Bengaluru: A few days after people in Madhya Pradesh found Rs 2000 notes without Mahatma Gandhi’s image, similar notes were found in Anekal on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

It is said that when a local withdrew Rs 24,000 from his bank account, he was in for a shock when he noticed that Gandhi’s image was missing from few of the notes. Of the 12 notes the person received, many were blank on one side. It was only after he went to pay his house rent that he found the mistake in the notes. The man’s ordeal was not over, as when he went to the bank to exchange the notes, they too turned him away.

Bank officials alleged that the man had gone to the RBI office in Bengaluru to exchange the notes, but the man argued that he was given the notes at the bank; finally after a heated argument, bank officials exchanged the notes after checking CCTV footage and verifying serial number of the notes.

While some felt that they were fake notes, bank officials said that they were genuine notes but the mistake was a result of defect in printing.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: The New Year’s eve sexual attacks against female revellers in Bengaluru may have generated nationwide outrage, but most such cases end up with no punishment: No more than one in 100 cases registered in Karnataka under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) — “Assault on women with intention to outrage her modesty” — ended in a conviction in 2015, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.

Nationwide, one in 10 such cases ended in conviction, 10 times better than Karnataka’s record.

In 2015, of 5,112 cases registered under Section 354, only 69 (1.3 per cent) ended in conviction. Of the 9,118 persons arrested in these cases, only 107 (1.2 per cent) were convicted.

Across India, 82,422 cases of sexual assault were registered, of which 8,408 (10 per cent) ended in conviction. Of 101,571 persons arrested for these attacks, 11,342 (11 per cent) were convicted.

While the number of cases under this section rose by 92 per cent from 42,968 in 2011 to 82,422 in 2015, conviction rates declined from 16 per cent in 2011 to 10 per cent in 2015.

Maharashtra reported the most sexual assaults (11,713), followed by Madhya Pradesh (8,049) and Uttar Pradesh (7,885) in 2015.

The rise in cases registered can be correlated to the change in laws — which were tightened, possibly leading to higher reporting — after the 2012 gangrape of a physiotherapy student, now widely known as Nirbhaya, which sparked nationwide protests and outrage.

In 2015, 8,685 cases were registered under Section 509 of the IPC — “Insult to modesty of women” — of which no more than 870 (10 per cent) resulted in conviction, a drop of 33 percentage points from a 43 per cent conviction rate in 2011.

Under this section, 9,870 were arrested across India, of which 1,108 were convicted (11 per cent).

In Karnataka, of 154 cases registered under Section 509 in 2015, no more than seven (5 per cent) ended in a conviction. Of the 163 persons arrested in these cases, nine (6 per cent) were convicted.

(Agencies)

Kolkata: Locked in a bitter feud with the Centre over demonetisation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today sought resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and mooted a “national government” headed by BJP veteran L K Advani, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley or Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The TMC supremo, who has declared an all out war against the Modi dispensation over demonetisation and arrest of her party MPs in chit fund scam, sought President Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention to “save the country from Narendra Modi”.

“All opposition parties should forget their differences and come together to save the nation. “It’s high time the President intervened and saved the country. That person (Modi) can’t lead the nation. He should step down. There should be a national government,” she said, suggesting the names of Advani, Jaitley and Singh to replace Modi.

She appreciated Mukherjee’s yesterday’s statement that demonetisation could lead to a temporary slowdown of the economy. “I have never seen such a vindictive government at the Centre. They are breaking age-old institutions like the Planning Commission and others. They are breaking the backbone of the government,” she told reporters.

The Chief Minister claimed West Bengal had lost Rs 5,500 crore following demonetisation and accused the Centre of “letting loose a reign of terror” on Opposition parties. A combative Banerjee also dared the BJP leaders to “touch her” when she visits the party-ruled Jharkhand.

“Two of my ministers and party leaders will visit Jharkhand and meet the tribal whose land has been forcibly taken away by the state government. After they come back and give me a report, I will visit Jharkhand. They (BJP) have said they will beat me up, If I visit a BJP-ruled state. I want to see if they can even touch me,” Banerjee said.

Her comments followed BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya’s recent warning to the TMC to “mend its ways or face consequences” after a string of attacks on party offices and leaders following the arrest of Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Trinamool Congress’ leader in the Lok Sabha, in a chit fund scam case.

Vijayvargiya had wondered whether TMC MPs and even Mamata Banerjee would be able to go around the country and enter New Delhi if his party started protesting against them.

(PTI)

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s former Principal Secretary on Thursday said he had sought voluntary retirement after alleging harassment by the CBI.

Rajendra Kumar alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation was pressurizing him to implicate the Chief Minister in the alleged wrongdoing he (Kumar) is accused of.

The CBI denied the allegations as “absolutely baseless”.

Reacting to Kumar’s statement, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal tweeted: “CBI raids my office, pressurizes officer to implicate me… Why are you so scared of us, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji? Chill.”

A sombre Kumar told reporters outside his residence: “I tender my voluntary retirement (VRS) request to the government from the services.

“It was a very difficult decision and I have taken (it) with a very heavy heart… There are many other ways to work for public welfare and I will seek those.”

He said that despite coming from a very poor family, the government gave him an opportunity to study in a prestigious school and also let him serve in the government for 27 years. “I am obliged for that.”

A 1989-batch IAS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory cadre, Kumar was accused of abusing his official position in awarding Delhi government contracts worth Rs 9.5 crore to private firms during 2007-2014 when the Congress ruled Delhi.

“I will stay in the public service forever till my last breath that is my determination,” Kumar said. “And no hurdle can distract me.”

Asked if the CBI pressurised him to name Kejriwal in the case, Kumar said: “Whatever I have said is the exact truth and I stand by it.

“I have already written in my VRS the main aim of the government (whichever it may be) was to put pressure on me to incriminate certain people, including Chief Minister Kejriwal,” he added.

A CBI statement said: “The allegation, which incidentally has come up after filing the chargesheet, that witnesses and accused were threatened by CBI officers to implicate a political functionary is absolutely baseless and denied.”

The allegations against Kumar were made by a former Delhi government official, Ashish Joshi, after he fell foul of the Kejriwal government that took office in February 2015.

Joshi had alleged that Kumar misused his position to award government contacts to private firms when he was with departments of education, IT and Health.

Kumar was arrested on July 4, 2016.

The case hit national headlines after Kejriwal alleged that the CBI raided his office in December 2015. The CBI denied intruding into Kejriwal’s office and said it was looking for evidence against Kumar.

After remaining in custody for 23 days, Kumar was granted bail on July 26. He has consistently denied the accusations against him.

According to CBI officials, Kumar, as chairman of Delhi Transco Ltd, allegedly facilitated a contract worth Rs 40.16 lakh to Endeavour Systems to develop a comprehensive management information system in 2009 without going through any tendering process.

As Secretary in the health and family welfare department of the Delhi government, Kumar also allegedly awarded a Rs 2.43 crore manpower project to Endeavour Systems in November 2010.

Similar allegations were made against him in other areas as well.

Kejriwal has always maintained that the CBI raid on his office was meant to target him and not Kumar.

(IANS)