The Special Investigation Team probing the sex CD scandal in Karnataka on Thursday conducted a mahazar (spot inspection) of the Bengaluru residences of the former minister and the 25-year-old-woman allegedly seen in the sleazy CD.
The SIT visited the residences of Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi in Malleshwaram and Sadashivanagar and also the paying guest accommodation of the woman in R. T. Nagar, as part of the investigation.
The case has taken several twists and turns ever since the sleazy CD surfaced on social media on March 2, forcing Jarkiholi to resign as the water resources minister.
The SIT headed by Soumendu Mukherjee is probing into at least three FIRs filed by Jarkiholi, the woman and her parents.
The woman who was in hiding for 28 days, refusing to appear before the SIT citing security concerns, finally appeared before a special court in Bengaluru on March 30 amid tight police security. She recorded her statement before the magistrate (under Section 164 of the CrPC), but chose to stay at her lawyer's house instead of government-run home, citing security concerns.
The woman had been releasing videos from undisclosed location, demanding protection for herself and her family from Jarkiholi and also expressed suspicion over the SIT investigation being fair and impartial given that the accused was an influential leader from the ruling party.
Following the medical tests at Bowring hospital, the woman accompanied the police during the mahazar of the places mentioned in the FIR.
On March 13, former Nelamangala MLA Nagaraju carried a complaint copy signed by Jarkiholi following which an FIR was registered against unknown persons behind the CD scandal. Jarkiholi had alleged some unidentified miscreants had framed him by creating a fake CD and blackmailed him. The FIR was filed under IPC sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 385 (extortion), 465 (forgery), 469 (forgery for the purpose of harming reputation), 34 (acts done by several persons with common intention).
Last week, the SIT raided the houses of some media persons allegedly involved in the conspiracy. While Jarkiholi hinted that a "Mahanayak" was behind the "political conspiracy", the parents of the woman lodged a complaint in Belagavi, alleging their daughter had been kidnapped.
On March 26, the woman lodged a police complaint against Jarkiholi, alleging that she was sexually exploited with the lure of a government job. The woman also alleged that she and her family members were facing threats to their lives.
Based on the two-page handwritten complaint sent through her lawyer K.N. Jagadish, the police registered an FIR (first information report) against Jarkiholi under IPC Sections 376C (related to taking advantage of official position and inducing or seducing any woman to have sexual intercourse, not amounting to the offence of rape), 354A (sexual harassment), 417 (cheating), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and Section 67(A) of the Information Technology Act.
On March 27, her parents and two younger brothers landed in Bengaluru to appear before the SIT.
Addressing the media, her parents alleged KPCC chief D.K. Shivakumar was behind the "conspiracy" and that was playing dirty politics.
"D.K. Shivakumar is behind this CD. I urge him not to use my daughter to play his dirty political games. They are misusing a dalit girl for their personal gain," alleged the father of the woman, an ex-serviceman, while speaking to the media after the SIT interrogation.
The younger brother of the woman dared Shivakumar to send back his sister and fight his political games on his own strength. "DKS is behind this scandal. He has used my sister to make the video. My sister told me he even gave her money and sent her to Goa (to hide). We have 11 audio recordings to prove this. We have given all the evidence to SIT," said the brother.
In the audio recording of a purported conversation between the woman and her family members, the woman is heard pacifying her family saying the sex video and audio are fake. In a second recording, she is heard telling her family that she is safe and that Shivakumar has given her some money and a basic mobile and sending her to Goa with a friend. But Shivakumar has denied all charges.
The sex scandal is most likely to impact the bypoll to the Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency, necessitated by the demise of Union Minister Suresh Angadi last year. The April 17 bypoll will see Angadi's wife Mangala contest on a BJP ticket, while the Congress party has fielded Satish Jarkiholi, state Congress working president and younger brother of Ramesh Jarkiholi.
The Congress party has been demanding the arrest of the "rape accused" Jarkiholi, while the BJP alleges the CD case is being exploited for political gains by the Congress and has demanded the resignation of Shivakumar.
Jarkiholi, who skipped the election rally held at Belagavi recently, reportedly visited Kolhapur Mahalakshmi temple on Tuesday, even as speculations are rife over his possible arrest in the case.
