JD(S) patriarch Deve Gowda issues ‘warning’ to Prajwal Revanna to return and face probe

BENGALURU: Days after he said that his grandson and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna should face the law in the obscene video case, former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Thursday issued a warning to Prajwal to return immediately.

Prajwal Revanna has been incommunicado after he left the country a day after pen drives containing obscene videos surfaced. The special investigation team (SIT), which is probing the case, has issued several notices to him and a lookout notice and a blue corner notice have also been issued against him.

“I have issued a warning to @iPrajwalRevanna to return immediately from wherever he is and subject himself to the legal process. He should not test my patience any further”, Deve Gowda wrote in a post on X. He also attached images of a letter where he said, “I spoke to the media about Prajwal Revanna on 18 May when I was headed to the temple to offer pooja. It took me some time to recover from the shock and pain he has inflicted on me, my entire family, my colleagues, friends and party workers. I have already said that he should be given the harshest punishment under the law if found guilty. My son and former Karnataka Chief Minister Shri H D Kumaraswamy has advocated this line since the day the scandal broke”.

I have issued a warning to @iPrajwalRevanna to return immediately from wherever he is and subject himself to the legal process. He should not test my patience any further. pic.twitter.com/kCMuNJOvAo

— H D Deve Gowda (@H_D_Devegowda) May 23, 2024

Further, Deve Gowda said, “People have used the harshest words against me and my family in the last few weeks. I am aware of it. I do not wish to stop them. I do not wish to criticise them. I will not try and argue with them that they should have waited until all the facts were found out”.

“I also cannot convince people that I was unaware of Prajwal’s activities. I cannot convince them that I have no desire to shield him. I cannot convince them that I am not aware of his movements, and that I was not aware of his foreign trip. I believe in answering my conscience. I believe in God and I know the almighty knows the truth.

“I will not venture to comment on political conspiracies, exaggarations, provocations and falsehoods that have been maliciously spread in recent weeks. I am very sure people who have done it will have to answer God and pay for it heavily one day. I place my truth and my burdens at the feet of the Lord.

“At this juncture, I can do only one thing. I can issue a stern warning to Prajwal and ask him to return from wherever he is and surrender before the police. He should subject himself to the legal process. This is not an appeal that I am making, it is a warning that I am issuing. If he does not heed to this warning, he will have to face my anger and anger of all this family members. The law will take care of the accusations against him, but not listening to the family will ensure his total isolation. If he has any respect left for me, he has to return immediately.

“I wish to also make it clear that I will ensure that there will be no interference in the enquiry against him from me or my family members. There is no emotion in this regard in my mind whatsoever, there is only the cause of justice for those who have suffered as a result of his alleged actions and misdeeds.

“It is of utmost importance to me to earn back the trust of the people. They have stood by me for over sixty years of my political life and I am deeply indebted to them. As long as I am alive, I will never let them down”, Deve Gowda wrote in his letter.

Meanwhile, Bhavani Revanna, wife of Holenarsipur MLA H D Revanna and mother of Prajwal Revanna, has not responded to the two SIT notices issued to her in the alleged kidnapping case against her husband. Bhavani cited health grounds for not appearing before the SIT, but her whereabouts too are not clear.

Her car driver Ajith too has been missing though the SIT has served three notices on his to present himself for inquiry. It is alleged that Ajit had driver the kidnapping victim from KR Nagar in a car and had later video-recorded her statement and released it on social media wherein the woman had denied that she had been kidnapped.