Six, including Dalit Sene State unit president, arrested in connection with honey trap case

Dalit Sene State president and advocate Hanumanth Yelasanghi and his five close aides were arrested on Monday night in connection with what is being said a honey trap case in which a huge amount of ₹35 lakh has been extorted from a businessman in Kalaburagi.

The arrested men are Hanumanth Yelsanghi, Shrekant Reddy, Manjunath Bhandari, Udaykumar Khange, Arvind Kamalapur and Santosh Pala.

All the accused have been subjected to medical examination and were produced before a judge.

The honey trap racket was busted after a Maharashtra-based victim lodged a complaint against eight people at Station Bazaar Police Station.

Based on the complaint, the Kalaburagi Police picked up Prabhuling Hiremath and Raju Lengti for questioning and, based on their statement, they arrested these six.

BJP seeks CBI probe

BJP leader and former MLA Rajkumar Patil Telkur on Tuesday demanded that the investigation of the honey trap case in which women from neighbouring States were used for extorting money from officials and businessmen should be handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

He said that honey trap is not limited to Kalaburagi district, as women from Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are also involved.

Businessmen from Telangana and Maharashtra borders have also fallen victim to a well-planned honey trap and lost huge amounts. Mr. Telkur said that Police Inspector Shakeel Angadi is suspected to be involved in the case.

Minister’s silence

Questioning the silence of Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Priyank Kharge over the honey trap case, Mr. Telkur said that the people of Kalaburagi district are eager to know the secret behind Mr. Kharge’s silence on the honey trap case.

“Our district in-charge Minister (Mr. Kharge) who talks about various issues is maintaining silence when such a big honey trap racket has surfaced in his district right under his nose,” he said.

Mr. Telkur quipped that Mr. Kharge has been missing in action instead of addressing farmers problems. The farmers in the district have suffered huge crop loss due to incessant rainfall, he remined the Minister.

Protest planned

Mr. Telkur warned that if the Siddasiri Souharda Cooperative Sugar factory belonging to MLA Basangowda Patil Yatnal is not given permission to crush sugarcane by September 15, the BJP district unit along with sugarcane growers will stage a protest on September 17, the day a Cabinet meeting is scheduled in Kalaburagi.

Although the High Court has granted permission to Mr. Yatnal;s factory to crush sugarcane, the State government is politicizing it for no reason and has closed down the factory, he said.