BENGALURU: Karnataka police’s SIT probing sexual harassment allegations against JD(S) legislator HD Revanna‘s family has started extensive searches for his wife Bhavani in a kidnap case involving an alleged survivor.
Revanna himself was earlier arrested in the case but got bail. He has been questioned in the matter and is said to have “forgotten” the name of his father-in-law.
According to sources, SIT teams looking for Bhavani searched over a dozen houses of contractors known to the Revanna family and their relatives in Hassan and Mysuru on Saturday.One of the teams visited Bhavani’s residence in Hassan’s Holenarasipura but did not find her there.
The abducted woman’s son had alleged she was taken away by one Satish Babanna at the behest of Bhavani and Revanna. Babanna has been arrested.
Officials said Bhavani – a former member of the Hassan zilla panchayat – had switched off her mobile on May 6 after the Siddaramaiah-led Congress govt formed the SIT to probe the cases against her son, arrested MP Prajwal, and her husband. She cooperated with police for a while, though her cellphone stayed switched off. Later, she went off the police radar. A local court earlier denied Bhavani anticipatory bail.
Revanna’s alleged inability to recall the name of his father-in-law came to the fore when SIT sleuths were connecting the dots in the abduction case. Revanna was asked the question as Babanna had claimed during interrogation that Bhavani’s father Shivanne Gowda was his uncle.
Revanna said he knew Bhavani had a brother named Prakash but claimed to have forgotten her father’s name, according to SIT sources. SIT has mentioned this in court papers, claiming it is an attempt to conceal familial ties key to the case.
On Saturday, Prajwal was interrogated by the SIT for seven hours in one of the sexual harassment cases filed against him in Holenarasipura. Sources said Prajwal was not cooperating and kept denying the allegations.
The outgoing Hassan MP was arrested early Friday at Bengaluru airport after flying in from Munich.
Revanna himself was earlier arrested in the case but got bail. He has been questioned in the matter and is said to have “forgotten” the name of his father-in-law.
According to sources, SIT teams looking for Bhavani searched over a dozen houses of contractors known to the Revanna family and their relatives in Hassan and Mysuru on Saturday.One of the teams visited Bhavani’s residence in Hassan’s Holenarasipura but did not find her there.
The abducted woman’s son had alleged she was taken away by one Satish Babanna at the behest of Bhavani and Revanna. Babanna has been arrested.
Officials said Bhavani – a former member of the Hassan zilla panchayat – had switched off her mobile on May 6 after the Siddaramaiah-led Congress govt formed the SIT to probe the cases against her son, arrested MP Prajwal, and her husband. She cooperated with police for a while, though her cellphone stayed switched off. Later, she went off the police radar. A local court earlier denied Bhavani anticipatory bail.
Revanna’s alleged inability to recall the name of his father-in-law came to the fore when SIT sleuths were connecting the dots in the abduction case. Revanna was asked the question as Babanna had claimed during interrogation that Bhavani’s father Shivanne Gowda was his uncle.
Revanna said he knew Bhavani had a brother named Prakash but claimed to have forgotten her father’s name, according to SIT sources. SIT has mentioned this in court papers, claiming it is an attempt to conceal familial ties key to the case.
On Saturday, Prajwal was interrogated by the SIT for seven hours in one of the sexual harassment cases filed against him in Holenarasipura. Sources said Prajwal was not cooperating and kept denying the allegations.
The outgoing Hassan MP was arrested early Friday at Bengaluru airport after flying in from Munich.
