Bengaluru: A court in Bengaluru Friday granted interim bail to Power TV’s Rakesh Shetty, who is being investigated by Bengaluru Cybercrime police over an alleged sting operation involving former chief minister Siddaramaiah. The court adjourned his anticipatory bail petition to Oct 30.The court directed Shetty to execute a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with a surety for a like sum in the event of his arrest. It also directed him to cooperate with investigating officers, refrain from tampering with prosecution witnesses and surrender if his plea for anticipatory bail is rejected.Shetty had been questioned repeatedly by a Bengaluru city police team, including cybercrime experts, following a complaint filed by Siddaramaiah himself, a senior police officer said.The investigation was also pursued after Union minister HD Kumaraswamy met director general and inspector general of police MA Saleem and sought legal action against Shetty and others allegedly involved in the sting operation, police said. Investigators combined the complaints and summoned Shetty to record his statements.According to police sources, investigators questioned Shetty about a video featuring a burqa-clad woman speaking about Siddaramaiah. A male voice in the video allegedly asks the woman whether she can identify personal marks on the former chief minister’s body and whether she is prepared to seek vengeance against him.Shetty denied being the man in the video and told investigators he had no knowledge of what they were asking him about, sources said.Police then confronted him with call detail records (CDRs) showing calls exchanged between Shetty, a private individual from Keralam, Kripa Alva and a few others described by investigators as being close to a Congress leader.“When we placed the CDR before him, Shetty sought time to reply. Instead of replying to us, he straightway approached the court for anticipatory bail,” a police source told TOI. Sources said Shetty was accompanied by advocates whenever he appeared before investigators.Police are now retrieving details of messages and chats exchanged between Shetty, Alva and others as part of the probe. A senior police officer said the material could help investigators establish further details about the alleged operation.The allegations remain under investigation, and the claims against Shetty have not been established in court.
