Police Case Filed Against BJP MP, 2 Others After Driver Dies By Suicide

A police case has been filed against BJP MP K Sudhakar and two others after a 30-year-old man, who worked as a driver, named them in a note before he died by suicide in Karnataka's Chikkaballapur.

The driver, M Babu, died by suicide on Thursday morning, following which his wife, Shilpa, filed a police complaint based on the note he left behind.

The first information report (FIR) charged Mr Sudhakar and two others, Nagesh and Manjunath, with financial fraud, abetment to suicide and atrocity under the BNS and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

In the note, Babu alleged Mr Sudhakar and Nagesh cheated him of Rs 25 lakh by promising him a job. He also accused a zilla parisha accounts assistant of pushing him to die by suicide.

The police said Babu had been working as a contract driver for the chief accounts officer in the zilla panchayat for over six years.

"A suicide was reported at Chikkaballapura DC office premises. We received information at around 8.30 am that someone had died by hanging from a tree," Superintendent of Police Kushal Chouksey told news agency PTI.

Babu alleged Nagesh and the accounts assistant "cheated him of several lakhs of rupees", claiming they could help him secure a government job "using the MP's influence".

"These are serious allegations. A thorough investigation will determine whether the MP was directly involved or if his name was misused. We are examining all angles," the officer said.

In the FIR, Mr Sudhakar has been named as accused 1, Nagesh as accused 2 and Manjunatha as accused 3.

Earlier in the day, Mr Sudhakar told reporters in Delhi that he was "deeply pained" by the death but denied any connection to the tragedy.

"I heard about the suicide at the DC office in Chikkaballapura. It has deeply saddened me. I offer my condolences to the family. I have never seen or met this person, Babu, in my public life," Mr Sudhakar said.

The MP, a former minister and three-time MLA, said he helped many young people secure employment and did not understand why his name was mentioned in the note.

"I have no information about the other two individuals named in the note. I've heard that Nagesh and Manjunath allegedly promised Babu a job and took Rs 10-15 lakh from him. I don't know them personally," the BJP MP said.