Suraj Revanna arrested for alleged sexual assault of male JD(S) worker

JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna, the elder brother of Prajwal Revanna, has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a male party worker.

Suraj Revanna was brought to the CEN police station in Hassan for interrogation, which went on for several hours. He was later arrested.

Suraj Revanna was booked by the Karnataka police on Saturday for allegedly sodomising the party worker.

The 27-year-old party worker has alleged that Suraj Revanna sodomised him at his farmhouse in Ghannikada in Holenarasipura Taluk on June 16.

Also read: ' ₹5 crore demand, sodomy at farm house': What 2 FIRs say in Suraj Revanna sexual assault row

Suraj Revanna has been booked under IPC sections 377 (unnatural sex) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

Revanna, 37, the grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and the nephew of union minister H D Kumaraswamy, has categorically refuted the charge.

Suraj Revanna's aide Shivakumar filed a complaint against the party worker on Friday, saying he and his relative had tried to extort ₹5 crore from the JD(S) MLC. He said the duo threatened to file a false case of sexual assault against the politicians if he didn't meet their demand.

Shivakumar claimed in the FIR that the complainant later lowered his demand from ₹5 crore to ₹2 crore.

Per Shivakumar's complaint, accessed by HT, the JD(S) worker had met Suraj six months ago and again in June, seeking a job. The threat was made after the MLC said it wouldn't be possible for him to help the man get a job at present “but it might be considered in the future”.

The police have also booked the complainant and his relative over their alleged extortion attempt.

Revanna's younger brother, Prajwal Revanna is currently under judicial custody for allegedly sexually abusing women.

His father, JD(S) MLA HD Revanna was last month arrested in a kidnapping case in connection with the purported sex videos linked to Prajwal Revanna. He is out on bail.