Bengaluru police take actor Sanjana Galrani into custody for questioning in drug case

Crime

The actor was taken into custody after a search and seizure operation at her residence in Indiranagar.

TNM Staff

The Bengaluru police, on Tuesday, took Sandalwood actor Sanjjana Galrani  to the CCB headquarters for questioning in connection with the drug case. Sanjjana is the second actor to be raided and questioned in connection with the case.  The Central Crime Branch officers took Sanjjana into custody at XXX am after a search and seizure operation conducted at her residence. Police said that based on information from one of the arrested accused Rahul Shetty, Sanjjana’s residence was searched and subsequently taken into custody.  CCB sources said that Rahul Shetty was a ‘marketing agent’ for private parties that were organised in various locations in Bengaluru and outside the country. “Rahul’s job was to bring in celebrities to these parties. He would get a commission from the profits made. He would also procure drugs which the celebrities consumed. He and Sanjjana were good friends and have attended several parties together,” the CCB added. The CCB said that Pruthvi Shetty, an event planner from Mangaluru and resident of HSR Layout, co-owned an event planning cmpany with Sanjjana. They allegedly used to organise private parties through the company. The CCB is currently looking into Sanjjanaa’s finances. Police say that Sanjjana and Pruthivi were business partners and organised several private parties, where drugs were allegedly procured and consumed.   Sources said that two mobile phones have been seized and Sanjjanaa has not been taken into custody yet. The CCB officials have been seen taking materials required for a panchnama at around 8:30 am, even as questioning of Sanjjana continued.  Simultaneous raids were also being conducted at the residence of Viren Khanna, the party planner, who was arrested on Friday. Viren was arrested by the CCB in New Delhi.  Sanjjana had spoken to the media when Rahul Shetty was arrested last week and stated that he was like a brother to her and that she has no connection with the drug case. She had on Monday, told the media that she has no reason to fear arrest as she did not consume drugs.  So far the police have arrested actor Ragini Dwivedi, party planner Viren Khanna, alleged drug peddlers Loum Pepper Samba, Rahul Tonse, Prashanth Ranka and Niyaz in connection with the case. The police are still looking for Vivek Oberoi’s brother-in-law, Aditya Alva, who is accused 6 in the case. The prime accused and Ragini Dwivedi’s long-time friend Shiva Prakash is yet to be arrested.  Sources said that Niyaz, an alleged drug peddler from Kerala used to attend parties organised by Viren Khanna. Niyaz is believed to have sourced drugs from Kerala for these parties, where he allegedly met Ragni Dwivedi. “They kept in touch and we have retrieved chats where they have spoken about drugs in code language,” the CCB official said.  Meanwhile, the CCB obtained 5-day custody of Ragini Dwivedi on Monday. Following which Viren Khanna and other arrested accused were also remanded to police custody by the magistrate. 

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Karnataka Minister orders clinical study after woman gets reinfected with COVID-19

Coronavirus

This was possibly the first reported case of COVID-19 reinfection in Bengaluru, the private hospital where the woman was undergoing treatment said.

PTI

File image

Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Monday instructed officials to conduct a clinical study about probable cases of COVID-19 reinfection. This, after it was widely reported that a 27-year-old woman from Bengaluru became the first person to test positive for the coronavirus again, a month after her recovery. Expressing concern over the reinfection of the patient who was discharged from a hospital in July after recovery, the Minister said it should be dealt with carefully and efforts must be taken to dispel fears among people. "Minister Dr K Sudhakar has instructed the officials to conduct a clinical study about the coronavirus reinfection cases," his office said in a statement. Referring to the woman found infected with coronavirus for a second time at Fortis Hospital, the Minister, who held a meeting with COVID-19 task force officials, said that several other countries have reported cases of reinfection and each country has come up with a different reason for it. According to the statement, an official said that when a person recovers from COVID-19, it takes at least 15 days for production of white blood cells and this might lead to reinfection in some patients. However, this cannot be considered as the definite reason for the reinfection, it was stated. "Responding to this, the Minister demanded clarity over coronavirus reinfection, and instructed officials concerned to submit a report regarding the treatment of special cases such as this in other states," the statement said. The Fortis Hospital at Bannerghatta Road has said the woman has been found to be the "first" confirmed victim of COVID-19 reinfection in the city. The hospital's Infectious Diseases Consultant Dr Pratik Patil said that in the first week of July, the patient was symptomatic (fever, cough and sore throat) and tested positive. She was admitted to the hospital and recovered well. A repeat test was conducted on her, which turned out to be a negative, after which she was discharged on July 24. However, after one month, in the last week of August, she developed mild symptoms again and has tested positive again, Patil said in a statement. This was possibly the first reported case of COVID-19 reinfection in Bengaluru, Patil said, adding that normally, in case of infection, the antibodies develop after two to three weeks of being infected. However, in this patient, the antibody test returned negative, which means she did not develop immunity after infection. Another possibility was that the antibodies disappeared in one month leaving her susceptible to reinfection, he said. "Reinfection cases mean that the antibodies may not be produced by every individual or if they do develop, they may not last long enough, and therefore, allowing the virus to enter the body and cause the disease again," Dr Patil said.

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Bengaluru West sees most number of COVID-19 cases in city on Monday

Coronavirus

23% of the city’s 2,942 cases were reported from the area.

TNM Staff

Bengaluru West saw the highest COVID-19 infections in the city on Monday, recording 23% of all cases. 2,942 cases were recorded in Bengaluru alone on Monday. According to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru West was followed by Bengaluru South with 17%, Bommanahalli with 16%, East with 14%, RR Nagara with 10%, Mahadevapura and Dasarahalli with 7% each and Yelahanka at 6%. A total of 2,935 recoveries were reported on Monday, with the most number of recoveries also seen in Bengaluru West. Forty-eight deaths were reported in the city, with the most being those above the age of 70.  Information about containment zones was unchanged on Monday, which showed a total of 14,250 active containment zones in the city.  The total number of COVID-19 infections in Karnataka breached the four lakh mark on Monday, as the state reported 5,773 new cases and 141 fatalities, taking the death toll to 6,534, the health department said. The day also saw a record 8,015 patients getting discharged after recovery, taking the total number of recoveries so far to over three lakh. As of September 7 evening, cumulatively 4,04,324 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 6,534 deaths and 3,00,770 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin. It said that out of 97,001 active cases, 96,207 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 794 are in Intensive Care Units. In terms of deaths, apart from Bengaluru, Dharwad and Koppal recorded 10 each, Mysuru (9), Belagavi, Dakshina Kannada and Shivamogga (8 each), Ballari (7), Hassan and Kalaburagi (4 each). Davangere and Uttara Kannada each accounted for three deaths, while Chikkamagaluru, Gadag, Raichur, Tumakuru, Udupi and Vijayapura each reported two fatalities. Bagalkote, Bengaluru Rural, Chamarajanagara, Chikkaballapura, Kodagu, Mandya and Ramanagra reported one death each. Most of the deceased either had a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-like illness (ILI). Bengaluru Urban topped the districts where fresh cases were reported with 2,942. Ballari was next with 266, Mysuru 221, Davangere 199, Mandya 169, Dakshina Kannada 152, Shivamogga 150, followed by others. Bengaluru urban district also tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 1,50,523 infections, followed by Ballari 24,066 and Mysuru 22,301. Among discharges too Bengaluru urban was on top with 1,08,642 discharges, followed by Ballari 19,500 and Mysuru 14,695. A total of 33,93,676 samples were tested so far, out of which 45,421 were tested on Monday alone. Among the samples tested today 16,299 were Rapid Antigen tests. With PTI inputs

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Five poachers who killed tiger nabbed, K’taka Forest Dept earns praise from Union Min

Forest

The Forest Department nabbed the five poachers, who allegedly killed a tiger in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve recently, within 10 days.

TNM Staff

Karantaka Forest Dept

Union Minister of Environment and Forests, Prakash Javadekar has praised the Karnataka Forest Department for nabbing five poachers who allegedly killed a tiger in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve recently. "Well done, Forest staff & officers of Nagarhole Tiger Reserve for nabbing all the culprits responsible for poaching the Tiger, in such quick time," Javadekar tweeted. Well done , Forest staff & officers of Nagarhole Tiger Reserve for nabbing all the culprits responsible for poaching the Tiger, in such quick time. @moefcc https://t.co/lnakDKPEGh — Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) September 6, 2020 All the five involved were nabbed within ten days, officials said, adding tiger claws, canines and deer meat among others have been recovered from them. The accused have been identified as Santosh, Sashi, Sharanu, Ranjit and Raju. All of them come from a village which abuts the national park. They used a licensed double barrel gun to shoot the wild animals. Santosh, Sashi and Ranjit are from wealthy families who own coffee estates while Raju is a labourer. All the accused have been arrested under multiple acts such as the Wildlife Protection Act, hunting, collection of animal parts, illegally entering a national park, using a firearm and others. The accused have been produced in court and are currently in judicial custody. The hunt for the poachers had begun when forest officials noticed the unnatural death of a four to five-year-old male tiger on August 25 with its paws and canines missing, they were chopped off. "We had no clue about the unnatural death because the tiger's nails and canines were removed though its skin was intact. Next day, on August 26, we conducted a post mortem on the animal to find a gunshot," D Mahesh Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) and Director of Rajiv Gandhi National Park told IANS on September 5. Guided by some leads on the same day, officials arrested one person but could not recover any of the stolen tiger parts. "Subsequently, from August 28, a series of arrests have happened because we got a lead that some tiger nails were hidden in one of the coffee estates and succeeded in recovering seven nails," he said. The poachers had shot dead the male tiger at Nagaraole and mutilated it for its claws and canines recently. Karnataka Forest Minister Anand Singh, too, took to twitter appreciating the department officials. He said swift action by officials and staff of the forest department at Nagarahole Tiger Reserve has led to the arrest of five poachers successfully. "This is a warning bell for poachers. The government is committed to control poachers, increasing the number of animals, and bringing down man-tiger conflicts. We have a responsibility to hand over beautiful wildlife to our future generations," Singh tweeted. Sniffer dog 'Rana' from Bandipur played a key role in tracing the poachers, officials said, adding that further investigation was on.

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Bengaluru drug case: Actor Sanjjanaa Galrani’s residence in Indiranagar raided by police

Crime

CCB raids began at Sanjanaa’s Indiranagar residence at around 6:40 am on Tuesday.

TNM Staff

Social Media

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) in Bengaluru, on Tuesday morning, conducted a search operation at Sandalwood actor Sanjjanaa Galrani’s residence in the city in connection with the continuing high profile drug bust case. This after the CCB had carried out a similar search at the Yehalanka residence of Kannada film star Ragini Dwivedi on Friday morning in connection with the same case. CCB sources said that actor Sanjjanaa’s house in Indiranagar was searched after information from one of the arrested accused -- Rahul Shetty. Sanjjanaa and Rahul allegedly attended private parties at various casinos in neighbouring countries. “Rahul Shetty has confessed to organising parties and also procuring drugs for these parties. We are searching her house currently. Another party planner from Mangaluru, Pruthvi Shetty was questioned and based on information search warrant was procured,” the CCB source added.  The CCB said that Pruthvi Shetty and Sanjjanaa used to organise private parties through Pruthvi’s event management company. The CCB is currently looking into Sanjjanaa’s financials.  Sources said that two mobile phones have been seized and Sanjjanaa has not been taken into custody yet. The CCB officials have been seen taking materials required for a panchnama at around 8:30 am, even as questioning of Sanjjana continued.  Simultaneous raids were also being conducted at the residence of Viren Khanna, the party planner, who was arrested on Friday. Viren was arrested by the CCB in New Delhi.  Sanjjanaa had spoken out on Monday regarding her name doing rounds in the drug case on news channels, claiming that she had nothing to do with the case.  Sanjjana Galrani is a multilingual actor who has acted in over 45 films, predominantly in Kannada and Telugu. Her younger sister, Nikki Galrani, too is an actor who has acted in over 25 Tamil and Malayalam movies.  Currently actor Ragini Dwivedi is in police custody for five days after she had faced arrest on Friday itself for reportedly failing to cooperate with the police.  As reported earlier, police had been making arrests of alleged drug suppliers to these celebrities who in turn were allegedly selling drugs within the Kannada film circles. The Kannada film circle had come under scrutiny for drug use after the Narcotics Control Bureau nabbed an international drug trafficking racket in multi-city raids earlier in August. As part of these raids, huge cache of drugs were recovered from upscale gated communities in Bengaluru. At that time, sleuths had arrested one Anikha D who confessed to the police of having multiple Kannada film celebrities as part of her customer base. Sanjjanaa’s name had surfaced in this case with the arrest of one of her friends Rahul who used to visit countries neighbouring India and allegedly procure  synthetic drugs. Police have said that it was through Sanjjanaa that he used to push these drugs into high profile parties. Those arrested so far in the drug case include one government employee posted at the Regional Transport Office in Jayanagar, Ravi Shankar. Shankar is a friend of Ragini’s through which she used to procure drugs and further sell it to others, according to police.

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Karnataka suffered loss of Rs 8071 crore due to floods: CM BSY tells Central team

Politics

BS Yediyurappa told the Central team visiting the state that the guidelines for providing relief under SDRF and NDRF need to be revised this year.

PTI

Official Twitter handle

Karnataka suffered a loss of Rs 8,071 crore due to the recent floods, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday informed the Central team visiting the state to assess the damage caused to crops and properties. The six-member inter ministerial central team (IMCT) headed by Ministry of Home Affairs Joint Secretary K V Pratap met the Chief Minister and held discussions along with senior ministers and officials of the state government. According to an official release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Yediyurappa informed the Central team that total loss due to the floods this time is to the tune of Rs 8,071 crore. Pointing out to the team that in 2018 and 2019 also, 22 districts in the state were ravaged by floods and landslides, he said, this time crops in about 4.03 lakh hectares have been damaged. Besides this, roads, bridges, electric polls, schools, anganwadis and government buildings were also damaged, he said. Yediyurappa also informed officials that the government was aiding reconstruction of damaged houses, noting that Rs 5 lakh was being given to those whose houses are fully damaged, Rs 3 lakh for severely damaged and Rs 50,000 for partially damaged houses. "Last year, Rs 1,500 crore was spent for this and this year, despite COVID difficulties, the government will spend Rs 200 crore," he said. The Chief Minister further informed that Rs 460 crore has been released from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) for COVID control and floods and to manage both these situations, additional funds are required. He also said that the guidelines for providing relief under SDRF and NDRF (National  Disaster Relief Fund) need to be revised this year and requested the Centre to revise it immediately and release more funds to help people in distress. More than ten districts of the state were affected by floods this year. Heavy rainfall since August 1 has killed at least 20 people, displaced thousands, damaged more than 10,000 homes and wrecked 14,182 km of roads.

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MDMA drug bust: NCB questions Bengaluru Congress corporator’s son in Mumbai

Crime

Yashas, son of corporator Keshavamurthy, was summoned for questioning by NCB on Friday.

TNM Staff

Image for representation

Bengaluru Congress corporator from Mahalakshmipuram, Keshavamurthy’s son Yashas on Monday appeared before the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with the drug bust conducted simultaneously in Mumbai and Bengaluru in August.  According to the NCB, the sleuths went to Keshavamurthy’s residence on Friday and delivered the notice summoning his son Yashas for questioning. According to the NCB, Yashas’s name allegedly came up during the interrogation of an accused named Rahman, a drug peddler, who was arrested in Bengaluru.   NCB sources said that Yashas had allegedly switched off his mobile phone when the officers tried to reach him. Subsequently, on Friday, the NCB conducted raids on the Congress corporator’s residence in Rajajinagar and delivered the notice for Yashas’s summons to Keshavamurthy. Speaking to TNM, Keshavamurthy said, “My son has gone to Bombay (Mumbai) to answer the NCB’s questions. He will submit his answers in the next two or three days. We are not worried at all. We expect him home after he submits his answers.”  NCB sources said that Yashas’s name came up during the interrogation of an arrested accused in a drug bust case, named Rahman and that the Mumbai wing of the NCB summoned him for questioning. “We wanted to know if there is a link between the drug bust in Mumbai and Bengaluru on August 10 and the drugs Rahman procured from Germany. We suspect they were part of the same gang,” the NCB added. Rahman had allegedly procured 750 MDMA pills from Germany on July 31 and was arrested by the NCB on August 22. He had absconded after the NCB recovered a huge cache of drugs from the Foreign Post Office on July 31. Rahman is a commerce graduate and was allegedly selling MDMA and other synthetic drugs to college and school students. He had allegedly procured the MDMA pills from the dark web in exchange for bitcoins. Upon interrogating Rahman, the police arrested Anikha D, Anoop and Ravindran from three different locations in Bengaluru on August 28.  The accused were taken to Mumbai for questioning after connections between the MDMA bust in Bengaluru and Mumbai emerged. On August 10, the NCB’s Mumbai wing arrested a couple from Navi Mumbai for allegedly ordering ecstasy from Belgium, just like Anikha, Anoop and Ravindran allegedly had. All accused in these cases are being questioned in Mumbai.

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