Kochi, May 5: In a tragic incident, a youth committed suicide after setting on fire his wife, mother-in-law and their child at Kalamasserry, in this district in the early hours on Sunday.
Police sources said Saji (31) set, his 29-year-old wife Bindu and one-and-half year old son Srihari, on fire, when they were asleep and later he committed suicide by hanging in the bathroom.
Saji, a native of Pattimattam, was an employee in a hotel.
Mangaluru/Udupi: The Dakshina Kannada and Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituencies recorded a tentative voter turnout of 77.4% and 76.1% respectively until 6 pm on Friday. In the 2019 polls, Dakshina Kannada recorded 77.9%, while Udupi recorded a 75.8% voter turnout.
The DK Lok Sabha constituency recorded a poll percentage of 71.8% at 5 pm. Among the constituencies, Sullia recorded a maximum of 78.4%, followed by Belthangady at 75.6%, Puttur at 75.2%, Bantwal at 73.7%, Mangalore at 73.5%, Mangalore City North at 69.8%, and Mangalore City South at 61.8%.
Urban apathy continued, with Mangalore City South recording the lowest polling percentage.
Meanwhile, Banjarumale, a remote village in Belthangady taluk, recorded 100% polling with all 111 voters showing up two hours before polling ended at 6pm.
Another interior polling station at Elaneer in the same taluk recorded 82% polling at 4 pm. The booth has 471 voters. The district has a total of 18,18,127 voters, with 9,30,928 females, 8,87,122 men, and 77 transgender individuals.
A good number of people turned out to vote during the early hours. Voters are bearing the scorching sun while stepping out to exercise their franchise as heat wave is sweeping through the state.
The polling process remained largely peaceful, with long queues observed at polling stations from 7 am onwards in several polling stations. However, technical glitches caused delays at a polling station in Karopady, and at St. Xavier School Bejai, where polling was reportedly delayed by nearly two hours.
Polling staff at a booth near the Mulki police station mistakenly marked the wrong finger with ink during voting. They reportedly applied ink to the index finger of the right hand. According to sources, at least 50 individuals had their index finger of the right hand inked. Deputy Commissioner Mullai Mulihan clarified, "The matter was promptly addressed by the sector office. This error affected 8-9 voters"
A total of 18.18 lakh voters in the Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency and 15.85 lakh in Udupi-Chikmagalur hold the power to determine the fate of candidates competing for their respective segments. The polling process is currently underway across 1,876 booths in Dakshina Kannada and 1,842 polling stations in the Udupi-Chikmagalur segment.
In Dakshina Kannada, a closely contested battle is anticipated between Captain Brijesh Chowta representing the BJP and Padmaraj R Poojary from the Congress. Meanwhile, in the Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency, Kota Shrinivas Poojary of the BJP and K Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress are the prominent contenders.
Hassan, May 2: JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna on Thursday said that the scandal and charges of sexual abuse levelled against his brother and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna was a "conspiracy to weaken their family politically".
He claimed that he has no information about the whereabouts of Prajwal Revanna, who has been served a notice by the Special Investigation Team over the alleged sex scandal involving him.
He termed the scandal and charges of sexual abuse against his brother and his father and MLA H D Revanna, a former Minister, as a conspiracy to weaken them politically, and expressed confidence about Prajwal's win in the Lok Sabha polls.
H D Revanna is the son of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda. Prajwal, grandson of Deve Gowda, was the BJP-JD(S) alliance's candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, which went to the polls on April 26.
"The (sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna) case has been handed over for investigation (to SIT), whatever has to be proved will get proved there. How can I react to it? I don't have information about Prajwal Revanna," Suraj Revanna told reporters here.
On an FIR being registered against his father H D Revanna too, he said, "Let them put a thousand more (FIRs), what has to be proved will ultimately get proved. People of our taluk and district know what Revanna is. I don't want to react."
"Anyone can do anything out of political malice. If you take Hassan politics, there is no competitor for Revanna. There is no one who has done politics like him. To weaken him, all these conspiracies are being hatched," he added.
Scores of explicit video clips allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna had started making the rounds in Hassan recently. The state government has constituted an SIT to probe the alleged sex scandal involving the MP.
The SIT on Tuesday issued notice to Prajwal Revanna and his father Revanna, who have been booked for alleged sexual harassment at the Holenarsipura police station in Hassan district on April 28, based on a complaint by a woman who worked in their house, directing them to appear for investigation.
Prajwal who reportedly left for Germany on April 27, the very next day of the polls, on Wednesday sought seven days' time to appear before the SIT.
Regarding reports of his meeting with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Suraj said they were mere speculations and that he had met the former in January, and after that no such meeting had taken place.
Asked whether JD(S) leaders and workers seem to be in some sort of confusion following the developments around the alleged sex scandal, the MLC said there is no confusion. "Even yesterday there were meetings held to take stock of the situation after the polls. Hundred percent Prajwal Revanna will win."
"Let anyone charge anything, let's wait and see what comes out of the SIT probe," he added.
Victims under pressure?
Meanwhile, victims in the videos of the alleged sex scandal involving the MP, are reportedly refusing to come before the SIT which is probing the case.
Some of the victims are said to have told the SIT officials that they don't want to talk to them about the case, while a few are not reachable, sources said.
Bengaluru, May 5: In a major development, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sex video scandal involving JD-S MP Prajwal Revann on Saturday arrested his father and JD-S MLA H.D. Revanna following the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea in a victim kidnapping case by the People’s Representative Court in Bengaluru.
H.D. Revanna was taken into custody from the residence of his father and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda in Bengaluru’s Padmanabhanagar locality.
First, he was taken to the SIT office on the premises of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). After preliminary questioning, the former JD-S minister was taken to the Bowring Hospital for a medical check-up.
Sources said he will be produced before the magistrate at the latter's residence later.
Commenting on the development, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told mediapersons that he won’t interfere in the matter.
“Action should be initiated as per the law,” he said.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said, “We will not interfere in anything related to this matter. Let them get protection from the court under the law."
Shivakumar also said that let the proceedings follow the manner suggested by former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy.
Quoting a Kannada proverb, Kumaraswamy had said that those who commit crime must be punished.
The SIT officers reached the former PM’s residence soon after the court turned down his anticipatory bail plea in a case related to the kidnapping of a woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by his son Prajwal Revanna, the sources said.
Earlier on Saturday, the SIT traced the kidnapped woman to the farmhouse of Rajashekar, the personal assistant (PA) to H.D. Revanna, at Kalenahalli village in Mysuru district.
In the court, Special Public Prosecutor B.N. Jagadish submitted that the case is about saving the life of a poor woman.
Jagadish argued that H.D. Revanna did not turn up before the authorities even after being served three notices.
Senior counsel Muthy D. Naik, appearing for H.D. Revanna, argued that the only allegation against his client is a statement that he had called the victim to his residence.
Barring this, there is nothing to prove the role of H.D. Revanna in this case, he argued, adding that the statement was made by an accused in the case, with whom his client has no connections.
He also claimed that the SIT has deliberately added IPC Section 364A, which attracts life imprisonment and capital punishment, to ensure that his client’s bail plea is rejected.
The other IPC Sections invoked in the case — 363 and 365 — attract imprisonment of less than seven years. Therefore, to prove the innocence of H.D. Revanna, he should be granted bail, Naik submitted.
Meanwhile, the woman, who had gone missing on April 29, was found locked up in the farmhouse when the SIT officers reached there following a tip-off.
Sources said Rajashekar is absconding ever since the SIT traced the missing woman to his farmhouse.
The woman is being brought to Bengaluru where her statement will be recorded.
On Friday, Karnataka Police registered an FIR against H.D. Revanna in connection with the kidnapping of the woman, believed to be one of the victims of the sex video scandal involving his son Prajwal Revanna.
The woman’s son had registered a kidnap case naming H.D. Revanna as the prime accused in the case.
His relative Satish Babu was named as the second accused in the FIR, whom the police arrested from Mysuru district on Friday.
The woman’s son alleged that his mother went missing after the surfacing of a purported sex video in which Prajwal Revanna could be seen sexually assaulting her.
He also alleged that his mother was locked up in an undisclosed location, as he pleaded with the police to initiate legal action against H.D. Revanna and Satish Babu.
Prajwal Revanna, the sitting JD-S MP from Hassan, has reportedly fled from the country.
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