New Delhi: Janata Dal (Secular) founder H.D. Deve Gowda’s son and MLA H.D. Revanna was arrested on Saturday (May 4) night by the Special Investigation Team probing kidnapping and sexual abuse cases against him and his son Prajwal, who left the country when the allegations came to light.
Revanna was picked up by the police from his father’s house.
Prajwal is the National Democratic Alliance candidate from the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency in the ongoing elections, and also the sitting MP from the seat.
A second lookout notice had been issued against the father-son duo earlier on Saturday, and a court in Bengaluru rejected H.D. Revanna’s anticipatory bail petition. Prajwal’s anticipatory bail plea has also been rejected.
On Thursday night, a kidnapping case was filed against H.D. Revanna and his aide Sathish Babanna for kidnapping a 60-year-old woman who had accused Prajwal of sexually abusing her. The woman’s son had gone to the police and said she had been taken from her home by Babanna on April 29 and had not been heard from after that. Revanna was charged under Sections 364(a) (kidnapping for ransom, etc), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 34 (the acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
More than five days after her alleged kidnapping, the woman was found at a farmhouse in Kalenahalli village in Mysuru belonging to H.D. Revanna’s personal assistant Rajshekhar, the SIT said.
This woman, who had filed a police case, is reportedly seen in one of the thousands of clips of women being harassed, abused and assaulted recorded on Prajwal’s phone. In the clip, she is seen repeatedly asking Prajwal to leave her alone and not assault her.
After the arrest, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said he won’t interfere with the police process. “I won’t interfere in this because action must be taken as per law. He had sought anticipatory bail in the case, he didn’t get it so he was arrested. I haven’t spoken to the police yet,” he said.
Earlier, Siddaramaiah had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for Prajwal’s diplomatic passport, on which he has left the country, to be revoked. On Saturday, the SIT told Siddaramaiah that a Central Bureau of Investigation ‘blue corner notice’ was likely against Prajwal.
On the same day, before his arrest, H.D. Revanna’s lawyer told the court during his anticipatory bail hearing that he could not appear before the SIT for questioning as he had rallies scheduled in north Karnataka where voting will be held on May 7.
On April 30, the JD(S) suspended Prajwal from the party. On May 1, Prajwal wrote on social media, “As I am not in Bangalore to attend the inquiry, I have communicated to CID Bangalore through my Advocate. Truth will prevail soon.” He is reportedly in Germany. Because of the lookout notices against him, Prajwal will be detained as soon as he reports at any of the immigration points at airports, sea ports, or at any border checkposts.
Senior leaders of both the JD(S) and its alliance partner BJP are said to have known about the serious allegations against Prajwal for several months now. In December 2023, BJP leader Deveraje Gowda wrote to the state BJP chief about the matter and said the party should avoid supporting Prajwal’s candidature as it could lead the embarrassment.
While thousands of video clips of Prajwal allegedly forcing himself on women and harassing them have emerged, two women – including the one who was kidnapped, who was a domestic worker at the Revanna residence – have emerged. The other woman who has filed a case is a JD(S) worker, who has alleged that Prajwal threatened to shoot her and her husband dead if she did not comply with his demands for sex.
