BJP MP Pratap Simha's brother was 'framed' in tree felling case: Kumaraswamy

Bengaluru, Jan 5 (PTI) Former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday alleged that BJP MP Pratap Simha’s brother Vikram Simha was 'framed' in the tree felling case.

Vikram Simha was recently arrested and granted bail in the tree felling case in a farm where he intended to grow ginger.

Pratap Simha has alleged that his brother is being framed to defame him so that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah can field his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah from the Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha constituency on a Congress ticket.

The JD(S) second-in-command charged that the Forest officials brought rosewood from Gendekere forest and dumped it in the land, which Simha has taken on lease, on Siddaramaiah's directions.

According to him, the lease agreement started from January 1 but he was framed even before that.

Coming to the defence of Pratap Simha's brother, Kumaraswamy said the 'Gomala' (pasture land) was granted to Rakesh Shetty, who is now dead. His daughter Jayamma is taking care of it.

Jayamma had entered into the lease agreement with Vikram Simha to grant the land from January 2024 to 2027.

The case was initially registered against Jayamma as accused number one and Ravi as accused number two, the former chief minister said.

"The A-3 (Vikram Simha) was not there (in the FIR). There is a miscreant from Bengaluru who contacted CM and told him that he has brought a case to fix Vikram Simha. CM called the PCCF (Principal Chief Conservator of Forest). If we get the call list then we will get to know. This is a misuse of power,” Kumaraswamy charged.

The JD(S) leader said Jayamma and Ravi were granted bail at the forest officer's office but took the accused number three - Vikram Simha - to the court.

He claimed that the magistrate directed the forest officials to grant him bail from the Forest officer’s office as they did with two other accused.

"The CM directed the Forest officials to include Pratap Simha in the case. He (Siddaramaiah) being a lawyer knows how to create evidence. The rosewood trees from Gendekere forest were taken to the spot. The CM did this. This is how the state is being governed," Kumaraswamy alleged.

Claiming that he has information that Siddaramaiah ordered dumping the trees on the spot, he said the call list will provide all the details.

"Will you (Chief Minister) give this case to Justice Nagamohan Das committee or constitute another commission? I never discuss without knowing the facts. This is what has happened in this case," Kumaraswamy said.

He also said that no rosewood was cut in the farm which Simha had taken on lease.

"It was brought from Gendekere Forest and dumped in Vikram Simha's leased land to fix him. The trees that were felled in Vikram Simha's land were forest trees and not rosewood," the former chief minister claimed.

The JD(S) joined the BJP-led NDA in September last year after a meeting Kumaraswamy, former Prime Minister Deve Gowda's son, had with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national President J P Nadda in New Delhi.

The two parties have said they would fight the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka together.

In the elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly in May last year, the JD(S) put up a poor show, winning only 19 seats. The Congress bagged 135 to wrest power in the state and the BJP won 66 seats. PTI