Published Oct 29, 2026 | 3:00 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 29, 2026 | 3:00 PM
Siddaramaiah said his conscience is clear that he is completely innocent.
Synopsis: The investigation into a purported sting operation targeting former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has stirred controversy in the state and put the DK Shivakumar-led government in a difficult position. Police are examining the source of the video, while six people have come under the scanner, including the managing director of a TV news channel and a Congress woman leader.
The investigation into a purported sting operation targeting former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has stirred controversy in the state and put the DK Shivakumar-led government in a difficult position.
The video surfaced online on 27 September 2026 and was reportedly recorded in 2023, ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections. It allegedly shows Alva and Shetty in conversation with another woman, who makes claims about incidents from 2011, when Siddaramaiah was the Leader of the Opposition. The video and the claims made in it have not been verified.
Siddaramaiah has alleged that the video was fabricated and passed off as a “sting operation” to blackmail and defame him.
He filed a police complaint seeking a thorough investigation. On 13 October, a Bengaluru civil court issued an interim injunction restraining the circulation of specified videos and related material.
Police registered a case on 6 October following Siddaramaiah’s complaint. As of 26 October, six people had emerged as key persons of interest in the investigation.
Also Read: DK Shivakumar warns Bengaluru IT firms of action over alleged bias against Kannadigas
Ritesh Pandey, 22, from Uttar Pradesh, was arrested in Delhi on 24 October in connection with the online circulation of the footage. He was brought to Bengaluru for questioning and later granted conditional bail.
According to the police, Pandey allegedly uploaded the video to social media platforms, including a YouTube channel named “Karnataka Honeytrap”.
The police said they traced the upload to a mobile phone and found that the footage had been transferred from a pen drive before being posted online. They seized the phone allegedly used to upload the video for forensic examination.
Pandey reportedly told the police that Prajwal Prasad, described as a member of a political party’s social media team, had instructed him to upload the video.
Rakesh Shetty, managing director of Kannada news channel Power TV, is one of the two principal figures in the controversy.
Siddaramaiah has alleged that Shetty and Congress leader Krupa Alva collaborated to produce the fabricated video. The former Chief Minister has said that Shetty himself acknowledged conducting the operation. Shetty, however, has maintained that the recording was part of journalistic work.
Power TV has built its profile through investigative reports and politically sensitive allegations. Shetty has previously faced controversy over the channel’s reporting on alleged corruption involving former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and his family. In a separate case, a businessman accused Shetty of extortion involving secretly recorded conversations.
Shetty was questioned by the police in the present case. On 23 October, a Bengaluru court granted him interim anticipatory bail and adjourned the hearing on his anticipatory bail petition to 30 October.
Also Read: RSS holds around 100 marches across Bengaluru; Ashoka alleges government curbs
Krupa Alva, a Congress leader and spokesperson from Mangaluru in Dakshina Kannada district, is the other principal person of interest in the investigation. She chaired the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights from 2015 to 2018, during Siddaramaiah’s first tenure as Chief Minister.
Alva entered public life after her husband, Amar Alva, was shot dead in Mangaluru in 1992, reportedly in a gang rivalry. She subsequently established the Amar Alva Charitable Trust and became involved in social service before joining the Congress.
Minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah, the former Chief Minister’s son, suggested that Alva’s political ambitions in contesting the Assembly election from Puttur on a Congress ticket might have motivated the operation.
Alva appeared before the Crime Branch for questioning. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president B K Hariprasad said the party would issue her a show-cause notice.
Chandan HS is a member of the Janata Dal (Secular)’s war room and social media team.
Bengaluru police issued notices to him on 13 October and 23 October, seeking his participation in the investigation into the circulation of the footage. The police are trying to establish who supplied the video to Ritesh Pandey and whether JD(S) workers were involved in its distribution.
JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy has demanded that the police focus on those behind the alleged sting operation rather than target party workers. On 26 October, he urged the party’s social media and war room workers to cooperate with the investigation.
Mohan Gowda has also been identified as a member of the JD(S) social media network. Police reportedly issued notices to him on 13 October and 23 October in connection with the investigation.
JD(S) representatives alleged that the police searched Gowda’s residence on 23 October and seized electronic devices, including a pen drive. The party also alleged that Gowda’s wife was manhandled when she objected to the seizure of her mobile phone.
The police are investigating whether any device seized from the residence contains the footage or evidence of its transfer or publication.
(Edited by Dese Gowda).
