DKS demands probe into suicide bid by CM's political secretary

Bengaluru: State Congress chief D.K. Shivkumar on Saturday demanded an investigation into the circumstances leading to the suicide attempt by N R Santosh, political secretary of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

According to Shivkumar, "It's a serious matter and the State government should look into it. I was told that one of the ministers and an MLC sent some video to Santosh containing 'personal' content and this might have led to his suicide attempt. This should be considered serious and free and fair investigation should be conducted."

"I was told that an MLC and a minister were 'blackmailing' the CM and his close members in the party. Maybe it is a rumor because we cannot go with these kinds of statements. So it would be better for the government to conduct an investigation to find the truth behind the suicide attempt" Shikumar added.

Santosh, who is Yediyurappa's grand nephew, was appointed as the Chief Minister's political secretary in May this year.

Meanwhile, ministers R Ashoka and K S Eshwarappa rubbished Shivakumar's statement as 'misleading and imaginary.'

In his reaction to Shivakumar's statement, Revenue Minister Ashoka said the State Congress chief kept making such false allegations and these days he was making more and more such 'imaginary' statements.

Rural Development Minister K S Eshwarappa said the KPCC president's comments were aimed at 'misleading' people and dared the Congress leader to make public the video and reveal the names of the MLC and the minister.

Santosh 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 headed by H D Kumaraswamy and BJP came 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.