Contractor Sachin Panchala case: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rules out CBI probe

On December 26, civil contractor Sachin Panchala, 26, ended his life after naming multiple Congress leaders including a close aide of RDPR minister Priyank Kharge in a death note

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah [FILE] Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, cabinet minister H. C. Mahadevappa (R) and others arrive to attend cabinet meeting at Vidhana Soudha | PTI

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday ruled out a CBI probe into the Sachin Panchala suicide case and dismissed the BJP's demand for RDPR minister Priyank Kharge's resignation. "It is a politically motivated charge as the death note does not mention Kharge's name," said the CM. 

On December 26, civil contractor Sachin Panchala (26) threw himself on the railway tracks in Bhalki in Bidar district and ended his life. In his death note, Panchala named eight persons including three Congress leaders, accusing them of harassing and defrauding him.

The incident triggered a political row as one of the three Congress leaders named in the note is Raju Kapanur, a close aide of RDPR minister Priyank Kharge, son of AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge. The note also mentioned that Kapanur had given ‘supari’ (contract to kill) to get local BJP leaders killed.

The BJP has demanded a CBI inquiry alleging that Priyank Kharge was directly responsible for the contractor’s suicide. The incident exposed rampant corruption in the government and gross misuse of power by close aides of ministers who demanded huge bribes from contractors to award government contracts, said the BJP.

Kharge sought an “independent” inquiry, while the state government ordered a CID probe into the two FIRs -- abetment-to-suicide case filed by the Railway police in Bidar following Panchala’s suicide and another filed by Station Bazar police station in Kalaburagi based on a police complaint by BJP leader Chandrakant B Patil alleging criminal intimidation by “Kapanur and gang”. 

The state BJP has launched a poster campaign demanding Kharge’s resignation and a CBI inquiry as the death note reportedly mentions that Kapanur had plotted to kill BJP leaders from across the border (Solapur in Maharashtra) too.

Home Minister G Parameshwara maintained that the allegations against Kharge were baseless and that the “authenticity” of the death note was to be verified.

Panchala’s death note also reportedly mentioned that BJP MLA Basavaraj Mattimood, Andola Sri, Kalaburagi city unit president Chandrakant Patil and the defeated candidate from Chittapur Manikant Rathod were on Kapanur’s hitlist.

In the alleged suicide note, Panchala had held Congress leader and former corporator Raju Kapanoor, block Congress campaign committee president Nandakumar Nagabhujange, former vice-president of Kalaburagi’s zilla panchayat Goraknath S. Chinchansur, history-sheeter Pratap Patil, Solapur’s Shiv Sena district president Manoj S, Vikas HM, MD, Unity Infra Build, Vinay, project manager and contractor Ramangouda Patil responsible for his decision to end his life. 

He stated that he had worked as a project engineer at Unity Infra Build for the last three years and had come in contact with Satish Rathnakar, who had introduced him to Kapanur. Vikas had submitted a tender (worth ₹12 crore) under RWSSD (Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Department) as Kapanur had promised to secure him the contract for a 5% commission. 

He had made 5-6 trips to Bengaluru to meet the minister (Kharge), who had instructed the chief engineer (Izaz Hussain) to ensure the tender was awarded to them.  But the tender was not awarded and Kapanur who had taken Rs 10 lakh advance promised to get them a contract for another project worth Rs 15 crore, which too did not come through. 

When Vikas sought Kapanur’s help to clear pending bills worth Rs 3 crore, he again demanded Rs 10 lakh as a bribe and Panchala transferred Rs 5 lakh to Kapanur’s wife Santoshi’s account. The MD defrauded Panchala by false claims of having submitted tenders, which led to him forfeiting the deposit amount. Kapanoor and gang defrauded him by paying only Rs 8 lakh for the Rs 50 lakh worth project Babladi Matha under KRIDL (Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd) and threatened to file an atrocities case against him.

“The death note clearly states that Panchala was harassed by Kapanur who is an influential Congress leader. The CM should do justice and order a CBI inquiry and ask Priyank Kharge to resign,” said BJP state chief B.Y. Vijayendra adding that BJP had formed an ‘Andolana’ committee to fight against the maladministration of the ruling Congress which was leading to a series of suicides.

BJP leaders pointed out that then RDPR minister and BJP leader had resigned (in April 2022) following a graft allegation made by a contractor Santosh Patil, who was found dead in a hotel room in Udupi.

Recalling a similar incident of suicide reported from Belagavi last November, when the deceased Rudranna (35), a second division assistant - had accused one Somu Doddawad, personal assistant of women and child development minister Laxmi Hebbalkar of harassment before hanging himself at his (tahsildar) office. Before his death Rudranna had reportedly shared a message on the office Whatsapp group and also left behind a suicide note. A case of abetment to suicide was booked.

BJP Belagavi Rural district president Sanjay Patil had claimed that Hebbalkar’s aides were controlling the government departments and collecting monthly “hafta” (bribe). However, Hebbalkar had claimed she did not know who Somu was. 

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