Bangalore: The Congress MLA from Hunagunda, Vijayanand Kashappanavar had reportedly assaulted policemen for coming in the way of a late night party at a bar in the luxury mall UB City on Wednesday July 2.
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths interrogated him for about five hours on Monday July 8.
A case had been registered against the MLA and Somashekhar in Cubbon Park Police Station accusing them of assault and obstructing the policemen from doing their duty. Seeking which the CCB summoned him at the CCB office at 11 am.
ACP Ravikumar and three inspectors interrogated him for about five hours.
The MLA reportedly admitted going to the Skyye lounge bar on the night of July 1, but insisted that he was neither drunk nor did assault the policemen. The constables had gone there to enforce the 11.30 pm closing deadline.
Kashappanavar claimed that he was seeking some clarification with the bar staff about the bill when the two constables appeared suddenly and got involved in the fight.
They started filming the bar on their mobile phones, to which he objected but the policemen instead attacked his family members, the MLA claimed.
The MLA also reportedly told the investigators that he had left the bar at midnight and was not aware of what happened there subsequently. He further said he “learnt” about the brawl only in the morning when the television news channels reported it.
The legislator said he had wondered what the rowdy Somashekhar Gowda and his friends were doing at the bar that night, the police sources said.
According to Kashappanavar, Gowda had sat at a table to next his (MLA’s) table. The MLA insisted that he was “in no way” associated with the incident and alleged that his name been “dragged” into it by his political rivals.
Addressing the media after the interrogation, Kashappanavar told reporters that he had answered every question. “I will fully co-operate with the police and will meet the officers whenever summoned in connection with the case,” he added.
The Cubbon Park police have sent the footage of the CCTV camera installed at the bar to the State Forensic Science Laboratory. The CCB police are yet to go through the footage. They are likely to summon the MLA?again once the forensic report comes, according to sources in the CCB.
