BJP leader Devaraje Gowda was arrested on Friday night in connection with an explicit video purportedly showing now-suspended JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna.
According to police, Devaraje Gowda, an advocate, was arrested for allegedly leaking the video. He was caught at Gulihal toll gate in Chitradurga district after a tip-off from the Hassan Police, who wanted his presence for the case.
The video is among thousands such clips that purportedly show Prajwal, who left for Germany on April 26, hours after polling ended in Hassan in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The 33-year-old politician is Hassan’s sitting Lok Sabha representative and contested the seat again. His grandfather is former Prime Minister of India and JD(S) patriarch, HD Deve Gowda, while his uncle HD Kumaraswamy is Karnataka’s ex-chief minister. HD Revanna, his father, is a JD(S) MLA.
The Deve Gowda-led party is in alliance with the BJP for the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka. Under the seat-sharing agreement, the JD(S) got three of the state’s 28 parliamentary constituencies – Hassan, Kolar, Mandya – while the remaining 25 went to the saffron party.
Devaraje Gowda, the arrested BJP leader, previously claimed that he had informed the party’s state leadership about the videos months before the clips eventually surfaced. In response, BY Vijayendra, the Karnataka BJP chief, denied having any knowledge about the videos.
Devaraje Gowda is accused of leaking the videos, a charge he has categorically rejected.
The Prajwal Revanna case is being probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police. Three FIRs have been registered against him, with charges such as rape, molestation, intimidation, blackmailing, and issuing threats.
The ruling Congress party has repeatedly accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of “allowing” Prajwal to leave India, and questioned them for going ahead with the JD(S) alliance despite being “aware” of Prajwal’s “actions.”