After alleged rape, gang rape probe against BJP Karnataka MLA: Who is Munirathna Naidu?
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) that had been investigating a string of cases against Karnataka MLA Munirathna Naidu started looking into another case on him Thursday.
The latest case was filed Monday by a woman BJP worker who reported an incident of gangrape in the MLA's office from 2023. A day later, the police booked Munirathna and his alleged accomplices — Vasantha, Channakeshava and Kamal – under section 376D (gang rape), 270 (act likely to spread infection), 354 (assault on a woman), and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Munirathna's career has been dotted with controversy.
He began his political career as a councillor from Yeshwanthpur in North Bangalore and first became an MLA in 2013.
Munirathna, a legislator from the Rajarajeshwarinagar constituency, was elected in 2013 and 2018 on a Congress ticket. He jumped ship to the BJP during the political turmoil in 2019 and won the bypoll as the BJP nominee a year later.
The following year, in August, he was inducted into the Cabinet as the Minister of Horticulture, and Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics.
In 2018, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) named the film producer and contractor-turned-politician in connection with a fake bill scam in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
The scam, dating back to 2014, was related to the execution of civic works worth Rs 1,500 crore in the Rajarajeshwarinagar, Malleshwaram, and Gandhinagar constituencies. It was alleged that bills were raised more than once for the same work in some cases, while in others they were claimed for projects that were not even taken up. Munirathna who was a Congress MLA at the time was accused number four in the chargesheet.
Another major case was in 2018, when Munirathna found himself entangled was the seizure of around 9,800 voter IDs from an apartment in Jalahalli.
Two years later, the Karnataka High Court ordered a re-examination of chargesheets filed in connection with the case in response to a Public Interest Litigation plea that alleged lapses in the investigation.
In March 2023, the police booked Munirathna for an alleged hate speech against Christians.
The following month, a letter demanding the immediate arrest of Munirathna, who was the Horticulture Minister then in the BJP government, in a hate speech case started a row between him and the Karnataka State Contractors' Association.
Later that year, the association's president, D Kempanna, and four other office-bearers were arrested in connection with a defamation case that Munirathna had filed against them. Kempanna had implied, without naming Munirathna, that the minister was threatening officials to extort money.
In September 2024, the Karnataka government constituted a SIT to probe multiple allegations against state BJP MLA Munirathna.
Among the cases the SIT took up is of alleged sexual abuse of a 40-year-old woman between 2020 and 2022. Complaints in the case claimed he had used her to honeytrap political rivals and infect a former corporator's husband with HIV.
Munirathna is known to be associated with contractors in Bengaluru city who control various city projects and was seen to be closely associated with Congress leaders like Ramalinga Reddy and D K Shivakumar.
The former minister has also dabbled in films. He is seen to be close to former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and produced a film featuring his son and actor-turned-politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy. He also produced the Rajnikanth blockbuster Lingaa.
Munirathna is also infamous as the contractor associated with the BBMP wall collapse case in central Bengaluru on June 1, 2010, in which a 17-year-old college girl died.
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