H D Kumaraswamy and Nikhil Kumaraswamy
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: In a significant development, Bengaluru police have registered an FIR against union minister H D Kumaraswamy, his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy and their aide Suresh Babu for allegedly threatening a senior IPS officer and making false allegations.
The FIR was registered by Sanjaynagar police based on the complaint from Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) M Chandrasekhar, who also heads the Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Karnataka Lokayukta probing a case, where Kumaraswamy is an accused.
The senior officer has alleged that after he sought permission from the Karnataka Governor to take legal against Kumaraswamy, the Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries, for "illegally" approving a mining lease to Sri Sai Venkateshwara Minerals (SSVM), the union minister levelled several false allegations against him.
Chandrasekhar said that on September 28 and 29, Kumaraswamy held a press conference, made false accusations and issued threats.
“He [Kumaraswamy] orally threatened that I would be transferred to some other cadre from the Karnataka cadre,” Chandrasekhar alleged. “False allegations of bribery were also levelled. He has also made similar allegations against my family and claimed that I used falsified medical records to continue in the Karnataka cadre of the Indian Police Service (IPS).”
The ADGP said that Nikhil also levelled such allegations on September 29. “Kumaraswamy’s aide Babu wrote a letter to the Karnataka chief secretary against me and then made the letter public on social media and threatened me."
While the complaint was filed in October, the FIR was registered on November 4, following permission from the 42nd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM), a well-placed police source confirmed to DH.
The police have invoked Section 224 (threat of injury to public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Following Kumaraswamy's claims, Chandrasekhar wrote a letter to his staff and termed the union minister an “accused who is on bail and is targeting me to demotivate my officers".
"This accused [Kumaraswamy], who is on bail, has done this to create fear in the minds of officers of SIT by attacking me. But an accused, however high and mighty he may be, is an accused,” Chandrasekhar said.
Quoting playwright George Bernard Shaw, the ADGP added: “Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”