Deve Gowda's grandson flees India amid probe into 'obscene videos'
Prajwal Revanna, a Janata Dal (Secular) party member and grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, has reportedly fled India amid an ongoing probe into an "obscene videos" case. Video tapes purportedly depicting Revanna engaging in sexual acts with various women, including a few government employees, circulated in Hassan earlier. These obscene videos surfaced on social media just two days before the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on April 26.
SIT formed to investigate the matter
Revanna reportedly flew to Frankfurt from Bengaluru this Sunday morning, India Today reported. On Saturday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case. The decision came after the chairperson of the Women's Commission submitted a letter to the state government about the matter. In its letter, the State Commission for Women (SCW) alleged that influential politicians sought sexual favors from women and even committed sexual assault.
Revanna's election agent files complaint
Revanna, on his part, has denied being involved in the scandal. After the videos surfaced, he filed a complaint via his election agent, alleging that manipulated videos were distributed to tarnish his reputation. Poornachandra Tejaswi MG, the election agent for both the JDS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), filed the complaint, alleging that Naveen Gowda and several others circulated the videos through pen drives, CDs, and WhatsApp to put Revanna in a bad light.