Bengaluru/Tumakuru, 13 June

A Bengaluru court on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against former chief minister and senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa in a POCSO case.

The Special Investigation Team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had moved the First Fast Track court seeking an arrest warrant against him since he failed to appear for questioning on Wednesday.

Yediyurappa had sought time to join the probe. 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.

Meanwhile, Home Minister G Parameshwara said that he may be arrested if necessary. "The chargesheet has to be filed by 15 June," he told reporters here.

According to police, Yediyurappa has been booked based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that he molested her daughter during a meeting on February two this year, at his residence in Dollars Colony here.

The victim's brother had filed a petition in the court earlier this week alleging that though the case was registered on 14 March, no progress has been made in the investigation. The petitioner prayed that Yediyurappa should be arrested and interrogated.

After the Sadashivanagar police registered the case in March, the Karnataka Director General of Police Alok Mohan had issued an order transferring it to the CID for further investigation.

The 54-year-old woman, who had leveled the charge against Yediyurappa, died at a private hospital here last month, due to lung cancer. -Salar News/PTI