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Bengaluru: JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has claimed that 25,000 pen drives with videos of women being sexually abused allegedly by his nephew, Lok Sabha election candidate Prajwal Revanna, were distributed before polls, and accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar of a conspiracy.

The former chief minister also sought to discredit the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Congress government on April 28 to probe the charges against Prajwal of sexually abusing several women after videos allegedly involving him started making the rounds on social media.

"It is not a Special Investigation Team but 'Siddaramaiah Investigation Team' and 'Shivakumar Investigation Team'," the JD(S) second-in-command, who is the son of party supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, said.

MLA H D Revanna and his son and Hassan MP Prajwal have been booked for allegedly molesting their cook. In another case, Revanna has been booked and arrested for allegedly kidnapping a woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Prajwal. A case of rape has also been registered against Prajwal.

Addressing a press conference here, Kumaraswamy said the pen drives were circulated by police officers who were "threatened to do it".

“It (pen drive carrying videos) was released in Bengaluru Rural constituency (where the Congress candidate in the Lok Sabha elections is D K Suresh, who is the brother of Shivakumar). This was an April 21 development. On April 22, Poornachandra, our polling agent, gave a complaint to the District Deputy Commissioner, who is the Returning Officer,” the JD(S) leader said.

“Poornachandra received a message at 8 pm on April 21 asking people to 'follow a WhatsApp channel to see Prajwal Revanna’s sleaze video'. There was a message on this WhatsApp channel, 'Countdown for the release of Prajwal’s sleaze videos'," Kumaraswamy further said.

According to Kumaraswamy, one Naveen Gowda had sent the message about the "countdown".

In his complaint to the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police of Hassan district, Poornachandra has named five people including Naveen Gowda, Karthik Gowda (Revanna’s driver), Chethan and Puttaraju alias Putty, he said.

It has been more than a fortnight since the complaint made on April 21 but no action has been taken against these five people, Kumaraswamy said and demanded that they should first be arrested for "mortgaging the modesty" of women in the videos.

Kumaraswamy alleged that 25,000 pen drives were distributed in the entire state, and cited a report in a regional daily to support his claim.

“My question here is why no action was taken. If someone posts something on social media, immediately houses are searched and the person is made to sit in the police station. Why no action was taken against these five people despite a complaint?” he asked.

"Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had confidently said that all the three JD(S) candidates in the Lok Sabha elections will be defeated," Kumaraswamy said, adding, "It raises doubts about the involvement of many people."

On April 25, Karnataka State Commission for Women Chairperson Nagalakshmi Chowdhary wrote to Siddaramaiah demanding an SIT probe into the tapes where Prajwal is allegedly seen sexually abusing several women. The same night, the CM gave his nod and ordered the formation of a SIT, Kumaraswamy said.

“In that letter, Nagalakshmi Chowdhary did not mention the name of Prajwal or Revanna but the chief minister called it ‘Prajwal Revanna’s explicit videos’ in his post on X when he announced the formation of SIT. This shows how the conspiracy was hatched,” the JD(S) leader claimed.

He also alleged that the first complaint "framing" his brother H D Revanna and nephew Prajwal was typed on a computer in Bengaluru and was sent to Holenarasipura, which is represented in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly by Revanna, on April 28.

“It’s not a Special Investigation Team but there are two teams within it – one is ‘Siddaramaiah Investigation Team’ and another one is ‘Shivakumar Investigation Team’,” he charged.

He said the ‘convenor’ of the 'pen drive story', Karthik Gowda should be traced first and brought before the people.

“Going through the conspiracies, one can doubt the intention behind the investigation because more than protecting the women victims, you are limiting the scope of the probe only to defame people,” Kumaraswamy further alleged.

He underlined that he was not trying to protect anyone. “I have said that in this case I will not protect anyone doing wrong. Stringent punishment should be given to the person involved in this crime as per the law of land."

In a fresh claim, arrested BJP leader and advocate G Devaraje Gowda has alleged that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and four other ministers were behind exposing Prajwal Revanna’s sex scam that has brought disgrace to Janata Dal (Secular) H D Deve Gowda family. 

Devaraje Gowda has been arrested in a sexual abuse case. 

Speaking to reporters while being taken to the district prisons, in Hassan on Friday, Gowda alleged that he was offered Rs 100 crore to drag the name of H D Kumaraswamy in the Prajwal’s case. 

“D K Shivakumar had offered me Rs 100 crore to project that H D Kumaraswamy was behind the case. The offer was made through ministers N Chaluvarayaswamy, Krishna Byre Gowda, Priyank Kharge and another minister. They had even sent Rs 5 crore as advance to Bowring Club. But I did not agree. Hence, they hatched a plot to trap me,” Gowda alleged.

“It is D K Shivakumar, who collected all information from Prajwal Revanna’s former car driver Karthik and readied the pen drive. A team of four ministers were formed to handle the issue. As I did not agree to the plan. They planned to bring disrepute to the BJP, Narendra Modi and H D Kumaraswamy,” he said.

Gowda further alleged that former MLC M A Gopalaswamy of Channarayapatna was sent to him for negotiation.

“The main intention of D K Shivakumar is to bring disrepute to Modi and BJP in the case. Besides, he wanted to defame H D Kumaraswamy’s leadership in the state” he claimed. “They filed a sexual harassment and rape case against me, but found no evidence. Now, they are trying to fix me in the pen drive case” he alleged.

Forbes has released its ninth edition of the “30 Under 30 Asia” list, celebrating 300 young entrepreneurs, leaders, and trailblazers under 30 who are driving innovation and transforming industries across the Asia-Pacific region. 

Here's a list of Indians who made it to the Forbes list:

ENTERTAINMENT

Pavithra Chari
Pavithra Chari, a trained singer-composer, gained recognition as half of the duo Shadow and Light with Anindo Bose. Their collaboration with the Berklee Indian Ensemble earned a Grammy nomination in 2023. She is also part of the Anirudh Varma Collective, touring the US, and is skilled in Bharatnatyam dance. Ms Chari is also known for covering film hits.

Arpan Kumar Chandel (King)
Indian rapper Arpan Kumar Chandel, also known as King, became known worldwide when Nick Jonas remixed his hit song 'Maan Meri Jaan'. Mr King got famous on MTV Hustle in 2019 and has released many albums since. His latest, 'New Life', features artists like Nikhita Gandhi and Gucci Mane. He's also Sony Audio's ambassador and launched his fragrance, Blanko.

CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY

Kush Jain 
Kush Jain discovered the challenges faced by the visually impaired during a volunteering stint at a Bangalore school in 2018. Motivated to help, he co-founded ORama AI. Their innovative solution, a smart glove, helps the blind and those with reduced vision to learn Braille. The glove features an embedded camera and speaker, tracking finger movements and audibly identifying touched Braille dots.

Arth Chowdhary, Deyvant Bhardwaj and Oshi Kumari 
Arth Chowdhary, Deyvant Bhardwaj and Oshi Kumari co-founded InsideFPV, an Indian drone startup, in 2020. Their main product is an easy-to-use "plug-and-fly" drone, unlike others that require a complex setup. Based in Surat, the company also sells drones and parts online. 

Pranav Manpuria (Flux Auto)
Autonomous driving startup Flux Auto was co-founded by Pranav Manpuria in 2017. The company is working on creating self-driving software for forklifts and warehouse robots. They claim their technology can easily fit into existing systems of infrastructure.

Arun Sreyas and Gautham Maheswaran (RACE Energy)
In 2018, university friends Arun Sreyas and Gautham Maheswaran created RACE Energy. Headquartered in Hyderabad, the startup specialises in creating swappable battery packs tailored for the popular three-wheeled auto-rickshaws in India.

Harshit Jain and Abhik Saha 
Harshit Jain and Abhik Saha co-founded OnePlay, a cloud gaming startup in Mumbai in 2019. OnePlay allows users to play popular games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Palworld across multiple platforms without needing expensive hardware. 

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY

Kunal Aggarwal
Kunal Aggarwal launched Credflow in 2019, offering cashflow management software for small and medium-sized enterprises. The platform analyses business data, sends automated payment reminders, and extends credit lines to eligible users. 

Gaurav Piyush, Mayank Varshney and Yash Sharma
Gaurav Piyush, Mayank Varshney and Yash Sharma came together to establish Blitz, a logistics startup, in 2020. Based in Gurugram, the company, formerly known as Grow Simplee, specialises in offering same- or next-day delivery services by using a network of warehouses and fulfilment centres.

Aditya Dadia
Aditya Dadia founded AIwrite in 2022, providing new digital software for India's insurance sector. Based in Mumbai, the startup uses machine learning to help insurance companies analyze risks and develop products faster. 

FINANCE AND VENTURE CAPITAL

Aalesh Avlani (CWC)
Aalesh Avlani, a Boston University graduate, co-founded Credit Wise Capital (CWC), a finance company specialising in providing loans for motorcycles. Founded in 2019, CWC received $6 million in startup funding the following year. They use technology like a WhatsApp bot to quickly assess creditworthiness, making it easier for people with no credit history to apply for loans.  

Srinivas Sarkar and Kushagra Manglik (Coupl)
Srinivas Sarkar and Kushagra Manglik co-founded Coupl, India's bank designed for couples of all types. Launched in early 2022, the startup helps couples, irrespective of marital status or sexual orientation, effectively manage their finances with joint accounts and linked ATM cards.

Aniket Damle
Aniket Damle works with Blackstone's private equity investment team in Asia, focusing on investments in India's healthcare, consumer, and industrial sectors. At just 23 years old, he made his first deal when Blackstone collaborated with Sona BLW to establish Sona Comstar, a technology platform company focused on electric vehicles, in 2018.

Yashvardhan Kanoi (Alter Global)
Yashvardhan Kanoi heads investments at Alter Global, a venture capital firm linking Silicon Valley with startups in emerging markets. Since 2019, he led investments in companies across Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Latin America like Ula, BukuKas, and CoLearn.

Manish Maryada (Fello)
Manish Maryada co-founded Fello, a fintech startup based in India. Fello offers rewards to users to make investing enjoyable. When users invest a certain amount through the app, they receive a ticket to play in-house games and win rewards and prizes. Founded in 2021, Fello has been downloaded over a million times and has raised over $5 million in funding.

Anuj Srivastava and Priyesh Srivastava (OnFinance AI)
Anuj Srivastava and Priyesh Srivastava (not related) co-founded OnFinance AI, a Bengaluru-based startup. They developed NeoGPT, a ChatGPT-like service tailored for the finance industry, which helps analyse data, generate forecasts, and conduct financial market research.

HEALTHCARE AND SCIENCE

Karan Ahuja
Google research scientist Karan Ahuja will become an assistant professor of computer science at Northwestern University starting in September 2024. With a PhD in human-computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon University, Mr Ahuja has focused on projects like body-movement sensing for smartwatches and gaze-tracking for smartphone control. His work has earned nearly 1,000 citations over the past five years. 

Aryan Chauhan
Aryan Chauhan, along with his mother Monika Chauhan, co-founded Zivov in 2021 with the aim of helping with diabetes treatment. Their solution involves a self-developed sensor that attaches to the skin to monitor blood sugar levels. Users can access the results through Zivov's smartphone app.

INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURING AND ENERGY

Akshit Bansal and Raghav Arora (Statiq)
Akshit Bansal, CEO of Statiq, got the idea for greener transportation while biking through Bengaluru's polluted streets. After a failed car-sharing venture with his friend Raghav Arora, they shifted their focus to electric vehicles. Their Gurgaon-based company, Statiq, now operates a nationwide network of charging stations for electric cars, buses, trucks, and three-wheelers. The company has raised $27.5 million from investors and expects to post its first operating profit in the next financial year.

Ankit Jain and Narayan Lal Gurjar (EF Polymer)
Ankit Jain and Narayan Lal Gurjar co-founded the agriculture startup EF Polymer in 2018. Their company has created a powder-like water-retention product made from biodegradable materials like bananas and orange peels. This product helps retain moisture in the soil and enhance crop yields by absorbing excess water and gradually releasing it.

Chirag Jain and Rama Krishna Mendu (EndureAir Systems)
Chirag Jain and Rama Krishna Mendu founded EndureAir Systems, a drone startup, in 2018. The Noida-based company has created three drone models for mapping, monitoring, and logistics. One of them is battery-powered and can carry up to 15 kg while travelling 15 km.  

Rahil Gupta (Hop Electric Mobility)
Rahil Gupta co-founded Hop Electric Mobility, an electric motorbike startup, in 2020. The company offers three products priced between ₹66,790 and ₹1,33,580. Their premium Oxo bike, for instance, can reach speeds of up to 95 km per hour and cover 150 km on a single charge

MEDIA, MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

Kavan Antani

Kavan Antani is one of the co-founders of IndieFolio, a Mumbai-based on-demand talent marketplace catering to creative professionals. Launched in 2014, the platform serves as a connection hub for designers, animators, content creators, and video producers with clients seeking talent. IndieFolio boasts a talent pool of over 70,000 individuals and counts major clients like Paytm, Ogilvy, and Domino's Pizza.