Hubballi: Seemingly unfazed by the sex scandal that forced his exit from the state Cabinet, former minister, H Y Meti, held a meeting with thousands of Congress workers in Bagalkot on Monday and received the unequivocal support of women members, who dismissed the entire episode as a conspiracy to tarnish his image.
The Congress leader , who was in his native village of Timmapur for the last few days, arrived in Bagalkot to cheers from a large number of his supporters. In a brief interaction with reporters, he refused to comment on the episode as it was being investigated by the CID.
“It would be inappropriate to talk about it as the government has already referred the case to the CID. I would prefer to wait till the report was submitted as it will clear all doubts on the issue,” the former minister said. Later, addressing his supporters, he said he would keep working for the people of the constituency.
Meanwhile, the Bagalkot district police have begun investigating the complaint filed by the woman, Vijayalaxmi, who claimed she was forced to accuse Mr Meti of sexually harassing her by four men, including his gunman, Subhas Mugalkhod. The police ,however, said they would not investigate the sex video tape as the woman had not filed any complaint against the former minister..
Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramanagouda Hatti said they would take serious note of her changing story on several occasions. “We are gathering evidence before detaining any of those who are absconding since the sex video tape was leaked to the media,” he added.
