The RTI activist, Snehamayi Krishna, one of the complainants against Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land allotment scam, now faces criminal charges for allegedly harassing a woman.

The woman had lodged her complaint at a Nanjangud police station on August 21, 2024, and an FIR was registered on the same day. The allegations, however, only became public on Saturday evening, Indian Express reported.

Siddaramaiah and three others were booked by the Lokayukta police for corruption, cheating, and forgery related to the allotment of 14 MUDA housing sites to Siddaramaiah’s wife in 2021. The investigation by the Lokayukta police was initiated after private complainants Snehamayi Krishna, TJ Abraham, and Pradeep Kumar secured the governor’s approval, which was supported by the high court.

The complainant, Lavanya, alleged that Krishna, along with three others, attempted to assault her, dragged her, used obscene language, and threatened to kill her, IE reported.

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The police have filed the case under sections 85 (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 74 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 352 (individual intentionally insults another person), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 79 (insult the modesty of a woman through words, gestures, sounds, or any object meant to be heard or seen by the woman), and 3(5) (joint criminal liability when two or more individuals act with a common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Krishna denied the allegations, saying it was a “conspiracy” to silence his activism. “This is an attempt to suppress my fight against corruption. Even if I am jailed, my battle will continue,” Krishna told reporters. He added that he has written to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to investigate corruption within MUDA, alleging over Rs 5,000 crore has been misappropriated.

He also said that he plans to file a formal complaint with the ED and has already petitioned the court for a CBI investigation into MUDA’s site-allotment irregularities since 2015, IE reported.