Jarkiholi scandal: Special Investigation Team grills four mediapersons

It looks like the main persons behind the whole episode used activist Dinesh to bring the incident to limelight

Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the conspiracy behind the sex-scandal video allegedly showing former minister Ramesh Jarakiholi began questioning five persons, including four media persons working with regional news channels, on Friday.

Among the five facing enquiry by the SIT was a woman who was let go after a brief questioning. However, the four media persons were still being questioned at the time of publication.

A senior officer said they have not questioned activist Dinesh Kallahalli, who had filed the complaint against former minister with Cubbon Park police. Police picked up all four persons from different places including in Vijayanagar, Chamarajpet, Yeshwanthpur and neighbouring districts on Friday evening. Since most of the officers in SIT are part of the team handling Dinesh case from the beginning, it easy for them to make progress.

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"Law will take its own course of action. Now the SIT has been formed, action will be taken based on the findings," Kamal Pant, Commissioner of Bengaluru Police told DH.

All four suspects were at the interrogation cell in Madiwala. According to police, two more media persons are absconding and are suspected to have left the state. The police are yet to establish if the entire episode is a honey trap and whether the suspects were part of the episode or just part of leaking the edited video.

The SIT is still trying to trace and detain others who are part of leaking the video. The initial focus of the SIT on Friday seemed to be the leakage of the video.

A senior officer told DH that as of now it looks like the main persons behind the whole episode used activist Dinesh to bring the incident to the limelight. "Once we get to the main suspects, the exact role of each person will be known," he said.

Read | Twist in 'sex for job' scandal: Activist Dinesh Kallahalli withdraws complaint against Ramesh Jarkiholi

Meanwhile, the officer said two of the four media persons may be in serious trouble. "We may even register the FIR and arrest them," he added.

As of now, the SIT doesn't have any power to arrest anyone as no case was registered. But they will act according to the law based on their findings.

Tracing the source

Police suspect that a friend of the woman in the video had given the clip to media persons. The suspects edited the video and gave it to a journalist who is close to a politician. Later, the plan was hatched to leak the video. The journalist is said to be close to Dinesh. Hence the complaint was through him.

The video was uploaded on social media using a Russian server. However, it was actually uploaded from Bengaluru soon after Dinesh went to the police commissioner office. The police verified the CDR of Dinesh and got clues on the people currently being questioned.