A special court has issued a non-bailable warrant against former Karnataka chief minister and BJP parliamentary board member B.S. Yediyurappa, who is accused of sexually abusing a minor.

The warrant paves the way for the CID to arrest the 81-year-old politician.

A woman had in March lodged a police complaint accusing Yediyurappa of molesting her 17-year-old daughter after taking her into a room at his home and locking it.

The 54-year-old woman, who died in May from lung cancer, said she had taken her daughter to Yediyurappa to seek help, for the child had allegedly been molested by a relative of her husband in 2015 but there was no progress in the case.

Yediyurappa denies the allegation and says he had only tried to help the mother and daughter.

With the case against Yediyurappa stagnating, the girl’s elder brother recently petitioned Karnataka High Court seeking directions to the police to arrest and interrogate Yediyurappa.

The BJP leader then filed a plea asking the high court to quash the FIR. Both petitions are likely to be heard on Friday.

With the brother approaching the high court, the CID came under pressure and approached a fast-track Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) court and obtained a warrant on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, state home minister G. Parameshwara had told reporters the CID had issued a notice to Yediyurappa to appear before it for questioning. "If necessary they will arrest (Yediyurappa)," he had said.

Now, with the warrant issued, the CID can straightaway arrest Yediyurappa.

Advocate S. Balan, counsel for the girl’s brother, told The Telegraph: "Although it is a cognisable offence (which means the police can arrest the accused without a court warrant), I feel they got the warrant considering the political might of the accused."

In his petition to the high court, the girl’s brother has sought directions to the police commissioner and CID inspector concerned to arrest and question Yediyurappa, collect all digital evidence, speed up the investigation, and file a report within a month.

The CID has so far managed only to obtain Yediyurappa’s voice sample, required to corroborate a video that the child’s mother had recorded on her mobile after the alleged incident, when the politician purportedly offered her hush money.

The incident allegedly happened at Yediyurappa’s home on February 2.