D. Kempanna, president of the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association, who was arrested and released on bail on Saturday in connection with a criminal defamation case filed by Minister Munirathna over allegations of corruption, on Sunday alleged that his arrest was “a misuse of power by the Minister and the State government”.
“They have the police power and they have used it to harass us in an attempt to suppress our voices. The warrant issued by the court had to be executed by the next date of hearing, which was January 19, by which time we would have appeared before the court ourselves. But like they were arresting some hardened criminals, the police visited not only our houses but also the residences of many of our relatives, harassing them too asking for us. But the police treated us well. It was obvious that they were under instructions,” Mr. Kempanna told The Hindu .
Mr. Kempanna also contended that the civil defamation and criminal defamation case filed by Mr. Munirathna claimed they had not been able to provide any evidence to back their allegations. “We have written to the Chief Minister, met him personally and even through public forums demanded that a judicial probe be instituted into the 40% commission allegations we have made. If there is a judicial probe instituted even today, we have the evidence to back our claims and will submit them for inquiry,” he said.
