Mangaluru/ Bengaluru, 3 Sept   

Uday Jain, one of the prime accused in the Sowjanya rape and murder case, appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) at its Belthangady office on Wednesday.

Soujanya, a 17-year-old student, was allegedly raped and murdered in Dharmasthala in 2012. The case resurfaced after the mass burial allegations. The SIT is now actively re-investigating the matter.

Uday, along with Mallik Jain and Dheeraj Kella, had previously come under scrutiny during the initial probes by CBI and CID, although none of them were named in the original FIR. They were subjected to lie detector tests, and investigations reportedly found no evidence of their involvement at that time.

Speaking to press, Uday stated: “Our names were never in the FIR. Still, we were dragged into the case due to a conspiracy…. I don’t even know why the SIT has summoned me again. They’ve also called Mallik Jain and Dheeraj Kella.”

Meanwhile, Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday challenged the BJP leaders to make their conversation with Soujanya’s mother Kusumavati public.

The BJP leaders led by State President BY Vijayendra called on Soujanya’s family during the ‘Dharmasthala Chalo’ rally on Monday.

"Why did the BJP Karnataka unit leaders remain silent without responding to Kusumavati's statement? Your own party says that she has made money using the name of Soujanya and has built such a big house?" Kharge said on X.