CID probe ordered into Karna sex scandal
Bengaluru, May 3: Amidst Opposition pressure, the BJP government in Karnataka on Monday ordered a CID inquiry into the complaint of rape lodged by a woman against Harathalu Halappa who quit as minister on Sunday following the charge.
“I have decided now to order a CID inquiry. Let the truth come out. Whoever is guilty should get punishment”, chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters here, shortly before Opposition Congress staged a dharna demanding Halappa’s arrest and a probe by CBI.
Halappa resigned on Sunday following a media report which claimed he had sexually assaulted a friend’s wife.
On Sunday, the woman accompanied by her husband Venkatesh Murthy, from the chief minister’s home district of Shimoga, came out in the open and filed a complaint alleging rape and criminal intimidation against him with Karnataka DGP Ajai Kumar Singh.
With media glare on the sex scandal, Congress, smarting from reverses at the recent Bangalore City Corporation polls, sought to capitalise on BJP’s discomfiture and held demonstrations in several parts of the state seeking Halappa’s immediate arrest.
Mr Yeddyurappa flayed the Opposition, accusing it of continuing to harp on the episode even after Halappa’s resignation and ordering of CID probe.
He charged the Opposition with trying to give a “new form” to the Halappa issue and resorting to “political revenge”.
Mr Yeddyurappa wondered why the episode, which had allegedly taken place in November 2009, was raked up a few days before the Gram Panchayat elections slated for May 8 and May 12.
Home minister V.S. Acharya promised an impartial and proper inquiry.
“The police will take action as per law. We will not pre-empt, we will not prompt or sidetrack anything on the issue”, Mr Acharya told reporters.
Rubbishing the media report, Halappa has dubbed it as baseless and saw a political conspiracy by opponents.
“There is no doubt that it’s a conspiracy”, state BJP president K.S. Eshwarappa said. “Will any man with pride take video and photo when his wife was being raped?”, he said, referring to the footage that the woman’s husband claimed he shot the alleged incident, which was also aired by some TV channels on Sunday night. Some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have also tried to pick holes in the footage and raised questions about “inconsistencies” in the recording. Mr K.S. Eshwarappa also claimed Venkatesh Murthy had come to him some one and half months ago narrating the episode and telling him it would have an adverse impact on BJP’s image if things were made public.
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