JOIN USCID probe into rape charge
The State Government is in no mood to bow down to the Opposition demand for a CBI probe. However, by late evening, the police registered a case against Halappa at APMC yard police station in Vinoba Nagar in Shimoga.
S Murugan, Shimoga Superintendent of Police, said the case would be handed over to the CID on Tuesday.
He said the police would decide whether the former minister should be arrested after studying the complaint and verifying the video clippings. The case was filed by Chandravati and her husband Venkatesh Murthy.
The charges that have been levelled against Halappa include the IPC’s sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 376 (rape) and 506, read with 34 (criminal intimidation). Earlier, Director General of Police Ajai Kumar Singh forwarded the 12-page complaint to the Shimoga SP.
According to police sources, Chandravati has not been able to produce any clinching evidence on the basis of which he could be arrested immediately. Besides, the police will have to conduct preliminary investigations before they are able to initiate any action against
Halappa. The process may take no less than five to six days since both the complainant and the accused will be examined by the police.
“In such cases, the law does not say that the accused must be arrested immediately. Arrest can be made only if the police finds enough evidence or if they believe that the accused might flee try to destroy evidence,” Singh told Deccan Herald.
The case has been filed almost five months after the alleged incident took place. Chandravati has claimed that she has preserved the clothes she and Halappa wore when she was raped. The clothes could be essential pieces of evidence, police sources said. She has demanded that the clothes should be sent to a DNA test.
The tainted Shimoga leader who strongly defended himself on Sunday after the incident became public, was, however, not available all through Monday. It is learnt that he met Yeddyurappa at the HAL Airport in the morning when the latter arrived from Hubli.
It was Halappa’s first meeting with Yeddyurappa after he resigned from the Cabinet. Over the past 24 hours, Halappa has remained incommunicado, turning his cellphone off and making himself scarce.
The chief minister stuck to his decision on a CID probe even as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee leaders led by R V Deshpande staged a dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue demanding a CBI probe into the case.
Interestingly, BJP State President K S Eshwarappa told reporters that Venkatesh Murthy had met him a-month-and-a-half ago demanding action against Halappa.
At that time, Eshwarappa said, he had asked Murthy to produce evidence to prove his charges. “But he never turned up,” the minister said.
On his part, Yeddyurappa said the Opposition was out to take political revenge.
“We have already taken the decision on a CID probe that even god will approve of...And the rest of it is left to the people to decide,” the chief minister said.
Asked about the Congress’ demand for a CBI probe, Yeddyurappa retorted, saying there were a number of similar cases in the past which the Congress was confronted with. “How many of them were probed by the CBI”? he asked, adding that he had full confidence in the CID.