Karnataka | Court issues arrest warrant against Yediyurappa in POCSO case

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 Criminal Investigation Department (CID), probing the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) case against Yediyurappa, had earlier summoned him for questioning. He, however, had sought time to appear before the investigation officer of the CID.

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 sexually assaulted her daughter during a meeting on February two this year, at his residence in Dollars Colony in Bengaluru.

On March 14, hours after the Sadashivanagar police registered the case, the Karnataka Director General of Police Alok Mohan issued an order transferring it to the CID for further investigation with immediate effect. 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.

Earlier, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said, “If necessary they will arrest. I can’t say (if) it is necessary, CID has to say it. If they feel it is necessary, they will do it.”