Bengaluru: Karnataka Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi was caught in a controversy after a CD allegedly showing him in a compromising position with a woman surfaced on Tuesday.
Social activist Dinesh Kallahalli, released the CD after he filed a complaint with Bengaluru City police Commissioner Kamal Pant. After filing the complaint, Kallahalli told media persons that he has sought help from the cops to know the truth of the contents of the CD and audio clips, in which a minister is threatening the victim and her family members.
"I also sought police protection for the victim and her immediate family members as they are living under 'tremendous' threat," he said. According to Kallahalli, the victim met the minister (Jarkiholi) on the pretext seeking his help to create documentaries on dams across the state.
"For this she wanted government clearance for drone cameras and other special equipment. During the interaction, the minister (Jarkiholi) told her that instead of running around, she could well be appointed in the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL). From here on, he starts seeking sexual favours from her. Finally she also yielded, but prior to getting close to him, she set up a trap and the whole episode was recorded by hidden cameras," he explained.
Kallahalli maintained that the victim is not ready to come forward and file a case fearing her and her family's safety. "Fed up with the minister's harassment, one of the family members approached me sometime ago and urged me to take up this case by filing a complaint in order to teach the minister a befitting lesson," he claimed.
According to Kallahalli, he is going to keep the victim's name under the wraps until 'she gathers some courage' to face the people and the media. Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner of police (central division), MN Anuchet, told reporters that the police have registered a complaint in the matter with the Cubbonpark police.
"We will commence our investigation after interacting with the victim and her family. The complainant (Kallahalli) claims that the victim and her family members are under threat. So it becomes all the more pertinent for us to know more details from them," he said.
WHO IS RAMESH JARAKIHOLI
Jarakiholi comes from one of the most powerful political families in the state and is a sugar baron from Belagavi district, the state's sugar belt.
He is one of the 17 defectors from the Congress and the JD(S) whose defection resulted in the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) government in the state in 2019, leading to the formation of the BJP government. He was one of the primary forces behind rallying 17 MLAs from both the parties before they joined the BJP.
Meanwhile, the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi stated that the BJP is embarrassed over release of the sex CD linking Ramesh Jarakiholi. The Union Minister said that he will speak about this issue with party high command in detail in Delhi on Wednesday. This comes at a time when the BJP is ramping up to face polls in five states/UT and just two days ahead of the month-long Budget session scheduled to start in Karnataka from Thursday.
