'25,000 pen drives distributed': HD Kumaraswamy sees plot in sex abuse allegations against Prajwal Revanna | Bengaluru News - Times of India

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BENGALURU: In a press conference, former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy made serious allegations against his nephew, Lok Sabha election candidate

Prajwal Revanna

, and accused Chief Minister

Siddaramaiah

and Deputy Chief Minister

D K Shivakumar

of a

conspiracy

.

Kumaraswamy claimed that 25,000 pen drives containing videos of women being sexually abused, allegedly by Prajwal, were distributed before the polls.

He also questioned the credibility of the

Special Investigation Team

(SIT) formed by the Congress government on April 28 to investigate the charges against Prajwal, calling it the "Siddaramaiah Investigation Team" and "Shivakumar Investigation Team".

Kumaraswamy revealed that a complaint was filed by their polling agent, Poornachandra, to the District Deputy Commissioner on April 22, after receiving a message about a WhatsApp channel that was set to release Prajwal's alleged sleaze videos.

The message was sent by one Naveen Gowda, and the complaint named five individuals, including Naveen Gowda, Karthik Gowda (Revanna's driver), Chethan, and Puttaraju alias Putty. Despite the complaint, no action has been taken against these individuals, and Kumaraswamy demanded their arrest for "mortgaging the modesty" of the women in the videos.

Kumaraswamy further alleged that the conspiracy was evident from the fact that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had confidently stated that all three JD(S) candidates in the Lok Sabha elections would be defeated. He also pointed out that the Karnataka State Commission for Women Chairperson, Nagalakshmi Chowdhary, had written to Siddaramaiah demanding an SIT probe into the tapes, without mentioning Prajwal or Revanna's names. However, the Chief Minister referred to the videos as "Prajwal Revanna's explicit videos" when announcing the formation of the SIT on 'X'.

The JD(S) leader emphasized that he was not trying to protect anyone and called for stringent punishment for those involved in the crime, as per the law of the land. He demanded that the 'convenor' of the "pen drive story", Karthik Gowda, be traced and brought before the people. Kumaraswamy also questioned the intention behind the investigation, stating that it seemed more focused on defaming people rather than protecting the women victims.