BENGALURU: The video was meant to damage a former chief minister. The police now say it was built on nothing.
The Central Crime Branch, probing a complaint filed by former chief minister Siddaramaiah, said in a release on Thursday that the recording appears to contain fabricated allegations of sexual abuse, and that statements recorded and evidence collected so far fail to substantiate the incident it depicts.
All the people who appear in the video have been questioned. The release said the statements recorded and evidence collected so far indicate, prima facie, that the allegations made or implied against those named in the recording are false and concocted.
The original mobile phone used to record it has been seized and sent for forensic examination to establish its authenticity and integrity. That report is awaited, and the police have not declared the matter closed.
A freelance social media content creator, Ritesh Pandey, was arrested in the National Capital Region on October 24 for allegedly procuring the phone used to circulate the video. The CCB said the arrest may have associations with politically influential people based in New Delhi. "The nature, extent, and relevance of these alleged associations are being investigated," it said.
The timeline is part of the puzzle. The video was allegedly recorded in 2023 and purportedly concerns an incident from 2011. Investigators are examining why it was recorded nearly 12 years after the alleged incident, who was involved and what their motives were, and whether the recording was deliberately staged, fabricated or manipulated.
Digital traces suggest an effort at concealment. The video was uploaded through anonymous accounts using VPNs, spoofed phone numbers and other anonymisation methods, and traces point to locations outside Karnataka. Police said leads suggest the circulation may have been part of a deliberate attempt to malign people holding positions of responsibility in the state.
Some people have been identified for further examination and notices have been issued to them. The probe is also looking at how the video changed hands before it reached social media platforms.
One detail stands out. The woman in the video reportedly told investigators she had never met Siddaramaiah and had made the statements at the instruction of others.
No chargesheet has been filed, and the allegations against those arrested remain allegations.