Booked by panchayat, contractor to take action

KOPPAL:  Yeriswamy Kuntoji, a civil contractor from Gangavati in Koppal district, who was booked by the local panchayat for writing a letter to the Prime Minister’s office complaining about delay in sanctioning work money, has decided to take legal action against the officials. He said he is in touch with a legal team and has applied for bail.

“Once the bail work is over, I will file a counter- complaint against those who booked me under IPC Section 406,” he said. The case against Kuntoji was registered in Gangavati rural police station. He had supplied materials worth Rs 15 lakh for MGNREGA works under Mushtoor GP in Karatagi taluk of Koppal district.

He said despite repeated pleas for bill payment, officials created undue delays, and hence he wrote to the PMO. However, the Karatagi Taluk Panchayat booked a case in Gangavati rural police station against him on charges of breach of trust and shooting a missive to the PMO.

Kuntoji alleged that he has already paid a ‘commission’ of Rs 12,000, but a bill payment of jut Rs 4.80 lakh out of a total of Rs 15 lakh was made so far. Officials are demanding more ‘commission’ and deliberately diverted his payment to another named Rehan Enterprises, he charged.

Koppal ZP officials attributed the delay in bill payment to technical reasons. “The payment was delayed due to technical issues. The matter is being looked into,” said an official.