BJP MLC Ravi urges Guv to take action against police officers for ill-treating him

Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP MLC C T Ravi on Monday urged Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to take necessary legal action against the police personnel involved in his alleged ‘illegal arrest’ and for ill-treating him while he was in police custody in connection with a sexual harassment case registered against him for using a derogatory word against Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar.

He also requested the Governor to arrange for immediate additional security.

Speaking to reporters here, Ravi said the incident happened inside the council and the consent of the Council Chairperson, Basavaraj Horatti, should have been sought since all the powers inside the Council vests with him. The mistake committed by the police was that the case was registered without seeking the Chairperson’s consent.

He also said that he was arrested without any evidence.

“Now they (police) are saying that they will send it (video evidence) to the Forensic Science Laboratory and need the Chairperson’s permission, but my question is whose permission was taken before arresting me. They (police) arrested me with malafide intentions by succumbing to pressure from the ministers,” he added.

Recalling the December 19 episode in his letter to the Governor, the BJP leader accused top police officers of Belagavi and their subordinates of registering a case against him and ill-treating him under pressure from the ministers.

Ravi also accused them of making him travel 400 kms throughout the night of December 19 and injuring him to bleed in custody.

“The police never cared about my bleeding (head), vomiting in the police jeep, did not provide first aid and medical treatment for long hours. They made me starve without food and water for long hours, illtreated me like an animal, terribly tortured, harassed mentally and physically,” he alleged in the letter.

Alleging that the police tried all possible attempts to ‘eliminate’ him, Ravi requested the Governor to seek a clarification from the Director General of Police on the entire episode.