Bengaluru: Former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is sticking to his allegation that the costly watch Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had been wearing, could actually be the one stolen from a doctor, Sudhakar Reddy’s residence in the city last year. He wants a probe to establish that the controversial watch the CM has now stopped wearing, and Sudhakar Reddy’s watch are the same and also prove how a ‘stolen watch’ reached the CM’s wrist.
In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, Mr Kumaraswamy asserted that his credibility had not been dented just because Sudhakar Shetty and Bengaluru central division police had rejected his explosive claim about the stolen watch. According to him, Shetty had even complained to Cubbon Park police about the stolen watch.
“I stand by my claim. If a detailed investigation is ordered, it is easy to nail the CM. Mr Shetty is under pressure, so he had to issue that kind of statement (denying that he had tried to contact Mr Kumaraswamy on the watch episode). The state police are robbers, we can’t trust them,” the former CM said.
Mr Kumaraswamy’s assertion comes just days after Mr Siddaramaiah said that the watch was gifted to him by a Dubai-based friend, Dr Girish Chandra Varma.
The former Chief Minister also shared a piece of information which could prove to be more damning.
“A friend of Sudhakar Shetty took him to an influential, retired police officer who is reportedly close to the chief minister. Their idea was to get the retired officer to pressurise the police to investigate the theft of Shetty’s watches. When they met the retired officer, they were shocked to see Mr Shetty’s watch on his hand. So, they returned without discussing the issue. There are many more details which can easily nail Mr Siddaramaiah. If a proper investigation is ordered, he can be caught otherwise, this case will fail,” he said.
The friend of Sudhakar Shetty, who took him to the retired officer, is a wealthy Indian businessman in the UAE who runs a chain of hospitals where Dr Girish Chandra Varma is employed, a source close to the chief minister told this newspaper. Dr Varma, is actually a contemporary of a cabinet colleague of Mr Siddaramaiah.
“Dr Varma was a year senior to this minister in a medical college in Davangere. That apart, a retired assistant commissioner of police was the one who ‘set up’ Dr Varma to save Mr Siddaramaiah,” Mr Kumaraswamy alleged.
He said, “After I held the press conference on Friday, Mr Sudhakar Shetty received calls from Dubai on Friday evening and Saturday. If the call records are traced, the case can easily be solved.”
Long before watchgate broke out, Shetty complained of stolen watches
Dr Sudhakar Shetty, a resident of Mohini Apartment on Rest House Road, filed a complaint with the Cubbon Park police on May 7, 2015. As per his complaint, gold valuables and wrist watches kept in the cupboard went missing on April 12. He had last seen them on April 9.
He mentioned in the complaint that his car driver Anand and domestic help Mahalakshmi had access to the house. He also mentioned that on the afternoon of April 10, Yashodha, a woman known to him, had come to the house.
A copy of Dr Shetty’s complaint to police on May 7, 2015
As he had not mentioned the brands of the watches, the police called him the next day and took down the details. He told them that the stolen watches were two Rolexes and a Chopard. He also made the same statement to the media after Mr Kumaraswamy named him at a press conference. Dr Shetty also clarified that the watch the chief minister was seen wearing did not belong to him and he could not afford such an expensive watch, and also the stolen watches were very old.
The police are still investigating the theft case filed by Dr Shetty, as the questioning of the suspects – Anand, Mahalakshmi and Yashodha – did not help them crack the case.
