'Not Committed Rape': Summoned by ED, DK Shivakumar Asks Supporters to Stay Calm

News Network

August 30, 2019

New Delhi, Aug 30: After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued him fresh summons, senior Congress leader and former Karnataka Minister DK Shivakumar asked his supporters not to worry as he had not "committed rape or taken money".

"Please don't take tension, I have not taken tension, there is no need to take tension. I have not committed any mistake. I have not committed any rape or taken money, there is nothing against me," Shivakumar told reporters here on Friday.

The ED move comes after the Karnataka High Court had on Thursday dismissed Shivakumar's petition challenging the summons issued to him in a money-laundering case.

"From the past two years, the entire property of my 84-year-old mother has been attached by various investigation authorities as benami property and I am the benami there. Our entire blood has already been sucked," he said.

The ED had in September last year registered a money-laundering case against Shivakumar and few others on the basis of an alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions case. The agency had booked Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah, an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Reacting to the development, the former minister tweeted in the morning, saying, "Have received summons from ED late yesterday night at 9.40 PM asking for me to appear at 1PM in Delhi today. Although the sudden scheduling by ED is malafide, I believe in rule of law & will definitely participate & fully co-operate with them and abide by the law of our country."

He further dubbed the move as politically motivated and said that he did whatever his party had asked him to do. "IT raid on me was politically motivated for hosting Gujarat Congress MLAs. As a loyal soldier of Congress & a responsible politician, I did what party asked me to do, for which I am being targeted. I have full faith in legal systems & will face this legally as well as politically."

Shivakumar will have to appear before the investigating agency unless he gets relief from the Supreme Court. His lawyer, Sandeep Patil, said they would move the apex court.

Shivakumar, the water resources minister in the previous Congress-JDS coalition government, had filed a petition in the high court seeking directions to quash the summons issued by the ED in February. The ED had served the summons to Shivakumar and four others and asked them to be present at the office of the directorate for hearing in a case filed in September last year.

In raids conducted by the Income Tax Department in 2017, large amounts of cash was unearthed from Shivakumar's properties.

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SIT raids rape accused BJP MLA Munirathna’s residence, 15 other locations

News Network

September 28,2024

Bengaluru, Sep 28: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing charges against arrested Karnataka BJP MLA N. Munirathna Naidu, including allegations of rape, honey-trapping, and other offences, on Saturday conducted raids at his residence and 15 other locations across the city.

Sources confirmed that the raids were taking place at his Vyalikaval residence and other properties owned by the BJP MLA. The operation is being conducted by the SIT under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) led by ACP Kavitha.

The team is examining documents, electronic devices, and other materials related to the rape and honey-trapping case. The SIT is being supported by experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), with Superintendent of Police (SP) Sowmya Latha also participating in the search and inspection at Munirathna’s Vyalikaval residence.

According to sources, the raids were triggered by information provided by the victim, who alleged that Munirathna recorded footage of sexual assaults and used it to blackmail politicians and public servants, including IAS and IPS officers.

The victim reportedly revealed that she was used to entrap the woman who had lodged a rape case against a senior IFS officer. She was allegedly instructed to frame the rape victim in a drug peddling case.

The complainant told police that she was tasked with capturing compromising videos of the rape victim who had filed the case against the IFS officer. She claimed that, after several failed attempts to obtain the videos, the victim was drugged with sleeping pills, and obscene footage was recorded without her consent. Later, the IFS officer was bailed out from the charges.

Furthermore, the complainant has accused MLA Munirathna of raping her at his office within the state legislature, in his official vehicle, and at his godown. She has alleged that he recorded videos of these assaults.

Police sources also revealed that the victim in the MLA's case provided details of a plot involving sending HIV-infected women to Munirathna's targets in an attempt to ruin them politically and personally. She also disclosed the names of several politicians whom she had entrapped through honey-trapping.

The woman further claimed that Munirathna had threatened to have her son kidnapped and killed if she refused to comply with his demands. According to her, the MLA had a well-organised team dedicated to carrying out these honey-trapping operations, and she provided details about his close associates and relatives involved in the scheme.

Munirathna, who was in judicial custody following his arrest in the rape and honey-trap case, has now been taken into the custody of the SIT.

The MLA was transferred from Bengaluru Central Jail to the CID office on the night of September 24. The BJP legislator, however, has denied all the allegations, claiming they are false.

Karnataka Congress leader D.K. Suresh had alleged that Munirathna was trying to infect his adversaries with HIV and that the government should investigate the matter.

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