Karnataka: Davangere contractor ends life; death note blames KRIDL

Davangere, DHNS: Davangere-based contractor P S Goudar, 48, reportedly ended his life by suicide over a family property dispute and the alleged non-clearance of bills for the works he executed, at Santebennur in Channagiri taluk, early this week.

His death note, which specifies these reasons, has put the state government in a fix.

In the death note, Goudar charged that his elder brother G S Nagaraj, younger brother Goudar Sreenivas and Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited, (KRIDL) Davangere, were responsible for his death.

He alleged that his elder brother had caused financial and mental stress to him. Despite getting pension of over Rs 1 lakh, his elder brother was not willing to give up ancestral property to him. He further charged that his younger brother Goudar Sreenivas, his wife  D C Indumathi, her father Chitrashekharappa had caused financial loss and mental stress to him.

In the last part of the death note, P S Goudar has mentioned that though he had completed some work on the premises of the department of agriculture office at Santebennur, assigned by the KRIDL in February last year, the officials concerned had not yet cleared the bills. So all these factors compelled him to take extreme step.

Following a complaint by his wife Vasantha Kumari, the police have booked  an FIR against five persons, including his brothers and the KRIDL.

When contacted, Agriculture Department Joint Director Sreenivas Chintal stated that no such work had been taken up at Santebennur. However, Chintal said he would look into it.

When contacted, RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge said, “KRIDL is an engineering division that must carry out work itself. If sub-contracting was done, it’d be flouting of norms, which will be investigated.”