The Bengaluru Police’s Central Crime Branch (CCB) searched the residence and office of Power TV head Rakesh Shetty on Monday as part of its investigation into an alleged sting operation targeting former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, according to official sources cited by PTI. The searches were carried out in Bengaluru from the morning.
The action follows the questioning of Shetty and former Congress leader Kripa Alva, who police allege were connected to the sting videos. Two videos containing allegations against Siddaramaiah were uploaded on YouTube, reportedly in September. The former chief minister later approached the court and obtained an injunction restraining the media from reporting on the videos. He also filed a police complaint seeking an investigation.
The searches came a day after Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said that the mobile phone allegedly used to upload the videos was purchased in New Delhi and handed over to a person named Prajwal Prasad at the official residence of Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy in Delhi.
According to the Commissioner’s statement, the handover was made on Prasad’s instructions. The account was part of the statement given by arrested accused Ritesh Pandey, a Delhi-based man who police allege was involved in uploading the video.
Pandey was arrested in Delhi on October 24 and brought to Bengaluru for questioning. Police have identified him as the first person arrested in the case. The CCB’s investigation is examining the alleged chain of custody of the phone and the circumstances surrounding the publication of the videos.
The case has brought together questions involving digital evidence, media publication and alleged political targeting. However, the allegations against the individuals named in the investigation have not been established in court. The court injunction and the police investigation remain the operative legal processes governing the videos and the claims made in them.
The latest searches are part of the CCB’s continuing investigation. Police have not indicated in the supplied report whether further arrests or additional searches will follow.
