Bengaluru, June 6 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Saturday that rowdy elements should be afraid of the police, adding that it is a shame that some policemen do not even know that the e-beat system is in place.

“Why are you given guns? Why are rowdies not afraid of it,” Siddaramaiah questioned the state police while speaking after the inauguration of the 2024 Senior Police Officers Conference at the police headquarters here.

He also released a new software on the occasion.

“Who are the drug dealers? The respective station officials know who the rowdies and real estate agents are.” He asked why it was not stopping.

He congratulated Home Minister G. Parameshwara and the Karnataka Police for maintaining law and order without communal riots in the state in the last one year.

The CM gave a clear instruction that it is mandatory for every SP-DCP-IG to visit and inspect every station in their jurisdiction as per the police manual.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian for his election as Iran’s new President.

“Looking forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relationship for the benefit of our people and the region,” PM Modi said in a post on X.

India-Iran partnership in various sectors, including connectivity, has expanded tremendously in recent times, especially during the tenure of Iran’s late President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi who passed away in a helicopter crash in May this year.

India had also observed a day’s state mourning as a mark of respect to the late Iranian President and other eight people, including the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who lost their lives in the tragic accident.

It was also under India’s presidency that Iran joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Both countries have fast-tracked infrastructure cooperation, focusing especially on the Chabahar project and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) – the 7,200 km-long multimodal trade corridor linking Russia with India via the ports of Iran.

–IANS

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Hyderabad, July 6 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) received another jolt when its MLA joined the Congress on Saturday, just a day after six of its Members in the Legislative Council crossed over to the ruling party.

Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, the MLA from Gadwal constituency, joined Congress in the presence of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

The Chief Minister welcomed the MLA into the party.

Krishna Mohan represents the Gadwal constituency in Revanth Reddy’s home district of Mahabubnagar.

Krishna Mohan is the seventh MLA to switch to the ruling party since BRS lost power in December 2023.

BRS’ strength in the 119-member Assembly has come down to 31. It also lost the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly by-election to Congress.

The tally of Congress party has now gone up to 72.

The main opposition party has lost several senior leaders to Congress during the last seven months.

–IANS

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Pune (Maharashtra), July 6 (IANS) In another shocking incident in Pune, a drunken man allegedly poured petrol and attempted to set ablaze a woman traffic police officer who had stopped him during a drunk-and-drive combing operation, an official said here on Saturday.

The incident happened at around 8 P.M. on Friday night when the traffic police officer, API Shailaja Jankar, along with other colleagues, was on duty at Laxmi Road in the jurisdiction of the Faraskhana Traffic Police Station.

The traffic police team stopped one person riding a motorcycle but finding his attitude suspicious, they asked him to get down and accompany them to the nearby traffic police station.

Apparently furious at being stopped, the man Sanjay F Salve, 32, fled from the spot but returned an hour later with some petrol.

Sanjay F Salve suddenly lunged at the woman officer and poured petrol on her, whipped out a lighter and tried to set her on fire, but her colleagues pinned him down.

“Fortunately, the police officer is unharmed. The other police personnel on duty rushed to her help and caught the accused, and further investigations are on,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Rohidas Pawar, told IANS.

The accused Sanjay F Salve is a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad.

The Vishrambaugh Police Station, Senior Police Inspector Deepali Bhujbal told mediapersons on Saturday that they registered a case against Sanjay F Salve on various charges, including attempt to murder, drinking-and-driving, obstructing a public servant, etc. and arrested him. A further probe in underway.

Following a series of driving-related offences, starting with the Porsche drunken driving and hit-and-run case of May 19, the Pune Traffic Police stepped up vigil on roads against such offenders, and a check post was organised at Laxmi Road from 5.-8 P.M. on Friday.

–IANS

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Hubballi (Karnataka), July 6 (IANS) Reacting over the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land scam allegedly involving Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs Pralhad Joshi asked the Congress-led state government that if no corruption took place within the government body then why was the Mysuru District Commissioner transferred.

Speaking to the media in Hubballi, Union Minister Joshi said: “The MUDA scam involves massive corruption and it is evident at the outset. In 2017, the decision was taken and the MUDA land scam took place with the full knowledge of CM Siddaramaiah.”

He added that Rs 4,000 crore corruption took place involving MUDA land which the Congress government claims was awarded during the previous BJP government.

However, the transactions happened between 2013 and 2018 during the first term of Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister, the Minister said.

“This is a major scam committed for self-gains. The investigation has to be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). If CM Siddaramaiah claims that he has done nothing, then the scam must be handed over to the CBI,” Union Minister Joshi added.

“The Congress dubbed the BJP government as a 40 per cent government without any basis. The defamation suit was filed in the court. Now, there is the role of CM Siddaramaiah in two scandals — the MUDA scam and tribal welfare board scam,” he alleged.

“On the one hand, there is the Valmiki tribal welfare board’s scam, on the other hand, the MUDA scam has come to light. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had arrested a few persons to hide the case. Former Minister B. Nagendra is served notice only on Friday. There is a conspiracy to hush up everything. CM Siddaramaiah’s government is mired in corruption,” Joshi said.

“There is no development work under CM Siddaramaiah-led government. No development works are taken up in the name of bogus guarantee schemes. The funds reserved for Dalits are being used for guarantees,” the Minister claimed.

–IANS

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