Karnataka Congress leader arrested for sexually assaulting salon employee

A Karnataka Congress leader, who was reportedly the former aide of a minister, was arrested on Sunday (September 18) for allegedly sexually assaulting an employee working for him at his salon in Dharwad district.

The 20-year-old woman, alleged in her complaint that the accused, Manoj Karjagi, dropped in at the salon on Saturday, and tried to hug and kiss her. She immediately alerted her boyfriend, who arrived with his two other friends and beat up the Congress politician. According to media reports, Karjagi, who has been charged under sections 341 (Punishment For Wrongful Restraint) and 354A (Sexual harassment), has been sent to judicial custody.

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Reacting to the incident, the Congress party said that the leader was a former aide of a minister and he is no longer involved in the party’s activities. Karjagi was the former director of northwest Karnataka State Transport Corporation during Siddaramaiah’s tenure as chief minister of the state.

Photographs of him along with the former Karnataka CM have also surfaced.

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