Prajwal Revanna case: Bengaluru court denies anticipatory bail

A Bengaluru sessions court on Wednesday rejected suspended and absconding Janata Dal (S) MP Prajwal Revanna's anticipatory bail pleas in connection to the sexual abuse allegations against him. The court had earlier asked the special investigation team (SIT) probing the case to file objections against the pleas.

Revanna, who is reportedly in Germany, has booked a return flight to Bengaluru from Munich for 30 May, official sources said on Wednesday. According to the sources in the SIT, the 33-year-old grandson of JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda is expected to land in Bengaluru in the early hours of 31 May.

The SIT is maintaining vigil at Bengaluru's Kempegowda airport to arrest Revanna as soon as he lands, they said.

The MP, who is seeking re-election as the BJP-led NDA candidate from the Hassan Lok Sabha seat, fled abroad on 27 April as soon as news broke that the Karnataka State Commission for Women had requested chief minister Siddaramaiah to order an investigation into the huge cache of explicit videos, allegedly showing several women being sexually assaulted by him.

So far, two cases of sexual assault have been registered against Revanna. Two days ago, the Hassan MP released a video message in which he promised to appear before the SIT on 31 May and cooperate with the inquiry. The MP has twice cancelled flight tickets from Germany in the recent past, the sources added.

Meanwhile, the SIT conducted searches at Revanna's residence in the district headquarter town of Hassan on Tuesday, which went on late into the night. "Some incriminating material has been seized," a source said.

In the backdrop of the allegations against the absconding MP, a network of organisations at Naaveddu Nilladiddare will hold a ‘Hassan Chalo’ rally on 30 May. As many as 10,000 people are expected to participate in the public protest.