Karnataka: Union minister V Somanna’s son booked for fraud, criminal intimidation

The Karnataka Police on Wednesday registered a first information report against Union minister V Somanna’s son, Arun BS, and two others for alleged fraud and criminal intimidation, PTI reported.

A day earlier, Somanna assumed charge as the Union minister of state for jal shakti and railways in the recently formed Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government.

The complaint was filed on Wednesday by a woman named Thrupthi against Arun and two others, identified as Jeevan Kumar and Pramod Rao, India Today reported. According to the complaint, Thrupti and her husband, Madhwaraj, ran an event management company and had met Arun in 2013.

In 2017, the couple had organised a birthday party for Arun’s daughter. Subsequently, Thrupthi claimed that Madhwaraj and Arun began a company together.

The complaint said that a partnership deed and lease agreement for the new company were signed in February 2019, The Hindu reported. Arun then took over the financials and other responsibilities of the company.

However, Arun allegedly refused to respond to queries from the couple when the company started incurring losses and certain projects became delayed. They were also abused in front of other employees and forced to resign, the complaint alleged.

The couple was forced to sign fake share agreements and blank cheques, according to the first information report. Madhwaraj was also allegedly physically assaulted.

The complaint was...

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