CID files chargesheet against 'Santro' Ravi

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sleuths probing rape, cheating and other charges against KS Manjunath alias 'Santro' Ravi, have filed a chargesheet at a district court in Mysuru.

The rape case against ‘Santro’ Ravi was filed based on the complaint of his 27-year-old ‘wife’ on January 2, shortly after she was released from prison in a false case of dacoity allegedly foisted on her by the Cottonpet police in Bengaluru in November 2022. She alleged the police acted against her and her sister at the instance of the 51-year-old political fixer after she broke her relationship with him. The women were jailed for 22 days.

The case against Ravi who has been closely associated with political personalities and police in the state has created a sensation this year. It brought forth the close ties between the police and political leadership in the state and fixers. A political fixer, 'Santro' Ravi, who has a history of prostitution cases against him, was arrested from Gujarat by the Mysuru police on January 13 after he went absconding following the filing of the rape case. According to sources, the CID filed its chargesheet on April 18.

Apart from 'Santro' Ravi, his three associates GS Madhusudhan, Shruthish Kumar and Ramji Tukadiya have also been named in the chargesheet. ‘Santro’ Ravi has a history of involvement in human trafficking cases in Karnataka and there are as many as 14 cases that have been registered against him since 1995. According to police, he was convicted in one case where he served seven months’ imprisonment.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai denied links with ‘Santro’ Ravi even as the Opposition Congress party and the JD(S) released pictures and videos of Ravi in the company of many prominent persons including Araga Jnanendra and the CM’s son. The ‘Santro’ Ravi case was also widely seen as symptomatic of the deep rooted corruption in the police system in the state.

A police inspector at the Cottonpet police station KY Praveen, who was placed under suspension, is alleged to have connived with ‘Santro’ Ravi to file a fake case. Besides charges of rape and cheating, the CID has brought charges of criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence, intentionally spreading a dangerous disease, and causing a miscarriage against Ravi.