Latest news with #Munirathna
The Print
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
Gang rape, poll rigging, bid to inject rival with HIV—litany of charges against Karnataka BJP MLA Munirathna
The rowdy-sheeter in question was Munirathna, now the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Rajarajeshwarinagar, and the police officer, B.B. Ashok Kumar. 'He [Munirathna] then started getting more government contracts, became a city corporator, MLA and even a minister. But then these allegations started coming out,' Kumar told ThePrint. The prisoner did not try to escape and eventually secured the tender to build a road from Bengaluru city to Nandi Hills, a distance of roughly 50 km. This particular stretch was laid about two months before the second SAARC summit was to be held in Bengaluru in November 1986, when heads of states of six SAARC member nations took this road to reach a retreat in Nandi Hills, as planned by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Bengaluru: In mid-1986, a handcuffed rowdy-sheeter asked the police officer who arrested him for a favour: to be taken to the city corporation so he could deposit Rs 10,000 for a tender for a road construction project. Hoping this might be a step towards prisoner reform, the officer agreed to escort him to the BBMP head office in handcuffs. 'If you try to escape, you will be shot,' he warned the rowdy-sheeter, then in his early 20s. Last week, a 40-year-old woman accused Munirathna and four of his alleged aides of gang-raping her in 2023, urinating on her face, injecting her with a virus and threatening to kill her entire family if she were to disclose the treatment to anyone. In this case, they have been booked under IPC sections 376D (gang rape), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 354 (assault or criminal force against a woman), and 506 (criminal intimidation), among others. 'This is a case we have sent for the transfer of the SIT, because already an SIT has been established and a request has been made to transfer that case,' said a senior police officer who did not wish to be named. ThePrint reached Munirathna for comment but calls to him went unanswered. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. As of Sunday evening, the the four-time MLA had not been arrested in this case. Over the course of his political career, Munirathna has faced a host of other serious criminal charges—from rape, election rigging to trying to inject a political adversary with HIV-infected blood. He is out on bail in most cases. On his part, the former corporator has levelled serious accusations against political adversaries, particularly D.K. Suresh, the younger brother of Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar. On 25 December last year, during a programme to celebrate former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birth anniversary, an egg was hurled at Munirathna. He had then claimed that it was an 'acid egg' and blamed the DK brothers for attempting to kill him. 'D.K. Suresh, D.K. Shivakumar and the defeated (MLA) candidate Kusuma and her father Hanumantharayappa, all of them…about a hundred people tried to kill me in a group,' he told reporters while sitting on a dharna at the spot where he claimed he was attacked. Also Read: Why Karnataka's new police chief is best known as 'one-way Saleem' Cases against Munirathna In September last year, Munirathna walked out of Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara (central jail) where he had spent three days in connection with an SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act case for allegedly hurling casteist abuse against a former corporator. In a recording of a purported phone conversation between Munirathna and a contractor, the BJP MLA was heard using casteist slurs and threatening to 'finish off' the former corporator. But minutes after he stepped out of the central jail, he was arrested again; this time in a case in which a 40-year-old woman accused him and six others of rape, sexual harassment and culpable homicide. In her complaint, the woman alleged Munirathna raped her, filmed the act and used the video to blackmail her. According to the complaint, she was also forced to help Munirathna 'honeytrap' his political rivals. Investigators have filed a chargesheet in this case. The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the serious and recurring charges against the MLA, who was elected to the Assembly on a Congress ticket in 2013 and 2018. Police filed a 2,481-page chargesheet which accused Munirathna, along with a police inspector, of trying to inject then revenue minister and now Leader of the Opposition in Karnataka, R. Ashoka, with HIV-infected blood. 'This is an explosive situation. I am not sure if this is true or not and the police should probe this. But if this is the situation in politics, no leader can survive and no minister can carry out their duties. We meet thousands of people every day, accepting hundreds of garlands and bouquets. How do we trust anyone?' Ashoka had told Power TV at the time. Controversies involving Munirathna go back several years. On 1 June, 2010, a 17-year-old girl was killed when a wall at a veterinary college near Bengaluru's Mekri Circle collapsed on her as she was trying to shelter herself from the rain. Munirathna was then a newly-elected corporator from Yeshwanthpur and had overseen the construction of that wall. The issue was debated for days in the city council but he did not face any charges. Three years later, he successfully contested on a Congress ticket from Rajarajeshwarinagar seat. On the eve of the 2018 assembly polls, Munirathna was booked along with 13 others in connection with the recovery of nearly 10,000 fake voter ID cards from an apartment in Jalahalli. Police have filed a chargesheet and he is currently out on bail in this case. In 2019, Munirathna defected to BJP. He was among the 17 legislators who walked out of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance that led to the collapse of the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led coalition government. He was made junior minister for horticulture, as well as planning, programme monitoring and statistics in the B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP governments that followed. While he is now with BJP, Munirathna is still seen as being close to Siddaramaiah and has at times broken with the party line to praise the incumbent Congress government. According to B.B. Ashok Kumar, he is among the many rowdy-sheeters of Bengaluru who entered mainstream politics. Among other things, he is also a movie producer. In the early 1980s, Munirathna was a close aide of Kotwal Ramachandra, a notorious criminal who features in almost every story about Bengaluru's brief tryst with the underworld. Munirathna's brother, Korangu Krishna, too was a rowdy-sheeter. Kumar recalled that after Kotwal died, Munirathna spent many nights at the police station out of fear of being targeted by former boss's rivals. Munirathna's rise in politics also coincided with a surge in his declared wealth—from Rs 28 crore in 2013 to Rs 293 crore in 2023, according to affidavits submitted to the Election Commission. Given his sizable victory margins, Munirathna remains a force to reckon with. (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: 'Won't be surprised if Prajwal is welcomed with garlands' — 1 yr on, victims still hiding
Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
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.
Indian Express
22-05-2025
- Indian Express
SIT to probe gang rape case involving Karnataka BJP MLA Munirathna
A special investigation team (SIT) has taken up the case against Karnataka BJP MLA Munirathna who has been accused by a 40-year-old woman of masterminding her gang rape, urinating on her and injecting her with a deadly virus. Police had booked Munirathna and his alleged accomplices, Vasantha, Channakeshawa and Kamal, on Tuesday. The SIT had been formed last year after Munirathna was accused of rape, blackmail, harassment, bribery and using casteist language, among other charges. A police officer said that as the SIT had already been probing Munirathna's criminal cases, the latest case, including all evidence and documents, was handed over to it. According to the FIR, the incident occurred on June 11, 2023, at the MLA's office. The woman, a BJP worker, alleged that Munirathna had influenced others to file false cases against her. The woman alleged that Munirathna had influenced others to file false cases against her. After being released from jail, she was told by Vasantha and Kamal that Munirathna would help clear the charges against her. She said that Vasantha and Kamal lured her to his office at his behest. Upon arrival, she was allegedly disrobed by Munirathna, Vasantha, and Channakeshawa. She alleged that the trio threatened to kill her son if she resisted. Munirathna then allegedly instructed the two men to rape her. In her statement, the woman also claimed that Munirathna urinated on her. Following this, an unidentified person reportedly entered with a white box and handed it to Munirathna, who then used a syringe from the box to inject her. He allegedly threatened to destroy her family if she spoke about the incident. The woman claimed that she was hospitalised in January and was found to have an incurable virus, prompting her to connect it with the 2023 incident. On Monday, the woman allegedly tried to die by suicide but survived and decided to report the matter to the police. The police on Tuesday booked the accused under sections 376D (gang rape), 270 (act likely to spread infection), 323 (causing hurt), 354 (assault on a woman), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (outraging modesty) of the Indian Penal Code.
NDTV
22-05-2025
- NDTV
BJP MLA N Munirathna Charged With Gangrape Of Party Worker
Bengaluru: Karnataka Police has registered an FIR against BJP MLA N. Munirathna, who represents the RR Nagar Assembly constituency in Bengaluru, on the charges of orchestrating the gangrape of a party worker. The RMC Yard police filed the FIR in Bengaluru based on a complaint of the 40-year-old victim. In addition to MLA Munirathna, the FIR names his associates Vasantha, Channakeshava, Kamal and an unidentified individual as co-accused in the case. According to the FIR, the police recorded the victim's statement at the hospital in Bengaluru, where she is currently undergoing treatment. The victim alleged that in 2013, Munirathna accused her of prostitution and got her jailed out of personal vengeance. Upon her release, she claimed the MLA again targeted her by having his associates implicate her in a murder case, resulting in another imprisonment. She was granted bail and released within a month. On June 11, 2023, at around 7 p.m., the second and fourth accused allegedly visited the victim's home, promising that the pending cases against her would be withdrawn if she accompanied them to Munirathna's office. The complainant alleged that at Munirathna's office, she was sexually assaulted. The FIR read: "The MLA got her raped by the first, second, and third accused. Later, Munirathna urinated on her face and injected her with a substance, telling her that she would suffer for the rest of her life." The FIR adds that the MLA warned her not to reveal details of the incident and directed his associates to drop her back home. On January 14, 2025, the victim began experiencing severe abdominal pain. Following a blood test, doctors informed her that she had contracted a virus. This diagnosis was confirmed at Victoria Hospital. Subsequent medical consultations revealed that she was suffering from an incurable disease, according to the FIR. Unable to endure the pain, the victim allegedly consumed sleeping pills on the night of May 19. A neighbour found her and admitted her to the hospital. The police have registered the FIR under IPC Sections 376D (gang rape), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (assault or criminal force to outrage modesty), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
Hindustan Times
22-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
BJP MLA Munirathna, four others booked for gang-rape
A first information report (FIR) was registered against Karnataka BJP MLA Munirathna and four others on Wednesday after a 40-year-old woman accused the MLA of masterminding a gang-rape, injecting her with a deadly virus and urinating on her face, police officers familiar with the matter said. The woman, claiming to be a BJP worker, filed a complaint at RMC Yard police station in northwestern Bengaluru and said the incident happened on June 11, 2023. She said in her complaint that the MLA's accomplices, Vasantha and Kamal, 'misled' her into visiting Munirathna's office in Mathikere, saying the MLA could 'help her clear criminal cases' which she claimed were 'falsely foisted on her at the MLA's behest.' The woman alleged that inside the office, Munirathna, Vasantha, Channakeshawa stripped her and threatened to kill her son if she resisted. 'Munirathna then instructed the two men to rape me,' she said in the complaint, adding that the MLA urinated on her face during the ordeal. An unidentified man later entered the office with a white box and handed it to Munirathna, the first information report (FIR) noted. 'He took a syringe from the box and injected me with an unknown substance. ,' she alleged. The MLA allegedly warned her that he would destroy her family if she spoke out about the assault. The woman said she was hospitalised in January this year and diagnosed with an incurable virus, which she believes was a result of the injection administered during the alleged incident. After surviving a suicide attempt on May 19, she said that she decided to report the matter to police. 'I had consumed pills, intending to end my life. But when I survived, I felt I needed to tell the truth,' she told police. The MLA, his accomplices Vasantha, Channakeshawa, and Kamal, and an unknown person have been named in the FIR, police said. 'We have booked the accused under Indian Penal Code sections 376D (gang rape), 270 (act likely to spread infection), 323 (causing hurt), 354 (assault on a woman), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (outraging modesty),' said a senior police officer probing the case. The woman alleged that Munirathna had long harboured a grudge against her for her political involvement within the BJP. 'He influenced others to file false complaints against me at Peenya and RMC Yard police stations,' she claimed. As of Wednesday, no official response had been issued by the MLA regarding the latest allegations. Munirathna, currently serving as Rajarajeshwari Nagar MLA, has previously been named in cases involving rape, blackmail, harassment, bribery, use of casteist language, and hate speech.
