The Karnataka government on Monday transferred the cases related to alleged sex trafficker ‘Santro’ Ravi alias KS Manjunath, to the criminal investigation department (CID), home minister Araga Jnanendra said.
“The state government has directed the CID police to investigate the allegations against Santro Ravi, who is said to be a fraudster,” Jnanendra said.
On Monday, the Vijayanagar police in Mysuru produced him before a local court and his judicial custody was extended for another 10 days, till January 25, sources said.
Ravi, who is alleged to have been involved in several cases, was arrested in Gujarat on January 13 and remanded to judicial custody on Saturday.
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He was absconding since a case was filed against him on January 2. The police had formed four teams to arrest the accused and were working in different directions.
Ravi was absconding after a 26-year-old Dalit woman filed a complaint against him at Vijayanagarara police station on January 2, charging him with sexual harassment, rape, a threat to life and abuse in the name of caste.
According to police, Ravi allegedly raped the mechanical engineering graduate, a gold medalist, when she visited his office seeking a job.
Later, he married her, assaulted her, forced her to sleep with others, and even forced her for an abortion, demanding a dowry of ₹10 lakh.
Based on the complaint, Ravi was booked under the Dowry Prohibition Act, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Ordinance 2014 and sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 376 (punishment for rape), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
