Bengaluru court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against ex-CM Yediyurappa in POCSO case

BENGALURU: A Bengaluru court on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa in a POCSO case.

The Special Investigation Team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had moved the First Fast Track court seeking an arrest warrant against him since he failed to appear for questioning on Wednesday. Yediyurappa had sought time to join the probe.

The BJP veteran, who is also a member of the party’s parliamentary board, is presently in Delhi, and he is likely to join the probe after he returns, sources close to him have said.

According to police, Yediyurappa has been booked under the POCSO Act and Section 354 A (Sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that he molested her daughter during a meeting on February two this year, at his residence in Dollars Colony here.

The victim’s brother had filed a petition in the court earlier this week alleging that though the case was registered on March 14, no progress has been made in the investigation. The petitioner prayed that Yediyurappa should be arrested and interrogated.

After the Sadashivanagar police registered the case in March, the Karnataka Director General of Police Alok Mohan had issued an order transferring it to the CID for further investigation.

The 54-year-old woman, who had leveled the charge against Yediyurappa, died at a private hospital here last month, due to lung cancer. The 81-year-old Yediyurappa has denied the charge and said he would fight the case legally.

In April, the CID collected the voice sample of Yediyurappa after summoning him to the office.

The government, meanwhile, has appointed Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Ashok H Nayak to represent the CID in the case.

Yediyurappa has moved the court seeking quashing of the FIR