Bengaluru: According to a report by Prajavani, new information has surfaced concerning the harassment and targeting of the 17 Muslim BBMP war room employees, who were singled out by the BJP MP Tejasvi Surya and his party’s MLAs. An MLA from the party allegedly pressured the BBMP officials to suspend the 17 employees in question and warned them of trouble in case of non-compliance, even before the ambush, it is learned.

A senior official, who insisted on being anonymous has released a statement revealing that “An MLA and his supporters pressured us and told us to suspend all the Muslim employees from the War room on May 1st itself”, he said. 

“There are no complaints on these 17 Muslim employees, and they have done nothing wrong. We said that we cannot suspend them from work without any reason. After that, an officer in the lower department was also pressured by them. They had brought a letter they wrote in this regard. But, I rejected it”, the senior level officer, who wished to remain anonymous told Prajavani.

“The MLA had warned and said that ‘if you do not suspend the Muslim employees, you will face trouble’. Because we did not listen to them, they ambushed us on May 4th”, the anonymous official informed. “MLAs had left the individuals that they chose at the Bommanahalli region’s war room. They were overlooking the In-charge’s work including that of operations related to the allotment of beds. In this regard, the MLA wanted to remove the 17 individuals in question and replace them with his people, that was his intention”, the Prajavani report citing the anonymous official relayed.

Appointed after April 20: “The South zone War room had only 47 employees to do the work. On April 15th, we notified that we required more staff and requested the fulfillment of the same. Including these 17 Muslim employees, around 160 individuals were appointed on April 20th. Presently, 207 employees were working in that location”, informed an official working at the Crystal Agency, which helped fulfill the employee requirement of the South Zone war room. 

“The agency that fulfilled the Bommanahalli war room’s staff requirements is another organization. We have fulfilled the staff requirements for the South Zone war room”, the official from the agency was quoted saying in the report published by Prajavani.

“After April 20th, for few days, the newly appointed staff received training. They began work after that. The accusations that claim that these 17 employees were involved in the bed-blocking case are a lie. The allotment of beds was being overseen by senior officers and doctors. The employees that we provided, do not have any authority to do so”, Prajavani’s report elaborated on the agency officer’s statement. 

BENGALURU: Karnataka recorded the highest single-day Covid deaths since the onset of the pandemic at 592. Among them, 346 deaths were from Bengaluru Urban. The total number of Covid deaths in the State is now 17,804 and the case fatality ratio for the day was 1.21 per cent. Karnataka, which is in second position after Maharashtra in total cases, added 48,781 new cases, taking the tally to 1,83,885. The total active cases are now 5,36,641, up from 5,17,075 the previous day.

The state’s positivity rate for the day was 30.69 per cent. On a bright note, the State hit the highest discharges in a day at 28,623, an increase from 18,943 on Thursday. The total discharges are now 12,84,420. Recovery ratio of the state is 69.84 per cent, down from 71.04 per cent on Thursday.

Bengaluru Urban continues to record a high number of cases among districts. It reported 21,376 new cases, taking the tally to 9,08,462. It was 8,87,086 the previous day.

The city’s discharges were 11,784 and the total was 5,58,992 with 3,41,978 active cases. Bengaluru’s mortality rate had been dropping since April 13 from a CFR of 0.99 per cent to 0.88 per cent on April 25. On May 6, it was 0.80 per cent. But it saw a slight increase after recording 346 deaths to 0.82 per cent. Dr Jagadish Hiremath, CEO, Ace Suhas Hospital, said, “This is certainly worrying. Till now we were running short of oxygen, now shortage of ventilators is another problem we have to deal with. As cases are going up alarmingly, many hospitals are shutting down due to shortage of oxygen. ”

The health officer pouring out his struggle, with the patient’s attendant, to arrange a ventilator bed for his wife has gone viral on social media. 

MYSURU: At a time when thousands are scrambling to find beds and save the lives of their family members, the magnitude of the crisis can be gauged from the fact that even those in positions of authority seem helpless, even when it comes to their own family members.

An audio clip of Mysuru District Health Officer (DHO) T Amarnath, pleading his inability to arrange a bed for a patient, has called into question the system of bed management in the district. The health officer pouring out his struggle, with the patient’s attendant, to arrange a ventilator bed for his wife has gone viral on social media. 

“I was not able to get a ventilator bed for my wife. Then, how can I help you? I am completely lost and it is out of my hands,” Amarnath can be heard telling a man who had called seeking help to get a ventilator bed for a critically ill patient admitted at ESI Hospital here.

Enraged by the DHO’s reply, the patient’s attendant questioned Amarnath why he was continuing in the position when he couldn’t help people. “My situation is such. It is out of my hands. I am ready to face action or even go home if action is taken,” he can be heard saying. 

The audio clip, leaked on social media platforms, reveals the helplessness of health officials who are struggling just like commoners at a time with the second wave of the pandemic has wreaked havoc in the state.

Pramesh Jain

The North Division police of Subramanyanagar police and JC Nagar police in a major crackdown arrested six persons since Wednesday including a lecturer of a nursing college and staff of many private hospitals while they were selling Remdesivir injections vials in Black.

The accused has been identified as,Janardan,Medical Representative,JP Nagar,Deepak,Medical Representative, nagawara,Lokesh,Receptionist Hospital, Yelahanka,Dinesh M,27,lecturer in little flower college of nursing and his associate Shankar,42,a lab technician from Gayathri diagnostic centre situated in 6th block Nagarabhavi,and Johny H,34,HR manager of St. Theresa hospital.

Senior officer told media persons,a major drive against Blackmarketing of Remdesivir vials was carried out in our North Division in the leadership of DCP,North,Dharmendra Kumar Meena,team headed by Subramanyanagar police and JC Nagar police have cracked down on Black Marketing of Remdesivir vials.

Based on tip off recieved by Subramanyanagar police inspector, Sanjeev Gowda HB,that two men selling Remdesivir injection in public.

A team of police from Subramanyanagar on wednesday raided a place near private hospital junction in Rajajinagar 1st block and caught Dinesh M,27, who works as lecturer in little flower college of nursing and his associate Shankar,42,a lab technician from Gayathri diagnostic centre situated in 6th block Nagarabhavi and recovered 12 remdesivir injection vials,a bike two mobile phones cash Rs 7,500 from them. 

During investigation the accused told the police that he was sourcing the vials from the lab technician of the hospital identified as Anand and sharing the profits.

The duo confessed that they have sourced the injections from their contacts identified as Chethan,a lab technician from Ashraya hospital  and Pawan,boys hostel mess incharge of a little flower college of nursing.Chethan and Pawan are currently on the run.

Following the leads,the police also arrested Johny H,34,HR manager of St.Theresa hospital and recovered three Remdesivir vials,a car,two mobile phones and cash Rs 5,000 from him.

Similarly on Thursday, the JC Nagar police in separate incidents arrested three men selling Remdesivir in black to the public .

Based on the information the JC Nagar police raided a place near a private hospital on JC Nagar main road and arrested,Janardhan NS,34, a medical representative,Deepak,34,delivery boy of a medical store and Lokesh,28,a receptionist at a private hospital .

The police recovered 10 vials of Remdesivir, three bikes and seven mobile phones and cash Rs 16,000 has been seized from them.

We have taken the accused into custody for further investigations and efforts are to secure the arrest of others who are involved in the black marketing and presently on the run,Dharmendra Kumar Meena,DCP, North Division,said .

Meanwhile the CCB officials also arrested 4 accused in separate incidents and recovered 12 Remdesivir injections from them on Thursday.

DG-IGP Praveen Sood,tweeted telling,90 persons have been arrested and 38 cases booked for black marketing Remdesivir injection or packing fake remdesivir.Our drive will continue against those trying to profiteer in this tough situation.Well done.Keep the pressure on such unscrupulous activities he said.

The Karnataka police have been on their toes to curb black marketing of the drug since Mid-April with several such cases reported from Bengaluru, Mysuru and other cities.

Commissioner of police,Kamal Pant said in his tweets,@BlrCityPolice’s crackdown on black-marketing rackets continues unabated!.

@DCPNorthBCP has arrested 6 persons involved in black-marketing of #Remdesivir antiviral drug. Each vial was being sold at 8X times than the govt fixed rates. Further investigation is underway.

Anyone involved in these rackets will not be spared. The public is requested to share the info about any such attempt.Confidentiality will be maintained he said by tweeting.

Meanwhile,Bengaluru DCP,North,Dharmendera Kumar Meena,expressed confidence that the force would find the source of diversion of the drug soon.We will reach the source of diversion of this drug and take action against whoever is involved.

People are requested to reach out to the police to give any information they have on the same. We will act swiftly while maintaining confidentiality, he said.

A case has been registered under various sections of the Drugs Control Act and Indian Penal Code section 420 (cheating),against the accused in Subramanyanagar and JC Nagar police station and further investigation is on.

Finally,DG&IGP, Praveen Sood,has appreciated Bengaluru Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant,Addl CP West,Soumendhu Mukherjee,Joint CP Crime, Sandeep Patil,DCP North,Dharmendra Kumar Meena,DCP Crime-1, KP Ravikumar,ACP,Malleswaram Sub-Division,KS Venkatesh Naidu,ACP,JC Nagar Sub-Division,Smt.Reena Suvarna,PIs,as,Sanjeev Gowda HB,D R Nagaraj,PSIs,as,Latha N,Vinod J,and other crime staff who has done a tremendous and meticulous investigation led them to nab 6 people and successfully seized 25 Remdesivir vials anti-viral drug from them and a suitable reward will be given to the team he added.

Courtesy:The Cognate

By Shaik Zakeer Hussain

In a startling revelation, BJP MLA Satish Reddy, who a couple of days ago was seen in a video asking if BBMP was a Hajj Bhavan or a Madrasa to recruit Muslims, and made allegations against officials for running a racket of allocating hospital beds to COVID patients in exchange for bribes is now accused of allotting beds to his supporters in the same case.

Satish Reddy, the BJP legislator from Bommanahalli reportedly put his agents in the BBMP war room, who in turn were booking beds for his supporters. Reddy and his agents are alleged to have issued threats to officials in the war room to prioritise his supporters over other

The paper reported that the beds were also being sold for monetary exchange to distressed patients.

On Tuesday, Reddy accompanied by Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya, Basavanagudi MLA Ravi Subramanya, and Chickpet MLA Uday Garudachar held a press conference accused city municipal officials of accepting bribes to allot hospital beds. They alleged that a “nexus of BBMP officials and frontline health workers” were creating artificial scarcity and that beds were being booked under the name of asymptomatic patients who were in home isolation.

The BJP legislators also picked up on Muslims working in the BBMP COVID war room and took objections to them working there. In the video of the incident that has since gone viral, they were seen barging into a BBMP COVID war room and asking officers present if BBMP was a Hajj Bhavan or a Madrasa to recruit Muslims.https://www.youtube.com/embed/cWS2ZwsfUfM?feature=oembed

The South zone war room has 205 designates telecallers, of which only 17 were Muslims. In the video, Surya is seen asking the BBMP official what process was followed to recruit the volunteers in the COVID war room, and read out a list of 17 people, who all happened to be Muslims. Surya, Reddy, and the other BJP leaders were seen asking officials to remove the Muslim employees from the war room.

The Cognate got in touch with some of the sacked employees, who said that they were not given any reason why they were removed from their jobs.

BENGALURU: After 24 patients lost their lives in Chamarajanagara owing to oxygen shortage among other reasons, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa held an emergency meeting with oxygen manufacturers and suppliers in Bengaluru on Monday. As per the Chief Minister’s own estimate, the state requires approximately1,471 tonnes of oxygen per day given the spike in the number of Covid-19 cases. In his meeting, Yediyurappa said a ‘green corridor’ for oxygen transportation will come up in the state to ensure timely supply to hospitals. 

The state can manufacture 812 tonnes of oxygen per day, including from industrial sources. With many industries coming forward to convert industrial oxygen for medical purposes, the amount produced in the state has increased slightly. The state also gets supply from the Centre. The daily allocation was 300 metric tonnes till the last week of April. It went up to 800 metric tonnes after Yediyurappa, in the Chief Ministers’ meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanded an increase in the allocation of oxygen to the state along with the drug Remdesivir. The state is also expected to receive four tankers of liquid oxygen from Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. 

At the meeting, Yediyurappa asked officials to ensure minimal wastage of oxygen supplied by the Centre. “We have to reduce the time taken to refill empty oxygen tankers,” the CM said. Taking a cue from the Union Health Minister’s idea to explore the feasibility of converting existing nitrogen plants to produce oxygen, the state government is looking to convert nitrogen and argon tankers available for supplying oxygen instead. Given the shortage of manpower, the state is also looking to hire LPG tanker drivers to ferry oxygen tankers in emergencies.

An appeal has been made to manufacturers to coordinate with officials directly to ensure smooth supply of oxygen to hospitals. Meanwhile, the clinical expert committee on Covid-19 in the state has provided guidelines for minimising the wastage of oxygen. These guidelines also lay down the responsibility of the health team regarding the judicial use and the responsibility of the hospital administrators in monitoring and auditing oxygen use. 

BENGALURU: As frenetic investigations and corrective measures got under way a day after the alleged bed allocation scam in Bengaluru was exposed – reportedly by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya and other BJP leaders – a senior official, known for his efforts in Covid management, expressed grief over social media posts linking him to the incident. He has also raised objections over the issue being “communalised”, with 16 people belonging to a minority community coming under the under the scanner.

Karnataka Lokayukta Justice P Vishwanatha Shetty initiated suo motu proceedings into the alleged scam and directed the Lokayukta police to conduct an independent probe and submit a report within three weeks.The city police too registered two criminal cases in Jayanagar police station, arresting nine people, including two doctors. Four others are being questioned.

Preliminary investigations have revealed the involvement of staff members of private hospitals too. The accused have been charged with breach of trust, cheating and extortion under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, besides provisions of the Disaster Management Act. Both the cases have now been transferred to the CCB for further investigation.

The BBMP Chief Commissioner, Gaurav Gupta, said the issue is being parallely investigated by the South zone special commissioner. The BBMP Joint Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) and in-charge of Covid Care Centres in Bengaluru, Sarfaraz Khan, expressed pain over being dragged into the alleged bed booking scam, with social media posts demanding that he be held “accountable” although he is not involved with the Covid war room.