Kumaraswamy slams Congress MLA for his ‘Colombo’ remark

PTI, Sep 12, 2020, 7:21 PM IST

Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday hit out at Congress MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, whose name is allegedly linked to the drugs case, for his remark that JD(S) leaders had been to Colombo and said the latter has made statements of unrelated events which occurred in 2014.

Facing allegations over his presence at a casino in Colombo where Kannada film actress Sanjjanaa Galrani, who is now arrested in a drug case, was allegedly present, Khan sought to know what was wrong in going there.

He told a news channel on Saturday that not only he but also JD(S) MLAs and other senior party functionaries along with their leader H D Kumaraswamy had been to Colombo.

Taking serious note of the statement, Kumaraswamy said “It is true that JDS travelled to Colombo, Sri Lanka, with lawmakers, MPs, former legislators and key leaders to discuss the JDS party’s confidential agenda and future political strategies.

However, it was not a clandestine ”Colombo trip”,” Kumaraswamy tweeted.

Referring to Khan, who was earlier in the JDS before joining the Congress, the former chief minister said a politician who was in his party has made statements of unrelated events.

“In June 2014, I had openly told the media that I would be travelling to Colombo to discuss the party organisation in detail, and released to the media video footage of the debate with lawmakers there.

There was no secret in it,” he tweeted.

Underlining that the trip to Colombo was not expensive, Kumaraswamy said he had spoken to the media before going to and returning from the neighbouring country.

He even claimed that his trip to the capital of Sri Lanka was his first and the last.

The drugs case gained momentum with the Narcotics Control Bureau arresting three people in Bengaluru for allegedly supplying drugs to Kannada film stars and singers.

Soon after the arrest, the City police too started investigation. Besides the Central crime branch, the Enforcement Directorate has also started probing the financial aspects of the drugs scandal.