BENGALURU: The central crime branch (CCB) cyber crime police on Thursday gave a clean chit to former chief minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged sting operation case. However, the police did not mention Siddaramaiah’s name.
In an official media release about the progress of investigation into the sting operation case case, the CCB police said all issue related to the alleged sting operation are fabricated. After a comprehensive investigation, the allegation of sexual harassment as projected in video is a fabricated story, the CCB said on the basis of evidence in investigation and recorded statements.
Prima facie, it seems to have been created intentionally and all persons who appeared in the video have been interrogated. Some have been interrogated more than once and on the basis of their statements and evidences, it is prima facie found to be false, the CCB said. Last Saturday itself, Public TV had reported that a clean chit will be given to Siddaramaiah in the case.
The police said the original mobile phone used to shoot video has been seized and sent for forensic examination, and its report is yet to come. The video is said to be related to an incident said to have happened in 2011 and recorded about 12 years later in 2023.
A detailed investigation is being conducted about the possible motives behind it,under what circumstances and with what intention the video was shot, the persons involved in its creation and their role, the CCB police said while, mentioning about an influential politician in New Delhi, without taking any name.
The allegations in the video are completely false, fabricated story, and created with pre-planning. The statement of the woman who claimed to be victim, statements of witnesses have been examined and it was proved that no such incident occurred. The video intentionally edited, morphed and released, the police said.
The video was uploaded on YouTube, and X (Twitter) in September-October this year with an anonymous email ID. To hide the location, a VPN connection, fake mobile number, fake SIM, morphed numbers were used. One accused was traced in Delhi-NCR area and was arrested on October 24. The accused is a freelance social media content creator and his mobile phone and laptop were taken into custody. In that, traces of video editing were found, the police said adding that a search is going on for more, while the main accused is absconding.
The police that the video was systematically released to defame persons in honourable positions in the state, to spoil public opinion and create political controversy. Not only that, the police have warned those spreading false news and not to share or comment on such videos and those persons will also become part of crime under the IT Act.
If anyone has true information about the video in question, they can directly contact the cyber crime police station and their confidentiality will be maintained, the press release said.
