Published Mar 21, 2026 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Mar 21, 2026 | 8:00 AM
Prajwal Revanna.
Synopsis: People who were once close to Prajwal Revanna leaked the videos and photographs of the alleged sexual abuses after they fell out with former MP.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has filed a fresh chargesheet against 39 people, including those associated with the BJP and Congress, for circulating videos and photos of the alleged sexual abuses by former Janata Dal (S) MP, Prajwal Revanna.
Details of the chargesheet explain how the accused strategically planned the leak of the videos and photos by handing them over to Revanna’s rivals and leaving them at public places. The suspended MP is currently serving life imprisonment after being convicted in one of the four sexual assault cases against him.
Among the accused are Karthik, a former driver of Revanna, Harish, Revanna’s auditor, Devaraje Gowda, a local BJP leader and Naveen Gowda.
The investigation was initially based on a complaint filed with the cybercrime police in April 2024, alleging that morphed images and videos were being circulated widely in Hassan to influence the electoral outcome ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Poornachandra Tejaswi MG, Revanna’s election agent during the 2024 polls, had lodged the complaint.
A case was registered under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2008, along with relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Naveen Gowda, who has been named as the first accused in the chargesheet, was with the JD(S) until 2019. However, he was not given proper status despite working with the party for long, the chargesheet stated. He eventually started identifying himself with the Congress after 2019.
He has been accused of posting teaser-like messages on Facebook, including prompts such as “follow this WhatsApp channel to see Prajwal Revanna’s video” and countdowns to the release of explicit content. The chargesheet noted that he deleted his account after the case was registered.
However, Gowda deleted his Facebook account after the case was registered, the chargesheet said. It listed several witnesses who mentioned that Gowda was one of the people who distributed the pen drives.
In fact, he distributed one such pen drive to Belur Block Congress President, Nishanth MJ, who was also mentioned as accused in the chargesheet. Nishanth connected the pen drive to the TV in his house and showed the obscene videos and photos to other accused and witnesses.
Karthik, Revanna’s former driver, is also a key accused in the chargesheet. Having worked with the Revanna family for over 15 years, the chargesheet noted that Karthik emerged as a “trustworthy” person for Revanna.
He secretly obtained the passwords of the former MP’s mobile, which would be left in the car and sent about 2000 to 2300 photos and videos to his mobile via Bluetooth and ShareChat.
He was removed from the job in 2023 and was forced to sell his 13.25 acres in Holenarasipura in Hassan after a dispute with the Revanna family. Driven by this enmity, Karthik decided to ally with BJP leader and Revanna’s rival Devaraje Gowda.
The former driver also called other accused to discuss a “premediated conspiracy” about how to distribute the videos and photos before the Lok Sabha elections. The chargesheet pointed out that Karthik filed a false complaint at a police station in Hassan in 2021, stating that his mobile phones were lost, to avoid any suspicion.
In a press conference in 2024, Gowda had declared that he would display the obscene videos in public. In fact, the press conference came after Revanna had obtained a gag order against 86 media organisations in June 2023, anticipating the leak of explicit videos and photographs. The chargesheet also traced how Gowda too was responsible for distributing the videos to multiple people.
It also stated that Karthik and Gowda continued their ‘conspiracy’ in a bid to take ‘political revenge’ against Revanna and his family ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The pattern of political enmity was visible in motives of other accused in the chargesheet as well. Chetan BC, the fifth accused, was involved with the JD(S) from 2014-2020, as its Youth President of Belur Taluk. However, he fell out with Revanna after not receiving support when he became a candidate in the agricultural credit cooperative society elections in 2020. Other JD(S) workers were also instructed not to support him.
Due to these reasons, the chargesheet noted, Chetan developed enmity towards Revanna and left JD(S). He joined Congress in 2021.
Harish, who was Revanna’s auditor, played a key role in purchasing the pen drives using UPI and copying the videos onto the pen drive. A total of 70 pen drives were purchased at a local shop for ₹13,500 through PhonePe and cash.
The chargesheet noted that the accused, in a bid to maintain secrecy, personally handed over the pen drives only to Revanna’s political rivals.
They further placed the drives in public places like Maharaja Park and District Stadium. The accused also decided to place the videos near offices of Bajrang Dal, RSS and BJP.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, complainant Tejaswi expressed dissatisfaction over the development, alleging that names of “influential people” had been dropped. He urged the authorities to “dig deeper” and identify the alleged kingpin behind the circulation network.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
