SIT grills ex-journos who 'blackmailed' Ramesh Jarkiholi with CD

Two alleged kingpins of the infamous CD scam involving former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi were questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Monday and Tuesday.

Naresh Gowda and Shravan, who earlier worked with Kannada news channels, have been accused of masterminding the video of the former minister getting intimate with a woman and using it to blackmail him.

The duo was on the run soon after the scandal broke, and they got anticipatory bail from the court. They appeared before the officials who quizzed them in the interrogation cell. The two men have been asked to appear before the officials once again.

Also read: Sex CD case: Woman moves Karnataka High Court over Jarkiholi U-turn

Sources said Gowda and Shravan were questioned by CCB Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dharmendra Kumar and his team. While Gowda was interrogated on Monday, Shravan was quizzed Tuesday.

They were questioned based on Jarkiholi’s statement and evidence of money transaction after they asked the former minister to transfer a large sum to hold back the video from appearing on news channels.

But the video was posted on social media on March 2, some time after social activist Dinesh Kallahalli filed a complaint against the former minister with the Cubbon Park police.

Jarkiholi also filed a complaint of blackmail against the woman and the duo at the Sadashivanagar police station. Though the former minister initially claimed that the video was fake, he allegedly admitted later that it was consensual physical intimacy with the woman.