Bengaluru, March 18 An SIT investigating the circulation of explicit videos and photographs linked to multiple allegations of sexual abuse has filed a charge sheet against 39 individuals in a court in Hassan, sources said on Wednesday.
Poornachandra Tejaswi M G, who was an election agent for former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, filed a complaint with Hassan police alleging the dissemination of obscene content through pendrives and messaging platforms during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with investigators suspecting an organized effort to influence voters.
Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former prime minister Deve Gowda, was convicted in a sexual assault case.
Sources said that the accused, who circulated the obscene videos purportedly of Prajwal Revanna, had allegedly purchased 70 pendrives to circulate the obscene content, and the police found that one of them procured them by making a UPI payment. They added that transaction details have been collected as part of the evidence.
The investigation was initially based on a complaint filed with the cybercrime police in April 2024, alleging that morphed images and videos were being circulated widely in the constituency to influence the electoral outcome.
A case was registered under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2008, along with relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Subsequently, the State government handed over the case to the SIT constituted to probe the larger allegations of sexual abuse. The probe team examined the role of over 50 individuals and, based on available material, named 39 persons in the charge sheet.
The charge sheet, running into over 13,000 pages, includes extensive documentary and digital evidence collected during the investigation, officials said.
Meanwhile, the complainant expressed dissatisfaction over the development, alleging that names of "influential people" had been dropped. He urged the authorities to "dig deeper" and identify the alleged kingpin behind the circulation network.