Hours after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to probe the “CD scandal” connected to former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, sleuths moved swiftly and questioned four persons, including three journalists from three Kannada news channels. No arrests have been made yet, as there has been no FIR registered yet, sources said.
Activist Dinesh Kallahalli had lodged a complaint with Cubbon Park police, submitting a video allegedly showing intimate moments of Mr. Jarkiholi with a woman whom he had promised a job. But he claimed he did not know the identity of the woman, and also refused to disclose the source of the video.
Investigations led the police to Naresh Gowda, hailing from Sira and residing in the city, as a possible source of the video to Dinesh Kallahalli. He is being questioned. Meanwhile, cops have also questioned three journalists, who are suspected to have had the possession of the video before it became public and allegedly had a role in it being uploaded on social media. They are being questioned based on their call records and certain financial transactions, sources said.
Senior police officials expressed confidence that the interrogation of these people, and another two individuals for whom search is on, will give them leads to the identity and whereabouts of the woman in the video.
Earlier in the day, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant announced a six-member SIT led by Soumendu Mukherjee. Sandeep Patil, Joint Commissioner (Crime), M. N. Anucheth, DCP (Central), Ravi Kumar, DCP (Crime), Dharmendra Kumar, ACP, CCB and Murali, Inspector Cubbon Park Police will be its other members.
