NR Santosh suicide attempt case: Congress demands probe

Team Udayavani, Nov 28, 2020, 1:21 PM IST

Bengaluru: KPCC President DK Shivakumar on Saturday, November 28 demanded an investigation into the alleged suicide attempt by NR Santosh, the political secretary to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

Addressing presspersons Shivakumar said, “As per the information I received, an MLC and minister both were blackmailing the Chief Minister and the leaders in government after a confidential video was distributed to them by CM’s political secretary NR Santosh. Later, it was also given to high command leaders of BJP.”

“It has been happening for the last several months and CM’s political secretary allegedly trying to commit suicide is not a small issue. It needs to be investigated properly, the investigation must not be done by the (state) government,” he said.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s political secretary and relative N R Santosh was hospitalised late on Friday following an alleged suicide attempt, police sources said on Saturday.

On finding him unconscious at his Dollars Colony residence here, family members rushed him to a private hospital, they said.

Yediyurappa, who visited the hospital late last night where his grand nephew was admitted to, said he had seen him happy earlier.

According to the sources, Santosh is said to have attempted sucide by consuming sleeping pills.

Yediyurappa said Santosh was receiving good treatment.

“This morning, we walked together for 45 minutes. Even yesterday, I saw he was happy. I don”t know why this happened. I will find out and talk to his family,” he told reporters.

Police sources said the reason for Santosh allegedly trying to end his life was yet to be known. Santosh was appointed as the chief minister’s political secretary in May this year.

He had served as Yediyurappa’s personal assistant when the BJP veteran was Leader of Opposition and the party’s state president.

Recently there were reports that Santosh may resign from the post of CM’s political secretary, citing alleged differences with a few in Yediyurappa’s inner circles.

He is said to have played a key role during the political turmoil in the state last year which saw several Congress-JD(S) legislators turning rebels and camping in Mumbai. It had eventually led to the fall of the coalition government led by HD Kumaraswamy, with the BJP later coming to power.

Santosh, who has been keeping a low profile for some time now, is said to have been nursing political ambitions with an eye on next assembly polls.