New Delhi, Oct 28 Union minister and JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday asked party workers not to be intimidated by police “harassment”, advising them to note down the names of officials he claimed were acting illegally under political pressure.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Kumaraswamy said he knew who was pressuring the police.
“At most, it is just one more year. Then we will come to power and settle the accounts. However, give respect to those officers who work for the people without violating the law,” he said.
Referring to Chief Minister DK Shivkumar’s often repeated remark that time answers everything, Kumaraswamy said, “Our time will definitely come.”
He warned that officers who break the law would face punishment “whether they are in service or retired at home”.
The Union minister alleged that two or three honest officers had already withdrawn from the probe team, refusing to be part of what he called an “unjust and premeditated” investigation.
Kumaraswamy claimed that the Congress-led state government was staging an “investigative drama” by retaining officers who “dance to their tunes”.
Kumaraswamy also took aim at state Home Minister Priyank Kharge, saying the Congress’s defeat in four Legislative Council constituencies was a direct response to his “misrule and misuse of power”.
Objecting to a notice served on JD(S) worker Chandan on Tuesday, Kumaraswamy claimed police had been illegally searching for him even before that, saying that none of his associates had “run away”.
Before leaving for Delhi, he had said he would return in five days and speak out against the state home minister, adding that those wondering about his three-day silence “have now received their answer”.
The JD(S) state chief also made a series of allegations against the Karnataka Police and the Congress leadership, accusing them of misusing the force, covering up a youth’s death and conspiring to damage former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s image.
Alleging police overreach, Kumaraswamy claimed officers entered the home of Mohan Gowda, a worker in the JD(S) war room, on the pretext of a search warrant while he was away.
He alleged they assaulted and shoved Gowda’s wife and forcibly seized her mobile phone even after she offered to hand it over once she had consulted a lawyer. He said he had seen footage of the incident.
The minister further claimed a false FIR was registered overnight accusing the woman of stealing a police officer’s chain that fell during the scuffle.
He said JD(S) workers returned the chain to Byadarahalli police station the next morning, yet newspapers and TV channels carried stories of “chain theft by women”.
“The days of retribution for that female officer are definitely coming,” he warned.
Kumaraswamy also said he had information on the police’s role in covering up the death of a youth, Vicky (Vikas), who fell from the fourth floor of a private channel’s building one year and three months ago.
He questioned whether Vicky fell into the elevator shaft on his own or was pushed, and why the person with him was unharmed. He asked why footage of the fall was edited and aired with “fabricated stories”, and demanded an impartial probe.
Kumaraswamy demanded that Kharge reveal who ordered the sting operation, alleging that a Congress woman leader appointed chairperson of the Committee for the Protection of Women and Children’s Rights during the Siddaramaiah government in June 2015 was the “primary mastermind” of the conspiracy.
He also asked why there was no probe into those who, in 2023, allegedly recorded a video using a young woman to trap an individual from a private channel.
Kumaraswamy further alleged that AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and his son, state Home Minister Priyank Kharge, were targeting Siddaramaiah.
The real aim, he claimed, was not to “finish” him but to destroy Siddaramaiah’s public image by framing him through a case built in Kumaraswamy’s name.
He linked this to an old grudge, alleging Siddaramaiah was the reason Mallikarjun Kharge missed the chief minister’s post in the past. He also cited media reports that former chief ministers had reprimanded CCB officers who came to brief them on the sting.
“I have done no wrong… No one can silence Kumaraswamy’s voice,” the JD(S) state chief said, adding that “the invisible divine power that protects truth and dharma” was on his side.
(PTI News)
