Controversial video of senior K'taka police officer goes viral, CM warns of action
Bengaluru (PTI): A video purportedly showing Karnataka DGP (Civil Rights Enforcement) K Ramachandra Rao in an alleged compromising position with women went viral in the social media on Monday.
Rao sought to reject the videos outright terming them "fabricated and false."
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah warned of action if the official was found guilty. The DGP's attempt to clarify his position with Home Minister G Parameshwara did not fructify.
The top police officer is the stepfather of Harshavardhini Ranya alias Ranya Rao, arrested in a sensational gold smuggling case and currently lodged in the Bengaluru Central Jail.
Kannada TV news channels too aired the blurred images of women in the video.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, "We will get it investigated."
"I got to know about it in the morning. We will initiate disciplinary action against him. No one is above law, notwithstanding how senior the police officer is," he said responding the controversy surrounding the Director General of Police.
As the videos went viral, Rao rushed to meet Parameshwara but the meeting did not take place.
Speaking to reporters outside the minister's house, he said, "I am also thinking how and when it happened and who has done it. In this era anything can happen. I have no idea about it.”
When reporters said that this is an old video, he said, "Old means, eight years ago when I was in Belagavi."
Asked about his next course of action, he said he would discuss with his advocate about it.
"I am shocked. It is all fabricated, lie. The video is all false. I have no idea about it," Rao said.
When reporters asked how this happened, he said, "I will know only if it had happened. I don't know about it."
He added that he will explain to the Home Minister that false information is being spread.
Karnataka minister Laxmi Hebbalkar said the government will take action if someone has done something wrong.
"Being the Woman and Child Development Minister I can tell you that we will take action mercilessly, irrespective of the seniority he holds," she told reporters.
Senior BJP MLA and former Minister S Suresh Kumar slammed the "disgraceful act of police officer" as "an inexcusable crime".
"Rao has committed an act that has brought a blot on the entire police department. The act committed by this senior officer, in uniform and within his own office, has made people view the police department itself with suspicion and doubt," Kumar said in a statement.
The MLA alleged that earlier when large-scale gold smuggling had taken place by misusing the official's name and position, the government had washed its hands of the matter by sending him on compulsory leave.
Social activist Dinesh Kallahalli demanded Rao's suspension.
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Man booked for duping firm of Rs 6 cr by posing as Infosys CSR official
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against a man and his accomplices for allegedly cheating a firm of Rs 6 crore by falsely claiming to be associated with an IT company and promising to facilitate CSR funds for its projects, police said on Friday.
The crime is said to have taken place between September 1, 2025 and March 20, 2026, and after consultation with legal experts the company decided to file a complaint at the Devanahalli police station here, they said.
The FIR was registered on March 30 following a complaint by Mysore Mercantile Company, alleging that a person named Gagan N Deep approached them, posing as the Regional Head (CSR) at Infosys Ltd, they said.
According to the FIR, Deep claimed he reported to senior officials - Harsh J, Senior Regional Manager - Infrastructure, Facilities Operation, Public Relations and CSR Works, and Niladri Prasad Mishra, Senior Vice President and Head - Global Infrastructure and Climate Action.
The FIR alleged that the accused expressed interest in the activities of their associated trust, Heggunje Rajeeva Shetty Charitable Trust, Bangalore, and assured facilitation of CSR funds from Infosys Ltd.
It further stated that the accused sent a team of four to five individuals representing Infosys, including persons identified as Chethan and Tejas, to Udupi, Mangaluru and other places to verify the trust’s activities.
According to the complaint, the accused subsequently induced the complainant to pay an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to alleged regular vendors of Infosys as a condition for approval of CSR grants.
The complainant stated that a total amount of Rs 6 crore was paid, including Rs 1.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of Anitha Ventures and Rs 3.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of ANS Engineerings, apart from an additional cash payment of Rs 30 lakh allegedly handed over to the accused through his driver near Nandi Upachar Hotel in Devanahalli, as per his instructions.
The FIR further alleged that the accused issued a purported sanction letter dated October 21, 2025, allegedly from Infosys bearing the signature of Mishra, and executed a grant agreement dated January 8, 2026 between Infosys and the charitable trust for the construction of more than 855 houses across Karnataka with a total grant of Rs 179 crore.
Another grant agreement dated January 13, 2026 was also executed for construction of primary health care centres across the state with a total grant of Rs 178 crore, it stated.
However, the complainant later suspected that the representations made by the accused were false, the documents were fabricated, and the entire transaction was fraudulent in nature, as the accused dishonestly induced them to part with substantial amounts under the pretext of EMD for CSR grants.
"Despite repeated follow-ups neither has any grant materialised nor have the amounts been returned, and the accused is now unresponsive and deliberately avoiding communication," the FIR added.
A case has been registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), Section 319(2) (cheating by personation), Section 336(3) (forgery for the purpose of cheating), police said, adding that further investigation into the matter is underway.
Efforts are being made to nab the suspects in the case, they added.
