Suraj Revanna arrested for alleged sexual abuse of party worker

JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna -- the brother of former MP Prajwal Revanna who is facing allegations of sexually abusing several women -- was arrested on Sunday, 23 June, on charges of "unnatural offences" against him, police sources said.

He was booked on Saturday for allegedly sexually abusing a party worker a few days ago and has been booked under different sections of the IPC, including "unnatural offences."

Suraj was questioned at CEN police station in Hassan overnight, before he was arrested, the sources said.

A 27-year-old man had complained to the police that Suraj Revanna, the eldest son of Holenarasipura MLA H D Revanna, sexually abused him at his farmhouse in Ghannikada on 16 June.

Based on the complaint, the Holenarasipura police registered a case against the JD(S) MLC under IPC sections 377 (unnatural offences), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) late on Saturday evening.

The police had contacted the victim in connection with the alleged sexual assault case and recorded his statement.

The police had also taken the victim for a medical test.

Sources said that the victim is being taken to Bengaluru for medical tests upon his insistence.

Reacting to the development, Suraj Revanna said that it is a political conspiracy against him, and he has no idea how long it will go.

"Baseless allegations are made against me and I outrightly reject these allegations. Things will be dealt with legally and an FIR is also lodged against the victim."

However, Suraj Revanna (37), the grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and the nephew of Union minister H D Kumaraswamy, has categorically refuted the charge. Suraj had also alleged the man had filed a false complaint against him in a bid to extort Rs 5 crore from him.

On Friday, police registered a case of extortion against the JD(S) worker on a complaint by Suraj Revanna's close aide Shivakumar.

Shivakumar had alleged that the party worker was trying to extort money from Suraj Revanna by threatening to lodge a false case of sexual assault against him.

It has been alleged that while the man demanded Rs 5 crore from Suraj Revanna, later it was reduced to Rs 2 crore.

Suraj's brother and former Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna is in police custody for allegedly sexually assaulting several women and was arrested upon his return from Germany last month.

Prajwal, who lost from Hassan Lok Sabha seat, was arrested on May 31 soon after returning from Germany where he was holed up after rape and intimidation cases were registered against him.

Their father H D Revanna and mother Bhavani are out on bail. They have been accused of kidnapping and keeping an alleged victim of their son Prajwal's sexual assaults.