Sexual Abuse: No sign of Prajwal’s return as deadline set by him ended on Tuesday
Bengaluru (PTI): The seven days’ time sought by Hassan’s NDA Lok Sabha candidate Prajwal Revanna to appear before the Special Investigation Team probing sexual abuse allegations against him ended on Tuesday but there was no sign of his return from abroad.
The 33-year-old JD(S) MP and grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda flew to Germany as soon as news spread that the Karnataka State Commission for Women Nagalakshmi Chowdhary had written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking a probe into the explicit videos of Prajwal allegedly sexually abusing several women.
A lookout notice for Prajwal has been issued at all airports in India, along with a Blue Corner notice.
A Blue Corner notice issued by Interpol helps countries collect and share information regarding a person's location and their activities as part of a criminal investigation.
Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy claimed on Tuesday that he was not in touch with his nephew Prajwal.
Addressing a press conference, the JD(S) second-in-command said action against those who commit offences should be taken as per law.
Sources in the Special Investigation Team said they received calls on a helpline number on Monday as well as on Tuesday but they declined to share details.
However, Kumaraswamy claimed that no one had called the helpline number till now.
Meanwhile, JD(S) MLA H D Revanna and Prajwal’s father, who is in the custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on charges of kidnapping a woman who was allegedly sexually abused by Prajwal, failed to get relief on Tuesday from the Special Court for Elected Representatives here.
The court adjourned the hearing on his bail plea to Wednesday.
The SIT took him to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital and Victoria Hospital for a medical check-up on Tuesday evening.
Revanna, son of JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, and his confidant Sathish Babanna were booked on Thursday night for allegedly abducting a woman on April 29.
The case was registered on a complaint filed by the woman's son. In his complaint, he accused Revanna's son and JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna of having sexually abused his mother.
The SIT has also secured the custody of Babanna.
The woman was allegedly abducted to prevent her from testifying against Prajwal, police sources said.
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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.
