Karnataka releases Rs 86 crore funds for flood relief in northern, coastal districts

Floods

The dozen districts that were affected by heavy rains and flash floods due to extended southwest monsoon are Bagalkot, Ballari, Belagavi, Bidar, Gadag, Kalaburagi, Kodagu, Koppal, Raichur, Yadgir, Vijayapura and Udupi.

IANS

Representation photo

The Karnataka government on Friday released Rs 86 crore emergency relief aid to dozen districts in the state's northern and coastal regions, battered by heavy rains and flash floods in this week. "The Rs 86 crore relief aid was released after Chief Minister B.S. Yedyiurappa reviewed the situation in the rain and flood-hit districts with officials through video-conferencing," an official told IANS here. The dozen districts that were affected by heavy rains and flash floods due to extended southwest monsoon are Bagalkot, Ballari, Belagavi, Bidar, Gadag, Kalaburagi, Kodagu, Koppal, Raichur, Yadgir, Vijayapura and Udupi. "The state government has also sanctioned Rs 37 crore as input subsidy to 51,810 farmers who suffered crop loss due to flooding of their fields since August," an official statement said. The Chief Minister has also apprised the Central government of the grim situation in the state. "I have briefed Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the impact of heavy rains and floods across the state. He has assured us of the Centre's support and help to us," said Yediyurappa in a statement. Though rains have receded since Thursday evening, the affected districts reel under flooding of towns and villages due to release of excess water from dams/reservoirs across major rivers and overflowing of their tributaries. "Rescue and relief operations have been stepped up to shift the affected people to relief camps set up with base kitchens and medical facilities," said an official of the Chief Minister's Office. A dozen National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were rushed to the worst-hit districts for stepping up rescue and relief operations. State Revenue Minister R. Ashoka, who is on a two-day visit to some of the affected districts in the northern region, also said the state government would ask the Central government to declare it a national calamity, which left behind a trail of infra destruction.

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After student wakes up from coma and testifies, 2 techies convicted in bid to kill him

Crime

The attempt to murder happened ten years ago in Bengaluru and the student had gone into a coma.

TNM Staff

Representation photo

Ten years after an engineering student was pushed off the fourth floor of a building near KR Puram in Bengaluru’s outskirts, sending him into a coma, two of his former college mates were convicted by a sessions court in the city on Friday. The sessions court sentenced the two techies -- Jitendra Kumar Sahu and Shashank Das to seven years in prison.  On the morning of December 6, 2010, Souvik Chatterjee, a third-year engineering student, was asked to come to the rooftop of his friend’s home in Avalahalli near KR Puram. His classmates, Jitendra Kumar Sahu and Shashank Das threw him off the terrace floor of the building after an altercation they had about a woman Souvik was in love with and Shashank too was interested in.  The Avalahalli Police said that what was perceived to be an accident case in 2010 turned out to be a case of attempted murder after Souvik and his famly members came to the police station over a year later to file a complaint. The fall, which had resulted in grievous injuries to Souvik’s skull, had rendered him comatose. He was treated at Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru, and remained in the hospital until he woke up from the coma a year later.  The investigating officer in the case told TNM that when Souvik arrived at the police station, and tried to explain his case to them, there was a language barrier. “He didn’t know Kannada and we didn’t understand much Hindi. Not everyone was well versed in English back then. So, he drew us a map. It was very detailed and accurate,” the police officer said.  When Souvik was in third year student, he was in love with a woman, who was studying at another college inside the same campus. Souvik and Shashank, who were best friends, had an altercation when Shashank told him that he too was infatuated with the same woman. After the falling out, the two men cut ties. However, on December 6, Shashank called Souvik and asked him to visit him at his residence. When Souvik went to meet him, Shashank asked him to go up to the rooftop with him. When they reached the terrace floor, Shashank, Jitendra Sahu and two other men that Souvik could not recognise attacked him and assaulted him.  It was Shashank and Jitendra who ultimately threw him off the building. “This man came to court, he gave detailed testimony and he even did well during cross examination. His testimony was strong and accurate. The map that he drew was very accurate, and became crucial to the probe. He wrote down names, where these persons were standing exactly when the incident occurred,” the police officer said.  A few months after Souvik gave his statement to the police and an FIR was registered, the investigators first tracked down Jitendra Sahu, who was working at an IT company in Bengaluru at the time. After he was arrested in 2012, they traced Shashank Das to New Delhi, where he was working for a bank in the tech department. The two men were out on bail the same year.  “We couldn’t track down the other accused in the case. There were two more men, who are still at large. Souvik’s family had produced medical bills in the court. They spent Rs 89 lakh for his treatment so far,” the police officer said.   

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In Bengaluru, a mural dedicated to COVID warriors, painted by trans women

Art

The wall along Swami Vivekananda metro station has been turned into a vibrant mural celebrating frontline workers including pourakarmikas, doctors, police officials, among others.

Geetika Mantri

If you head to Swami Vivekananda metro station in Bengaluru, you can’t miss a wall painted in a swathe of vibrant colours. Look closer and you’ll find a variety of characters on this mural – nurses, doctors, delivery personnel, police officials, ambulance drivers, pourakarmikas, auto drivers. All of them wear a mask, and all of them are at work – much like the reality of our times. While many of us have the privilege of sitting in the safety of our homes, frontline workers don’t have this option. And this mural, painted by trans women associated with the Aravani Project under an initiative by radio station 95 Mirchi, is a testament to their services. The mural is a tribute and acknowledgement of ‘Lions of COVID’ and was inaugurated on Friday in the presence Bengaluru police commissioner Kamal Pant, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner Manjunath Prasad, member of Parliament from BJP PC Mohan, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited MD, Ajay Seth, and Sandalwood actor Samyukta Hornad. Conceptualised by the team at 95 Mirchi, ‘Lions of COVID’ is a way of saying thanks to frontline workers, said RJ Jimmy. “LoC stands for Line of Control, and the frontline workers are the line of control between us and the COVID-19 pandemic… hence we turned LoC to stand for Lions of COVID,” he says. The mural was painted by 10 trans women associated with the Aravani Art Project, an art collective of women and trans women which involves the public and wall art to raise awareness and friendship between trans women and public spaces as well as create safe spaces for alternative voices, per its website.   Speaking at the inauguration, the guests of honour thanked the frontline workers for their contribution and for the mural being made acknowledging the same. The artists who painted the mural were also present on the spot, and received appreciation and applause from the attendees for their work. One of the artists, Chandri, recounts that they painted the mural in the last two weeks. “We used to come at 10 am and leave at 3 pm,” she says. The pandemic has been a difficult time for the transgender community, with livelihoods severely impacted and access to medicine and healthcare getting cut off. The help from the government has been inadequate. In such a scenario, Chandri says that they have had some income by making canvas paintings through Aravani on order, and adds that they have started getting projects such as the Lions of COVID mural. Purnima Sukumar, founder of the Aravani Project, says that the 23 trans women associated with the initiative across India have been fortunate in that sense, wherein they have found patrons to buy their art that is put up on Instagram, and have also started getting public art projects. It has been tough, however, to get trans women involved with art. “We have to be persistent, show them that this isn’t a transactional relationship, and that we are there for them even otherwise. We have to build a friendship and gain, and regain their trust,” Purnima says. However, for those who have become involved with Aravani, it has been a good experience. Chandri says that three years ago, she couldn’t even imagine painting. “But Purnima and others in the team told me, just try. And here I am… This is the second project I have worked on here, the first was on Kasturba Road. We’ve also created public art in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, I even went to Facebook headquarters to paint there in 2018. If, like in this case, the BBMP and the government give us more opportunity, we will create art in even more spaces.” Meanwhile, speaking about the coronavirus situation in Bengaluru, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad says that the city has been reporting a high number of cases per day because of a higher number of tests being done. “We may reach three lakh total cases soon in Bengaluru, but that’s also because we are testing more, so that we can isolate and treat those infected sooner. We have done 22 lakh tests till now. The positivity rate in the city is 13% right now, we aim to bring it down to 5%.” “The fight against the pandemic has a long way to go,” says Bengaluru police commissioner Kamal Pant. “I am thankful to 95 Mirchi for recognising our COVID warriors and their contributions in this battle.”

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Priyanka Alva fails to appear before CCB in relation to her brother absconding

Crime

The CCB issued the notice a day after her husband Vivek Oberoi’s Mumbai residence was raided over suspicions of hiding Aditya Alva.

TNM Staff

Image Courtesy: Vivek Oberoi/Instagram

On Thursday, Priyanka Alva, wife of Vivek Oberoi, was served a notice by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) Bengaluru to appear before them on Friday. This was in regard to her brother Aditya Alva, one of the prime accused in the Sandalwood drug cases, who has been absconding for weeks. However, Priyanka failed to acknowledge the summons and did not appear before the CCB as instructed.  “We need to question Ms. Alva as we suspect she is aware of the whereabouts of her brother. She has not honoured the summons to appear on Friday. We will again issue summons to her,” a senior CCB official said. The notice was served after the Bengaluru police raided Vivek Oberoi’s Mumbai residence, after receiving a tip-off that the absconding Aditya might be hiding there. “We had reason to believe that Aditya Alva was in Mumbai. Besides, we also wanted to question his relatives there regarding his whereabouts,” a CCB source said. Bengaluru Police have been looking for Aditya for over a month, since the crackdown on drugs and narcotic substances began in the city. Allegedly, several of the accused in the Sandalwood drug cases attended rave parties that were held at a farmhouse owned by him in the outskirts of Bengaluru, where drugs were supplied and consumed. The police conducted raids on properties where rave parties were allegedly held. After the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested three people in Bengaluru with a drug haul two months ago, Bengaluru Police cracked down on drug traffickers, peddlers and consumers. More than 15 people have been arrested by the police in connection with the cases. Among them are Sandalwood actors Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjjanaa Galrani, party organiser Viren Khanna and realtor Rahul Thonse.  

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Proud to be Vokkaliga, but my caste is Congress: DK Shivakumar

Politics

Shivakumar was answering a question about whether the RR Nagar Congress candidate Kusuma H was picked because of her caste.

IANS

PTI/Representation Photo

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President DK Shivakumar said on Friday that he would always be looked upon as a Congressman, and not a caste leader. Speaking to reporters here, Shivakumar said that he is a Vokkaliga because he was born to Vokkaliga parents. "No doubt I am proud of my caste Vokkaliga. But that doesn't mean that I would indulge in caste or religion-based politics. Being a Congress member and KPCC President, I have only one caste and that is Congress. Why should I speak about other castes," he shot back at his rivals and JD(S) leader HD Kumarswamy, who is also a Vokkaliga. He said that there is no politics involved in attracting people into the party fold and all these things generally happen during every election. "In every election, our rivals BJP and JD(S) do the same by visiting our party leaders and we also do it, which is just fair and square. Why should anyone be worried about it," he asked. Categorically ruling out any race between him and Kumaraswamy for the Vokkaliga leadership, a dominant community in the south Karnataka region to which both leaders belong, Shivakumar said that he has never indulged in caste politics and for him Congress is his only caste. On Thursday, Kumaraswamy had alleged that the Congress, which lacks a worker base in Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar) Assembly constituency, was trying to lure his party workers ahead of the by-elections. RR Nagar, along with the Sira Assembly segment in Tumakuru, will go to bypolls on November 3. With both seats having considerable presence of the Vokkaliga community, winning them is crucial for both the leaders to consolidate their position in the community. With the community seen as a strong vote base of JD(S), Kumaraswamy is looking at keeping it intact. Shivakumar, who is the top leader in the Congress from the community, is looking at consolidating his position within the party by winning the bypolls. Winning RR Nagar is even more crucial for him as it comes under the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency, represented by his brother DK Suresh. In this constituency, Congress has pitted political greenhorn Kusuma H against battle hardened N Munirathna of the BJP. In Sira, Congress has fielded party veteran and former minister T.B. Jayachandra against Ammajamma of the JD(S), the widow of late party MLA Sathyanarayana, and Rajesh Gowda of the BJP. The Sira by-elections were necessitated following the death of JD(S) legislator B. Sathyanarayana in August, while the RR Nagar seat fell vacant after the disqualification of Congress MLA N. Munirathna under the anti-defection law last year.  

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Bengaluru bar owner's murder: Police recover CCTV footage, get eyewitness statements

Crime

Five teams have been formed to probe the murder and the police suspect gang rivalry.

TNM Staff

Representation photo

The Bengaluru police probing the brutal murder of a bar owner near Brigade Road said that he was allegedly killed due to old rivalry with other gangsters. On the night of October 15, Manish Shetty, the owner of Duet Bar located on Rest House Park Road off Brigade Road, was hacked and shot dead in the middle of the street.  The police officers under Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) MN Anuchet formed five teams to probe the case after an FIR was registered at the Cubbon Park Police Station.  According to CCTV footage obtained from neighbouring establishments and eyewitness accounts, police said that there were three assailants on a Honda Dio who entered Rest House Park Road around 9 pm on October 15. The men parked the scooter on the road and allegedly walked up to Manish Shetty, who was on a call at the time. “According to eyewitness accounts, the three men began hacking him with machetes. Two of the suspects were also injured as Manish tried to fight back. One of them shot him. They left the vehicle and fled the scene,” a Cubbon Park Police official told TNM.  Read: Bengaluru bar owner shot dead by bike-borne assailants near Brigade Road Police suspect that Manish Shetty’s killers conducted a recce of his whereabouts and that the hit was planned in advance. “We are looking at older CCTV footage to see if any of the suspects or any rival gangsters conducted surveillance prior to the murder,” the police said.  Manish Shetty, who is from Koppa in Chikkamagaluru, is believed to be a close associate of gangsters Bannanje Raja and Ravi Pujari, who was arrested by the Bengaluru Police in February this year.  The police said that they are tracing the owner of the Honda Dio and that one of the teams is in Mangaluru and another in Mumbai, looking into Manish Shetty’s connections to gangsters and which one had motive to kill him.  “He was imprisoned for eight years in the Chemmanur Jewellers heist case of 2007. He got out of jail in 2015 and had leased Duet Bar. He was also a suspect in a bank robbery in Belagavi in 2015. We are looking into his activities after he got out of jail. A lot of gangsters used to visit Duet Bar and knew Manish Shetty. We have teams looking into who were the patrons and what his connection was,” the police said.   

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K’taka caste killing: Family allegedly kills woman for falling in love with Dalit man

Crime

The woman's father had initially filed a missing persons complaint.

Theja Ram

Representation photo

The Karnataka police on Friday arrested a 48-year-old farmer from Kudur in Ramanagara for allegedly killing his 18-year-old daughter for falling in love with a Dalit man. Eighteen-year-old Hemalatha's body was recovered in a mango grove in Magadi, about 60 km away from Bengaluru city, in a mango grove. The police said that Krishnappa, who is from the Vokkaliga community, a dominant caste, did not approve of his daughter's relationship with her boyfriend Puneet, who is from the Dalit community.  On October 9, 48-year-old Krishnappa filed a missing persons complaint with the Kudur Police stating that his 18-year-old daughter Hemalatha, a first-year B.Com student, was missing. In his complaint, he alleged that he had gone to his farm to oversee some work and returned home at 4 pm to find that his daughter had gone missing. He had also said that a man named Puneet had been constantly calling his daughter for a few weeks. He had also indicated that he suspects Puneet's hand in her disappearance.  The Kudur Police, who began the probe, picked up Puneet, a farm worker in Kudur, for questioning. Kudur Police said that after interrogating Puneet several times, they began to suspect foul play. "Puneet told us that he and Hemalatha had been in love since she began going to college. He said that a few weeks ago, Krishnappa found out that Puneet and Hemalatha were in a relationship and wanted her to end it," Magadi Circle Inspector Manjunath told TNM.  Puneet allegedly told the investigators that Krishnappa wanted Hemalatha to end the relationship. He also informed the police that Krishnappa told Hemalatha's cousins, Yogi (21) and a 17-year-old, to talk to Hemalatha and dissuade her from continuing the relationship.  “We just couldn't find anything suspicious about Puneet initially and his alibi was accurate too. There were witnesses who said he was working in the farm at the time of the disappearance. That's when we began suspecting Krishnappa,” the police said.  On October 14, the police took Krishnappa into custody and questioned him as they suspected his hand in her disappearance. “He kept changing his statement. He initially said he and his nephews killed her. He later said that he found her body when he dug up a pit to plant saplings in the mango grove. But, the interrogation of Yogi and the minor revealed that the three of them killed Hemalatha," Inspector Manjunath added.  On October 15, the police picked up Yogi and interrogators with expertise in questioning juvenile suspects took the 17-year-old boy into custody. "We learned that the three of them were involved in the murder," Inspector Manjunath said.  Police said that on the evening of October 9, while Krishnappa was on the farm, Yogi and the minor boy allegedly got Hemalatha to the grove by telling her that her father was waiting for her. "When they took her to the mango grove, Krishnappa and Hemalatha are believed to have had a fight. Based on Yogi's confession, we learned that Krishnappa told her that he would kill her. Yogi and the minor boy smashed a boulder on her head. Then the three men dug up a pit in the grove and buried her body," police added.  The Kudur Police took Krishnappa to the spot where the body was buried and recovered the body on Friday. "He is claiming that his nephews killed her and he later found the body when he dug up the pit to plant saplings. His testimony kept changing. Finally yesterday afternoon (Friday) he confessed to the crime. He said that his daughter's relationship with a Dalit man would have brought shame upon his family due to which he enlisted his nephews' help to kill her," Inspector Manjunath added.  The Kudur Police registered an FIR under section 302 (murder), 120b (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code on Friday.

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