BELAGAVI/BENGALURU:
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former state minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who resigned from the Cabinet after a sex video of him surfaced in the state two years ago, attacked state Congress president DK Shivakumar on Monday and accused the latter of hatching a conspiracy against him over the sex CD case. Addressing a press briefing here in Belagavi, former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi said that DK Shivakumar and Congress leaders including Belagavi Rural MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar are behind the video.
“They are hatching a conspiracy to discredit me,” the BJP leader asserted. He also demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the matter.
The case had come to light on March 2, 2021, when Kallahalli, a social activist, lodged a complaint with the police and demanded a probe into a sex scandal against Jarkiholi, while he was Karnataka’s Major and Medium Water Resources Minister. “The victim woman was offered a job in the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL). Upon reaching the pre-decided location, the woman was sexually assaulted and now is being threatened by the minister and his people,” Kallahalli had said.
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The purported sex tape showed the minister in a compromising position with the woman.Jarkiholi tendered his resignation on March 3, 2021, from his post over his alleged involvement in the sexual assault of a woman. Jarkiholi, however, has been denying all allegations and claiming the videos as fake.
During the press briefing today, Jarkiholi underscored that he will retire from politics after the arrest of DK Shivakumar as he does not want to be involved in dirty politics like this. (ANI)
