Bengaluru: In May 2024, weeks before the Lok Sabha election results were due, Power TV chief Rakesh Shetty sat in his office in Bengaluru’s Yeshwantpur, juggling two phones that refused to stop ringing.
Donning a blazer and multiple gold rings, the self-proclaimed “King of Sting” looked every bit the part. Divine figurines, citations and memorabilia filled the shelves around him. His phone number had been leaked on social media, and callers were repeatedly hurling abuses at him, loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.
Shetty appeared unfazed. He engaged with some callers, lashed out at others and occasionally laughed, even daring those on the line to carry out their threats.
“I am used to all these threats. I know who is behind all this and they are trying to bully me into giving up on the story,” he said.
At the time, Shetty was at the centre of the controversy surrounding former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna, accused of sexually assaulting several women. Shetty and his Kannada news channel, Power TV, were accused of interviewing—or “engineering” testimonies from—the alleged victims. Revanna is now serving a life sentence after being convicted of rape.
The JD(S) had branded Shetty a Congress agent, accusing him of trying to defame the party’s first family and undermine its electoral prospects.
Since the Revanna controversy, Shetty has become a recognisable figure in Karnataka politics, though more for his methods and alleged political connections than for conventional news reporting. Power TV, a relatively little-known Kannada channel, has built its identity around “investigations”, often playing one such report on loop rather than following the format of traditional news channels.
Shetty is once again at the centre of a political controversy, this time involving former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and a purported sting operation targeting the Congress leader. Two videos containing serious allegations against Siddaramaiah were uploaded on YouTube last month, triggering a fresh round of accusations and counter-accusations among the state’s political rivals.
In a three-hour video uploaded on his channel on 19 October, Shetty placed himself at the centre of the controversy, declaring: “I am the King of Sting”.
He acknowledged that the recording at the heart of the controversy had been made in 2023, describing the operation as a “reality check” and an exercise in “journalistic duty” to verify claims made by an unnamed woman.
“The sting operation that we are referring to today, the one that has been spoken about for the last 15 days about Siddaramaiah. We are proud of it,” Shetty said.
He also claimed to have preserved both the original video and the device on which it was recorded, anticipating that the footage would eventually become public. “I have the original device on which it was recorded, and I have given all this evidence to the police on my own accord,” he said.
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‘When the time is right’
Union minister and former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has filed a police complaint seeking Shetty’s arrest. He has also linked Shetty to Siddaramaiah’s recent political setbacks, including the 78-year-old leader’s abrupt resignation in May.
Siddaramaiah, however, brushed aside Kumaraswamy’s show of support, saying there was “no need for anyone to stand up for me”. On Saturday, he broke his silence on the controversy surrounding the alleged sting operation.
“The sting video is a false case and was done to blackmail. I wanted the truth to come out so I filed a complaint. People should know the truth and those behind it,” Siddaramaiah said.
He named Congress functionary Kripa Alva and Shetty as the alleged masterminds behind the operation. Alva had served as chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights in 2015, when Siddaramaiah was chief minister.
Siddaramaiah had earlier filed a police complaint alleging that the video was created with malicious intent. He also approached the court and secured an injunction restraining the media from reporting on the videos.
Soon after Siddaramaiah named the alleged masterminds, Shetty approached the sessions court and secured anticipatory bail. The state Congress unit has also assured action against Alva, who is alleged to have conducted the sting to secure an MLA ticket from Puttur in Dakshina Kannada.
Despite the allegations against Shetty, much of the political attack has been directed at Kumaraswamy. Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge said the involvement of people associated with the Congress could not be denied, but maintained that the case was one of extortion and blackmail.
“When you know there are faces visible [in the video] who belong to the party, we cannot deny it. But it is a very clear case of extortion and blackmail and sooner than later, everything will be on record,” Kharge told reporters on Saturday.
The same day, the Central Crime Branch arrested Ritesh Pandey, a Ghaziabad resident, in Delhi in connection with the circulation of the sting videos. Pandey, allegedly an aide of Kumaraswamy, is suspected to have uploaded the footage on social media.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, whom Kumaraswamy has accused of masterminding Shetty’s actions, also claimed on Saturday that he had been targeted in a suspected sting operation. He said an unidentified businessman had worn Meta glasses during a meeting with him.
“I have all the documents ready. I will speak when necessary,” Shivakumar said.
Kumaraswamy, Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah and other players in this high-stakes political blame game have all promised to produce evidence at the appropriate time. So far, however, their claims have fuelled speculation rather than established who was behind the recordings and their circulation.
Shetty, too, has withheld his evidence, saying he will reveal it when “the time is right”.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)
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