Karnataka contractor's kin refuse to accept body till arrest of accused

After visiting the hotel room, Prashanth had filed a complaint late on Tuesday night and named minister Eshwarappa and his aides Ramesh and Basavaraj as accused.He said the accused should be arrested before the post-mortem of the body is conducted.

The family members of civil contractor Santhosh K Patil, who allegedly died by suicide at a lodge in Udupi, have refused to accept his body until the accused in the case are not arrested. The Udupi police on Wednesday completed the inquest into the death of Santhosh K Patil.

However, the family of Patil, including his brother Prashanth, on whose complaint a case has been registered against state Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj K S Eshwarappa, refused to accept his mortal remains until the three accused mentioned in the FIR are not arrested.

The FIR filed by Udupi town police names Eshwarappa as the first accused in the abetment to suicide case. After visiting the hotel room, Prashanth had filed a complaint late on Tuesday night and named minister Eshwarappa and his aides Ramesh and Basavaraj as accused.

He said the accused should be arrested before the post-mortem of the body is conducted. "We will not allow shifting of the body to Manipal. We have already informed our stand to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. We are fighting for justice and the decision has been taken for the peace of Santhosh's soul," Patil told reporters in Udupi.

Santhosh Patil, a contractor and BJP activist from Belagavi district of Karnataka had alleged that minister Eshwarappa had demanded 40 per cent commission for his work through his aides. Patil ended his life after consuming poison at a lodge in Udupi on Tuesday. He had earlier sent letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister for Panchayat Raj Giriraj Singh accusing Eshwarappa of demanding 40 per cent commission for the works executed by him.