Karnataka Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Thursday claimed that two attempts of honey trapping were made at him, and called for a probe into the matter. State Home Minister G Parameshwara ordered an investigation into the whole affair.

Making startling revelations, state minister Jarkiholi said that a senior and influential minister was the target of honey trap twice but fortunately for the minister, the attempts failed and that he also asked the minister to file a police complaint that will pave the way for thorough investigations into the cases.

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He said he had already discussed the matter with the home minister and also the Chief Minister and sought steps to be taken to prevent such activities in future.

“It is not the first case of honeytrap (of a Minister) in Karnataka. Leaders of all parties have been victims of honey-trap including some in the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.,” Jarkiholi said. This attempted honey-trapping was to tarnish the image of the minister, and what made the matters more politically intriguing is that the said attempt was made by a fellow party colleague.

It was incidentally, a BJP MLA who is also a former minister, Sunil Kumar, who blew the lid in mention in the assembly on Wednesday. “Does it mean that one can go to any extent (of honey trapping) just to curb rivals/opponents?” , the MLA questioned and said,“When State Government itself is into honey trapping, then, whom should we advise?” He accused the Congress government of running a honey trap factory.

On Thursday, the issue caught fire, with it being the talk of the town. Speaking to reporters, the state PWD minister condemned the incident and said politics should not involve such tactics.

“We have asked the concerned minister to file a complaint, only then can the police act and launch an investigation,” he said and added, “There is a strong need for a non-partisan fight against honey trapping, because leaders cutting across party lines fell victim to it.

“In the earlier governments too there were victims of honey trapping, some names were heard, now our people’s (Congress) names are heard, if it happens in the future too, it won’t be surprising. This must end,” Jarkiholi said.

BJP Karnataka state unit president BY Vijayendra too condemned the incident and said that there should be a thorough investigation into the whole affair.

Agreeing on this, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar too said a full-fledged investigation must be carried out in this case and urged the victim to file a police complaint. ”Let a complaint be given to the police station first, let’s get it investigated,” he told the media.