A 47-year-old civil contractor Santosh, attached to the Pathanapuram block panchayat, has committed suicide purportedly owing to the alleged delay on the part of the block panchayat officers in clearing the bills pertaining to a road work he had carried out.
The police said Santosh was found dead hanging from the beam of the well in his residential compound at Karavoor in Piravanthur on Friday morning.
Last January, he completed the contract work from the block panchayat for constructing the 141-m-long Karavoor Cemetery Road.
The work was supervised by the Karavoor ward beneficiary committee and Santosh was the convener of the committee. The committee and the people of the area had expressed satisfaction over the work.
But the officers allegedly kept dilly-dallying when it came to clearing his bills. In May, Santosh submitted a complaint to the Pathanapuram Block Development Officer alleging that after the contract was awarded to him, there was pressure from an assistant engineer to entrust the work to a benami contractor.
The amount of ₹5 lakh for constructing the road came from the Flood Relief Fund. His relatives said Santosh was seen depressed and stayed away from home. On Thursday, he returned on appeal from his family members. The autopsy was conducted at the Punalur Government Hospital and the body was handed over to relatives. He is survived by wife and a son.
