DVS' kin's mobile calls monitored, admit police

A proposal to tap the phones of those close to Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda was scuttled by a few police officers citing consequences of such a move and that the case did not require such an exercise, according to a senior police officer privy to the matter.

The officer, however, admitted that the police did monitor mobile call details of a few members of Gowda family to ascertain the location of their origin. This, he observed, was common during investigations and the police need not seek prior permission, since it did not amount to phone tapping.

It is learnt that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had instructed the police commissioner to keep tabs on the progress of the case on a daily basis and that the commissioner was personally doing so. Hence, the police top brass may have thought of tapping the phones, Home department sources said.

On his part, Bangalore Police Commissioner M N Reddi said such a thing can be construed as basic policing act, when a person, facing serious charges, fails to appear before the police for inquiry.

“The police had served summons on the accused under CrPC Section 41 directing him to appear before the investigating officer for an inquiry. Hence, the police acted within legal framework,” Reddi averred.

Since the police were unaware of Karthik’s whereabouts following actress Maitreya Gowda’s complaint of rape and cheating against him, and he did not appear before them even after being served notices, there was an informal proposal to tap conversations of close friends, relatives and family members of Gowda.

The objective was to ascertain the whereabouts of Karthik. However, a few senior officers, including those probing the complaint filed by Maitreya, opposed the move by Reddi.

BJP seeks CBI probe

The BJP, taking exception to reports of phone-tapping involving the family and close aides of Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, has sought a CBI probe into the incident, claiming that the government and Bangalore police were involved in the entire episode.

State BJP spokesperson and MLA S Suresh Kumar also sought an internal departmental enquiry to identify on whose orders the phones were tapped.

Siddaramaiah denied any knowledge of the incident. When reporters sought his reaction, he said, “The State government is not involved. I have no knowledge of any such incident.”