Bengaluru: In major relief for former excise minister H.Y. Meti, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has given a clean chit to him in the sex scandal that had cost him his ministerial berth. The report was submitted five months after the state government ordered a CID probe in the case.
The CID in its eight-page report to the home department, termed the sex CD which allegedly featured Meti and a government employee Vijayalaxmi having sex, as doctored and not genuine. The CID sleuths were investigating the case since December last year.
The CID officials further said in the report which was submitted on May 17 that there was no complaint lodged against Meti in this regard in any police station and the woman shown in the video with the former minister cannot be treated as a reliable witness since she had changed her stance several times.
It may be mentioned that the 30-second sex video which went viral (the original video was reportedly 30 minutes long) does not show the woman's face. The woman in the video who accused Meti of seeking sexual favours from her for transfer and regularisation of her services later took a U-turn saying Meti was like her father. "This has reportedly weakened the case considerably. Besides, the fact that the original video was missing went in favour of Meti," the report stated.
According to sources, the sleuths collected all videos shown in the regional media and circulated on social media platforms to examine them. But the videos were found edited. The officials could not find the original video.
"The Forensic Science Laboratory in its report has also stated that the video was edited and there was no technical evidence to prove it was genuine as all the videos were edited," the sources added.
After the sex video went viral on December 14, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, had forced him to tender his resignation with sources saying Meti is hoping to get back his ministerial post.
