On Friday, the Congress took to the Twitter and posted videos and photographs of Santro Ravi with Karnataka's top ministers.
Photo of Santro Ravi with Home Minister Araga Jnanendra. (Karnataka Congress/Twitter)
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday, 7 January, announced that he has ordered a detailed investigation against KS Manjunath alias Santro Ravi.
With various photographs of alleged sex trafficker Santro Ravi with ministers in the Karnataka government becoming public, the Congress charged that all of them have close proximity with him.
On Friday, the Congress took to the Twitter and posted videos and photographs of Santro Ravi with Karnataka’s top ministers.
In one photograph, Santro Ravi can be seen with bundles of currency notes spread on a table. The party sought to know why the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department could not find him.
A leaked photograph of Santro Ravi posing with wads of currency notes. (Supplied)
Dismissing the charges levelled by the Congress, Bommai said, “You cannot decide based on the photograph but the main issue is that there is a case against him (Ravi). A girl has lodged a complaint against him. If the investigation is taken up, then all other cases will also come out,” Bommai told reporters in Mysuru.
The chief minister said that he has instructed the Mysuru police to strictly investigate the case as there are many complaints against Santro Ravi.
It is said that he is a highly-connected person and that the police will discover his past and would take strict legal action against him, Bommai said.
When asked why no case against him has reached a logical end in the last 20 years, the chief minister said that this time, the state government has taken the complaint against him “very seriously”.
“We will get all the cases against him investigated and get him punished for them,” Bommai said.
When asked about the Congress sharing the videos and audios showing Santro Ravi involved in the “transfer business”, the chief minister reiterated that everything will be investigated.
“He was seen with many former chief ministers as well. That’s how he created an image for himself. These days, anything can be created on WhatsApp but a detailed investigation will reveal what kind of physical transaction he was involved in,” Bommai explained.
He also clarified that there was no question of protecting anyone and added that everything will be revealed.
"ಸಿಎಂ ನನಗೆ ಒನ್ ಟು ಒನ್ ಇದಾರೆ, ನನಗೆ ಸರ್ ಅಂತಾರೆ" – ಸ್ಯಾಂಟ್ರೋ ರವಿ
ಈತ ಸಿಎಂ ಪುತ್ರನಿಗೆ ಆತ್ಮೀಯ, ಗೃಹಸಚಿವರಿಗೂ ಆತ್ಮೀಯ, ಬಹುತೇಕ ಸಚಿವರಿಗೂ ಆತ್ಮೀಯ.
ವರ್ಗಾವಣೆ ದಂಧೆಯಲ್ಲಿನ ಈತನ ಆತ್ಮವಿಶ್ವಾಸಕ್ಕೆ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಪ್ರಭಾವಿಗಳ ಆತ್ಮೀಯತೆಯೇ ಕಾರಣವೇ @BJP4Karnataka?@BSBommai ಅವರೇ, ತಮಗೆ ಇತನೊಂದಿಗಿರುವ ವ್ಯವಹರವೇನು?#SayCM pic.twitter.com/SayMQ8RIE7
— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) January 5, 2023
About the Congress charge that Vidhana Soudha has become a “shopping mall” with ₹10.5 lakh cash being seized from a Public Works Department engineer inside Vidhana Soudha, Bommai retorted that in 2019, ₹22 lakh was seized from Congress MLA Puttarangashetty’s office.
The chief minister alleged that the Congress had turned Vidhana Soudha into their bank. Bommai also sought to know why the investigation against Puttarangashetty did not happen.
“Puttarangashetty was neither probed nor his statement recorded. The case was handed over to the ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau), which closed it. These people (Congress) covered it up. They don’t have the moral right to speak about others,” the chief minister said.
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