New Delhi/Bengaluru:

Janata Dal-Secular leader Suraj Revanna, the brother of Prajwal Revanna who is facing sex crimes allegations by multiple women, has been arrested allegedly for sexually assaulting a male party worker. 

A case was filed against Suraj Revanna based on a complaint registered by the 27-year-old party worker who accused the JD(S) leader of sexually assaulting him at a farm house in Karnataka’s Hassan district on June 16.

Suraj Revanna, meanwhile, has refuted the charge and alleged that the man filed a false complaint against him after he refused to pay him Rs 5 crore.

Suraj Revanna’s friend Shivkumar had also yesterday filed a police complaint, alleging that the JD(S) worker had approached him earlier this month and demanded Rs 5 crore, threatening that he would file a sexual abuse case against Suraj Revanna if his demands were not met.

Shivkumar said that the man had first approached him to help him find a job. Shivkumar gave him Suraj Revanna’s number and asked him to contact Suraj. But he started blackmailing Shivkumar and Suraj after he failed to get the job, the complaint said.

Suraj’s arrest comes days after former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna was sent to judicial custody. The 33-year-old grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda had failed in his bid to retain the Hassan parliamentary constituency in the recent polls.

The cases of sexual abuse came to light after pen-drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna were reportedly circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls there on April 26.

JD(S) suspended him from the party following the cases filed against him. The BJP has distanced itself from Revanna and the investigation. Its state unit boss, S Prakash, said, “We, as a party, have nothing to do with the videos and neither do we have any comments to make…”

A police case has also been filed against his father, HD Revanna, for allegedly kidnapping a woman who said she had been raped by both men. The father, a former MLA and Public Works Department Minister, was given bail in the kidnapping case on May 14 and the sexual assault case after that.

Janata Dal-Secular leader Suraj Revanna, the brother of Prajwal Revanna who is facing charges of sex crimes allegations by multiple women, has alleged that he is being threatened with a false case of sexual assault by a man in Karnataka’s Hassan.

The complaint has been filed by Suraj Revanna’s friend Shivkumar against two men. Shivkumar alleged that Chethan and his brother-in-law approached him and demanded Rs 5 crore, threatening that he would file a sexual abuse case against Suraj Revanna if their demands were not met.

Shivkumar said that Chethan had first approached him to help him find a job. Shivkumar gave him Suraj Revanna’s number and asked him to contact Suraj.

But he started blackmailing Shivkumar and Suraj after he failed to get a job, the complaint said.

Soon after the case was filed, Chethan also appeared on a private channel and that he had been sexually abused by Suraj at a farm house.

This comes days after former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna was sent to judicial custody. The 33-year-old grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda had failed in his bid to retain the Hassan parliamentary constituency in the recent polls.

The cases of sexual abuse came to light after pen-drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna were reportedly circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls there on April 26.

JD(S) suspended him from the party following the cases filed against him. The BJP has distanced itself from Revanna and the investigation. Its state unit boss, S Prakash, said, “We, as a party, have nothing to do with the videos and neither do we have any comments to make…”

A police case has also been filed against his father, HD Revanna, for allegedly kidnapping a woman who said she had been raped by both men. The father, a former MLA and Public Works Department Minister, was given bail in the kidnapping case on May 14 and the sexual assault case after that.

New Delhi:

BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda was late Friday taken into custody in connection with a sexual assault case. He was taken into custody near Hiriyur while he was traveling from Bengaluru toward Chitradurga, police said.

A case of sexual harassment was registered against Devaraje Gowda on a complaint by a 36-year-old woman, who alleged that he molested her on the pretext of helping her sell her property.

Gowda, who contested the 2023 Karnataka assembly election against Prajwal’s father and Holenarasipura MLA HD Revanna, is also accused of leaking videos of JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna’s alleged sexual abuse of several women. He, however, has blamed the Congress for leaking the videos.

Gowda had also alerted the BJP leadership last year about Prajwal Revanna’s alleged sexual abuse and asked the party not to give a Lok Sabha ticket to the JD(S) leader from Hassan. The BJP, which formed an alliance with the JD(S) last year, however, decided to field Prajwal from Hassan.

The sex scandal had come to the fore a day after the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency went to the polls on April 26. Videos began doing the rounds showing multiple women being sexually assaulted. The 33-year-old politician can also allegedly be seen sexually abusing women in some of the videos. 

Prajwal Revanna, who is the grandson of former prime minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda, left for Germany the day the videos emerged, and was later suspended by the JD(S). A blue corner notice, which asks Interpol member states to help locate a person, has been issued against him.

Three FIRs, including charges of rape, molestation, intimidation, blackmailing, and threatening, have been registered against him.

His father, HD Revanna, is currently in jail on charges of kidnapping a woman, a mother of three.

Bengaluru:

In more trouble for Karnataka MLA HD Revanna, he has been sent to judicial custody till May 14 after the Special Investigation Team’s custody in the case of allegedly kidnapping a woman ended on Wednesday.

The Janata Dal (Secular) leader is also, along with his son and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, an accused in the sex scandal that has rocked Karnataka and the nation and prompted an attack on his party as well as its ally, the BJP, from the Congress and other parties. 

The 66-year-old former minister, who is the son of former prime minister Deve Gowda, was arrested on Saturday by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) – set up to investigate the sex scandal – for kidnapping a woman who used to work as a help at his house last month. The case of kidnapping was filed by the woman’s son, who has also alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Prajwal Revanna. HD Revanna’s aide, Sathish Babanna, was also arrested along with him.

After his custody with the SIT ended, Mr Revanna was produced before the Special Court for Elected Representatives in Bengaluru, which remanded him in judicial custody till May 14.

The sex scandal had come to the fore a day after the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency – where Prajwal Revanna is a candidate – went to the polls on April 26. Videos began doing the rounds showing multiple women being sexually assaulted. Prajwal Revanna can also allegedly be seen sexually abusing women in some of the videos. 

The 33-year-old leader, who left for Germany the day the videos emerged, was later suspended by the JDS, which is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in an alliance with the BJP. A blue corner notice, which asks Interpol member states to help locate a person, has been issued against the MP.

Reacting to the attacks on the BJP-JDS alliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said there should be zero tolerance for someone like Prajwal Revanna and alleged that the Congress government had allowed the JDS MP to go out of the country.