PRAJWAL REVANNA VIDEO LEAK CASE

DKS offered me 100 cr to name Kumaraswamy: Jailed BJP leader

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

BENGALURU, MAY 17

BJP LEADER G Devaraje Gowda, who is currently in prison under various charges, Friday alleged that he was offered Rs 100 crore by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to blame JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy in leaking the pen drives containing videos of alleged sexual assault by Hassan JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna.

Speaking to reporters at Hassan after a bail hearing, he al- leged, "They offered me Rs 100 crore. Rs 5 crore was sent as ad-

vance to Room No 110 of Bowring Club in Bengaluru."

Shivakumar, he alleged, wanted to paint PM Narendra Modi in a "bad light" and "spoil Kumaraswamy's reputation".

Devaraje Gowda said that he refused the offer. "Since I did not join hands with them, they framed me in an atrocity case first, followed by a sexual harassment case and a **** case," he alleged.

He said that he had the evi- dence to back his claims, adding that "the government would fall" once he came out of jail.

Devaraje Gowda was re- manded in judicial custody till May 24 by a court in Hassan

Revanna bail plea

A special court in Bengaluru has reserved its order till Monday on a bail application moved by JD(S) MLA HD Revanna in con- nection with a sexual harassment case filed at Holenarsipur police station, Hassan district. The SIT opposed the bail plea of Revanna.

The special court had granted interim relief from arrest to Revanna Thursday, after the SIT demanded either police custody or judicial custody. Revanna's counsel had objected to the de- mand by SIT, citing that no non- bailable sections were invoked against him. The SIT argued that he could influence the probe.