Bengaluru: The government has transferred the criminal case involving Additional Director General of Police, Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) P. Ravindranath in a molestation case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Earlier the Director General and Inspector General, Lalrokhuma Pachuau, had on Wednesday written to the government requesting them to transfer the case to the CID for fair and impartial investigation following the escalating controversy and counter-allegations between senior police officers.
“He is a senior-ranking IPS officer and there is a criminal case against him. He has accused the Commissioner of Police and his officials of framing and manhandling him and has even accused the DG&IGP of not protecting him. The city police cannot and should not investigate this case. It should be given to the CID,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, in a fresh twist to the ongoing controversy, Mr Ravindranath, who has been accused of taking “obscene” photographs of a young woman in a coffee shop on Cunningham Road, on Wednesday afternoon stormed into Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar’s office and asked Mr Auradkar to arrest him. The commissioner was holding a meeting with Additional Commissioner (Law & order) Kamal Pant, when Mr Ravindranath barged into the office around 1 pm and told the commissioner to arrest him.
“You arrest me. I have come here to be arrested,” he told Mr Auradkar, while putting his hands out. He accused the Commissioner of engineering the conspiracy to implicate him. Mr. Auradkar told Mr Ravindranath that the case is under investigation, but the ADGP continued to insist that he be arrested.
At this point, Mr Auradkar asked his sentry to open the door and asked Mr Ravindranath to leave. When Mr Ravindranath refused to leave, the commissioner went to the office of DG&IGP Lalrokhuma Pachuau. Mr Ravindranath reportedly followed Mr Auradkar to the state police chief’s office. Mr Pachuau asked Mr Ravindranath to go to his office, which is in the same building. The Commissioner briefed Mr Pachuau and left.
The High grounds Police Station has registered an FIR against Mr. Ravindranath under Sections 354 (assault a woman with the intention of outraging her modesty) and 506 of the Indian Penal Code following a criminal complaint by the complainant.
