The Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is investigating the sex abuse case against JDS scion Prajwal Revanna has arrested his former driver, Karthik Gowda, in connection with the leaking of obscene video clips of the ex-MP.
Karthik, who was arrested by the SIT on national highway at the Hassan-Mysuru border on Saturday, was taken to Bengaluru for further interrogation. His anticipatory bail was denied by a Hassan court and the Karnataka High Court. The arrest comes amid outrage against the SIT for not arresting Karthik more than a month after filing cases against the accused.
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Karthik allegedly gave pen drives containing sexual abuse videos of Prajwal and his victims to BJP leader Devaraje Gowda and the video was leaked in Hassan constituency a week before the Lok Sabha elections on April 26.
A case was regisetered against Karthik and four others on April 23 for leaking the videos, following which two of them -- Naveen Gowda and Chetan Gowda -- were arrested and sent to judicial custody. Two others -- Puttaraju, the former Holenarsipur municipality president, and Sharath, a close aide of former Hassan MLA Pritam Gowda -- are yet to be arrested.
Interestingly, Karthik and Sharath were seen celebrating the election victory of Congress candidate Shreyan Patel, who defeated Prajwal in the polls, in Hassan on June 4 after the results were declared. Prajwal was defeated by Congress's Shreyas Patel in his family bastion Hassan by a margin of 43,588 votes. This is the first time that JDS is losing in its home turf, which was once represented by the ex-PM himself five times.
Karthik, who was the family driver of Revanna clan for several years, was involved in a land dispute in Holenarsipur with Prajwal. In December 2023, Karthik lodged a complaint against the family, alleging that Prajwal and his mother Bhavani Revanna forced him to hand over the land. Following this, Karthik allegedly accessed the videos to blackmail the family.
The SIT on Saturday took Prajwal to his house in Holenarasipura for spot inspection. The investigators had seized pillows and bedsheets from the former MP's home but are yet to recover his "lost iPhone" which allegedly contained the explicit videos.
