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POCSO case: Yediyurappa says he will appear before CID on June 17

HC has restrained CID from arresting the BJP leader till June 17

Senior BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa | Bhanu Prakash Chandra

Former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who is facing investigation in a POCSO case, said he will appear before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on June 17 for questioning.

"I had gone to Delhi for a pre-scheduled programme. I had informed in advance in writing that I will appear for an inquiry on June 17.  The High Court has given an order restraining CID (from arresting). I'm appearing for an inquiry on Monday. Unnecessarily some tried to create confusion, I don't want to blame anyone, everyone knows the fact,” he said after returning from Delhi.

The Karnataka High Court on Friday granted the BJP leader interim relief from arrest but directed him to appear before the investigators on June 17.

The Sadashivanagar police registered the case against Yediyurappa on March 14 and the investigation was handed over to the CID on the same day. On Thursday, a Bengaluru court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him.

The former CM has been booked under the  Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 354 A (Sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that he sexually assaulted her daughter during a meeting on February two this year, at his residence in Dollars Colony.

The 54-year-old woman, who had leveled the charge against the BJP leader, died at a private hospital in Tumkuru last month, due to lung cancer.

Meanwhile, the BJP veteran, who had dismissed the allegations, has filed a separate petition in the high court seeking to quash the FIR against him.