Sex Crimes Accused Prajwal Revanna's Brother Claims He's Being Blackmailed

Janata Dal-Secular leader Suraj Revanna, the brother of Prajwal Revanna who is facing charges of sex crimes allegations by multiple women, has alleged that he is being threatened with a false case of sexual assault by a man in Karnataka's Hassan.

The complaint has been filed by Suraj Revanna's friend Shivkumar against two men. Shivkumar alleged that a man and his brother-in-law approached him and demanded Rs 5 crore, threatening that he would file a sexual abuse case against Suraj Revanna if their demands were not met.

Shivkumar said that the man had first approached him to help him find a job. Shivkumar gave him Suraj Revanna's number and asked him to contact Suraj.

But he started blackmailing Shivkumar and Suraj after he failed to get a job, the complaint said.

This comes days after former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna was sent to judicial custody. The 33-year-old grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda had failed in his bid to retain the Hassan parliamentary constituency in the recent polls.

The cases of sexual abuse came to light after pen-drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna were reportedly circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls there on April 26.

JD(S) suspended him from the party following the cases filed against him. The BJP has distanced itself from Revanna and the investigation. Its state unit boss, S Prakash, said, "We, as a party, have nothing to do with the videos and neither do we have any comments to make..."

A police case has also been filed against his father, HD Revanna, for allegedly kidnapping a woman who said she had been raped by both men. The father, a former MLA and Public Works Department Minister, was given bail in the kidnapping case on May 14 and the sexual assault case after that.