Bengaluru police on October 8 registered an FIR against Dharwad MLA Vinay Kulkarni, a Congress leader, after a 34-year-old woman accused him of rape, kidnapping, and criminal intimidation. The FIR, which also names his associate Arjun, was registered following a complaint which said Vinay allegedly assaulted her on August 24, 2022, in a remote location near Kempegowda International Airport.

According to the complaint, by the woman who describes herself as a social worker, she first met Vinay at his residence in early 2022 after being introduced by a mutual contact. She alleged that the MLA made inappropriate sexual advances over video calls and, when she resisted, sent men to intimidate her.

The complaint said that Vinay allegedly drove her to a remote location near Kempegowda International Airport, where the assault took place. After the incident, Vinay allegedly threatened her to remain silent, and said he would "look after her".

Vinay has been booked under Sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 201 (causing the disappearance of evidence), 366 (Kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage), 376 ( rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 354 (assaults or uses criminal force to any woman) of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the IT Act.

Vinay had filed a complaint on October 7 against the woman and Rakesh Shetty, the managing director of Power TV, a Kannada news channel. In his complaint, Vinay accused the woman and Rakesh Shetty of attempting to extort Rs 2 crore from him. The FIR was registered at Sanjay Nagar police on October 7, a day after the TV channel aired the woman’s accusations along with purported video evidence, including footage of a video call between the MLA and the woman.

The woman alleged that the intimidation tactics began after she resisted Vinay’s advances. According to the complaint, the MLA sent men to exert pressure so that he could continue to communicate with her. Vinay, however, claims that the allegations are part of an elaborate blackmail scheme orchestrated by Rakesh Shetty and the woman, intended to extort money from him.