Bengaluru: Union Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy Monday said that the objective of the ongoing probe into sting operations was to give the former Karnataka Chief Minister a clean chit and protect those behind the scandal.
“The objective of this probe is to give a clean chit to Siddaramaiah and protect those who produced this video,” Kumaraswamy said.
He added that the police were being pressured to deflect attention away from the actual perpetrators and focus on the Union Minister.
In September 2026, a YouTube video (uploaded via a channel named ‘Karnataka Honey Trap’) surfaced on social media containing a hidden-camera conversation alleging sexual misconduct by Siddaramaiah dating back to 2011. Bengaluru Police later investigated the footage and declared it a fabricated and deliberately constructed narrative.
Kumaraswamy also questioned the timing of the charges levelled against him even though he did not overtly deny any links between him and the main accused in the scandal.
“The press meet was addressed by the Bengaluru city (Police) commissioner so urgently, even though yesterday was a holiday. Why so hurriedly, commissioner in front of you, he leaked several developments,” Kumaraswamy told reporters in Bengaluru Monday.
Even though Kumaraswamy first mentioned the alleged sting operations in the context of Shivakumar using them to dislodge Siddaramaiah from the top chair, the discoveries so far have circled back to the Union Minister’s doorstep.
Since then, Shivakumar has claimed that he himself was the target of a failed sting operation.
Kumaraswamy said that Shivakumar was trying to deflect attention away from the incumbent Chief Minister’s role in the entire episode, even questioning the latter’s role in the circulation of videos involving rape accused Prajwal Revanna.
The Union Minister’s remarks came a day after Bengaluru police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh revealed the probe into the sting operations had uncovered the role of Prajwal Prasad, an aide working in Kumaraswamy’s social media wing.
Meanwhile, the CCB carried out raids on the offices of Rakesh Shetty, the controversial head of Power TV, a local Kannada news outlet, in connection with the alleged sting operations after Siddaramaiah himself named the media professional–and Congress worker Krupa Alva–as the masterminds behind the entire episode.
‘Whispers in Delhi’
Kumaraswamy’s outburst came after Singh revealed that one of the apprehended suspects, Ritesh Pandey, disclosed during interrogation that he and another aide (Vinod Sharma) had purchased cell phones in Delhi’s Karol Bagh and later handed them to Prasad at the Union Minister’s official residence in the national capital.
“The person interrogated by the CCB officers revealed that the person (Pandey) handed over a mobile phone to one of the people (Prajwal Prasad) handling social media for our activities,” Kumaraswamy told reporters in Bengaluru Monday.
Kumaraswamy said that the information, including call logs, was being selectively leaked to create confusion and mislead, drawing parallels between the ongoing probe and that of his nephew Prajwal Revanna.
Days before polling for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, hundreds of pen drives were found in bus stops, eateries and other places which had videos of Prajwal Revanna exploiting women, including some as old as 70.
Prajwal Revanna has since been convicted of rape, criminal investigation in one of the four cases registered so far and is currently serving a life sentence in Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara central jail.
Kumaraswamy said that if call logs were the basis of linking him with the sting operations, then the same yardstick needs to be applied to Shivakumar’s alleged role in the Prajwal episode.
The Union Minister said that one person responsible for leaking Prajwal’s videos was his driver, Karthick, who took the help of Shivakumar and his brother, D. K. Suresh to circulate it.
“He (Karthick) only created this (videos) by aligning with D. K Shivakumar and D. K. Suresh and have circulated the issue to the entire world. On August 5-6 (2024) where was he (Karthick)? He was at the residence of D. K. Shivakumar. What is the action taken by the so-called inquiry officers who got so many state and national awards for cracking the case (Prajwal Revanna)?” the Union Minister asked.
The Union Minister referred to Shivakumar as the “root cause” of all sting operations in Karnataka—a term that has now become synonymous with the southern state’s political discourse.
The Congress has hit back, calling out Kumaraswamy for masterminding the entire episode and later accusing others of being behind it.
“Mr Kumaraswamy himself was the mastermind behind the release of this alleged ‘sting video’, with his social media team directly involved in it, and his official residence in Delhi was used to carry out this operation, while financial transactions were also conducted. This is a strategy of killing two birds with one stone: Tarnishing the reputation of the former Chief Minister and pinning the blame for it on the current Chief Minister. A masterstroke of political intrigue!” Krishna Byre Gowda, the Bengaluru Incharge Minister said in a post.
ಶ್ರೀ ಕುಮಾರಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರೇ ಈ ಆರೋಪಿತ ‘ಸ್ಟಿಂಗ್ ವಿಡಿಯೋ’ ಬಿಡುಗಡೆಯ ರೂವಾರಿಯಾಗಿ, ಅವರ ಸೋಶಿಯಲ್ ಮೀಡಿಯಾ ತಂಡವೇ ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ನೇರವಾಗಿ ಭಾಗಿಯಾಗಿ, ಈ ಕೆಲಸವನ್ನು ನಿರ್ವಹಿಸಲು ದೆಹಲಿಯ ಅವರ ಅಧಿಕೃತ ನಿವಾಸವನ್ನೇ ಬಳಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗಿತ್ತು ಹಾಗೂ ಹಣದ ವಹಿವಾಟು ಕೂಡ ನಡೆದಿತ್ತು. ಇದು ಒಂದೇ ಕಲ್ಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ಹಕ್ಕಿ ಹೊಡೆಯುವ ತಂತ್ರ: ಮಾಜಿ…
— Krishna Byre Gowda (@krishnabgowda) November 2, 2026
His cabinet colleague, Priyank Kharge earlier said that there was “irrefutable evidence” against Kumaraswamy.
On Monday, Kharge said the Union Minister was pressuring the Narendra Modi government to “weaponise” central agencies against Karnataka Ministers.
“Whispers in Delhi’s corridors of power are that a Union Minister is desperately pressuring Modi Sarkar to weaponise the IT and ED against my Cabinet colleagues and me, using the KPSC investigation as political cover. The RSS’ newest Group D recruit (Kumaraswamy) is also reportedly attempting to use the ED to pressure all accused to falsely implicate Congress leaders and me in the KPSC recruitment case,” Kharge, Karnataka’s Minister for Home Affairs, said.
Whispers in Delhi’s corridors of power is that a Union Minister is desperately pressuring Modi Sarkar to weaponise the IT and ED against my Cabinet colleagues and me, using the KPSC investigation as political cover.
The RSS’s newest Group D recruit is also reportedly attempting…
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) November 2, 2026
Even though Kharge did not mention Kumaraswamy’s name, he said that the “extremely hard working” minister is likely to drag his coalition partners down with him.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Sting operation probe lands at Kumaraswamy’s doorstep as Union minister’s aide is now main suspect