A woman worker in the Congress party in Karnataka who has been at the centre of a “fake sting video” case filed by former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on October 6 has been expelled from the party. Krupa Alva, a former general secretary of the Karnataka Congress, is being investigated by the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch for creating the alleged sting video in 2023 — along with the MD of a local TV channel.Party vice-president M Narayanaswamy, on the instructions of state Congress chief B K Hariprasad, issued the expulsion order on October 27 after Alva, 60, reportedly failed to respond to a show cause notice issued to her by the party.“The Congress party issued a show cause notice following the embarrassment it faced due to negative media coverage and reactions regarding a sting operation targeting Congress leaders in Karnataka, and allegations that it was involved in the incident,” stated the order.Alva was a chairperson of the Karnataka Commission for Protection of Child Rights during Siddaramaiah’s first term as CM between 2013 and 2018 and was later appointed Congress state general secretary.Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) has alleged that current Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has a role in the fake sting video and used it to oust the former CM earlier this year.Also read | Siddaramaiah ‘sting video’: 3 JD(S) social media workers get anticipatory bailThe expulsion of Krupa Alva comes in the wake of Siddaramaiah and his son publicly stating that Congress insiders were behind the fake sting video. In the video recorded in 2023, a woman was allegedly prompted into claiming an association with the former CM in 2011 – in a meeting recorded on hidden camera by Rakesh Shetty, MD of Power TV, in Alva’s presence.After the Bengaluru police registered the case on October 6 based on Siddaramaiah’s complaint, Alva appeared before the police and provided a voluntary statement on her role in the sting video recording.Story continues below this adAn aspirant for Puttur assemblyAlva was an aspirant for the Puttur assembly segment ticket from the Congress party and is heard seeking help in this regard from Shetty in the video.The video surfaced on social media on September 27 after it was allegedly uploaded by Opposition Janata Dal Secular party workers, investigations by the CCB have revealed.Incidentally, the Power TV MD has claimed in recent days on his channel that he was involved as a journalist in an attempt in 2023 to obtain controversial information on camera regarding Congress leader Siddaramaiah but later abandoned it after the information was found false.“The sting is a fake story. It was done with the intent of blackmailing. This is why I have myself given a complaint for the truth to come out. We need to know who is behind this operation. I filed a complaint after knowing that it was a false case,” Siddaramaiah had stated.Story continues below this ad“In the video, there is a woman from Mangaluru identified as Krupa Alva (social activist). There is a man called Rakesh Shetty from Power TV. They joined to film the video. Rakesh Shetty has admitted that he conducted the sting operation and that it was false,” the former CM said.The former CM’s son, Yathindra, however, indicated that a woman captured in the video containing defamatory conversations about Siddaramaiah was a Congress worker.“This was done to defame my father and destroy his legacy and to blackmail him. The video itself shows that people from our party were involved. There is also the head of a media organisation in the video. An investigation is necessary to find out if they did it themselves or whether someone else was involved,” Dr Yathindra said in Mysuru on Friday.“We do not have suspicions about anybody. There is a woman in the video who indicates that she wants the election ticket to contest the Puttur assembly polls (in 2023). The sting was done to help her secure a ticket, it seems, on a prima facie viewing of the video. Just because a party worker is involved, it does not mean that the entire party is against us,” he said.Story continues below this adIn Siddaramaiah’s police complaint, the unidentified creators of a Karnataka Honey Trap channel on YouTube have been named as the accused in the spread of the fake sting video case shot in 2023.Allegations are fabricated: PoliceThe Bengaluru police said on October 29 that the evidence gathered so far indicates that the allegations of sexual abuse portrayed in the video are part of a fabricated and deliberately constructed narrative.“The statements recorded and evidence collected during the investigation thus far do not substantiate the occurrence of any such incident as depicted in the video,” the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bengaluru police said in a statement.The police have also identified all individuals appearing in the video and extensively examined them.Story continues below this adAccording to the police, the video was recorded in 2023, purportedly concerning an incident dating back to 2011.“The circumstances under which the video was created, the purpose behind recording it nearly 12 years after the alleged incident, the identities and roles of those involved and their possible motives are all being thoroughly investigated,” the CCB said.The CCB has claimed that the “circulation of the video may have been part of a deliberate attempt to malign and discredit individuals occupying positions of responsibility in the State.”