Bengaluru, 14 May

JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday alleged that there was a "big whale" behind the leaking of explicit videos of women being sexually abused allegedly by his nephew and party MP from Hassan Prajwal Revanna.

Kumaraswamy’s swipe was apparently against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who refused to comment on it.

Talking to reporters about the Prajwal Revanna case, he said an MLA from Mandya said ‘large whales’ were behind releasing the video.

When asked to explain who the ‘big whale’ is, Kumaraswamy said, “Who else it is? Today an MLA from Mandya spoke about ‘big whale’. Whatever the ‘big whale’ is saying, the same is followed by the ‘small whales’.”

He said that listening to the arguments of the lawyers it appears prima facie that the arrest of MLA HD Revanna, Kumaraswamy's brother, was "politics of hate".

The government initiated action against Revanna to spoil the reputation of former prime minister Deve Gowda, the former chief minister alleged.

Reacting to Kumaraswamy's remarks, Shivakumar said, “Let him (Kumaraswamy) arrest and swallow the ‘big whale’. I am neither director nor producer. I am only an exhibitor, theatre exhibitor.”

On Kumaraswamy’s charges that Revanna was arrested to defame Deve Gowda, the deputy chief minister said, “Not at all. See, I too feel sorry for him (Revanna). I too feel that such things should not happen. It’s such a big family. Let them think whatever they want but I don’t wish anything bad for anyone and I don’t need it.”

Shivakumar, said he believed in the law of nature and he too had suffered a lot. Revanna, who is the elder son of Deve Gowda, was arrested along with his confidant Sathish Babanna for allegedly abducting a woman on 29 April.

The case was registered on a complaint filed by the woman's son, who alleged that his mother was sexually abused by Revanna's son and JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna. The woman was allegedly abducted to prevent her from testifying against Prajwal, police sources said.

Prajwal, reportedly left the country on 27 April, a day after the elections, and has skipped the SIT summons to appear before it. Interpol has issued a Blue Corner Notice against the "absconding" MP, who is facing sexual abuse charges. Revanna was released on bail on Tuesday. PTI