Fact Check: K'taka Hindu activist Puneeth Kerehalli was not arrested in prostitution case
A post is being widely shared on social media with the claim that Puneeth Kerehalli, a Hindu activist from Karnataka, has been arrested along with two others in a prostitution case.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 23 April 2022 8:35 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A post is being widely shared on social media with the claim that Puneeth Kerehalli, a Hindu activist from Karnataka, has been arrested along with two others in a prostitution case.
The post includes a screenshot from B TV News and a couple of photos of an FIR.
Fact Check
The claim is false.
NewsMeter performed a Google reverse image search and found similar photos. However, it can be seen that the photo posted by B TV News does not have the photo of Puneeth Kerehalli. The name and photo of Raffiqull Islam in the original photo have been replaced with Puneeth Kerehalli's name and photo.
According to news reports, three people (C.R Madhu, Raffiqull Islam, and Rubel Mondal), accused of running a prostitution racket, were arrested in Bengaluru last month. There is no mention of Puneeth Kerehalli in the report. (Source: Varthabharati, TV9 Kannada, Zee News, ETV Bharat)
In other photos, it can be seen that the FIR copy is related to an incident from 2013. This proves that it is not related to any recent prostitution case.
Moreover, Puneeth Kerehalli took to Facebook to clarify that the viral post is fake and that the 2013 incident is a false case.
The audio of an alleged phone conversation between Puneeth Kerehalli and Bharath Shetty is also going viral on social media which can be heard here.
Earlier, News18 Kannada had reported that Puneeth had received death threats in connection with the Harsha murder.
Hence, the claim that Hindu activist Puneeth Kerehalli has been arrested in a prostitution case is false.
