Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 23: After the younger brother, the elder brother in the family of the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda too was arrested in another case of sexual abuse in Karnataka.
After hours of questioning, the Karnataka police on Sunday morning placed under arrest the Janata Dal (Secular) MLC Suraj Revanna, another grandson of Mr Deve Gowda, in connection with the alleged sexual assault case lodged by a party worker even as the state government handed over the investigation to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
An FIR against Revanna was lodged on Saturday night on a complaint by a 27-year-old worker of the JD(S). The police brought the MLC to the CEN Police Station in Hassan for interrogation on charges of “unnatural offences” against him. The interrogation went on for hours that night and Mr Suraj Revanna was arrested later. Suraj was booked under IPC Sections 377 (unnatural sex), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
The Karnataka Police have also filed an FIR against two persons on charges of extortion following allegations of sexual abuse against Suraj Revanna after the JD(S) leader’s aide Shivakumar filed a case against the victim and his kin at the Holenarasipura police station.
Suraj’s younger brother Prajwal Revanna, the former JD(S) MP from Hassan, is already in police custody for alleged sexual assault on several women. Both Suraj and Prajwal were sons of the former Karnataka minister HD Revanna, the second son of Mr Deve Gowda, and younger brother of the union minister HD Kumarswamy.
Suraj’s father JD (S) MLA HD Revanna was jailed and out on conditional bail in a kidnapping case linked to the sex video scandal. His mother Bhavani Revanna is facing an investigation in a kidnapping case and was recently granted conditional bail from the court.
A JD(S) worker Chethan K S (27) had complained to the police that Suraj Revanna (37) sodomised him at his farmhouse in Ghannikada in Holenarasipura Taluk on June 16 evening.
The victim alleged that he had met Suraj Revanna at a function organised by him. Impressed by his organisational skills, Suraj Revanna allegedly shared his mobile number and started sending endearing messages with love symbols. He was asked to meet him at his farmhouse where he was allegedly sexually abused.
Based on the complaint, the Holenarasipura police registered a case against the JD(S) MLC under IPC sections 377 (unnatural sex) and 506 (criminal intimidation) late on Saturday evening.
However, Suraj has categorically refuted the charge. Instead, he has alleged that Chethan filed a false complaint to extort Rs 5 crore from him. Suraj’s friend Shivakumar said in the complaint that false allegations were made against Suraj Revanna to extort money. The complaint claimed that the accused had threatened Suraj Revanna with lodging a case of sexual abuse if he failed to pay Rs 5 crore.
Shivakumar said the man had first approached him to help him find a job. Shivakumar gave him Suraj Revanna’s number and asked him to contact Suraj. But he started blackmailing Shivkumar and Suraj after he failed to get the job, the complaint said. The police have registered a case under IPC Sections 384 (extortion) and 584 (criminal intimidation). Suraj Revanna was elected to the Legislative Council in 2022 from the local bodies of Hassan district. He is facing charges of sexually abusing a man and also threatening him with murder.
Handing over the case to the CBI, R. Hithendra, ADGP (Law and Order), conveyed a message to the CID and SP of Hassan that the crime number 92/2024 registered at Holenarasipur rural police station of Hassan district has been transferred to the CID for further investigation with immediate effect. The officer instructed the Hassan SP to hand over the case file, to CID for further investigation. He also suggested that the DGP of the CID make arrangements to take up further investigation.
Suraj’s arrest comes days after former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna was sent to judicial custody. The 33-year-old grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda had failed in his bid to retain the Hassan parliamentary constituency in the recent polls.
The cases of sexual abuse came to light after pen-drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna were reportedly circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls there on April 26. JD(S) suspended him from the party following the cases filed against him. The BJP has distanced itself from Revanna and the investigation. Its state unit boss, S Prakash, said, “We, as a party, have nothing to do with the videos and neither do we have any comments to make…”
A police case has also been filed against his father, HD Revanna, for allegedly kidnapping a woman who said she had been raped by both men. The father, a former MLA and Public Works Department Minister, was given bail in the kidnapping case on May 14 and the sexual assault case after that.