Paid Chilume for movie-related manpower, says Hombale

The 49-page probe report submitted by IAS officer Amlan Aditya Biswas said Chilume had gathered voter data illegally

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A day after it was disclosed that an Election Commission of India (ECI) investigation found there to be illegality in the way a private entity Chilume had collected voter data, high profile groups claimed that they had nothing to do with surveys conducted by the NGO and had availed different services from them.

Hombale Films, cofounded by Higher Education Minister CN Ashwath Narayan’s cousin Vijay T Kiragandur, told The News Minute (TNM) that they had paid Chilume for “manpower” which was used in their movies and that they weren’t aware that the NGO conducted election-related surveys and the like. The Indian Express had found that Ashwath Narayan had been a guarantor for loans obtained by Hombale Films as well. Hombale has delivered hits such as 'KGF' and 'Kantara'.

“They may have an app also but we are not aware. They provide manpower for which we have used their services for our promotions, field activities, theatre visits, and they have raised invoices for the same. We have submitted them, GST is filed, everything is clear and this is a genuine transaction,” cofounder of Hombale Group Chaluve Gowda told TNM, adding that Chilume must have been employed as a vendor indirectly through their PR and marketing services.

The 49 page probe report submitted by IAS officer and Bengaluru Regional Commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas said that Chilume had gathered voter data illegally and stowed it away on foreign servers, most likely in eastern Europe or China.

It added that Hombale Group, particularly Hombale Films and Raj Dharma Analytica paid Chilume director Ravikumar Krishnappa’s company Digital Sameeksha Rs10.5 lakh and Rs5.9 lakh respectively. The investigation also found that Krishnappa donated Rs15,000 and Rs10,000 to the CN Ashwath Narayan Foundation and Malleshwaram Sports Foundation respectively