Bengaluru, Oct 9: Around seven months after a controversial conversation between Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa and Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister H N Ananth Kumar went viral, a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report has confirmed their voices in the video/audio file in which they were heard discussing the 'kickback' paid to BJP central leadership’.
The cyber police of the Bengaluru City had registered a FIR (40/2017) after receiving a complaint from a Congress worker. With this FSL report, the case may now be transferred to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), sources said.
CM Dhananjaya, chairman of KPCC’s legal cell, had filed a complaint on February 15 over the conversation about the payment made to the BJP central leadership. The Cyber police had sent the video file to the FSL. The FSL report, a copy of which is available with DH, stated that both the video and audio pertaining to the said conversation matches with the sample video and audio of the two leaders. The FSL report was sent to the Police Inspector of Cyber Crime police station on October 4.
Earlier, the two leaders had not turned up to give voice samples. The Congress moved the court seeking directions to the leaders to give their voice samples. The court then directed both to appear before the cybercrime police to provide their voice samples.
The conversation between the two leaders was part of a series of allegations and counter allegations between the Congress and the BJP leaders. In February 2017, BJP leaders released the contents of a diary, reportedly recovered by the Income Tax sleuths from Congress MLC K Govindaraj who was raided in March 2016. The diary had entries which the BJP claimed as definite information that the state Congress paid huge sums of money to its high command.
Soon after that, the Congress released a video footage in which Ananth Kumar and Yeddyurappa were talking about kickbacks to the BJP central leadership. The conversation between the two leaders was recorded on the sidelines of the executive committee meeting of the Bengaluru city unit of the BJP on February 12. The two leaders were heard discussing the issue while Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda was delivering his speech at the meet.
A senior police official said that the Cyber Crime Police station had registered the FIR under sections 43, 66 of Information Technology Act and sections 120 (a), 120 (b), 124 (a) of IPC. “Since the FSL report is positive, the case may be transferred to the ACB for further investigation as it involves alleged payment of kickbacks,’’ the official said.
Conversation
“You have given it to the high command... I have also given…But I have not given Rs 1,000 crore… As you had given it then, he has also given it seems. This implies that he (chief minister) has admitted it,” Ananth Kumar apparently told Yeddyurappa. To this, Yeddyurappa asked: “Does anybody write down what is given?” Then Ananth Kumar says, “Slush rebounds on throwing a stone into it. Nobody will believe if the chief minister says he has not given Rs 1,000 crore. Everybody will think that he has given the money.”
Comments
Add new comment