Hassan: Union minister HD Kumaraswamy Saturday accused chief minister DK Shivakumar and home minister Priyank Kharge of conspiring to implicate the JD(S) in the alleged sting operation involving former chief minister Siddaramaiah, claiming the investigation was being diverted despite the alleged perpetrator admitting to conducting the operation.After visiting Sri Ranganathaswamy temple at Mavinakere Betta in Holenarasipura taluk, Kumaraswamy alleged that journalist Rakesh Shetty, Congress functionary Krupa Alva and their associates had conducted the operation.“Siddaramaiah and his son Yathindra have also mentioned their names. Despite this, the chief minister and the home minister are trying to turn the entire issue towards us. We are not afraid and our party has the strength to fight this,” he said.Kumaraswamy alleged that Shivakumar was the first to raise the issue of a sting operation in Karnataka and that the JD(S) had been targeted since information emerged about the purported operation against Siddaramaiah.He accused the home minister of targeting the families of young people working in the JD(S) war room and social media team through searches, while those accused of conducting the sting were being spared.“Instead of pursuing those accused of conducting and recording the sting, police are going after our party workers. This investigation is being conducted in a manner that creates suspicion about me,” he alleged.Questioning the govt’s handling of the case, Kumaraswamy asked why the accused, who allegedly conducted the operation in 2023 in association with Congress workers, was being protected. He claimed the govt had not opposed the accused’s anticipatory bail application.He also alleged that women in the families of JD(S) war room members were being threatened during searches and that the seizure of mobile phones and laptops was intended to create evidence linking the party to the sting.‘TV employee’s death covered up’Kumaraswamy also questioned the handling of the alleged suspicious death of Vicky, an employee of Kannada channel Power TV.“Why was the incident covered up? Why was an unnatural death report (UDR) registered? Why was there no investigation? If it was an unnatural death, why was a post-mortem not conducted?” he asked.He claimed to have information that a person who promised Rs 10 lakh in compensation to the employee’s family had paid only Rs 2 lakh, without naming the individual.“If you keep asking us for evidence, what is the police department for? Is it meant to create false evidence? The accused has appeared on television and said he conducted the sting, yet we are being asked to provide evidence about it,” he said, criticising Kharge’s handling of the investigation.Links sting op to KPSC scamKumaraswamy alleged that the sting controversy was being used to divert attention from the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) scam.Reacting to Kharge’s claim that 80% of the sting investigation had been completed, Kumaraswamy said, “Let us see what they do with the remaining 20% of the sting investigation. They are conducting this probe to cover up their own alleged wrongdoing and irregularities. Their investigation will not reach to the logical end”He alleged that the govt had facilitated anticipatory bail for the person he described as the principal accused and was attempting to close the case without taking the investigation to its logical conclusion.“They are experts at moving the chess pieces. They are trying to conduct the investigation in a way that allows them to close the matter by handing it over to someone else,” he said.
