Bengaluru, Jan 5 (Reporter) JDS second-in-command HD Kumaraswamy on Friday wielded an axe against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accusing him of framing Vikram Simha, brother of BJP MP Pratap Simha, in the alleged tree-felling case. "The Chief Minister directed the Forest officials to include Pratap Simha in the case. He (Siddaramaiah) being a lawyer knows how to create evidence," he told reporters in a press conference. The state police had arrested Vikram Simha for 'unlawfully' felling the trees in a forest area in Hassan district. At present, he has been released on bail. The rosewood trees were not felled, but were taken to the spot from Gendekere forest as per CM Siddaramaiah's directive, Kumaraswamy alleged. The former Chief Minister also alleged that Vikram Simha was framed even before the lease agreement came into force. The accused Jayamma and Ravi Shetty had given their land to Vikram Simha on lease for cultivating ginger from January 2024 to 2027, he said. Kumaraswamy alleged that though Jayamma and Ravi were granted bail at the forest office, Vikram Simha was arrested and produced before the magistrate. "The magistrate rapped the forest officials asking them to grant Vikram Simha bail to save their skins as he was a part of the felling of trees, but implicated," he said. The JD(S) Senior leader ironically asked whether CM Siddaramaiah would give this case to Justice Nagamohan Das committee or constitute another commission. "I never discuss without knowing the facts. This is what has happened in this case," he said...////...