Three of Prajwal Revanna SIT awarded MHA medal for investigation

Inspector Shobha N. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Assistant Sub-Inspector Rathnamma K. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Civil Police Head Constable Balakrishna Y. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Three officers from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) who investigated the sex crimes of former MP Hassan and JDS leader Prajwal Revanna were awarded the Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak-2026 for their investigation.

Police Inspector Shobha N., the investigating officer in the case in which Prajwal Revanna was convicted just over a year after a case was registered against him for raping a farm helper at their farm, Assistant Sub-Inspector Rathnamma K. and Civil Police Superintendent Balakrishna Y., also members of the same team, won the 2006 medal.

Three other police inspectors, Bavuddeen Rukmuddeen Gaddekar, Manjunath and M. Srinivasa Rao, also from Karnataka but unrelated to the Prajwal Revanna case, were awarded this year.

After several sex videos of several women allegedly recorded by Prajwal Revanna came into the public domain ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Karnataka government formed an SIT headed by BK Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Crime Investigation Department. Finally, four FIRs were registered against Prajwal Revann for sexual abuse. In a rare turn of events, the accused in the first case was convicted in just over a year, in 2025, and was sentenced to life in prison. The trial continues in the remaining three cases.

Following this, the Karnataka government announced a cash reward of Rs 25 lakh for the SIT in January this year, drawing the ire of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy. Now the SIT detectives are being honored for their work by the Union Home Ministry.

Published – 31 Oct 2026 21:48 IST