Pramesh Jain

Enforcement Directorate,ED attached 5 immovable properties worth Rs.4.83 Crore in a Bank Fraud case.

Officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday provisionally attached 5 immovable properties worth Rs.4.83 Crore belonging to SK Subramanya Reddy,a businessman and others in a Bank Fraud case.

The immovable properties are located in and around Bengaluru.

According to an official release,ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR filed by CBI, ACB,Bengaluru against T.L.Praveen Kumar,the then Branch Manager of Bank of Baroda,Kengeri Branch,who in collusion with SK Subramanya Reddy and others sanctioned 186 Gold loans against pledge of fake gold ornaments to 57 borrowers to the tune of Rs.12 Crore. 

All the barrowers were associated with SK Subramanya Reddy and pledge the fake gold to avail loan on his behalf.

During Investigation by ED revealed that S K Subramanya Reddy used these proceeds to settle his outstanding loans and overdraft facilities at Syndicate Bank and got his mortgaged properties released.

Accordingly,identified assets to the tune of Rs.4.83 Crore in the form of immovable properties have been provisionally attached under Money Laundering Act.Further investigation is in progress says a release.

Pramesh Jain

Woman molested at nightclub,bizman arrested by Cubbon park police:

The cubbon park police on Tuesday arrested a 38 year old man for misbehaving with a 24 year old woman in front of her family members and friends at a bar and restaurant on church street on march 21.

The accused has been identified as,Madhusoodhan Achari,38,resident of Pulakeshinagar.

The victim who was in shock took one day to recover before she approached the police.

Senior officer told media persons,a complaint was registered in cubbon park police stating that the victim had gone to the restaurant with her mother and friends for dinner in church street.

She met one of her friend at the restaurant and the accused who was with her they both joined  the table and after some time he started misbehaving with the victim.The accused even  groped and bite her shoulder,while others looked on.

The victim even raised objection for which he hurled abuses at her.Shocked victim returned home and the next day filed a complaint.

Based on the complaint the police arrested the accused and after thorough investigation the accused was produced before the magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.

A case has been registered against the accused in cubbon park police station charging him under section 354a,(physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures),323,(voluntary causing hurt)and 504 (intentional insult and provocation) and further investigation is on he added.

BENGALURU: After days of daily additions hovering around 1,000, Karnataka crossed the 2,000-mark on Tuesday, with 2,010 new infections bringing the state’s tally to 9,73,657 since the first case was reported on March 8, 2020.The last time the number of infections crossed 2,000 in a single day was on November 14, 2020, (2,154), suggesting that the state is at the start of the second wave. However, this is still a long way off from the state’s peak of around 10,000 infections a day in October last year.

“People should be vigilant and ensure that Covid-19 precautions are followed. People who do not wear masks and violate norms are being penalised. Functions and gatherings should be avoided for the next two months,” Sudhakar said.

The number of active cases, which had dipped remarkably in January and February, crossed the 15,000-mark on Tuesday, with a total of 15,595 cases. The number of new infections and active cases has only been rising since March 15, and the number of discharged/recovered patients has fallen. The state’s recovery rate dipped from 97.78% on March 15 to 97.11% on Tuesday.

Although these figures may appear disturbing, the overall mortality rate and positivity rate have been steadily dipping. The state’s mortality rate fell to 1.27% on Tuesday – the lowest recorded in the state – while the positivity rate dipped to 4.73%. This is so because although cases are on the rise, the number deaths per day has  largely been in the single digits since March 15 (except March 19 and March 22 which saw 10 deaths on both days). The five deaths on Tuesday takes the death toll in the state to 12,449.

However, despite the overall positivity rate falling to 4.73%, the positivity rate for the day alone shot up to 2.03%, indicating the rise in cases. Meanwhile, both Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Health and Health Minister Sudhakar have urged eligible people to get vaccinated against the virus.

Pramesh Jain

Notorious luggage lifter arrested by Byatarayanpura police Stolen property Worth Rs.12 Lakhs Recovered:

The West Division police of Byatarayanapura police on sunday arrested a 30 year old man who was stealing valuables from passengers after diverting their attention satellite bus stand.

The police have recovered stolen valuables worth Rs.12 lakh from him.

The accused has been identified as,Siddiq, resident of Laggere.

Senior officer told media persons,a complaint was registered by a complainant at Byatarayanpura police station stating that on January 10th she came to satellite bus stand in the night time and while returning back some person approached her as a passenger and by diverting her attention he robbed her Vanity bag in which she had 25 grams of gold ornaments in it.

Based on a complaint,Inspector,MN Nagaraju and his team swung into action and visited the crime scene and inspected the area and after analysing CCTV footage at the bus stand the team got the vital clue about the thief.

A special team was formed to check any untoward incident happens at bus stand a team of cops were deployed in Mufti to monitor the police team who recognised the culprit.

After closely watching the movements of suspecious elements the police zeroed in on Siddiq and caught him red handed when he was moving around the bus stand for his target.

The team apprehended the culprit and brought him to station for questioning during interrogation the accused confessed the crime that he came to bus stand to lift the luggage of passengers diverting their attention.

A detailed investigation by the team led the accused Siddiq to confessed the crime and he revealed that he used to move around bus stand to identify gullible passengers who are careless about their luggage and valuables.

siddiq posing as passenger would travel with them and steal valuables after diverting their attention.

With his arrest four cases has been detected reported in various police station and based on his statement the team has recovered 275 grams gold ornaments worth of Rs.12 lakhs recovered from his possession.A case has been registered in Byatarayanpura police station and further investigation is on.

We advise the people to be careful at the bus stand and about their valuables and to be careful while carrying valuables and if in emergency or distress call 112 and advises to ignore strangers while they are traveling.

Finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant has appreciated Addl CP West,Soumendhu Mukherjee,DCP West,Dr Sanjeev M Patil,ACP Kengeri Sub-Division,UD Krishna Kumar,PI,MN Nagaraju,PSI with crime staff of Byatarayanpura police station has been appreciated for the commendable job done by them in nabbing the luggage lifter and recovered stolen property from him and a suitable reward will be given to the team he added.

Bengaluru: Karnataka recorded over 1,445 new cases of COVID-19 and ten fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 9,71,647 and the toll to 12,444, the Health department said on Monday.

This is for the seventh consecutive day that the state is reporting over 1,000 new cases, however it has come down from 1,715 infections on Sunday.

The day also saw 661 patients getting discharged after recovery.

Cumulatively 9,71,647 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state. It included 12,444 deaths and 9,44,917 discharges, the Health department said in its bulletin.

Out of 14,267 active cases, as many as 136 are undergoing treatment in intensive care units of various hospitals.

Four of the fresh deaths were reported from Bengaluru Urban and one each from Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Mysuru, Tumakuru and Uttara Kannada.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 886, Udupi 113, Mysuru 61, Tumakuru and Bidar 51, Kalaburagi 43, followed by others.

Bengaluru Urban tops the districts in list of positive cases, with a total of 4,18,558, followed by Mysuru 54,872 and Ballari 39,493.

Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban tops the list with 4,04,116, followed by Mysuru 53,490 and Ballari 38,788.

A total of over 2,04,67,387 samples have been tested so far, out of which 78,178 were tested on Monday alone. Only 3,513 of them were rapid antigen tests.

Bengaluru: ‘GetCETgo’, a Karnataka government initiative offering a comprehensive online crash course for Karnataka Common Entrance Test, NEET and JEE, at a cost of less than Rs 40 for registered students, was launched here on Monday by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

This was to help students offset the challenges for students from last year since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when many of them were off track with their exam preparations and had limited access to academic content

GetCETgo will be more beneficial to students who belong to backward sections of the socio-economic structure, and this also comprises LMS (learning management system), he added.

This year, the course had been introduced for JEE also, he said.

GetCETgo is available through the web portal, an android app and YouTube Channel, an official release said, adding it would offer preparatory material for KCET, NEET and JEE and the test will be available in the JEE Main format.

GetCETgo 2021’s support services include: login support, tech back-end support, doubt clarification, and customer service 24/7, it added.

Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, who also holds the higher education portfolio, said the objective was to increase the number of students of Karnataka in IITs.

“This course facilitates learning, revision and taking up tests.

Videos, synapses and interactive tests, especially in terms of scale on an online platform, will be the first initiative by any state in the country,” he said.

GetCETgo is intended to benefit all students (above two lakh) nationwide who have registered for the program, Narayan said.

Through this, the government will be able to deliver quality crash course content at a cost of less than Rs 40 per registered student, the deputy CM said.

GetCETgo would be made available for the entire year from the coming academic year and the Karnataka Examinations Authority will be entrusted with this responsibility, he said.

Bengaluru: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Monday demanded in the Karnataka assembly registration of a rape case against BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, who quit as minister recently after allegations that he sexually harassed a woman ‘job aspirant’, and a court monitored probe.

The Leader of the Opposition claimed the woman in a video message had said she was “utilised” and thus it would amount to rape.

“I demand a rape case under section 376 of the IPC be registered against Ramesh Jarkiholi otherwise we can’t do justice to the woman,” Siddaramaiah said.

Jarkiholi, BJP MLA from Gokak, resigned as minister on March 3, after a social activist lodged a police complaint alleging sexual harassment to a ‘job aspirant’ and video clips purportedly showing their intimate moments surfaced.

Rejecting the charges, the BJP leader has claimed innocence, saying the videos were fake and vowed to send the ‘conspirators’ behind bars.

Social activist Dinesh Kallahalli had withdrawn the police complaint against Jarkiholi.

Raising the issue in the House, Siddaramaiah said “When the victim says she was utilised, it means there was no consent for the act. An act without consent is rape.”

He said the police officers who failed to register a case should also face action.

Siddaramaiah charged Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai with writing a note to police based on a statement by Jarkiholi to form a SIT on March 9 without any term of condition though the former minister lodged a police complaint only on March 13 that he was blackmailed using a fake CD.

Intervening, veteran Congress member K R Ramesh Kumar said the complaint of such serious nature lodged by a former MLA on behalf of Jarkiholi should not have been accepted by the police.

Contending that the complaint lodged by Jarkiholi was untenable, Siddaramaiah demanded protection for the woman and a Karnataka High Court monitored investigation by an independent agency and not the SIT.

He also sought the resignation of six Ministers who obtained temporary court injunction against publishing of any defamatory materials against them in the media, including news channels and the newspapers.

“The ministers are under fear which is against their oath of discharging their duties without any fear or favour at the time of assuming office,” Siddaramaiah said.

Bengaluru: Theatre hall occupancy in Karnataka would not be restricted to 50 per cent though there has been a spurt in COVID-19 cases in the state, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said here on Friday.

He also urged theatre owners, the viewers and the general public to abide by all the government guidelines to help control the spread of the pandemic.

“There is no such proposal before the government to allow a maximum of 50 per cent occupancy in cinema theatres,” he tweeted after a section of media reported that such a move was on the cards.

Noting that COVID-19 cases are again on the rise, the CM, in an open letter to the public, posted on twitter, said the government has taken all necessary steps to contain the pandemic. However it would not be possible without people’s support, he said.

Asking people to wear facemasks, maintain hand hygiene and follow social distancing, he requested the elderly and people above 45 years with comorbidities to get vaccinated.

The appeal came as the state recorded 1,587 infections on Friday, including 1,037 in Bengaluru.

There were 10 deaths in the state with six fatalities in Bengaluru alone.

Meanwhile the sudden spurt in cases in Bengaluru and speculations of a possible lockdown prompted the city civic agency to state it would submit a report to the government on the reasons behind it and abide by their decision

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike commissioner N Manjunath Prasad told reporters that contact tracing of the 925 cases reported on Thursday revealed that the maximum were from apartments due to partying and various events.

there were also cases of people going to temples and attending marriages, all of which would be brought to the notice of the state government

“BBMP will abide by whatever decision is taken by the government,” Prasad said.

He said the civic agency was making arrangements to increase testing and would deploy more ‘corona warriors’ in areas where more cases have been reported and focus on conducting vaccinations in these places

The number of cases in the city, which had been below the 300 mark for more than three months, saw a sharp rise this month, crossing the 600 mark on March 14 and 900 on March 18.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government was mulling making available sand almost free of cost for economically weaker sections people wishing to build a house under Rs ten lakh, Mines and Geology Minister Murugesh Nirani told the state assembly on Friday.

He agreed that getting quality sand, especially by the economically poor people at a reasonable price.

“With a view to making available sand to the poor people at a low price, our government is contemplating introducing free-sand policy,” he said, responding to a question by JD(S) member C N Balakrishna.

Nirani said whoever builds a house with a budget of Rs 10 lakh or less, whether under the Ashraya scheme or rebuilding a dilapidated house, the government would provide good sand at a token price of Rs 100 or Rs 200 per tonne.

According to industry sources, a tonne of M-sand now costs between Rs 1,400 to Rs 2,000.

Regarding “illegal mining and transportation” of sand in Hassan district, Nirani said the government will take stringent measures to check such practice.

Balakrishna pointed out the demand for sand is eight lakh tonnes to 10 lakh tonnes whereas the supply is only 1.14 lakh tonnes.

K Annadani of JDS alleged while sand was illegally extracted from Cauvery basin during night time in connivance with police, a poor person taking out the key raw material in his bullock cart gets booked.