The administrator of Sunrise Hospital in Kalaburagi said the hospital is not equipped with isolation wards. The hospital could only give emergency treatment and they had done their duty, he added.

KALABURAGI: Family members of the 76-year-old man who died here on Tuesday night after being infected with the coronavirus allege that he was not given proper medical care.

The man’s son told Express that if doctors had treated him as soon as they were approached, he could have survived. He said family members took his father to a private hospital for treatment but they denied the patient admission. Later, they took him to Sunrise Hospital on 8th March but on the next day itself, they insisted that the patient be taken to Hyderabad.

“We were not ready to go to Hyderabad but were forced to do so. We took him there but no hospital was ready to admit him because he had returned from Dubai,” he said.

“We had to lie at Care Hospital at Hyderabad to get admission but within two hours they came to know of the issue and discharged our father,” he said.

He said that as there was no other alternative, they took him to the Gulbarga Institute of Medical Science (GIMS) Hospital where doctors declared that he was brought dead.

“We wandered in the ambulance from 4.00 pm on 9th March to 02.00 am on 10th March in Hyderabad but could not get treatment for our father in any of the hospitals,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, the administrator of Sunrise Hospital in Kalaburagi said the hospital is not equipped with isolation wards. The hospital could only give emergency treatment and they had done their duty, he added. The Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner said the family members of the deceased had taken the deceased to Hyderabad against medical advice.

“Immediately after coming to know that they have taken the patient to Hyderabad, we sent a team to bring the patient to GIMS and when he was brought to GIMS, the doctors declared him brought dead,” Deputy Commissioner Sharat B said.

Commissioner for Health and Family Welfare Services Pankaj Kumar Pandey urged the public not to believe in hearsay, but only in official communication.

BENGALURU: Social media platforms almost broke into frenzy after a news channel erroneously reported blanket emergency measures in the state on Wednesday. This came in wake of at least four positive cases of COVID-19 in Bengaluru.

Commissioner for Health and Family Welfare Services Pankaj Kumar Pandey urged the public not to believe in hearsay, but only in official communication.

“We have not declared of state emergency. Please do not believe in these kind of news. Offices, schools will stay open. If the situation demands (that they be closed), we will come out with an official communication,” said Pandey in a video that he put out on Wednesday to clear the air.

“On reports that Karnataka Government declared COVID-19 as state epidemic” and announced closure of schools and offices” I would like to say this is completely fake news and there is no truth in it. Any communication will come from the government in the press briefing that takes place every day,” he said.
He assured that no emergency has been declared and the offices schools and other institutions will stay open.

Bengaluru: A poet and a journalist have been arrested in connection with recital of a poem against CAA and NRC at a government sponsored function in Koppal district of Karnataka last month, police said on Wednesday.

The arrests were made based on a complaint from a BJP functionary alleging that Siraj Bisaralli, a poet had recited an anti-CAA poem at ‘Anegundi Utsava’ in Gangavathi town of Koppal district in January and Rajabaxi, editor of an online news portal uploaded it on social media.

Police had registered a case against them under section 505 of IPC (statements conducing to public mischief).

On Tuesday, Bisaralli and Rajabaxi surrendered before a court in that district, which rejected their bail plea and remanded them to police custody for investigation into the matter.

“Siraj had recited the poem and Rajabaxi had shared it on the social media. Based on a complaint by a BJP leader the case was registered under section 505 of the IPC.

They went absconding after that and surrendered before the court on Tuesday.

The duo sought an interim bail, which the public prosecutor objected to and sought police custody to conduct inquiry. The court granted sent Bisaralli and Rajabaxi to police custody till Wednesday afternoon.

“We may not seek further extension of their custody until some fresh evidences surface. We have seized their mobile phones to ascertain whom they had shared the details with,” police said.

Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court on Monday observed that Mangaluru Police should register FIR in the complaints filed by victims and the families of deceased in Mangaluru Police firing and lathi charge cases.

After allowing the bail application of the 22 people arrested by the Mangaluru Police in December 19 anti-CAA protest and violence case, the High Court bench of Justice John Michael D’Cunha heard the defense counsel adding that the police were framing people and had no strong ground or evidence against the arrested people.

The defense counsel also added that despite police firing and atrocities they had not filed any FIR. Justice John Michael D’Cunha referred to the Lalita Kumari case of Supreme Court and added that FIRs should be filed in cognizable offenses.

The Bench had sought report from the government in this regard, but the counsel appearing for government sought time till February 24 adding that the government will give detailed report on the same after divisional bench’s enquiry into the matter.

The Court then observed that the Police should file FIRs in complaints filed by victims and relatives of deceased who were killed in police firing on December 19.

The headmasters of schools had raised their concern over possible leaks when they received the question papers in bags without seal.

BENGALURU: In a circular issued on Tuesday, the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) admitted that the mathematics question paper for preparatory Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination for 10th standard students, was leaked beforehand. 

The exam was held on Tuesday.

V Sumangala, director of KSEEB said in the circular, “The SSLC preparatory exam paper was leaked on WhatsApp and went viral. We have lodged a complaint with the police to find out who was behind the act. If such things happen in the future, the headmaster of the school will be held responsible.”

“Preparatory exams need to be held as seriously as the main board exam with strict security measures. The person responsible for such leaks will be taken into police custody one week before the exam begins in the future,” she wrote in the circular.

Three days ago, TNIE highlighted in a story on how packaging for SSLC preparatory exam question papers was inadequate. The headmasters of schools had raised their concern over possible leak when they received the question papers in bags without seal and only cellophane tape. 

In the previous report, the director of KSEEB had responded saying that there were different modalities for preparatory and main board exams. He added that all precautions were taken to ensure confidential and secure transportation of the question papers.

Hubballi (Karnataka): The three Kashmiri engineering students a college here facing sedition charges were arrested again on Monday after protests broke out against the police for releasing them on execution of a bond under Section 169 of CrPC.

The trio, students of a private engineering college, were arrested on Saturday for raising pro-Pakistan slogans and posting it on social media. They were let off on Sunday execution of a bond under Section 169 of CrPC.

“They (Kashmiri students) have been arrested, produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody,” the Hubballi-Dharwad police Commissioner R Dileep.

The police had come under severe criticism for releasing the youths on Sunday. According to police sources, they were apprehended in this morning and taken to court.

The action came after members of right wing organisations staged demonstrations outside the police station on Sunday. Police sources said Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai too spoke to the police officials about the case.

Gowda said he was truly excited by the attention he was gaining for his Kambala feat and he was thankful to people for it. 

MANGALURU: A day after Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju invited Kambala jockey Srinivasa Gowda to take part in trials for a track event at Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Bengaluru on Sunday that he is not interested in it and will focus on Kambala.

At Venuru-Permude where he was taking part in Surya Chandra Kambala, Gowda said he was truly excited by the attention he was gaining for his Kambala feat and he was thankful to people for it. 

However, he categorically said that he will not take part in SAI trials to be held on Monday. On an invitation from CM BSY, he will meet him in Bengaluru on Monday. Gowda who is being dubbed as India’s Usain Bolt said track event is a different ball game and was not sure whether he can make it big there.

“In Kambala race, heels play an important role whereas it is toes in a track race. Not just jockeys, but even Buffaloes have a role to play in Kambala. In track race, this is not the case” said Gowda.

Gowda, who hit slush paddy fields at the age of 15, has taken part in hundreds of Kambala events in his career as a jockey, spanning more than a decade and has won tens of prizes. He was unwilling to reveal how much he will earn from Kambala but said whatever he earns is enough for him and he is happy with it.

He says many successful sprinters had tried their luck in Kambala but they didn’t succeed and tripped at the beginning of the race.

Mangaluru: Suratkal Police on Wednesday arrested one person for allegedly sending obscene and vulgar messages to corporator of Mangaluru City Corporation, on WhatsApp.

The arrested accused has been identified as Bharat Shetty (32), a resident of Mudipu in Mangaluru. Bharat is reportedly mentally unstable.

The accused allegedly took the corporator’s number from a media report and starter sending vulgar and indecent messages and images on WhatsApp. The corporator then filed a complaint with local police about the issue and the investigating team arrested Bharat on Wednesday evening.

Bharat was then produced before magistrate after his arrest on Wednesday.