Bengaluru doctor arrested, NIA says he was developing an app for ISIS

Arrest

28-year-old Abdur Rahman, who was arrested, is a junior resident doctor in the opthamalogy department at Bengaluru's MS Ramaiah Medical College.

Theja Ram

Representative

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a 28-year-old junior resident doctor in the opthamalogy department at Bengaluru's MS Ramaiah Medical College on Monday night for his alleged link to Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) terror outfit.  According to NIA, Abdur Rahman, a resident of Bengaluru's Basavanagudi, allegedly confessed during interrogation that he was involved in activities related to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK) and other ISIS operatives in Syria. Abdur Rahaman was allegedly developing a medical application to help ISIS operatives in conflict zones and another weapons-related app for ISIS fighters, NIA said. Abdur Rahman's arrest is connected to the case registered by the Delhi Police Special Cell in March this year. The DSC had arrested a Kashmiri couple — Jahanzaib Sami Wani and his wife Hina Bashir Beigh from Okhla Vihar in Delhi's Jamia Nagar in March in connection with the case. The couple was allegedly affiliated to ISKP, a banned terrorist organisation and a part of ISIS. The NIA claimed that the couple were involved in subversive and anti-national activities.  The NIA said that the couple was in touch with Abdullah Basith, another accused currently in Tihar jail for his alleged involvement in ISIS Abu Dhabi module case. After the couple's arrest, the case was handed over to the NIA and in July this year, the agency arrested Sadiya Anwar Sheikh and Nabeel Siddick Khatri, both residents of Pune, for their alleged links to ISKP. The duo was accused of being part of a conspiracy to further the activities of ISIS and ISPK. The NIA said that they aimed at carrying out subversive activities in the "garb of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests".  Upon Abdur Rahman's arrest, the NIA allegedly interrogated him at an undisclosed location in Bengaluru. "Upon interrogation, it is learnt that he had visited an ISIS medical camp in Syria in early 2014 for treatment of ISIS terrorists and stayed with Islamic State operatives for 10 days and returned to India," the NIA said in a statement.    The NIA also conducted search and seizure operations at three locations belonging to Abdur Rahman upon his arrest and seized digital devices, mobile phone and a laptop, which NIA claims contains incriminating materials.  "The arrested accused will be produced before the NIA Special Court at New Delhi and NIA remand will be sought for his custodial interrogation," the NIA statement said.

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Bengaluru asymptomatic patients allege BBMP forcing them to get admitted at CCCs

coronavirus

Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner, BBMP, and part of the task force in-charge of CCC, claimed there can’t be any corruption angle.

Soumya Chatterjee

In a strange development, asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in Bengaluru are allegedly forced to get admitted to the government-run COVID Care Centres even if they have adequate facilities to undergo isolation at their own homes. Apart from being an exercise of poor utilization of beds which are in a limited number, it has also exposed the lacunas of the CCCs. TNM spoke to at least three patients who claimed that they were forced to go to the CCCs even when they had adequate facilities to be under home isolation following the government protocols. Nikhil Soni and his uncle, residents of Cubbonpet, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus on August 1 and had opted for home isolation as the doctor diagnosed them as being asymptomatic. While they were maintaining home isolation till August 5, BBMP officials reportedly said that they needed to be transferred as their home facilities were not “suitable”. Speaking to TNM, Nikhil said, “While at home, there is separate washroom for both my uncle and me, here we are forced to share it with five other persons. In addition, there are many problems— the flush does not work and we have to use buckets from the other washroom. This is difficult for my uncle as he is old.” He added, “If we have to maintain physical distancing how is this better than home? From when we got admitted, no doctor has visited us. We were merely given some medicines for fever. Due to the disease we anyway have less appetite, and here we don’t like the food as we are not familiar with the taste.” Naveen, a resident of Hanumantha Nagar in Basavanagudi was in shock when BBMP officials knocked on their door to admit his wife, who tested positive and was asymptomatic, to a government-run CCC even though they too had separate rooms and washrooms. When questioned, the BBMP officials cited that the government has apparently withdrawn the home isolation protocol which was far from the truth. Finally, Naveen had to arrange help and get a doctor from Victoria Hospital to convince the officials. Sonali* (name changed), a resident of an apartment in Yellanchali, who is coordinating with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials regarding COVID-19 treatment from her apartment association also complained of the same. “There was an incident where a health official insisted an asymptomatic 40 year-old-patient to go for institutional isolation citing they have a child at home. Even though they had a separate room and washroom, the man agreed to go. But when a 25-year-old woman returned from abroad, they were insisting at that time too without any valid reasons,” Sonali said. She added, “I had to argue with the official and even talk to the zonal officials to allow her to stay in home isolation.” She also highlighted the poor management of the CCC at the Sri Sri Ravishankar’s ashram which the government has taken over from. “There are issues with cleanliness and hygiene. But the staff there refuses to take any responsibilities saying it’s the BBMP’s responsibility now to take care of the upkeep.” When confronted with these incidents, Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner, BBMP, and part of the taskforce in-charge of CCC, claimed that there can’t be any corruption angle to local level officials forcing admission to government-run CCCs. He, however, said, “It is the inmates of the CCCs who are responsible for the bad condition in any of the facilities if any, as BBMP has arranged cleaning and housekeeping staff to attend in three separate shifts.”

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Don’t sell govt land to fill empty coffers: Ex-Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy

Politics

Kumaraswamy urged the Karnataka government to reconsider its decision as these lands can be used for public amenities if there is a need in the future.

TNM Staff

File image

Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday cautioned the BS Yediyurappa government against selling vacant or leased out government land in Bengaluru and other urban areas in the state. In a series of tweets, Kumaraswamy said that the government’s decision to fill empty coffers amid the COVID-19 pandemic is unsustainable. He said that instead, the government should concentrate on increasing the rent of these lands. He further said that the decision will also mean that future governments won’t have space to build offices or other amenities for the public if a need arises. “If the leased land is sold under the jurisdiction of local bodies, including BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), there will be no government land for further public purposes. When the need arises, a private position is to be arranged in front of them,” he said in one of the tweets. He added, “The government, which is auctioning off BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) sites to fill the coffers, is now keeping an eye on local leased land. The government cannot permanently fill the coffers with such temporary reliefs.” He urged the government to withdraw this proposal as it will likely cost the government a loss of Rs 5,000 crore in the long run. ಕೋವಿಡ್19 ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಎದುರಾದ ನಂತರ ಆರ್ಥಿಕ ಸಂಕಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಲುಕಿರುವ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಈ ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ಭವಿಷ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳುವಾಗಲಿದೆ. ಕವಡೆ ಕಾಸಿಗೆ ಸ್ಥಳೀಯ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳ ಜಮೀನನ್ನು ಗುತ್ತಿಗೆ ನೀಡಿರುವ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಮಾರಾಟ ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ಕೈಬಿಟ್ಟು, ಬಾಡಿಗೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿಸಲು ಮುಂದಾಗಬೇಕು. 2/5 — H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) August 18, 2020 ಬೊಕ್ಕಸ ತುಂಬಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಬಿಡಿಎ ನಿವೇಶನಗಳನ್ನು ಹರಾಜು ಹಾಕುತ್ತಿರುವ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಇದೀಗ ಸ್ಥಳೀಯ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳ ಗುತ್ತಿಗೆ ನೀಡಿರುವ ಜಮೀನಿನ ಮೇಲೆ ಕಣ್ಣಿಟ್ಟಿದೆ. ಇಂತಹ ತಾತ್ಕಾಲಿಕ ಉಪಶಮನಗಳಿಂದ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಶಾಶ್ವತವಾಗಿ ಬೊಕ್ಕಸ ತುಂಬಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ. 4/5 — H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) August 18, 2020 Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa in mid-April had announced that the government will auction around 12,000 corner sites (sites that are located at the corner of a road) owned by the Bengaluru Development Authority and other civic bodies, to mobilise funds to tackle the pandemic situation. At that time, activists had pointed out that this was not a prudent decision as it will fetch the government lower costs, as the economy is depressed, and will only benefit a select few influential individuals or companies. Incidentally, the Karnataka High Court has temporarily restrained the government from auctioning intermediary sites based on a petition filed by an aggrieved buyer. The BDA had reportedly cancelled the allotment for his site for this exercise. 

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Bengaluru Peripheral Ring Road: Public meet slated for Aug 18 cancelled

Infrastructure

Karnataka Forest Minister Anand Singh heeded to requests by citizen groups, who asked that the meeting be postponed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Soumya Chatterjee

PTI : Image for representation

The contentious public hearing for the Bengaluru Peripheral Ring Road, which was set to be held on Tuesday by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), has been called off.  The meeting was to take place at 11 am at Nityotsava Kalyana Mantapa in Singanayakanahalli, Doddaballapura Road. The cancellation  was announced by state Forest Minister Anand Singh who heeded to requests by citizen groups like Citizens of Bengaluru and others on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed project involves laying 65.5 km of an 8-lane road network between Tumakuru  Road on the west and Hosur Road on the east via Ballari Road and Old Madras Road. The meeting was of interest to many, who were opposing the project as it would involve uprooting more than 30,000 trees, including in forest areas, according to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report. Other than the high number of trees that would be felled, the project was slated to affect multiple water bodies including the Thippagondanahalli (TG Halli) Reservoir’s catchment area. The reservoir is a major water source for Bengaluru. The EIA was conducted after the Supreme Court had pulled up the BDA in March over its previous EIA, in which it was erroneously claimed that only 16,000-odd trees will be cut. Last week, CFB wrote a letter to authorities, asking them to postpone the meeting as it would be in contravention with COVID-19 restrictions as announced by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). There were requests by other citizen groups and NGOs seeking an online meeting instead of a physical meeting as it was slated to see a high number of attendees. However, there were others who were opposed to the idea as it would leave many who are technically challenged or those without access to technology, being excluded from the process. Many had called for the postponement of the meet as they felt that the infrastructure project was not a priority in times of a pandemic. 

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At 14480, Bengaluru sees slight dip in number of active containment zones

Coronavirus

Only Yelahanka and Dasarahalli have less than 1,000 active containment zones at 903 and 748 respectively.

TNM Staff

Image for representation: PTI

Bengaluru saw a dip in the number of active containment zones on Monday, as officials pegged the figure at 14,480; compared to Sunday's figure of 14,676. In a media bulletin, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said that with the latest figures, the city had reported 34,860 containment zones so far, of which 20,380 have returned to normal. Bengaluru West has the most number of active containment zones at 3,074, followed by Bengaluru South at 2,860 and Bengaluru East at 2,721. While Mahadevapura has 1,524 active containment zones, RR Nagara has 1,409 and Bommanahalli has 1,241. Only Yelahanka and Dasarahalli have less than 1,000 active containment zones at 903 and 748 respectively. The BBMP said that of all the containment zones reported, 58% have returned to normal while 42% were active. Meanwhile, Karnataka's coronavirus death toll crossed the 4,000 mark to reach 4,062 as 115 people succumbed to the virus, while 6,317 new infections took its tally to 2.33 lakh on Monday. Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said that 7,071 people were discharged after treatment in a 24-hour period, taking the number of recoveries to 1.48 lakh. Of the total cases, 80,643 are active and 695 patients are in ICU. The state's death toll is led by Bengaluru, with 1,483 fatalities, while Mysuru is at a distant second with 309. Bengaluru Urban continues to be a hotspot of the pandemic in the state, registering 2,053 new cases, raising the city's tally to 91,864, out of which 34,408 are active. Mysuru accounted for 597 infections, followed by Shivamogga (397), Ballari (319), Udupi (268), Hassan (250), Kalaburagi (211), Dharwad (201) and Belagavi (171). Among discharges too, Bengaluru urban was on top with 55,972 discharges, followed by Ballari (8,554) and Kalaburagi (6,885). A total of 20,75,086 samples have been tested so far, out of which 37,700 were on Monday alone. Among the samples tested today, 14,489 were Rapid Antigen Tests.  With IANS and PTI inputs

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Bengaluru hospital runs out of oxygen supply, around 50 patients shifted

Health

After officials came to know about the shortage of oxygen at KIMS, directions were issued to shift patients by ambulance to other hospitals in Bengaluru.

TNM Staff

KIMS Hospital Bengaluru

Around 50 patients, including those who tested positive for the coronavirus and are on oxygen support, at the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), were shifted to various hospitals in Bengaluru on Monday night as the medical facility was short of oxygen supply. Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar tweeted that as soon as he came to know about the shortage of oxygen at the KIMS, a private hospital, directions were issued to shift patients by ambulance to Victoria, Bowring and Rajiv Gandhi hospitals in the city. For the treatment of critical patients, 20 oxygen cylinders have been sent to the KIMS, Sudhakar said. ಕಿಮ್ಸ್ ಖಾಸಗಿ ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆಕ್ಸಿಜನ್ ಕೊರತೆ ಇರುವುದು ನನ್ನ ಗಮನಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದ ಕೂಡಲೇ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ರೋಗಿಗಳನ್ನು ವಿಕ್ಟೊರಿಯಾ, ಬೌರಿಂಗ್ & ರಾಜೀವ್ ಗಾಂಧಿ ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆಗೆ ರವಾನಿಸಲು ಅಂಬುಲನ್ಸ್ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಮಾಡಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಗಂಭೀರ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ರೋಗಿಗಳ ಚಿಕಿತ್ಸೆಗೆ 20 ಭಾರೀ ಗಾತ್ರದ ಆಕ್ಸಿಜನ್ ಸಿಲಿಂಡರ್ ಗಳನ್ನು ಕಿಮ್ಸ್ ಗೆ ಕಳುಹಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. — Dr Sudhakar K (@mla_sudhakar) August 17, 2020 According to officials, nearly 50 patients, including those with COVID-19, have been shifted. KIMS said in a statement that due to shortage of liquid oxygen from the manufacturing company, authorities were informed about the situation and requested for arrangements of liquid oxygen from other suppliers. "We have anticipated that low oxygen volume hypoxic crisis may occur for oxygen dependent patients," it said. "For damage control and on precautionary measures, we plan to shift all oxygen-dependent patients to various government and private hospitals. "During this crisis, all government officials and authorities immediately responded to our call and supported us by joining hands with the management for saving the lives of the patients. We are indebted for their kind cooperation," it added. Hospital officials became concerned after the appointed contractor failed to deliver the oxygen for two days, Times of India reported.

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'Sweep floor outside BJP office’: Cong MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan to ex-party leader Baig

Politics

A war of words broke out between the two leaders after Roshan Baig accused the Congress of supporting SDPI.

Theja Ram

Zameer Ahmed Khan

A war of words has broken out between former Congress MLA from Shivajinagar Roshan Baig and Chamarajpet Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan. Zameer Ahmed Khan lashed out at Roshan Baig for making statements against the Congress party and said that Baig shoudl instead “sweep the floor outside the BJP office”. The row began after Roshan Baig told the media that the Congress had been “patronising” the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), for over 10 years. “Roshan Baig, instead of making false allegations against the Congress party and proving that you are faithfully to the Sanghis, do what Eshwarappa had asked you to. Sweep the floor outside the BJP office,” Zameer Ahmed Khan tweeted, while adding, “...they (BJP) will probably respect your seniority, impose a 10 year moratorium on you for contesting the elections, and then give you a ticket to contest elections in 2023. Please begin work towards this from today.” On Sunday, former Congress leader Roshan Baig had accused the Congress of supporting the SDPI for over a decade. He had accused the Congress and SDPI of exploiting the poorer sections of the minority community for votes. “Congress has been patronising SDPI for the past 10 years and then they could not protect their own MLA. Congress is to be blamed for this incident. Police personnel have been working as frontline warriors amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Those people (involved in the violence) could have gone to the police or Commissioner's office. What was the need for thousands of persons to gather?” Roshan Baig had said. His statement was made after the violence in Bengaluru where two police stations and the under-construction home of Shivajinagar Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy was set ablaze by a mob. The violence broke out after Srinivas Murthy’s nephew P Naveen posted a derogatory comment against Prophet Muhammed on Facebook. Zameer Ahmed Khan accused Baig of “not caring” about the Muslim community while he was the MLA of Shivajinagar. Roshan Baig was expelled from the Congress party after he was accused of being involved in the multi-crore IMA (I Monetary Advisory) scam in 2019. “For over three decades, while in the Congress party, Roshan Baig did not care about the issues suffered by the Muslim community including poverty, illitracy and unemployment. It is indeed a joke that Roshan Baig, who used innocent Muslims for political gains, is now shedding tears over their problems,” Zameer Ahmed Khan said. He further indicated that Roshan Baig could have helped the SDPI in the violence that erupted in Bengaluru on August 11. “Why did the SDPI, which never contested polls in Shivajinagar when Roshan Baig was the candidate, suddenly begin contesting elections there? Roshan Baig should answer why the SDPI is contesting elections in Shivajinagar with the aim to break the votes of the Muslim community, which has been a Congress vote bank. The police can find answers to their investigation if they look at why Roshan Baig is suddenly trying to bridge the gap with SDPI and make false allegations against the Congress party,” Zameer Ahmed Khan added. He further said that Roshan Baig was resorting to “self destruction” by making false allegations against the Congress, while not condemning the derogatory post that was put up against Prophet Muhammed. “Roshan Baig did not utter a single word to condemn the act of accused Naveen, who put up a defamatory post against the Prophet. But he is taking the self-destructive route by talking about the “relationship” between Congress and SDPI,” he said.

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