Police have booked Union minister HD Kumaraswamy after a senior officer investigating a mining case in opposition to the JD(S) chief accused him of intimidation.
The grievance was lodged by inspector normal of police (IGP) M Chandra Sekhar, who alleged that Kumaraswamy tried to forestall him from finishing up his duties by way of threats and intimidation. The FIR was registered in opposition to Kumaraswamy on Monday night below part 224 (menace of damage to a public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
“Kumaraswamy held a press convention relating to the case on September 28 and 29 the place he threatened and made false and malicious accusations in opposition to me,” Sekhar stated in his grievance. “He additionally threatened to get me faraway from the Karnataka cadre and ship me to a different state cadre.”
The case in opposition to Kumaraswamy pertains to an unlawful mining lease which he allegedly granted throughout his tenure as Karnataka chief minister between 2006 and 2008. The lease reportedly allowed Sri Sai Venkateswara Minerals (SSVM) to mine on 550 acres of land in Ballari district, a transfer that Sekhar claims was in violation of the regulation.
Sekhar’s grievance notes that the SIT, after conducting an in depth investigation, gathered “substantial proof and materials to prosecute the accused”. He acknowledged {that a} report was submitted to the Governor of Karnataka on November 21, 2023, requesting approval to proceed with the prosecution. Nevertheless, in late September, Kumaraswamy allegedly made threatening statements throughout press conferences, suggesting that Sekhar can be faraway from the Karnataka cadre.
Moreover, Sekhar claimed that Kumaraswamy “made false allegations in opposition to my relations and verbally threatened to bother them too”, whereas additionally accusing him of “taking bribes” and falsifying medical data.
A senior police officer on the situation of anonymity stated, “We are going to provoke the probe into the allegations made by the officer. Notices will likely be served to the accused by the investigating officer to report their statements.”
Kumaraswamy denied the allegations in opposition to him. “I’ve spoken in entrance of the media and raised my considerations over just a few points. When did I threaten him? He has filed a grievance, let him, we are going to face it in courtroom,” he informed reporters on Tuesday.
“Neither of us have to be afraid of one another. Let the matter come earlier than the courtroom, I don’t have to go anyplace,” he added. “They’ve been investigating the case for the final 12 years. Each time they summoned me, I appeared earlier than them. I by no means stated I gained’t face the investigation. It’s all being performed politically by the state authorities and him (Sekhar). We have now the courtroom and we are going to face it. I belief the judiciary; our attorneys will reply to the grievance.”
Sekhar at the moment holds the place of extra director normal of police (ADGP) for the particular investigation staff (SIT) within the Karnataka Lokayukta.
