Parmesh Jain

“Our government will not tolerate corruption in any form.There is no question of shielding any one found guilty,”Chief Minister,Basavaraj Bommai said here on Sunday.

Replying to questions from media persons about the recent ACB raid at BDA office and reports of corruption in the civic body,Bommai said,the ACB had conducted a raid recently at BDA office.

We will act on the report to be submitted by the ACB.Truth will come out.There is no question of shielding any one found to be involved in corruption.

BDA needs Cleanup

The Chief Minister also stated that he had received complaints from the general public too about corruption in BDA.

SR Vishwanath,who is the Chairman of BDA had also drawn my attention in this regard.Urban Development department officials have been instructed to investigate on the complaints.

The guilty,whoever it may be,however influential they may be,we will take action.BDA needs cleanup in the interest of delivering its services to the common man,”Bommai said.

City Rounds :

Reacting to the havoc caused by rains in Bengaluru city,Bommai said, he had already visited affected areas HSR Layout,Rajarajeshwari Layout,Madiwala and Koramangala.

State government definitely has priority for Bengaluru.Instructions have been issued to take repair and relief works in affected areas immediately after rains subside,I will go on city rounds soon.

Crop Loss Compensation :

Referring to unseasonal incessant rains caused by low pressure over Bay of Bengal,he said,rains had caused extensive loss for crops and property over the past 3 days in south interior,north interior and coastal regions of the state.

According to survey reports roads and bridges at many places had been damaged, there were reports of loss of human lives as well, he said.

Assuring speedy action for disbursal of compensation for affected farmers,the Chief Minister said,about 3 lakh farmers were affected due to excessive rains in July, August, September months.

Compensation amount had been released for them. Instructions had been issued for disbursal of Rs130cr pending amount through Direct Transfer of Benefit system.

Deputy Commissioners of various districts had been instructed during the Video Conference conducted on Saturday to submit survey reports on the losses.

The process had been delayed due to continuous rains in some places.I will hold a meeting with officials later in the evening today in this regard and announce the compensation,he assured.

The ministers are touring their respective in-charge districts.The election code of conduct is also an issue that is causing the delay as permission from the Election Commission is needed. “We will write to the Election Commission in this regard,” Bommai said.

Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said that all ministers of his government would travel to rain battered districts in the state and oversee relief work there.

He said a survey is on to estimate the damage and the compensation will be announced at the earliest.

“Several Ministers are in the rain affected districts as this was unseasonal rain. Some Ministers, who couldn’t do so earlier, will also go. All Ministers will go to their districts,” Bommai said.

Speaking to reporters, he pointed out that there is need to get the Election Commission’s permission as well, in the wake of December 10 legislative council polls and that he has spoken to the EC in this regard.

“I have told the commission to allow Ministers to hold meetings with officials, to permit the survey work. The Chief Secretary will also be writing to the Election Commission in this regard. Ministers will go to the affected districts immediately,” he added.

The biennial election to the Karnataka Legislative Council from 20 Local Authorities Constituencies for 25 seats, due to retirement of sitting members, will be held on December 10, and the Model Code of Conduct is in place.

Noting that the depression in the Bay of Bengal has resulted in unexpected, untimely, widespread rains in the south and north interior and coastal parts of the state, Bommai said that due to excess rains in the interior regions in the last few days, there are reports of destruction of crops, connecting roads and bridges, and loss of lives in some places.

He said that during the recent video conference, district administrations were directed to survey losses at all affected regions.

Pointing out that continuous rains made it difficult to do surveys in some areas, the Chief Minister said “Preliminary or eyesight surveys have begun where the rains have reduced and information is getting uploaded on the portal. From today evening we will examine the reports, discuss with officials on the funds required, following which the compensation will be announced.”

During the rains in July, August and September, three lakh farmers had lost their crops and the government has already released compensation, he said, adding that Rs 130 crore was pending and that he has ordered for its immediate disbursement through DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer).

The CM said he has already inspected a few rain affected areas of Bengaluru city and that he would continue to do so in future as well. Bommai, in response to a question, said “We care for Bengaluru. Officials have been directed to take up project and repair works once the rain reduces and preparations are on. Work will be taken up on a war footing.” 

Parmesh Jain

The East Divisions Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the prevalence of fake stamp papers in the city, has arrested five persons who are allegedly part of a printing fake stamp papers and circulating it in market.

The accused has been identified as,Hussain modi baba,Nayaz Ahmed,Shabbir Ahmed,Seema and Harish were caught running the racket.

The Govindapura police have also recovered 663 fake empty stamp papers and 136 franked fake stamp papers of a total face value of Rs.63.57 lakh of various denominations ranging from Rs.2 to Rs.25,000 from them.

City Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant,briefed media at his office in the presence of Addl CP East,S Murugan,DCP East Dr SD Sharanappa,and others were present,Kamal Pant said a PIL was filed by a victim in the court stating that a group of people are printing stamp papers to register properties to help land grabbing racket but also causing huge revenue loss to state exchequer.

To curb this menace High court issued direction to city commissionerate to curb the menace and nab the culprits who are involved in the organised syndicate and based on the direction by High court we formed a SIT team to probe the case under DCP East,Dr SD Sharanappa.

A team headed by DCP East,Dr SD Sharanappa, led four special teams under the leadership of ACP,Ningappa B Sakkiri,PIs,as,Prakash R, Santhosh Kumar L,Melwin Francis,Vasanth Kumar and their crime staff swung into action.

Acting on a tip-off that fake stamp papers were being sold on the premises of the city civil court and magistrate courts,four special teams kept a close watch on dealers under surveillance from past one and half months and after getting confirmation the team went as decoys,and bought fake stamp papers.

After confirmation,the team approached court for search warrant after getting permission from the court the teams raided the houses of the accused on November 13 and arrested five persons.

The accused hussain modi baba,Nayaz Ahmed, Shabbir Ahmed,Seema and Harish were caught running the racket.

During conducting search the SIT team also recovered seals in the name of State Bank of Mysore,two screen printing machines used to print the fake stamp papers and 233 empty papers with the watermark ‘Government of India’ among other incriminating evidence.

A detailed investigation it has revealed that,Baba a habitual offender arrested earlier in a similar case is a kingpin of the racket.

Pant said the team seized fake stamp papers worth Rs.63 lakh from them. The accused even printed old revenue stamp papers of the eartwhile mysore king period.The police are further checking how the accused are printing and circulating the stamp papers.

The gang had allegedly forged fake stamp papers from the time of 2005-2020, and was selling them in the range of Rs.3000-Rs.10,000 per document.

These predated fake stamp papers are used in the realty sector to forge fake documents of disputed properties and to earn easy money and lead a lavish life.

City Police CommissionerKamal Pant has announced a reward of Rs.50,000 for the team that cracked the case and appreciated Addl CP EastS Murugan,DCP East,Dr SD Sharanappa,ACP, Ningappa B Sakkiri,PIs,as,Prakash R,Melwin Francis, Santhosh Kumar L,Vasanth Kumar and his team as,PSI, Amaresh,ASI,Suresh K,and crime staff as,Sathish Kumar,Anand,BM Hunavad, Chinnaswamy,Smt.Chaitra DN,Ms.Kashi Bai,has successfully conducted raids on the criminals house and arrested kingpin of the racket and his associates who were cheating the court and government too in printing and circulating fake stamp papers a meticulous investigation by the team has busted the racket he added.

Parmesh Jain

In a freak accident on NH-7 on Devanahalli Airport flyover atleast 3 died on the spot,2 seriously injured. Injured shifted to a hospital in Bengaluru.

Senior officers as,Joint CP Traffic,Dr BR Ravikanthe Gowda, along with DCP Traffic North, Savitha S along with other officers as, ACP, Ashok and Chikkajala traffic inspector,Ms.Hamsaveni,and other staff rushed to the spot.

After inspecting the spot and collecting stock of the situation and what led to major mishap.

A senior officer told media persons,The accident reported on 9.15 pm and traffic on the busy airport road disrupted.

Three persons killed and several others injured when an XUV coming towards city jumped divider on flyover due to Overspeeding and collided with a cab heading to airport near betta halasuru cross on Thursday night.

Due to the impact, the cab was fully damaged and all the three persons travelling in the cab died on the spot including a woman.

The two people who were in the XUV also suffered injuries and the locals have admitted them to the nearest hospital for treatment.

Chikkajala police rushed to the spot and shifted the bodies and cleared the road by moving the damaged vehicles.

As it was extremely difficult to take out the bodies and the traffic towards the KIA was piling up.

“Later with the help of the Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services personnel, police were able to retrieve the bodies of the deceased,” explained a local resident.

Over speeding said to be the reason. They were enroute to Bengaluru from Devanahalli. Case registered.People travelling in the XUV are yet to be traced and further investigation is on to ascertain the exact cause for the accident she added.

Parmesh Jain

The South Division police of CK achukattu police busted deer antlers selling racket and arrested two persons who are waiting to deliver the consignment of 9 pairs of deer horns to their client on Thursday.

Senior officer told media persons,a credible information was received by CK Achukattu police inspector,Janardhan that two persons are in possession of deer Antlers and are waiting to deliver the consignment to their client near bus stop.

Based on a tip off,a team of police led by PSI, Manoj Kumar and team rushed near CK Acchukattu bus stop and after a close watch the team caught duo red handed identified as Madaiah and Ramesh from Chamaraja Nagar and Ramanagar

During investigation the accused confessed the crime and revealed that they are just carriers to handover the consignment to clients for which they get commission.

However the kingpin of the racket is on the run and efforts are on to secure them.

The duo as Madaiah and Ramesh revealed that they are carriers to handover the consignment to the client after they confirm through a code word given to them.

The duo was asked to hand over the consignment and get the cash out of which 20 percent commission promised to them.

We suspect that it could be a case of inter state racket involving the poachers from neighbouring forest area adjacent to chamarajnagar district.

The accused has been booked under wildlife Act and other relevant sections and further investigation is on to ascertain their network.

Finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant has appreciated Addl CP West,Soumendhu Mukherjee,DCP South,Harish Pandey,ACP,BL Srinivasmurthy,PI,Janardhan PR,PSI,Manoj Kumar,DS and crime staff,as,Puttaswamy,Virupaksha,Raju,Srinivas, Harish,Nagaraj Nayak,Shivanagowda Patel,and Nutan,has been appreciated for the commendable job done by them in nabbing two smugglers and seizing deer Antlers a nine pair deer horns from their possession a suitable reward will be given to the team he added.

Parmesh Jain

The North Division police of Hebbal police have arrested a gang of three habitual offenders and recovered valuables worth Rs.18 lakh from them.

The accused have been identified as Azmathulla, 30, from Gauribidanur,Arjuna Sharma,27 from HBR Layout and Aravinda,23 from TC palya.

Senior officer told media persons,as the crime team who were probing the HBT cases which took place in the year 2020 special teams were on massive manhunt for the offenders.

Based on the technical evidence obtained in one of the house break case,the Hebbal police inspector Chidanand and his team identified the accused and arrested them.

During investigation the accused confessed the crime and Based on their information the police recovered 350 grams of gold valuables and one kilograms of silver articles apart from other stolen goods totalling Rs 18 lakh from them.

With their arrest the police have managed to solve as many as eight house break thefts reported in and around the city.

A detailed investigation by the team it has revealed that accused are habitual offenders having multiple criminal cases .

They have been arrested for different cases and remanded to Parappana Agrahara.In the jail the trio ganged up and after coming out on bail, they started breaking into the house to make quick money are now cooling their heels in jail.

Finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant has appreciated Addl CP West Soumendhu Mukherjee DCP North,Patil Vinayak Vasanthrao, ACP,Smt.Reena Suvarna,PI,Chidanand M Gadag, PSI,Madhu and crime staff as,Suresh M Mali, Shivakumar,JS,Lakshmipathy,Mahesh,Karegowda,Rajashekaraiah,Mahantesh K,Shahbuddin,Shaila B,and Harish has been appreciated for the exemplary and meticulous investigation in nabbing the Notorious gang and recovering stolen property from them a suitable reward will be given to the team he added.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to repeal the three contentious farm laws showed his sensitivity.

Rejecting the claim that the government bowed to the year-long protest, Bommai said that the three laws were part of the liberalisation and globalisation process started in 1991-92 and were in line with the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s agreement with the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

“It is not a question of bowing. This process of liberalisation and globalisation started in 1991-’92. As part of it, various laws were to be formulated. Further, the UPA government had signed an agreement with the WTO. Agriculture Reforms and the Agriculture Marketing Reforms were also part of it,” Bommai claimed.

According to him, the draft bill was pending during the UPA government and a decision was taken after bringing certain changes and taking consensus of all the states to give proper returns to the farmers.

“However, the farmers of Punjab, Haryana and other states insisted for a regulated market system and held protests for one year,” Bommai said.

He also said that Modi tried to convince the farmer leaders but they did not agree.

“The Prime Minister has announced withdrawing all the three laws in the upcoming parliament session. It is a sensitive government. We have responded to the farmers’ demand,” Bommai said.

He denied that the decision to repeal the three laws had anything to do with the forthcoming elections in five states.

“We had won by-elections even in the midst of protests. The decision has no connection with the election in five states. The Prime Minister felt that some more discussions were necessary and accordingly, the government felt that withdrawing the farm laws will build confidence among people,” Bommai explained.

Former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa too welcomed Prime Minister’s decision to repeal the three laws.

“The Prime Minister has announced withdrawing the three laws. The farmers were agitating against them. On behalf of the farmers of the country, I congratulate him,” Yediyurappa told reporters.

On the occasion of 552nd Prakash Parva or the birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru Nanak Dev on Friday, Modi announced repealing the three contentious laws.

Most of the agitators were holding protests around Delhi and other parts of North India for over a year demanding that the government withdraw the three laws saying they were anti-farmer.

These laws are: The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

Bengaluru: As the Karnataka BJP on Thursday tweeted a picture of his late son Rakesh with associates of alleged bitcoin scam accused Srikrishna alias Sriki, senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah hit back at the ruling party accusing it of trying to hide its “corruption” and attempting to get personal to pursue “dirty agenda” in politics.

He also urged Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to order a judicial enquiry into the alleged scam by the Supreme Court judge, including the term of the Congress government headed by him.

“Karnataka BJP is trying to hide their corruption by bringing the name of my deceased son. I urge CM of Karnataka to order a judicial enquiry by Supreme Court to investigate into the bitcoin scam, including our term,” the former Chief Minister tweeted.

“It has been five years since my son left us, but our family is still grieving. It is unfortunate he will not be able to reply to the allegations on him. Karnataka BJP is trying to get personal to pursue their dirty agenda in politics,” he alleged.

He was responding to tweets by Karnataka BJP with a picture of his late son Rakesh Siddaramaiah posing with Hemant Muddappa and Suneesh Hegde.

“Hemant Muddappa and Suneesh Hegde had a close friendship with bitcoin hacker Sriki. It is mentioned in the police document that they had hacked a gaming site and e-portal through Sriki. Please see who is with Suneesh Hegde and Hemant here,” BJP had said in a tweet with the photo.

“It is our belief that you will recognise all those with Hemant Muddappa and Suneesh Hegde in this photo. If that belief is true, the bitcoin hacking scam began during your tenure. Mr Siddaramaiah, you have accurate information about it, right?” the BJP said.

Alleging that illegal activities like drugs and bitcoin were taking place in a hookah bar at a prestigious hotel in Bengaluru, BJP further stated that people like Sriki, Hemant Muddappa and Suneesh Hegde might have “roamed around” Siddaramaiah’s residence.

Hitting back at BJP for alleging that his son Rakesh was seen with Srikrishna’s friend, Siddaramaiah asked, “Then how can we interpret the photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Nirav Modi (alleged fugitive) during the 2018 World Economic Forum?”

He further said, “It is alleged that an important Karnataka BJP leader had received bitcoin as quid pro quo for mediating the release of Hemant Muddappa when he was arrested with Srikrishna. Nalin Kumar Kateel (State BJP president) may know who that leader is.”

Rakesh had died of multi-organ failure at a hospital in Belgium in 2016, at the age of 39. Siddaramaiah was Chief Minister then.

There have been speculations for some time now about the involvement of politically-influential people in the alleged scam after CCB officials claimed recovery of bitcoins worth Rs nine crore from a city-based hacker Sriki, who is also accused of hacking into government portals, sourcing drugs through the dark net and paying for it through cryptocurrency.

Congress leaders have alleged the involvement of senior BJP leaders, their family members and senior officials in the scam, and have accused the government of trying a cover-up. The BJP too in its counter has alleged involvement of leaders from the grand old party.

Bengaluru : Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said he has sought a report on the damage caused to the agriculture and horticulture crops due to continuous downpour in several parts of the state for the past fortnight.

“The unexpected downpour is continuing and there are signals that it will extend for another four to five days due to depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Its effect is evident in Bengaluru and a few other districts such as damage to the roads, crops and inability to move out and water gushing into houses,” the Chief Minister told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

He said he has issued directions to officials concerned regarding the measures to be taken once the rain stops.

“We are also assessing the crop loss in various districts due to rains, to provide compensation to farmers.

Today I am going to hold a meeting with officials on procurement under the Minimum Support Price (MSP). We are monitoring the situation,” Bommai said.

He added he has directed the horticulture department to submit a status report on the impact of rain on vegetables and fruits. Since Bengaluru is also battered by the heavy rains, Bommai said he said once the rain stops, they have take up road repair work, lay underground drains at an estimated cost of Rs 280 crore in the 110 villages, which were added to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in 2005-06. Relief operations will also be taken up in low-lying areas and more personnel will be pressed into service.

Four Bengaluru specific State Disaster Response Force will be constituted.

According to Bommai, the confusion over taking up repair work in Bengaluru has been resolved and it has been decided that the maintenance contractors should take it up.

If they refuse, then the civic agency should undertake road repair work, holding back the security deposit of the maintenance contractors, the Chief Minister explained.

The city has been witnessing heavy rains for more than a fortnight and meteorologists have predicted rainfall for the next 48 to 72 hours in many parts of the state.