Karkala: A suo-moto case has been registered against the Bajrang Dal leaders at the Karkala city police station due to their alleged inflammatory aand provocative speech during an event on August 13 here in the city.

The case has been lodged against Puneeth Attavar, the coordinator of Bajrang Dal’s Mangaluru division, and Sampath, the coordinator of Bajrang Dal in Karkala city, as stated by the police.

The incident transpired during a Bajrang Dal event in Karkala on August 13, where Puneeth Attavar, a key speaker, reportedly made a statement indicating that those involved in cow slaughter should anticipate consequences. His remarks conveyed that they should expect the same hand used for slaughtering the cow to be separated from their body. In response to these comments, the Karkala police took action and officially registered a case on Sunday.

Mangaluru: The City Crime Branch (CCB) police have apprehended a 28-year-old man who was facing multiple charges and had been evading authorities for about a year and a half, failing to appear before the court for a scheduled hearing.

The detained individual has been identified as Mohammad Naushad, also known as Ullanje Naushad, hailing from Ullanje in the Mennabettu village. The CCB officers apprehended him near Miyapadavu in the Kasaragod district and subsequently handed him over to the Surathkal police for further legal proceedings.

According to the police, Naushad is connected to four cases, including the high-profile murder of Deepak Rao in 2018, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Surathkal Police Station. The authorities revealed that Naushad had been on the run since being released on bail.

Additionally, he is accused in cases related to assault, making death threats under the jurisdiction of the Mulki Police Station, attempting to murder police officers on duty, and a POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) case registered at the Women’s Police Station.

Mangaluru: A woman residing in KPT Vyasanagar has lodged a formal police complaint against her husband, alleging the theft of a substantial amount of gold jewelry that she had meticulously stored in her home cupboard. The complainant, Renisha Noronha, has accused her husband, Mohammad Ilias, of being involved in the alleged theft.

Renisha Noronha, who resides in an apartment with her husband and their son, revealed that she had entrusted her gold jewelry to the cupboard locker at their residence. The stolen jewelry, amounting to 75 pawns of gold, encompassed a variety of pieces. These included 25 pawns of wedding gifts from her parents, 20 pawns gifted by her parents, an additional five pawns she had acquired herself, and a final set of 25 pawns bestowed by her in-laws. Renisha underscored that the knowledge of this cache of gold was shared exclusively between her and her husband.

The situation took a turn in April when a disagreement led Renisha to temporarily move to her mother’s residence. Upon her return to their apartment a month later, she discovered her husband’s week-long absence. This raised suspicions, prompting her to examine the cupboard locker, revealing the shocking disappearance of her gold holdings.

Efforts to contact Ilias bore no fruit until he finally responded to her calls three days later. He openly admitted to taking the gold and subsequently divulged his actions. Renisha claims Ilias had challenged her and even stated that he had pledged the gold at a bank for a sum of Rs 28.5 lakh. Moreover, Ilias confessed to enlisting an accomplice named Prabhakar who helped manage the gold transaction. Reportedly, Prabhakar arranged for the melted gold worth Rs 12 lakh to be sold.

Renisha Noronha’s formal complaint, lodged with the Kadri Police, targets both her husband Ilias and his associate Prabhakar.

Gundlupet: Tragedy struck on Wednesday morning as a 15-year-old girl, identified as Philish, succumbed to a sudden heart attack while taking a walk within the premises of the CMS Children’s Home in Gundlupet town.

Hailing from Bengaluru, Philish was a Class 10 student at Nirmala Convent in Gundlupet. As she was strolling within the Children’s Home grounds, she collapsed unexpectedly. She was rushed to the nearby public hospital in Gundlupet. However, despite the efforts of medical professionals, it was confirmed that the young girl had passed away due to a heart attack.

Selvaraj, the warden of CMS Children’s Home, shared that the deceased had been residing at the facility for the past five years. Her father, Prabhu, had enrolled her in the home to facilitate her studies in Gundlupet.

The body of Philish has been transferred to the hospital mortuary. Following the completion of the necessary post-mortem procedures, her remains will be handed over to her family for the final rites.

Hassan: In a shocking incident that unfolded on Wednesday, a confidant of JD(S) leader and former minister HD Revanna was brutally killed in broad daylight near Nagatavalli village on the outskirts of Hassan city.

The victim, identified as Krishna Gowda, was the proprietor of Sriram Marbles and maintained a close association with HD Revanna.

Krishna Gowda met a tragic end when he was mercilessly attacked by a group of assailants wielding lethal weapons. The horrifying incident transpired outside his granite factory in Hassan. Police have responded by registering a case at the Hassan Rural Police Station and launching an investigation into the incident. Officers have visited the scene of the crime to gather crucial evidence.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Wednesday said the elephant population in the state has increased by 346. Releasing the elephant census report conducted in May this year, he said in 2017 census, there were 6,049 elephants in the state and now there are 6,395 pachyderms.

”Although elephants are mighty wildlife species, they are under threat worldwide, including in India. In order to protect the endangered animal, the World Elephant Day is being celebrated on August 12 to create awareness about conservation of their habitat so that they can also live comfortably,” the minister said at a press conference here. According to Khandre, the elephant census is conducted every five years and the previous census was held in 2017.

In 2022, an attempt was made to take survey part of the All India Tiger Census but it did not include sample block count and population structure assessment of elephants. This method is very important for census and numerical classification of the jumbos (sex and age), he said. The minister said the elephant census was conducted from May 17 to May 19 this year simultaneously by Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. A similar census was conducted in Andhra Pradesh on the same period, he said.

The census was carried out by the Karnataka Forest Department with the technical assistance of the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) headed by Prof R Sukumar, who guided in preparing the format of the census, training the field staff, analysis of census results and report preparation, he said. According to Khandre, more than 3,400 personnel from 32 divisions of the state participated in this elephant census, which was undertaken in three ways – direct enumeration or block enumeration, transect survey or dung count method, and waterhole counting. The census was conducted in 32 divisions of the state and pachyderms were found in 23 divisions. The total number of elephants enumerated directly on the day of survey was 2,219. It was conducted in 6,104 sq km area out of 18,975 sq km area in these 23 divisions, he explained.

”Since this is the first time such a large area has been surveyed, this survey and report are highly accurate and reliable,” the minister said.

MANGALURU: Two shopkeepers, who were arrested from Mangaluru on July 19 for selling drug-laced chocolates, have been charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act after forensic reports revealed traces of ganja in the sweets.

Police on Monday said the results from the forensic science laboratory have been received and the two accused have additionally been charged under the provisions of the NDPS Act.

A bulk of bhang chocolates seized by Mangaluru North and South police from the two accused had been sent to the laboratory for tests.

Manohar Shet, one of the accused, was arrested from Car Street and Bechan Sonkar from Falnir in the city on July 19.

They were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.

UDUPI: The Karnataka government has handed over the case of the three girls allegedly filming a fellow girl student inside a college washroom to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Monday.

“There is an allegation that a video was filmed in the toilet of a private college in Udupi, and as this is a sensitive case, it has been handed over to the CID for further investigation,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tweeted.

The incident was portrayed in certain circles in a communal manner because the victim and the accused belong to different religious communities.

National Women’s Commission member Khushbu Sundar, who is also a member of the BJP, visited Udupi on July 26 to ascertain the truth behind the incident.

As the victim had not filed a formal complaint, police registered a suo motu case in this connection on July 26 at Malpe police station in Udupi and a DySP-level investigation was going on.

The BJP held state-wide protests on the issue demanding the arrest of the three girls and an investigation by a special investigation team (SIT) into the incident.

Udupi Superintendent of Police Hakay Akshay Machhindra too confirmed that the case has been handed over to the CID. He declined to elaborate on the reason behind handing over the case to the CID.

According to the Netra Jyothi College director Rashmi Krishna Prasad, the incident took place on July 19 and after learning about it, the three girls were suspended from the college the next day.

The three girls brought a phone into the college, which is not permitted as per rules, and then they allegedly filmed a girl in the toilet, she said.

The girls later told the victim that they filmed her by mistake whereas their target was someone else and then deleted the video, Prasad told PTI.

The other college girls got alarmed and reported the matter to the college management when the victim told them about the conduct of the three girls.

However, some girls later alleged that the filming in the washroom had been going on for the past six months and that the accused had allegedly shared these videos with some boys to blackmail them.

However, police said they had found no such videos.

On July 27, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara had called it “a small incident blown out of proportion”.

“That is a small incident. Reports say it happened amongst friends. Should it be blown out of proportion and given a political colour?” Parameshwara had asked.

“If a criminal activity has taken place beyond it and if a complaint has been given, then it will come under the jurisdiction of the police department. However, there is neither complaint nor anything else,” he added.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student’s wing of the RSS, staged massive protests in the town for several days seeking action against the accused.

BENGALURU:  Chief Minister Siddaramaiah chose not to rake up issues related to Karnataka during his maiden visit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Parliament House, in the national capital on Thursday.
It was his first meeting with Modi after he became chief minister of the Congress government, and he restricted it to a courtesy call during which the duo exchanged pleasantries for about five minutes, according to sources. During his next visit, Siddaramaiah is likely to come up with a solid proposal to the Prime Minister, sources quoted him as saying after he called on Modi. 

Siddaramaiah honoured Modi with a Mysuru Peta, Karnataka’s traditional headgear, a shawl and a wooden memento of the Mysuru Dasara palanquin, in which an elephant carries a howdah. 

Meanwhile, during his meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Siddaramaiah requested to organise an air show on the occasion of Dasara in Mysuru in October. He also called upon Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman and discussed the GST compensation-related issues. During his next visit, he is likely to give a separate proposal from the state, a source said.

Incidentally, Siddaramaiah turned 76 on Thursday and celebrated the occasion with his supporters in the national capital before wrapping up his two-day trip.

BENGALURU: Congress leaders from Karnataka, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, will meet the party high command in New Delhi on Wednesday (August 2). Though the main agenda of the meeting is to chalk out an action plan for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, other issues plaguing the two-month-old Siddaramaiah government are also likely to be discussed, sources said.

The meeting assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of a few legislators writing to the CM over lack of funds for their constituencies and working style of ministers. Also, remarks regarding the CM’s post by senior Congress leader and MLC BK Hariprasad had caused much embarrassment to the government.

AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and former MP Rahul Gandhi will hold a meeting with 37 top leaders, including Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, 19 ‘key’ senior ministers, and AICC functionaries between 3 pm and 5.30 pm where the strategy for the 2024 LS polls will be discussed. This will be followed by a separate meeting with Siddaramaiah and his cabinet colleagues, sources added.

“The meeting has been called to discuss the Lok Sabha elections, party interests, election strategy, and sharing of responsibilities. Not only the ministers, but also the MLAs, MPs and senior leaders of the party have been invited to the meeting that will be held in three parts,” a senior party leader said.

Also, the issue of MLAs not being consulted on several issues such as transfer of officials will be discussed, the source added.

MLC BK Hariprasad, who is reportedly miffed after he was not made a minister, is among the 37 top leaders invited for the meeting. “He is expected to raise several issues, including alleged corruption, against the government,” the source added.

Interestingly, Minor Irrigation Minister NS Boseraju, the floor leader in the Legislative Council, has been left out of this meeting.

The senior leaders who will be attending the meeting are ministers Dr G Parameshwara, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Ramalinga Reddy, Eshwar Khandre, HK Patil, KH Muniyappa, Dinesh Gundu Rao, KJ George, Priyank Kharge and Krishna Byre Gowda. KPCC working presidents Saleem Ahmed and Chandrappa, former union minister Veerappa Moily, AICC communication head Jairam Ramesh, former CM Jagdish Shettar, former DyCM Laxman Savadi, former ministers RV Deshpande, Vinay Kulkarni and Ramesh Kumar, MP DK Suresh, and Rajya Sabha members Dr Naseer Hussain, GC Chandrashekhar and Dr L Hanumanthiah will also be at the meeting.

Siddaramaiah is also likely to get the nod from the high command to fill the three vacant MLC posts by nominating former minister MR Seetharam, Mansur Ali Khan and Sudham Das to the Upper House.