BENGALURU: JD (S) suspended MP Prajwal Revanna on Friday was arrested at Bengaluru Airport and brought to the CID office in Bengaluru after he landed at Kempegowda International Airport.
He is likely to face a probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) over allegations of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation following a complaint by a woman who worked in his household.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka government detained Revanna on his arrival at Bengaluru airport. According to officials, Revanna will be produced in court later today in connection with the alleged obscene video case.
Security was stepped up outside the CID office in Bengaluru, and barricades were put outside the office ahead of the arrival of JD (S) suspended MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing sexual abuse charges against him.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Youth Congress president Mohammed Haris Nalapad alleged that the Prajwal Revanna programme to go outside India was sponsored by BJP.
“The programme of Prajwal Revanna to go outside India is sponsored by BJP. On the day of the 26th of May after polling, he was sent immediately with a diplomatic passport outside…The BJP, Narendra Modi ji, Amit Shah ji and our Yediyurappa ji all planned together and sent to Prajwal Revanna outside,” said Nalapad.
Revanna is facing a probe by the SIT over allegations of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation following a complaint by a woman who worked in his household.
“He (Prajwal Revann) has already mentioned that he is attending SIT tomorrow. The SIT will take care of that,” said Karnataka Congress MP DK Suresh.
He returned to India from Berlin, Germany, nearly a month after leaving the country on a diplomatic passport and was immediately taken into custody.
Prajwal Revanna, in a self-made video released on May 27, said that he will appear before the SIT on May 31 for questioning. Revanna said that his trip was pre-planned as there was no case against him when the voting was held in Karnataka on April 26 for the general elections. He also alleged political conspiracy against him as he was “growing in politics.” Revanna’s location is still unknown and is supposedly in Germany, according to officials.
The anticipatory bail plea filed by Revanna on May 29 is still pending in court. Revanna’s anticipatory bail plea was filed hours after the SIT arrested two prime accused in connection with the case. The arrested have been identified as Naveen Gowda and Chetan, the police said on Wednesday.
According to police sources, the accused were arrested when they appeared before the High Court seeking anticipatory bail. Arrested Chetan Gowda and Naveen Gowda allegedly distributed pen drives containing videos of Prajwal Revanna sexually assaulting women.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday said that show cause notice was issued against Revanna on May 23 and action to revoke his diplomatic passport was initiated.
“MEA has initiated action under provisions in the Passport Act 1967 for revocation of the diplomatic passport of Prajwal Revanna. A show cause notice was issued to the passport holder on May 23, giving him 10 working days to respond to our notice. We are waiting for his response and accordingly, we will take things forward once we hear from him or once the 10-day period expires,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, thousands of people participated in the ‘Hassan Chalo’ protest organised by the Union of Karnataka People’s Movement in Hassan district, demanding Revanna’s arrest
The protest witnessed the participation of around ten thousand representatives of 113 organisations from different parts of the state. The procession started from Hassan’s Hemavati statue and an open meeting was held at New Bus Stand Road near the District Collector’s office.
CPM leader Subhashini Ali, Janavadi Mahila Sangathan president Meenakshi Bali, writers Banu Mushtaq, Roop Hassan and representatives of various organisations participated.
Several sections of people from different organisations, including women, farmers, students, gender minorities, literati, intellectuals, artists and retired government officials, participated in the protest rally against the sexual exploitation of women from Bengaluru, Mysore, Hassan, Mangaluru, Mandya and Chikkamagaluru.
The leaders of the organisations said that since there was a discussion, those who distributed pen drives should be arrested for putting women’s honour on auction. So decided to hold a Hassan Chalo demanding the arrest of Prajwal and action against those who distributed pen drives, they said. (ANI)