BALLARI: Three days after the ‘slapgate’ episode went viral much to the discomfiture of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, new video footage shows the leader did land a slap on an official, perhaps a personal security officer (PSO), but not local corporation commissioner P G Ramesh.
Video footage posted by a local Congress leader on Facebook shows Mr Siddaramaiah slapping a man dressed in a ‘safari suit’, favoured by most security personnel. Local policemen remained tightlipped about the security officer in question merely confirming that he was a colleague, and therefore more details about his identity could not be ascertained.
His face was invisible in the video footage because Mr Ramesh, who was waiting to greet the Chief Minister with a bouquet, regains balance following a melee, and starts walking with his back to the camera. It is, however, evident that Mr Siddaramaiah did not even touch Mr Ramesh, let alone slap him, as made out by television channels.
Local police officers hinted that the victim could be a sub-inspector of a local police station.
On his part, Mr Ramesh too released a video footage to reiterate that the Chief Minister did not even touch him, but also to say that he felt humiliated because the electronic media identified him as the victim of Mr Siddaramaiah’s ire.
