Deve Gowda planned escape of his grandson Prajwal, says Siddaramaiah
Yadgir (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday alleged that former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda planned the escape of his grandson and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna abroad.
Prajwal is accused in an alleged sex scandal which is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Karnataka government. He is believed to have escaped to Germany shortly after polling in the first phase of elections in the state got over on April 26, in which Prajwal was the JD(S)-BJP combine's candidate from Hassan.
“Who gives passport and visa for travelling abroad? It’s the Centre. Can he go without the Centre’s knowledge? It was former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda who planned and sent him abroad,” the Chief Minister told reporters.
He was replying to a query on BJP’s allegation that the state government allowed him to escape.
The Chief Minister also slammed Home Minister Amit Shah and asked why his party gave ticket to its alliance partner candidate if BJP was pro "Matru Shakti" (women power).
The SIT headed by Additional Director General of Police B K Singh was formed after a huge cache of explicit videos, allegedly featuring Prajwal, went viral on social media. The team has two other IPS officers of SP rank.
Gowda’s son and former minister H D Revanna and his son Prajwal are facing sexual harassment allegations after a case was registered against them.
On Amit Shah’s statement that his party "respected Matru aur Nari Shakti", Siddaramaiah sought to know why it gave Prajwal a ticket when it had information about his videos beforehand.
“Why did BJP give ticket to him if it was ‘Pro-Matru-Shakti’? When they were aware of the video why the ticket was given to him? Why did they form an alliance when they knew that there were such videos? What does it mean? What does it indicate? Please explain to me,” the Chief Minister said.
He also ruled out his deputy D K Shivakumar’s involvement in leaking the videos as has been alleged by JD(S) second-in-command H D Kumaraswamy.
“Kumaraswamy says that these videos were leaked. Karthik is Prajwal Revanna’s driver. He has said he gave it (pen drive comprising videos and photos) to BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda. Did he say that he gave it to D K Shivakumar? How can he (Kumaraswamy) say that D K Shivakumar released it,” Siddaramaiah said.
He underlined that Devaraje Gowda had said that he received it but denied releasing it.
“If such is the case then, who released it (videos)? Whom did he give the pen drive to? D K Shivakumar has no connection with this case,” the Chief Minister said.
He asked reporters to wait for the outcome of the investigation into the case.
He said the investigation will be transparent and his party will not interfere with the SIT or its probe.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
