"A 54-year-old man has been arrested and charged"
Broadcaster and comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli has been arrested and charged in connection with allegations of sexual offences.
A statement from the force said the alleged offences are “non-recent” but gave no further details.
Kohli has been released and is expected to appear in court at a later date.
A report of the circumstances is now with the Procurator Fiscal.
Police in Scotland had confirmed it was investigating new allegations that had been published by The Times newspaper.
During an investigation by The Times in 2020, 16 women spoke out against Kohli.
The Times has now reported that a further two dozen women have come forward to accuse Kohli of inappropriate and predatory behaviour.
One woman claimed that he groped her breasts and kissed her when she was a teenager, while another alleged that he pushed her against a wall and tried to drag her into his bedroom.
Another alleged that he attacked her in a comedy venue during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013 when she was 19.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “A 54-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with allegations of non-recent sexual offences.
“He has been released on an undertaking to appear in court at a later date.
“A report of the circumstances has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
It comes after prominent Edinburgh Fringe venue, the Pleasance, banned Kohli from all 27 of its venues after concerns were raised about his behaviour towards women.
Another Fringe operator, the Gilded Balloon, had already banned the comedian from its venues.
Hardeep Singh Kohli, who has presented a number of programmes for the BBC and other broadcasters, was also a runner-up in the 2006 edition of Celebrity MasterChef.
One of his notable early works was the BBC One show “The One Show,” where he presented humorous segments and interviews.
However, in 2009, faced controversy when he was suspended from “The One Show” amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague
Kohli has also worked extensively in radio. He hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio 4 called “Hardeep at the Stand,” which featured comedy and interviews.
Years later he was a contestant in Celebrity Big Brother in 2018.
During his time in the house, he was involved in a heated racism row with TV psychic Sally Morgan.
She broke down in tears when Kohli accused her of “borderline racism” when she proposed putting talcum powder on him to make him look “unwell” for their mock hospital-based soap opera, after asking him why he was “looking so brown”.
Upon hearing her comments, Kohli said:
“That’s a borderline racist thing to say. Do you know what honey, I’m a brown man.
“Let’s just be clear on that.”
He then got up and walked out of the room.
Ryan Thomas leapt to the psychic’s defence and hit out at Kohli, who later apologised.
After being evicted from the house he appeared on Jeremy Vine on 5 and denied he ever called her a racist.
Loading ...