Hassan pen drive case: Prajwal Revanna’s former driver arrested

Team Udayavani, Jun 9, 2024, 10:51 AM IST

Hassan: The SIT (Special Investigation Team) arrested Karthik, the former driver of former MP Prajwal Revanna, on Saturday evening in connection with the sharing pen drive containing explicit videos.

Karthik was arrested by SIT police at the border of Hassan-Mysuru National Highway and taken to Bengaluru for interrogation.

A case was filed against Karthik and four others on April 23 at the CEN Police Station in Hassan for sharing obscene videos. Among the accused, Naveen Gowda and Chetan Gowda from Nelke village, Belur Taluk, are already in judicial custody.

However, Karthik, former President of Holenarsipur Municipality Puttaraju alias Putti, and Former Hassan MLA Pritam Gowda’s close associate ‘Quality Bar’ Sharath were not yet arrested. Puttaraju and Sharath are still to be apprehended.

Arrest After One and a Half Months

The case was filed against Karthik and the others on April 23 by JDS leader and lawyer Poornachandra Tejasvi. The accused had applied for anticipatory bail in Hassan Court, which was rejected. They then attempted to secure bail from the High Court, but were unsuccessful.

On June 4, the day the Hassan Lok Sabha election results were announced, Karthik and Sharath were seen celebrating in Hassan. There were allegations that the police did not arrest the accused despite their public celebrations. With SIT facing criticism for not arresting the accused for one and a half months, they have now apprehended Karthik.

Karthik, who served as a driver for the H.D. Revanna family for 15 years, hails from Kadavina Kote village near Holenarsipur town. He also worked as Prajwal’s driver. A dispute reportedly arose between Karthik and the Revanna family over a land purchase. Following this, Karthik allegedly collected explicit videos related to sexual harassment and later made them public.