SIT probe in sexual abuse case involving MP Prajwal 'losing track': JD(S) to petition Governor
Bengaluru (PTI): JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday alleged that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing into the sexual abuse charges against his nephew, Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, is "losing track", and said his party would submit a memorandum to Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot.
The former chief minister, while maintaining that he wants the guilty to be punished in accordance with the law, raised questions on the progress of the probe by the SIT constituted by the Karnataka's Congress government.
Also raising questions regarding the investigation against Prajwal's father and his brother, MLA H D Revanna, who is facing kidnapping charges, Kumaraswamy asked why the woman who was allegedly kidnapped has not been produced before the court so far, after she was rescued.
"We are giving a memorandum to the Governor as to how the investigation is losing its track... I have been saying since day one that whoever has committed wrong has to be punished. Looking at the way in which things are going on, it looks like none of these people want the guilty punished, but want publicity... What is the achievement (progress) since the investigation began?" Kumaraswamy said.
While speaking to reporters here, he said there is information that the family of the kidnapped woman has been kept here. He questioned why the woman has not been produced before the court till now.
"It has been how many days since the kidnapped woman was brought here? Has her statement been recorded under section 164 of CrPC (statements recorded by magistrate)? Has she been produced before the judge? It has been five days, why has the woman not been produced before the judge? From where was she brought? Was the 'mahazar' done? Was she brought from some farmhouse as claimed and reported in the media?," Kumaraswamy asked.
Further questioning why the SIT has not shared this information so far, the JD(S) leader said it has been five days since the woman was brought here, and they have not said anything on whether Revanna was responsible for the abduction or not.
"Why is the truth not placed before the court? They have sought time till Monday to file their objection. It means they want to keep Revanna in jail for three more days. They (Congress leaders) want to fulfill their hate, that is what they want. They don't want punishment for the guilty," he added. "I don't know whether the issue will die down after June 4 (Lok Sabha polls results)."
Revanna was remanded into judicial custody till May 14 by a magisterial court here on Wednesday.
He was in the custody of the SIT after being arrested in the alleged case of kidnapping a woman.
The case was filed based on a complaint by her son, who also accused the MLA's son Prajwal Revanna of having sexually assaulted her.
According to the police, the abducted woman was subsequently rescued.
The 33-year-old Prajwal Revanna is facing charges of sexually abusing several women. The scandal has raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and the BJP-JD(S) engaged in a slugfest.
Responding to a question on Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar allegedly targeting him, Kumaraswamy sarcastically said, "Yes I'm the producer, director and also I'm the lead of the story... Shivakumar wants me to be the lead of the story right? I'm happy that he has accepted me as the lead of the story."
Shivakumar on Wednesday charged Kumaraswamy with being behind the circulation of videos of the sexual abuse of several women allegedly by Prajwal Revanna, and called the JDS second-in-command the "king of blackmailing" and the "lead, director, and producer of the story."
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Who is Iran's first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, appointed acting president after crash?
Dubai (AP/PTI): Iran's first Vice President Mohammad Mokhber was appointed as acting president of the Islamic Republic on Monday after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in the country's northwest.
Raisi's death under the constitution thrust Mokhber into public view. He is expected to serve as caretaker president for some 50 days before mandatory presidential elections in Iran.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the announcement of Mokhber's appointment in a condolence message he shared for Raisi's death in the crash Sunday. The helicopter was found Monday in northwestern Iran.
Despite his low-key public profile, Mokhber has held prominent positions with in the country's power structure, particularly in its bonyads, or charitable foundations.
Mokhber oversaw a bonyad known in English as the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order, or EIKO, referring to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The US Treasury said the organisation oversaw billions of dollars in assets as “a business juggernaut under the direct supervision of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that has a stake in nearly every sector of the Iranian economy, including energy, telecommunications, and financial services”.
“EIKO has systematically violated the rights of dissidents by confiscating land and property from opponents of the regime, including political opponents, religious minorities, and exiled Iranians,” the Treasury said in 2021 in sanctioning Mokhber. The European Union also had sanctioned Mokhber for a time with others over concerns then about Iran's nuclear programme.
As the head of EIKO, Mokhber oversaw an effort to make a COVID-19 vaccine during the height of the pandemic, pledging to make tens of millions of doses.
Mokhber previously worked in banking and telecommunications. He also worked at the Mostazafan Foundation, another bonyad that's a major conglomerate that manages the country's mega-projects and businesses. While there, he found himself entangled in a bitter legal dispute between mobile phone service providers Turkcell and South Africa's MTN over potentially entering the Iranian market.
Iranian media reports suggest Mokhber, who holds a doctorate in international law, was crucial in Iranian efforts to bypass Western sanctions on its oil industry.
Mokhber has been a member of Iran's Expediency Council since 2022, which advises the supreme leader, as well as settles disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council, Iran's constitutional watchdog that also oversees the country's elections.
Mokhber was born Sept 1, 1955, in Dezful in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province to a clerical family. He served as an officer in the Revolutionary Guard's medical corps during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, according to the pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran.
“Mokhber used the vast wealth accumulated by EIKO — at the expense of the Iranian people—to reward regime insiders like himself,” UANI said. “Managing the patronage network endeared him to the supreme leader, but at a cost.”
