Pramesh Jain

Enforcement Directorate officials on Wednesday provisionally attached assets worth Rs.4.98 crore in connection with its probe into the Syndicate Bank fraud case.

The fraud dates back to November 2019 when the police arrested a bank employee Vijay Akash and two of his relatives for allegedly diverting Rs. 50 crore belonging to Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board (KSAMB),which was transferred to the bank as a fixed deposit. 

The central agency said it took up the probe based on an FIR filed by the Commercial Street police against Vijay Akash,Mohamed Musthafa, M D Jairam (the then Assistant Branch Manager of Syndicate Bank,Uttarahalli Branch Bengaluru)  and others.

The investigation revealed that Vijay Akkash,the alleged mastermind of the whole conspiracy along with other accused opened a fake current account in the Syndicate Bank in the name of Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board (KSAMB).

It was operated by Mohamed Musthafa,who was impersonating the account officer of KSAMB, based on fabricated documents such as board resolution,ID card and the KSAMB letterhead.

The accused using fraudulent means succeeded in transferring Rs.50 crores to the fake current account, said the ED in a release.

After the money was transferred to the account, Musthafa with the help of M D Jairam and others subsequently transferred Rs.47,16,62,500 into various bank accounts belonging entities, persons etc,who acted as accomplices to the conspiracy.

“The bank accounts of each of those entities/persons were used to withdraw money in the form of cash and to buy jewellery and land by the accused and their accomplices.

Accordingly,identified assets in the form of the balances in the bank accounts used for money laundering,Jewellery and land to the tune of Rs. 4.98 crores in the form of movable and immovable properties have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of the Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Further investigation in the case is under progress,said the ED.

Pramesh Jain

RPF Women Squad,Chennamma team arrested Youth around 65 Smuggled Liquor bottles worth Rs.1.1 lakhs seized

Alert RPF,Women squad (Chenamma team),on Monday caught a man carrying four bags full of liquor bottles in Bhubaneswar Prashanti express worth over RS.1.1 lakh .

The liquor was concealed in the bag found lying in dubious condition in D1 general coach of the train.

upon Inquiry one passenger came forward to claim the baggage but he did not have any receipts or documents to corroborate his claim, a police officer said adding that suspecting that it was part of illegal transportation..

Total valued of seized whisky bottles is Rs. 1,10,930 /- approximately.The above said person and seized liquor bottles are handed over to concerned Excise authorities for further legal action as per procedure.

The liquor was seized and both the passenger and the consignment was handed over to excise department for further action.

Senior RPF officer said,However he did not have receipts/documents to support his claim,and it was evident that it was being transported illegally.Hence,the contraband was seized which is being exported from Bengaluru to Andhra Pradesh and further investigation is on.

Pramesh Jain

RPF Bengaluru Division rescued 20 trafficked children (17 boys & 03 girls) and arrested the traffickers in the past seven days under Operation Nanhe Fariste.

Alert RPF officials on tuesday rescued two minor boys from Bihar at cantonment railway station  and arrested a 22 year old tout who was part of the suspected human trafficking.

Miss.P Anusha,PSI,part of the operation Nanhe Farishte,child rescue team from RPF,noticed the two boys aged 15 years landed at the station from Guwahati Bangalore express and hurrying out.

Ms.Anusha stopped and inquired the trio to find that they are being brought to the city by Pankaj Kumar Choudhari,working for D.Shivraj,a labour contractor from Mysore owning Shiva enterprises.

Pankaj told the officials that he is working for Shivaraj for the last six months and getting a salary of Rs 13,000 per month.

His job is to get the children from his state to work for Shivraj,who would then supply to the people and the firms depending on the demand.

The accused Pankaj along with the two boys have been handed over to the railway police for further investigations said a senior officer.

Based on the complaint,the railway police registered a case against Pankaj Kumar charging him under section 370 ( human trafficking) of IPC.

Ashok Verma,DRM,South Western Railway said by tweeting,During the last few months many live kidnapping,child trafficking and Juvenile bonded laboure cases were reported in Bengaluru Division that were detected by Anti Human trafficking Team of Operation Nanhe Faristeh .⁦@RailMinIndia⁩.

In this regard,a new women sub-inspector  Miss.P.Anusha,SI/BYPL was appointed as feild in charge of “Operation of Nanhefariste” on 19.07.2021.

The team has performed exceedingly well under the feild supervision of Miss.P.Anusha,SI/BYPL and rescued 20 trafficked children along with arrest of traffickers in the past seven days of which 17 are boys & 03 girls.@AshwiniVaishnaw.

Children were being trafficked from various states from Bihar,Assam,West Bengal & Rajasthan.

The team has also arrested human traffickers and cracked two live kidnapping cases in the past 7 days he said in his tweets.

The team has performed exceedingly well under the field supervision of Miss P.Anusha.Children were being trafficked from various states i.e. from Bihar, Assam,West Bengal & Rajasthan.The team has also arrested human traffickers. It is understood that the children were being trafficked for forced labour.Further investigation is under progress.

Finally Senior Divisional Security Commissioner,Debashmita Chattopadhyay Banerjee has appreciated,RPF,PSI,Ms.Anusha and her whole team who has done a exemplary work in rescuing the trafficked children from forced labour a suitable reward will be given to the team he added.

SHIGGAON: As you step outside the palatial bungalow of the new Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai on Savanur-Shiggon main road in Shiggaon, dusty and poorly managed roads tell the sorry tale of the constituency. The people are happy that their favourite leader has been chosen as the Chief Minister of the state, but they list out their demands.

This is the third time Basavaraj Bommai is representing the Shiggaon-Savanur constituency of Haveri district. The town is badly in need of good roads, illumination and a health care system that can cater to hundreds of villages around. For every major health need the patients need to come to KIMS hospital in Hubballi. Besides the health infrastructure, the connectivity and transport services to 417 villages in Shiggaon and Savanur needs a boost.

But people also remember the contributions of Bommai who helped them solve their drinking water issues. For several years Savanur and Shiggaon had major problems with drinking especially during summer months. Thanks to the efforts of Bommai, two large water bodies in these towns were filled with water from the Varada river. For the last three years, the summers have not been so difficult for the people here. This has also helped large numbers of farmers who live along these canals.

Puttangouda Patil, resident of Shiggaon said that in 2013 itself Bommai ensured completion of the drinking water canal between Naganur and Gangibhavi. There are 3.5 lakh people in these two towns and villages who badly require medical facilities and good roads for commuting. Good roads will also help them take their agricultural produce to the markets in Haveri, Byadgi and Rangebennur,” he said.

“Now that Bommai has promised that he will make Shiggaon as a model constituency, we are hoping to see some development. There has been a long-pending demand from the people that Shinggaon should have a medical college,” said Shivappa Chikkannavar, a businessman from Shiggaon

HUBBALLI: AICC General Secretary in charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala, said that though there is a change in leadership in Karnataka, the character of the BJP government, which was formed on the basis of corruption, defection and spying, will not change.

Addressing reporters here on Friday, Surjewala said that everyone was aware how the Centre used snooping to bring down the Congress-JDS elected government in the state. “The only thing that has happened so far is rampant corruption. There is zero accountability, zero governance and zero administration,” he charged.

On the change of guard in the state, Surjewala asked, “Can rubber stamps replace reality?” He questioned the priority of the State Government at a time when the entire North Karnataka was reeling under floods. “But the BJP leaders are going to Delhi to become ministers,” he added. The priority for this government was the spoils of power and not floods, he remarked. “Priority should be to get back Rs 11,000 crore pending GST compensation. Considering that the Union Finance Minister is elected from the state, efforts should be also made to get Rs 18,000 crore from the Centre’s borrowings. This itself adds up to Rs 30,000 crore,” he added.

Surjewala hit out at Home Minister Amit Shah over the tension along the Assam-Mizoram border and called him the most inept Home Minister ever. He demanded action against the CMs of both the states for their “irresponsible handling of the delicate situation.” “Should we fight our enemy or our own brothers and sisters?” he said.

On the 27% reservation for OBCs in medical education, Surjewala said the Modi government took the decision fearing contempt of court. “A law in this regard was brought by the Manmohan government. Congress president Sonia Gandhi too had written to Modi. But he failed to act. Later, a girl approached the Madras High Court and the latter ordered in July 2020 that it was the Constitutional obligation of the Centre to implement it. The government did not respond even then. So, the Congress and the DMK approached the HC. On July 21, the court gave a seven-day deadline and fearing contempt of court, the government implemented the quota,” he said.

HUBBALLI, BENGALURU: Two days after taking oath as Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai will be visiting New Delhi on Friday to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, other Union ministers and MPs from Karnataka. However, the issue of cabinet formation may not be on the discussion table for now, as the CM, who is currently heading a one-man government, indicated that it will take some time and he will visit Delhi again to discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, his predecessor B S Yediyurappa told reporters on Thursday that he will not interfere in the cabinet formation or administration. “Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is capable and he will decide on it. I have even told my followers not to contact me for any work and to approach Bommai himself as he is now the CM of Karnataka,” Yediyurappa said. 

Regarding the apprehensions among the turncoats who had joined the BJP to help the party form its government, Yediyurappa said he will talk to Bommai, but added that the latter will decide on it. He also said will visit Gundlupet in Chamarajanagar district on Friday and call on the family of Ravi who committed suicide a day after Yediyurappa resigned.

CM to discuss pending K’taka projects in Delhi
“It’s my responsibility, I am going there to console the family,” the former CM added. On his future role, Yediyurappa quipped, “Even without power and post, one can do good deeds”.In Delhi, the CM is also holding a meeting with Union ministers and MPs from Karnataka to discuss pending projects and other issues related to Karnataka. He is scheduled to reach Delhi by 8.55 am and after meeting the PM and Union ministers, he will hold a meeting with MPs at 1 pm.

In related developments ahead of the CM’s visit to Delhi, many BJP leaders are too are rushing to the national capital and ministerial aspirants are lobbying hard to be part of the new government. On one hand, senior leader and former CM Jagadish Shettar’s refusal to join the cabinet has sent ripples among other senior leaders in the party while on the other, MLAs are resorting to intense lobbying to be part of Bommai’s Cabinet.

Bommai said that after Shettar made his opinion public, he had spoken to the latter about meeting him personally and added that after understanding his (Shettar’s) feelings, the matter will be taken up with the party leadership to try and find a solution.

WILL NEW CM GET NEW TEAM WITH NEW FACES?  
With Karnataka getting a new CM , the question now remains who will make it to the Basavaraj Bommai cabinet. Several MLAs, who were ministers in the Yediyurappa cabinet, are unlikely to make it. “Leaders are keen on bringing those who were denied berths earlier,” a source said.  

BENGALURU: After 19 days, the daily Covid caseload in the state has crossed the 2,000-mark. The last time this happened was on July 10 when 2,162 cases were reported. On Thursday, the state reported 2,052 cases, or 34 percent jump in cases, with Bengaluru accounting for 506 (34 percent more than Wednesday’s count of 376). The tally now stands at 29,01,247. 

In the last seven days, 18 districts reported a higher case fatality rate than the state average. Kodagu, Shivamogga, Ballari, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Mysuru, Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru Urban have higher deaths per million than the Karnataka average, which stands at 521. The highest number of deaths have been in the 60 to 69 age group with 10,545 patients succumbing to the virus. With 1,332 discharges, the total recoveries have gone up to 28,41,479.

BENGALURU: Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday took oath as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Ending the heightened suspense, the Karnataka BJP legislature party on Tuesday evening had elected Basavaraj Bommai as its new leader to succeed outgoing Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

Bommai, a Lingayat leader from North Karnataka is a close confidante of Yediyurappa and, according to party sources, there is clear stamp of the veteran BJP leader in this succession plan.

Son of former Chief Minister, late S R Bommai, he was Minister for Home Affairs, Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Legislature in Yediyurappa’s council of ministers which was dissolved on Monday.

It’s the second time of a father-son duo becoming Chief Minister of Karnataka, after H D Deve Gowda and H D Kumaraswamy.

Bommai is a three time MLA from Shiggaon constituency in Haveri district and has been MLC twice.

Yediyurappa, Union ministers Pradhan and G Kishan Reddy, who were appointed as central observers by BJP’s parliamentary board for the legislature party meeting, BJP national general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh, state president Nalin Kumar Kateel and national general secretary C T Ravi were among those who attended the swearing-in.

Ahead of the swearing-in, Bommai met Yediyurappa, also leaders from the centre- Pradhan, Reddy and Singh.

Ending months of speculation over his exit, Yediyurappa on Monday stepped down as the Chief Minister, coinciding with his government completing two years in office.