K’taka govt transfers Santro Ravi’s case to CID: Home minister

“The state government has directed the CID police to investigate the allegations against Santro Ravi, who is said to be a fraudster,” Jnanendra said on Monday.

The Karnataka government on Monday transferred the cases related to alleged sex trafficker Santro Ravi alias K S Manjunath to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), home minister Araga Jnanendra said.

The Karnataka government transferred the cases related to alleged sex trafficker Santro Ravi alias K S Manjunath to the CID (HT Photo)

“The state government has directed the CID police to investigate the allegations against Santro Ravi, who is said to be a fraudster,” Jnanendra said on Monday.

On Monday, the Vijayanagar police in Mysuru produced him before a local court, which extended his judicial custody for another ten days, till January 25, according to officials in the know of the matter.

Ravi, alleged to have been involved in several criminal cases, was arrested in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on January 13 and remanded to judicial custody on Saturday.

He was absconding since a case was filed against him on January 2. The police had formed four teams to arrest the accused and were working in different directions.

A row had erupted over Ravi’s alleged close relations with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka. The former chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy slammed the BJP after photos of him posing with chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, the home minister, and BJP national general secretary C T Ravi went viral on social media.

However, Jnanendra refuted the allegations and said Ravi would be punished according to the law.

On Monday, the home minister said, “I’m a person who is committed to clean politics and will not want to live if I have to earn money illegally from miscreants.”

Responding to Kumaraswamy, who questioned the home minister’s visit to Gujarat around the time Ravi was arrested, Jnanendra said, “My visit to Gujarat was scheduled long ago. My Gujarat visit and programmes led by a delegation of senior officers of the police department were transparent.”

Kumaraswamy on Saturday alleged that the state police stole evidence proving the links between BJP leaders and arrested Ravi. “Our home minister Araga Jnanendra is in Gujarat. The arrested Santro Ravi was also found there. What was our home minister doing in Gujarat is a million-dollar question. There is a BJP in government in Gujarat as well. His arrest episode is a drama to hush up all cases against him and his collusion with the ruling BJP,” Kumaraswamy alleged.

The JD (S) leader also questioned Ravi’s role in the transfer of several police officers after an audio clip in which he is heard speaking with a deputy superintendent of police (SP) level officer had gone viral on social media. In the alleged audio, Ravi demanded money for transfer and assured the official of any place in the state, claiming to have close links with top politicians.

Ravi was absconding after a 26-year-old Dalit woman filed a complaint against him at Vijayanagarara police station on January 2, charging him with sexual harassment, rape, a threat to life and abuse in the name of caste. According to the police, Ravi raped the mechanical engineering graduate, a gold medalist, when she visited his office seeking a job. Later, he married her, assaulted her, forced her to sleep with others, and even forced her for an abortion, demanding a dowry of ₹10 lakh.

Based on the complaint, Ravi was booked under the Dowry Prohibition Act, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Ordinance 2014 and sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 376 (punishment for rape), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease danger­ous to life), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).