEDAK: Why did real estate businessman Santosh and his mother Padma end their lives by self-immolation in a lodge in Kamareddy?
Santosh took the step down a terrible path after he refused partnership with Ramayampet Municipal Chairman Palle Jitender Goud about one-and-a-half years ago. That set off incidents one after the other, making life a living hell for Santosh.
The last straw seemed to be that Santosh had washed the dirty linen on Facebook against the municipal chairman and others, which made them furious. They lodged a complaint with the police on which they acted promptly but not on the contents that Santosh had posted, contending that there was no evidence to substantiate the allegations made in the post.
Santosh, in his post, had sought help from police, Medak MLA, MP, SP, DGP, Finance Minister, and even from the office of the Chief Minister alleging that he and his family were being threatened. He had accused Palle Jitender Goud, Market Committee Chairman Sarapu Yadagiri along with their followers Thota Kiran, Kannapuram Krishna Goud, Sarapu Swaraj and Aidevi Prathviraj of threatening him with dire consequences. Toopran DSP Kiran Kumar said the case was not registered against them due to lack of proper evidence in the complaint lodged by Santosh.
Santosh’s brother Srinivas said that after the police took away his brother’s phone and returned it after forwarding his personal data on the phone to some local politicians. It was since then that he began receiving threatening calls from them.
Srinivas alleged that the municipal chairman had brought pressure on Santosh to give him a 50 per cent share in his real estate business and register four plots on his name. Though he had complained to the then inspector of police Tanduri Nagarjuna Goud, there was no response. On the contrary, the ruling TRS leaders began harassing Santosh more.
Srinivas said: “Municipal Chairman Jitender Goud, Market Committee Chairman Sarapu Yadagari and their followers pushed Santosh’s family into deep distress.”Yadagiri, reacting to the death of Santosh and his mother, said that the latter had owed `5 crore and he was to repay the amount to his creditors on April 15. “We did not harass him. Maybe it was because of the pressure of the creditors that he and his mother had ended their lives,” Sarapu Yadagiri said.