Bengaluru: Actor Prakash Raj confirmed that he had spoken to CN Chinnayya, the masked whistleblower whose claims led to the Dharmasthala investigation, but denied allegations made against him in a writ petition. He said he would pursue legal action if unsubstantiated claims involving an alleged Rs 200 crore payment were made.In a writ in the high court, Chinnayya claimed that a conspiracy was hatched by several individuals, activists, YouTubers and others to defame the temple town. He named Raj as one of those individuals.At a press conference Wednesday, Raj said activist Girish Mattannavar had called and told him that the whistleblower wanted to speak to him. “Chinnayya insisted on meeting me, but I refused and asked him to talk to the police instead,” Raj said. “The man said he did not have the courage to approach the police. So, I asked him for a voice recording of his allegation and consulted my lawyer.”By then, the govt had appointed Pronab Mohanty, whom Raj called “an honest officer”, as head of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the allegations.“I forwarded the audio clip to Mohanty. He thanked me for sharing the information and asked me to delete it,” Raj said. He added that when he later sought an update, he was told that the whistleblower had changed his position and was advised not to engage further.Defending his actions, Raj said citizens have the right to seek answers on serious allegations. “There were reports that Soujanya and several women died,...
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump resurrected long-debunked claims about fraud and foreign interference in the 2020 election, alleging in an address Thursday that China stole millions of voter...