Non-bailable arrest warrant against ex-CM Yediyurappa in POCSO case

A Bengaluru court on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against former Karnataka chief minister and senior BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa in a POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act case.

A special investigation team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had moved the first fast track court seeking an arrest warrant against him since he failed to appear for questioning on Wednesday. Yediyurappa had sought time to join the probe.

The BJP veteran, who is also a member of the party's parliamentary board, is presently in Delhi, and he is likely to join the probe after he returns, sources close to him have said.

According to police, Yediyurappa has been booked under the POCSO Act and section 354 A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl, who alleged that he molested her daughter during a meeting on 2 February this year, at his residence in Dollars Colony in Bengaluru.

The 54-year-old woman who had levelled the charge against Yediyurappa died of lung cancer in a private hospital in Bengaluru last month.

The victim's brother had filed a petition in court earlier this week alleging that though the case was registered on 14 March, no progress had been made in the investigation. The petitioner prayed that Yediyurappa should be arrested and interrogated.

After the Sadashivanagar police registered the case in March, Karnataka director-general of police Alok Mohan had issued an order transferring it to the CID for further investigation.

The 81-year-old Yediyurappa has denied the charge and said he would fight the case legally. In April, the CID collected the voice sample of Yediyurappa after summoning him to its office.

The government, meanwhile, has appointed special public prosecutor Ashok H. Nayak to represent the CID in the case. Yediyurappa has moved court seeking quashing of the FIR.