Devaraje Gowda says CBI should probe case

Accusing Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government of having a hand in the distribution of pen drives containing explicit contents of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is accused of sexually assaulting women, BJP leader Devaraje Gowda on Monday said that the case has to be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Accusing Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government of having a hand in the distribution of pen drives containing explicit contents of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is accused of sexually assaulting women, BJP leader Devaraje Gowda on Monday said that the case has to be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

However, Mr. Shivakumar termed the allegations as “lies and baseless”, and that he was not connected with the release of pen drive.

Devaraje Gowda, who was the party’s candidate for the Holenarasipur Assembly seat against Prajwal’s father H.D. Revanna in the May 2023 assembly elections, had earlier claimed that he had written a letter to Vijayendra in December, 2023, claiming he was aware of Prajwal’s deeds and had informed the BJP leaders.

Mr. Devaraje Gowda on Monday said, “The SIT investigation is not transparent. Victims are being bought and the real accused are being hidden. We will also approach the court seeking a CBI inquiry and we have enough documents to present before the court... This is a conspiracy to defame the Prime Minister Narendra Modi nationally because Janata Dal (Secular) is in alliance with BJP.”

Accusing the former Mandya MP and BJP leader L.R. Shivarame Gowda of acting as a mediator, he said: “He met me 10 times and that too in star hotels. He asked me not to embarrass the government or implicate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar.” He also claimed that the negotiations happened till 5 p.m. on Sunday, and that he was being pressurised to remove Mr. Shivakumar’s name from his statement made before the SIT.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister said that he had nothing to do with the distribution of pen drive. “Mr. Devaraje Gowda is a BJP leader and that is why he is trying to do damage control because the incident has embarrassed the BJP. He, in the past, had announced that he would release the pen drive contents after seeking permission from his party leaders. When such is the case, how am I connected?” he said in a statement. He accused BJP and JD (S) behind the conspiracy.

Mr. Shivarame Gowda also said that he was not connected with the leak. “He pestered me to meet Mr. Shivakumar and I made him talk for a minute. The actual forces behind the pen drive are BJP and H.D. Kumaraswamy.”