Former driver Karthik Gowda, implicated in the sex abuse case involving JDS scion Prajwal Revanna, was apprehended by the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) at the Hassan-Mysuru border on Saturday. Denied anticipatory bail by both a local court and the Karnataka High Court, Karthik was transported to Bengaluru for further questioning. The delay in Karthik’s arrest had sparked criticism against the SIT, especially after cases were filed against him over a month prior.
Allegedly, Karthik distributed pen drives containing explicit videos of Prajwal and his alleged victims to BJP leader Devaraje Gowda, resulting in the leakage of the footage in the Hassan constituency a week before the Lok Sabha elections on April 26. While two individuals, Naveen Gowda and Chetan Gowda, were arrested and remanded to judicial custody, two others—Puttaraju, the former Holenarsipur municipality president, and Sharath, a close associate of former MLA Pritam Gowda—remain at large.
In a twist, Karthik and Sharath were observed celebrating the election victory of Congress candidate Shreyan Patel in Hassan on June 4 after the poll results were announced. Prajwal’s defeat by Congress’s Shreyas Patel marked a significant shift, as it was the first time the JDS lost its stronghold, which was formerly represented by the ex-PM himself for five terms. Karthik’s involvement in a land dispute with Prajwal in Holenarsipur added complexity to the case, with allegations of attempted blackmail against the Revanna family surfacing after Karthik’s complaint in December 2023. The SIT conducted a spot inspection at Prajwal’s residence in Holenarasipura on Saturday, seizing items for investigation, including pillows and bedsheets, while still searching for Prajwal’s missing iPhone purportedly containing the explicit videos.
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