No evidence for seer’s allegation against singer Premalatha: CID

[email protected] (CD Network)
February 22, 2017

Karwar, Feb 22: Central Investigation Department (CID) has given clean chit to singer Premalatha and her husband Divakar in connection with alleged blackmail case filed by Sri Ramachandrapura Mutt and its Seer Raghaveshwara Bharathi Swami.

1seerlathaOn Wednesday, the CID team submitted ‘B’ report to the Honnavara JMFC court stating that there was no solid evidence to prove the allegations made against Premalatha and her husband by the seer.

Premalatha had earlier filed a complaint against the seer accusing him of sexually exploiting her for many times in the mutt.

In his complaint to Honnavar police in August, 2014, the seer had claimed that Premalatha and Divakar had demanded Rs 2 crore to "not to lodge rape complaint against him".

Following the complaint filed at Honnavar police station in 2014, after an enquiry by the police department, the state government had transferred the case to CID for further investigation.

Background

It could be recalled here that last year a local court had given clean chit to the same seer in the rape case filed against him by Premalatha.

Prior to that the CID charge sheet in the case (164/2014) registered with the Girinagar police station in Bengaluru, had established that the seer has sexually abused the singer repeatedly during the Rama Katha discourses across the country since 2011.

The vital evidence in the case claimed by the CID was the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report. The CID stated that the FSL report confirmed that the DNA sample found on the material evidence matched with the DNA of the seer. The charge sheet also stated that the seer repeatedly threatened the victim of incurring divine displeasure (if she did not comply). Hence, section 508 of IPC was also included.

The court had taken cognisance of the charge sheet and had summoned the accused. Before the stage of Hearing Before Charge (HBC), the seer had filed a discharge application. The CID objected stating that since the charges against the accused were serious, only a trial would unearth the facts. The court, however, discharged him of all the offences.

The victim had stated that after the Rama Katha programme at Gokarna in Uttara Kannada, in September 2011, the seer had made the first sexual advances at her.

Later, during the Rama Katha discourses held at Jodhpur in Rajasthan in October 2011, the seer had called her to his private room and given her some prasadam. The victim stated that the sexual abuse had taken place in Kolkata, Mumbai and in nine districts of Karnataka. The victim was a prominent singer in the Rama Katha programmes and the seer was also present during these programmes. The CID had conducted mahazar and recorded the statements of witnesses at all the places stated by the victim.

In July 2014, a woman by name Deepika, who participated in Rama Katha discourses, filed a complaint with the Honnavar police saying she got threatening calls asking her not to participate in the discourse.

In August 2014, Mutt staffer Raghavendra Madhyasta filed a complaint with the Puttur town police stating he got threat calls asking him not to support the seer.

In August 2014, one Chandrashekhar of Ramachandrapura Mutt filed a complaint with the Honnavar police against the victim in FIR number 164/2014 and her husband of blackmailing the seer for Rs 3 crore. The couple was arrested by Honnavar police and kept in judicial custody.

In August 2014, victim's daughter filed a complaint with the Girinagar (Bengaluru) police stating the seer had sexually abused her mother. The CID filed a charge sheet against the seer; the court (on Thursday) discharged the seer.

In August 2014, victim's brother-in-law Shyamprasad Shastry committed suicide by shooting himself at his residence in Puttur, Dakshina Kannada district. Shastry’s wife Sandhya Lakshmi filed a complaint stating that her husband was threatened by the mutt staff to ask the victim to withdraw the rape case against the seer.

Comments

S. Sultan
 - 
Thursday, 23 Feb 2017

Still do we need such a KAPATA SWAMY?????????

Why is he yet not stripped, naked, garlanded, processioned.

The society does not need such swamy.

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News Network
June 26,2020

Udupi, June 26: BJP leader K Raghavendra Kini has been appointed as the new Chairman of Udupi Urban Development Authority (UUDA) by Government of Karnataka.

A well-known businessman, Raghavendra Kini is also serving as the president of Kunjibettu Consumers’ Multipurpose Co-operative Union.

Along with him, the State Government has appointed Suma Naika, Praveen Kumar Shetty and Kishor Kumar as members of the Authority.

Comments

How to apply t…
 - 
Friday, 24 Jul 2020

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Could you please let us know the process to apply the akrama sakrama land convert to residential purpose.

 

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 19,2020

Bengaluru, May 19: In the wake of assurance by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to look into their demands, hotels and restaurants in Karnataka today decided to continue takeaway services for three more days.

Hotels were also exempted from the total lockdown on Sundays in Karnataka - under the state guidelines issued for Lockdown 4.0.

The Karnataka Pradesh Hotel and Restaurants' Association (KPHRA) had earlier threatened to stop takeaway services over refusal to allow dine-in facility in the fourth phase of the lockdown. 

B Chandrashekar Hebbar, president of KPHRA said that the CM urged hoteliers to wait for three days, assuring that a decision will be taken. 

"We appraised the government over the mounting losses by keeping just take-away services open. Noting that social distancing and other guidelines will be followed, we urged him to allow dine-in facility," he said.

The Association will wait three more days before discontinuing parcel services, Hebbar said. 

The government also provided relaxation to hotels from the total lockdown announced in Karnataka on Sundays, he said. 

A package for hotel employees such as cooks and waiters, along the lines of those announced for farmers, cab drivers and weavers, was also sought in a petition submitted to the chief minister.

In fact the state government had expressed its willingness to open hotels under the Lockdown 4.0, subject to restrictions. However, the central guidelines do not allow dine-in services.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Bengaluru, May 20: Ride-sharing company Ola Cabs said on Wednesday it will lay off 1,400 of its employees due to business uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic while the revenue has come down by 95 per cent in the past two months.

"The COVID crisis continues to unfold all around us causing unprecedented economic and social destruction. It has also become evident that the coronavirus will not be eliminated any time soon," wrote co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal to all Ola employees.

"In these circumstances, today I write to all of you with the toughest decision I have ever taken -- the need to downsize our organisation and let go of 1,400 of our valued employees," he said.

Aggarwal said the fallout of virus has been very tough for the cab aggregating industry in particular. "The company's revenue has come down by 95 per cent over the past two months," he said.

Initially, he said, the company hoped it would be a short-lived crisis and that its impact would be temporary. "But unfortunately, it is not been a short crisis. And the prognosis ahead for our business is very unclear and uncertain. It is going to take a long time for people to go out and about like before."
With more companies preferring to have a large number of employees work from home, air travel limited to essential trips and vacations being put off for better times, the impact of this crisis is definitely going to be long-drawn, said Aggarwal.

"The world is not going to revert to the pre-COVID era anytime soon. Social distancing, anxiety and an abundance of caution will be the operating principles for everyone," he told employees.

Aggarwal said the crisis necessitates the need to conserve cash aggressively so that Ola is able to invest in opportunities in the future, adding the downsizing exercise has been a very tough and sad decision for the management team to make.

"While we restructure our organisation to the new realities of our business, we are also going to recommit ourselves to strengthening our operational excellence and leverage a lot more technology to improve efficiencies and reduce cost across all parts of our business," he said.

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