Bengaluru, July 11 (IANS) Karnataka Police issued a notice to BJP MLA from Dakshina Kannada District, Y Bharat Shetty, on Thursday and asked him to appear for questioning over derogatory remarks against Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.

Shetty on Monday stirred a major controversy by saying that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi should be locked up inside Parliament and slapped for his alleged anti-Hindu remarks.

Kavoor police issued a notice to Shetty asking him to appear before them within three days.

The police registered a case against him under the Sections 351 (3) (criminal intimidation, insult), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The complaint was registered by Anil Kumar, a Congress leader in this regard.

“LoP Rahul Gandhi should be locked up and slapped inside Parliament. This act will lead to the filing of seven to eight FIRs. If LoP Rahul Gandhi comes to Mangaluru city, we will arrange the same for him,” Shetty said.

He said that LoP Rahul Gandhi was holding a picture of Lord Shiva.

“That madman does not know that if Lord Shiva opened his third eye, he would turn into ashes. They have adopted an anti-Hindu policy. It is evident that LoP Rahul Gandhi is a madman. He thinks that Hindus will quietly listen to whatever he says about them,” Shetty said.

He claimed that it is the “BJP’s duty to protect Hindu religion and institutions. The Congress has begun to convey that Hindus and Hindutva are different. Hindus will face danger in the future because of such leaders.”

“Shivaji and Maharana Pratap were born in the Hindu community. We will take out weapons whenever there is a need. We know very well how to retaliate after worshipping the weapons,” he said.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 11 (IANS) The Karnataka Lokayukta conducted raids at 56 locations, including residences, offices and other properties of some officials on Thursday in connection with a disproportionate assets case.

Sources said that more than a hundred officials were involved in the raid.

According to sources, simultaneous raids were conducted against 11 government officials. The operation was initiated based on allegations of acquiring assets disproportionate to known sources of income. The simultaneous raids were conducted in Bengaluru, Kolar, Mandya, Mysuru, Chitradurga, Kalaburagi, Belagavi and Hassan districts.

The sleuths have obtained a search warrant from the court to conduct searches, inspections and seizures.

In Bengaluru, the residence of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and his relatives were raided.

A raid was being conducted on the house of a Tahsildar in Kolar city, and inspections were underway. Meanwhile, a raid was conducted on the house of a Grade-1 Secretary in Hassan. His houses in Hassan and Bengaluru were being inspected.

Lokayukta raids have also taken place in Mandya and Mysore. In Mysore, Lokayukta officials raided the house of a superintendent engineer in the irrigation department. Officials were conducting inspections at his residence in J.C. Nagar, Mysuru. Additionally, documents were being examined at the Gokulam office.

In Mandya, raids were conducted on the houses of a retired executive engineer and his relatives. The raids took place at three locations in Mandya district and two locations in Mysuru. In Mandya district’s Ijjlaghatta village, a farmhouse belonging to him, his father’s house, and a jelly crusher were also raided.

In Chitradurga, a raid was conducted on the house and farmhouse belonging to a retired engineer. The places included his farmhouse in Sugur, Hiriyur taluk, and a bottle factory near Aimangala, sources stated.

The official statement is yet to be made by the Lokayukta over the raids.

–IANS

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Visakhapatnam, July 11 (IANS) The accused in the murder of a minor girl in Andhra Pradesh’s Anakapalle district has allegedly committed suicide, police said on Thursday.

Police, who were on the hunt for the accused for four days, found Bodabathula Suresh’s decomposed body on the outskirts of Koppigondapalem village of Rambilli Mandal.

Police suspect that the accused consumed poison to kill himself. His body was shifted to the government hospital, Anakapalle for autopsy.

Suresh (26) had fatally stabbed a 14-year-old minor girl, studying in Class 9, in Koppigondapalem village on July 6.

Police had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to those who provide information about the absconding accused.

Hailing from Koppungundupalem in Rambilli mandal, Suresh was working as a driver.

The accused used to stalk the minor girl and wanted to marry her when she came of age. However, the girl’s parents had rejected his proposal. As she continued to harass the girl, her parents had lodged a complaint with the police in April.

Suresh was arrested and sent to jail under relevant sections of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. After coming out on bail a few weeks ago, he decided to take revenge on the victim, holding her responsible for his imprisonment.

On July 6 when the victim’s parents were out on work, Suresh barged into her house and slit her throat.

After committing the crime, he went into hiding. Police had constituted 12 teams to nab him.

Suresh had reportedly left behind a note stating that he will either live or die with the girl.

Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairman Kesali Apparao and Mahila Commission member Geddam Uma visited the girl’s village and inquired about the incident.

They underscored the need for police to keep a tab on persons arrested in POCSO and drug trafficking cases, and later released on bail.

YSR Congress Party Mahila Wing president and MLC Varudu Kalyani has criticised the State government for failing to nab the accused.

–IANS

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Jammu, July 11 (IANS) Despite rain in the holy cave shrine area, over 19,000 devotees had ‘darshan’ on the 12th day of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra while another batch of 4,885 pilgrims left for Kashmir from here on Thursday.

Braving rain and chanting slogans of ‘Bum Bum Bhole’, 19,631 Yatris had ‘darshan’ on Wednesday inside the holy cave shrine situated 3,888 metres above the sea level in the Kashmir Himalayas.

Wednesday’s group of devotees had pilgrims in both camps — the South Kashmir Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp and the North Kashmir Baltal base camp.

Locals are lending a vital helping hand to the Yatris by providing ponies, porters, guides and even some carrying the elderly Yatris on their backs over the treacherous mountain track that becomes highly slippery during rain.

Authorities have deployed security personnel on both the 48 km-long Pahalgam and the 14 km-long Baltal-Cave shrine axis.

Around 150 ‘langars’ (community kitchens) run by over 7,000 volunteers work round the clock to serve fresh, healthy food to the Yatris.

Community kitchens have also been set up at the transit camps of Manigam in North Kashmir Ganderbal district and Mir Bazaar in South Kashmir Anantnag district.

Officials of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) headed by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha manage the affairs of the annual Yatra.

In the 12 days since it started, over 2.50 lakh devotees have performed the Yatra.

Out of the 4,885 pilgrims that left for Kashmir on Thursday, a total of 1,894 pilgrims in 86 vehicles left at 3.05 a.m. while the second escorted convoy carrying 2,991 Yatris in 105 vehicles left at 3.52 a.m.

The first convoy is going to the Baltal base camp while the second convoy is going to the Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp.

Pilgrims use the nearly 300 km long Jammu-Srinagar national highway to reach the Valley.

Given the unobstructed passage provided by massive security arrangements, both pilgrim convoys reach the Valley by early afternoon each day.

No pilgrim movement is allowed from the transit camps towards the two base camps after 5 p.m. each day for the safety of the Yatris.

Since it started on June 29, Amarnath Yatra 2024 has been proceeding safely and peacefully.

The 52-day long Yatra will end on August 29 coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan festivals.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) In its latest affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Union government said that the data analysis conducted by IIT Madras shows that there is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted, leading to abnormal scores in the National Eligibility Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) examination held on May 5 this year.

“There is an overall increase in the marks obtained by students, specifically in the range of 550 to 720. This increase is seen across cities and centres. This is attributed to 25 per cent reduction in syllabus,” said the Union government, adding that candidates obtaining such high marks are spread across multiple cities and multiple centres, indicating a very “less likelihood of malpractice”.

After a comprehensive data analysis using parameters like marks distribution, city-wise and centre-wise rank distribution, and candidates spread over the marks range, experts of the IIT Madras opined “no abnormality,” the affidavit said.

The Union Education Ministry said that it is duty bound to address the concerns of the students who have appeared in the NEET exam and is making all-round efforts to devise a solution-oriented mechanism while ensuring that, on the one hand, no candidate guilty of malpractice gets any benefit and, on the other hand, 23 lakh students are not required to be burdened with a fresh test merely based upon unsupported apprehensions.

It said that the Union government has established a high-level committee of experts to recommend effective measures for the conduct of transparent, smooth, and fair examinations by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The seven-member committee is headed by K. Radhakrishnan, former ISRO Chairman, and Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur.

The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Thursday a batch of pleas alleging irregularities in conduct of the NEET-UG examination 2024.

To decide if a re-test should be ordered in its entirety, a bench presided over by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, in an earlier hearing held on Monday, directed NTA to make full disclosure before the apex court regarding the nature of the paper leak, the places where the leak took place, and the lag of time between the occurrence of the leak and the conduct of the examination.

It also asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a status report indicating the status of the investigation and the material collected during the course of the investigation.

–IANS

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