Bengaluru micro-brewery staff assault customers with chairs after argument over tip

Crime

The Koramangala police have remanded three waiters to judicial custody, and are looking for two others.

TNM Staff

A party at a Bengaluru micro-brewery turned violent when the waiters began throwing chairs and rods at customers on Thursday night. Around 11.30 pm on Thursday, waiters of Barleyz Pub and Restaurant in Koramangala began arguing with each other over tips they had received. According to the CCTV footage obtained by the Koramangala police, the waiters were arguing loudly and soon began hurling chairs at each other. When a customer intervened and tried to pacify the waiters, they allegedly assaulted him as well, and soon, the staff in the kitchen arrived and they too began fighting among themselves. 27-year-old entrepreneur Deepak Kalauni intervened and asked the staff to keep the noise down and not ruin the night for customers. “They did not listen to me. My friend Anand and I were concerned as they were throwing things at each other. One minute we were getting ready to leave and in the next instance, I was hit on my head with a chair. My friend Anand was hit by a rod on his head,” Deepak told TNM. Deepak says that five of the staff members were fighting at this point and the customers began running out of the rooftop pub. “We were bleeding. We had some other friends with us and we managed to get out of the bar. That’s when I called the police and waited outside the pub until they arrived,” Deepak added. Deepak and Anand were rushed to a private hospital by the Koramangala police. Deepak received eight stitches on his forehead. Deepak alleges that the staff assaulted multiple customers at the micro-brewery. The bouncer allegedly asked Deepak and his friends to get out of the bar. “Instead of helping us, they asked us to get out of the bar,” he said. The Koramangala police have arrested three waiters, who worked at Barleyz and have remanded them to judicial custody. “We are looking out for two more staff members,” the police have been added. The five staff members have been booked under section 324 (Assault with deadly weapon), 506 (Criminal intimidation) and 34 (Common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Barleyz has been shut temporarily after the Koramangala police issued a notice to the pub owner under section 21 (Investigation under offences of Central Excise Act 1944). “The Excise Department officials will conduct an independent inquiry and if they deem fit, they will allow the pub to reopen. Until then, it will have to remain shut. We have collected the evidence from the pub. The bloodied chair and rods and other items along with the CCTV footage,” the Koramangala police added.    

Body 2: 

from Karnataka http://bit.ly/2J2AiKf
via IFTTT

No separate tender for dry and wet waste? Disagreement brews in Bengaluru civic body

Civic Issues

The Mayoral committee made a volte-face on Thursday and said that same contractor will collect wet and dry waste.

Soumya Chatterjee

For the first time, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had floated separate tenders for ward-wise dry and wet waste collection. The decision to have separate tenders was aimed at eliminating the problem of mixed waste ending up in landfills. The move was supported by activists and experts alike at a time when the BBMP was pulled by up courts over the city’s garbage mess. However, in a curious turn of events on Thursday, a committee headed by Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun has objected to this and suggested a plan favourable to the contractors. The Mayoral committee suggested that the same contractor will collect wet and dry waste except in colour-coded vehicles assisted by public service announcements. Moreover, these contractors are given the option of handling waste from bulk waste generators like apartment complexes and commercial establishments. However, sources said the Mayoral committee suggestions will not be accepted by the BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad. Speaking to TNM, a top source in the BBMP explained, “We have received these recommendations of the committee. Since the Commissioner is the tender issuing authority, we have to factor in certain legal aspects, including all National Green Tribunal (NGT) rulings, High Court orders, solid waste management guidelines. Besides, the solid waste management guidelines clearly state that bulk waste has to be dealt through empanelled vendors. Now, the new model proposed by the Mayoral committee would require taxpayers money for bulk waste management.” Top officials of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) department told TNM that this system will only favour the contractors and also make enforcing segregation of waste difficult. “Our initial proposal to float two separate tenders received good feedback, even from the media. The Mayoral committee had, in fact, agreed to the decision, but strangely, in the third meeting, it made a volte-face,” the source said. “Cost is a major setback here. Today, independent waste pickers carry out dry waste management, which does not cost the BBMP anything. But, if we have to manage the entire dry waste, we have to do separate calculations and the cost will go up multifold. The applies to bulk waste. We have never envisaged the scale of handling the bulk waste. Currently, bulk waste is collected by BBMP empanelled vendors who collect waste in exchange for a fee from the establishments,” the source elucidated. Incidentally, the committee headed by the Mayor also has the Commissioner, Solid Waste Management Joint Commissioner and other SWM officials with the majority of the 15 members being elected councillors, including the Leader of Opposition in the BBMP council, Padmanabha Reddy. However, none of the IAS officers, including Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad were present when this decision was taken, top sources confirmed. TNM could not reach the Mayor or the Leader of Opposition in the BBMP council at the time of writing this report. With the Model Code of Conduct still in place, a final decision is still awaited. ‘Do away with contract system’ Kathyayini Chamaraj, a civic activist, said while the initial plan was not ideal, it would have solved the problem of mixed waste to some extent. Kathyayini, who is also the executive trustee of CIVIC (a citizens’ group), said, “The initial tender would have at least solved the problem of mixed waste and the waste dumped by contractors on roadsides and landfills. But the BBMP should ideally do away with the contract system that exploits pourakarmikas and raises false bills. Besides, the state cabinet had decided to abolish the contract system for pourakarmikas. Instead of relying on contractors, BBMP should help these pourakarmikas form Self Help Groups and employ them and provide them with vehicles.” She added, “Waste management is BBMP’s obligatory function and BBMP should employ workers directly and ensure better working conditions.”  

Body 2: 

from Karnataka http://bit.ly/2Lmt9pX
via IFTTT

Bengaluru cops on door-to-door campaign to caution citizens after Sri Lanka attack

Crime

“This is being done not to create panic but just as a precautionary measure,” DCP Whitefield Abdul Ahad told TNM.

Theja Ram

In the wake of the serial bomb blasts in Sri Lanka that claimed 253 lives and injured hundreds, the Bengaluru Police have begun an initiative to include residents of the city in reporting suspicious activities. On Sunday, the Deputy Commissioners of Police of various jurisdictions held meetings with the officers in their limits and instructed them to conduct awareness programme at beat levels. Speaking to TNM, DCP Whitefield Abdul Ahad said that the beat constables were instructed to visit apartment associations in their respective beats and inform the residents to report any suspicious activities to the police. "This is a hoax. All citizens are requested not to circulate / forward such false messages." ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕರು ಈ ತರಹದ ಸುಳ್ಳು ವದಂತಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಕಿವಿಗೊಡದಿರಲು & ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಜಾಲತಾಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳದಿರಲು ಮನವಿ. “#ಸುಳ್ಳು_ವದಂತಿಗಳನ್ನ_ನಂಬಬೇಡಿ_ಮತ್ತು_ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸಾಹಿಸಬೇಡಿ” pic.twitter.com/n3g3ft35GK — BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) May 6, 2019 “This is being done not to create panic but just as a precautionary measure,” he added. Soon after the police constables began the awareness drive, fake messages began flooding WhatsApp groups in Bengaluru that a group of five people are being suspected of carrying out a terror strike in Bengaluru. “That is fake news and misinformation is being spread to create panic by some mischief makers. Please do not believe this. We only created the awareness programme as the Police Commissioner had issued an alert a week ago after the Sri Lanka attack,” DCP Abdul Ahad said. The beat constables have asked the residents to report any suspicious activities and to also conduct background checks on any new resident moving into the apartment. “We have given a few examples for the kind of things people should look out for, such as large gatherings and a suspicious bag or box. We have asked them to conduct background checks on any new tenant or residents moving into the apartment. This is being done as the city has been put on alert since the past one week,” says Devappa, a police constable with the Bellandur Police Station. Residents of Bengaluru, however, said they are waiting for an official letter. “Yes, the police did reach out to us on Sunday and asked us to coordinate with other apartment associations and create awareness programmes to make residents alert and report suspicious activities in the wake of the Sri Lanka attacks. But we are waiting for an official letter from the Commissioner as we do not want to spread panic," says Kishori, a resident of Bellandur and member of citizens' group Bellandur Jothege.    

Body 2: 

from Karnataka http://bit.ly/2PKB6DW
via IFTTT

Police close sexual harassment case against COO Abhinav Khare, citing lack of evidence

Sexual Harassment

The police said that 15 employees had testified in support of the COO of ARG Outlier Asianet News.

Theja Ram

Twitter

The Bengaluru police probing the sexual harassment allegations against Chief Operating Officer of ARG Outlier Asianet News, Abhinav Khare, has filed a B report alleging that the charge sheet could not be filed due to lack of evidence. In October 2017, Abhinav Khare was accused of sexually harassing Sonam Mahajan who had joined as a strategy consultant at Namma Bengaluru Foundation. BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar is the Founder Trustee and Chairman of Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) and former board member of ARG Outlier Asianet News. The NBF, Asianet and Rajeev’s venture capital firm Jupiter Capital Private Limited work out of the same building in Bengaluru. Though Sonam had joined the team as a strategy consultant to help Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s political office, she was told that she would be under the payrolls of NBF. Abhinav Khare was the person to whom she was reporting. A few days later, she complained that Abhinav Khare was harassing her and wanted Rajeev’s office to reassign her to a new team. But instead of a transfer, what followed was a long process of inquiry, rounds of talks and finally a gag order on the woman. Meanwhile, in June 2018, an ad-hoc committee of three members gave its final report. The report found that most of the allegations made by Sonam were true and Khare should tender a written apology to her. The police, however say that they interviewed 15 employees of Namma Bengaluru Foundation and Jupiter Capital India Pvt Ltd in connection with the case. “None of the firm’s employees spoke in favour of the complainant. We interviewed 15 employees who worked with the woman and the accused but not one person’s testimony had anything to back the complainant’s claims. In fact many of them alleged she behaved inappropriately. Some said her performance was not satisfactory and the complaint was vendetta,” the police said. At least one employee has changed her version, after initially supporting Sonam. The police further claimed that when the FIR was registered, the complainant had informed them that she had screenshots of WhatsApp messages and also a few recorded calls, which she would produce as proof of the sexual harassment that she allegedly faced from Abhinav. However, the police alleged that the complainant did not furnish any of these documents and did not cooperate with the police during the investigation. However, speaking to TNM, Sonam denied the police's claims. "This is blatantly false. The police contacted me and told me that my husband should give a statement. I informed them that I was not in town and that my husband and I would come down to the station a week later. In between, the police kept sending me messages to appear for questioning. I called DCP Annamalai and he informed me that my husband's statement is not required and only my statement is needed. Besides, I had told the police that I did not have any screenshots. I don't know why they are making such claims. The entire investigation is one-sided and I am going to move the court against the B report," the complainant said. The woman has also filed a complaint against the Basavanagudi Women's Police with DCP Annamalai, stating that the investigation was not conducted properly. "DCP Annamalai told me that the B report has already been filed and the next step is to challenge it in the court. That's the only thing I can do now, which I will," she added. Abhinav Khare in a statement called the woman an extortionist. “In the last 18 months she has changed her lie 4 times from “borderline harassment” to “Verbal harassment” to “sexual assault” and now back to “verbal harassment”. Despite 18 months long smear campaign and media trial by her, not a single witness or evidence had corroborated her lies. If I’m a serial offender as she falsely claims, I challenge her openly through your media to produce any “complainant/past victim” against me. On the other hand, multiple victims of her extortion have come forward. I’m relieved that Police after extensive investigation of 6 months and recording statements from dozens of witnesses have submitted a B-report. I was treated as criminal even without an iota of evidence that could be produced by Mrs. Mahajan. I’m still trying to recover from the pain, humiliation, character assassination that she had done with the help of some media platforms. I’d like to thank my present and past female colleagues for their support in my fight.”  

Body 2: 

from Karnataka http://bit.ly/2DSFZWO
via IFTTT

Focus TV MD Hemanth held for allegedly blackmailing BJP MLA Aravind Limbavali

Crime

Hemanth had allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh claiming he had a sex tape of the legislator.

TNM Staff

The Bengaluru Police have arrested the Managing Director of Kannada news channel Focus TV on Sunday for allegedly blackmailing a BJP MLA. The Central Crime Branch sleuths arrested Hemanth M Kammar for allegedly blackmailing Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavali by alleging he had a sex tape of the legislator. According to the CCB sleuths, Hemanth had demanded Rs 50 lakh from the legislator. A resident of Yelahanka New Town, he had launched the channel in 2018. Police say that on May 2, Girish Bharadwaj MLA Limbavali’s assistant filed a complaint with DCP Whitefield Abdul Ahad. Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar transferred the case to CCB. According to CCB sources, Hemanth had shut down the channel a few months ago due to severe losses. However, Hemanth had allegedly been blackmailing MLA Limbavali since February 10 this year. “There was an explicit and morphed video of the MLA which was uploaded by a man named Raghu Mourya on Facebook in May 2018. He took it down but in February this year, Hemanth called up MLA Limbavali and told him that he had a video that would compromise his reputation and that the Chief Minister’s office was pressuring him to give them copies of the video,” the police said. Police suspect that Hemanth was trying to extort money from the MLA in order to be able to pay off the people he owed money to as the news channel was running under severe loss. “He told the MLA that a man named Satish from the CMO wanted the video and that the BBMP corporators from Congress and JD(S) and even the Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths wanted copies of the video so it could be leaked to the media. He blackmailed MLA Limbavali and told him that he would destroy the video if he paid up Rs 50 lakh,” the police added. Police say that MLA Limbavali’s assistant called Hemanth on February 11 and asked him why he needed the money. However, Hemanth allegedly told Girish that he had obligations to fulfil. “Girish has claimed that the video is morphed. We have arrested Hemanth and are currently questioning him. However, we suspect that he wanted the money to start the channel once again and so he decided to blackmail the MLA,” the police added. Hemanth has been booked under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 384 (extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 204 (destruction of documents) of the Indian Penal Code and also under various sections of the IT Act. He was produced before the magistrate and is currently in police custody.     

Body 2: 

from Karnataka http://bit.ly/2H60OiC
via IFTTT

Ban ‘compostable’ plastic bags in Karnataka, says State Pollution Control Board

Civic Issues

: The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has written to the Central Pollution Control Board after experts pointed out that the bags do not actually compost.

TNM Staff

Representational image

A move by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to ban ‘compostable’ plastic bags has earned the praise of waste management activists. The KSPCB has written to the Central Pollution Control Board not to certify any such plastic bags for Karnataka, after activists and experts earlier pointed out that they do not actually compost. Speaking to The New Indian Express, a senior KSPCB official said,  “We are not sure about the contents of the material when it comes to biodegradable plastic. Further, in the guise of compostable or biodegradable plastic, we may end up with all kinds of fake products. We do not have a fool-proof method to distinguish them. Based on the state’s plastic ban, we wrote to the centre to exempt us.” With the Karnataka government ordering a blanket ban on single-use plastics, some individuals and establishments were continuing to use them as they have a CPCB certification. Speaking on this, D Randeep, Special Commissioner Solid Waste Management, BBMP said it was not certain how “compostable” the bags were. “The idea is to ban all single-use disposables and reduce the waste footprint,” he told the Hindu. “The point is to ban use of single-use plastic, as these will just add to the solid waste collection in the city and state. These are not reusable like cloth bags, steel bottles or cutlery. It is also not possible to verify if each bag is indeed compostable,” he told TNIE. Activists also pointed out how these CBCB certified plastic bags actually did not compost. “There have been instances when traders thwarted attempts made by BBMP officials to seize the material. We had also cited instances when the so-called compostable bags did not break down in our home compost bins,” NS Ramakanth, former member of the BBMP’s SWM Expert Committee told The Hindu.      

Body 2: 

from Karnataka http://bit.ly/2H4so0J
via IFTTT

Woman injured after drinking ‘fire shot’ in Bengaluru, police book hotel staff

Accident

The woman and her colleagues blamed the hotel staff of being rude after the incident was reported.

TNM Staff

Nik Frey via Wikimedia Commons

A 42-year-old aviation industry professional was hurt after she had a flaming drink at a Bengaluru hotel on Friday night at around 11:30pm.  In a complaint to the police, the Delhi-based woman said that pieces of the glass broke because of the heat and it resulted in her mouth getting cut. Fortunately for her, she said that she stopped before swallowing the pieces. RC Panwar told Whitefield Police that the incident occurred when she and her colleagues met for dinner and chose to try the fire shot at a hotel called The Den. According to Panwar, the bartender had asked them to close their eyes and gulp the drink. “However, the victim felt a piece of glass in her mouth and fortunately did not swallow it. She spat it out but it had cut her mouth,” police told The Hindu. Police have booked the staff under sections 337 (causing hurt by endangering life) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Panwar and others also alleged that the bar manager and other hotel staff were rude to the complainants when they raised the issue. However, this is not the first instance where people have complained about injuries after trying a fiery drink. Ashok Nagar police in the city had previously booked one bar staff for negligence in February following a similar incident. At that time, the woman had alleged that the hotel staff denied any help on that occasion and blamed the woman for hot holding the glass in a correct position. The 28-year-old woman lawyer had filed a criminal complaint against the bar located on Residency Road, after a fire shot drink left her with severe burns.    

Body 2: 

from Karnataka http://bit.ly/2ZVBkwZ
via IFTTT