BJP MLA arrested in rape, honey trap case in K'taka

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Munirathna was arrested on Friday in connection with the rape and honey-trapping charges in Bengaluru, said officials here.  

The Kaggalipura police, which had lodged an FIR, took the MLA into custody immediately after he came out of the Bengaluru Central Prison.

The court on Thursday had granted him bail in two cases registered at Vyalikaval police station over allegations of atrocity and issuing life threats. The team headed by Deputy SP Dinakar Shetty at the Central Prison had taken him into custody and arrested him, police sources confirmed.

The police will question the MLA in the rape and honey-trapping case and are likely to produce him before the court on Saturday.

Karnataka Police had lodged an FIR against the jailed MLA in connection with raping, honey-trapping, videographing an act of rape, and threatening a woman social activist.

Earlier, Muniratha was jailed in Bengaluru Central Prison on charges of issuing life threats and using casteist slurs against a contractor. The Special Court had allowed Munirathna’s bail plea on Thursday in these cases.

The Kaggalipura police in Ramanagara district had filed an FIR against Munirathna on Thursday following a complaint by a woman social activist. The complainant stated in her complaint that she was introduced to Munirathna in public life. He developed closeness by making calls to her over mobile. He had taken her to a godown owned by him in Mutyalanagara and raped her.

The complainant had also stated that he recorded the act and threatened her that if the matter came out she would be dealt with severely. The victim also claimed that she was forced to honeytrap people in different private resorts. “BJP MLA forced me to carry out honey traps. He had threatened me with life to get this job done,” the victim stated in her complaint as per sources.

Kaggalipura police have also filed an FIR against six of his associates -- Vijaykumar, Kiran, Lohit, Manjunath, Loki and two others.

The victim had approached the police late in the night on Wednesday and recorded her statements before Deputy SP Dinakar Shetty. The police registered the case in the early hours of Thursday under IPC Sections 354 (A), 354 (C), 308, 406, 384, 120 (B), 504, 506 and 149.

The police have also booked the MLA from Rajarajeshwari Nagar under the provisions of the IT Act and the Representation of the People Act. The case has been registered under the IPC Sections as the incident took place earlier.

The victim, while coming out of the police station on Thursday said that she was stressed and was not permitted by the police department to talk about the incident. “I have suffered a lot,” she stated.