Modi flag bearer of Indian culture, tradition: Amit Shah in Bengaluru

Mangaluru: An unsuspecting woman, who fell prey to online fraud, lost Rs 18.1 lakh. The complainant, who works from home, received a call on July 1 from an unknown person claiming to be from FedEx, informing her that a parcel had been registered in her name. 

Eager to find out more, she was instructed to press 1. After doing so, a person identifying himself as Anurag Tomar, with an employee ID, briefly introduced himself before ending the call.

Anurag Tomar called her back and alleged that the parcel contained contraband items, including a passport, four credit cards, 25 strips of LSD, and some clothes.

He told her she would be connected to the Mumbai Crime Branch and instructed her to download the Skype app for a video call.

Following these instructions, she spoke with an individual claiming to be an officer from the Mumbai Crime Branch. This person obtained her Aadhaar card and bank account details, and instructed her to add a beneficiary to her account. 

Over the course of the conversation, Rs 15 lakh was transferred from her account, followed by an additional Rs 3.1 lakh, after adding another beneficiary. The scammers stayed in touch with her until about 7.30 pm.

When the complainant attempted to reconnect with the same number, she was unable to reach anyone. She informed her family and realised that she had been defrauded. From 1.30 pm to 7.30 pm, the scammers made her believe they were from the Mumbai Crime Branch, threatening her with a case involving the alleged LSD found in the parcel. In total, she was cheated out of Rs 18.1 lakh, she alleged.

Mangaluru: Four members of a family died when the compound wall of a house collapsed on a neighbouring house at Kuthar Madani Nagara in Ullal police station limits on Wednesday morning.

The deceased have been as Yasir (45), his wife Mariamma (40) and their two daughters Raihana (19) and Rifaana (16) passed away in the incident. The compound wall belongs to Aboobakkar.

A large number of people gathered at the spot while bodies are being recovered from the debris.

The wall of the house collapsed in the bedroom where Yasir and his family were sleeping. Following the rain, a compound wall and two areca nut trees have fallen on Yasir's house.

Yasir was a worker in the fisheries harbour at Bunder, while his children - Rihana and Rifan - were students.

Yasir had purchased the house six years ago and had given the house for lease. He had shifted to the house only six months ago. In fact, a compound wall had collapsed on the house two years ago too, but no casualties were reported.

After a three-hour operation, all the four bodies were recovered from the debris with the help of local residents and personnel from fire and emergency services.

Yasir’s eldest daughter Rasheena is married and had returned to her husband’s house in Kerala on Tuesday, after celebrating Bakrid.

Meanwhile, Dakshina Kannada has been experiencing bountiful showers since Tuesday night.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert in the district till June 27. According to the forecast, a wet spell is likely to continue over Coastal Karnataka and adjoining parts of Malnad and interior Karnataka districts with widespread light to moderate rains.

Heavy to very heavy rains may also occur at isolated areas until June 27.

Bengaluru: The ruling Congress plunged into bedlam after one lawmaker publicly called for Siddaramaiah to be replaced by DK Shivakumar as Karnataka chief minister, a topic that awaited unravelling after the Lok Sabha polls.

This was countered by a senior minister who made a case for a new Karnataka Congress president, a post currently held by Shivakumar.

The hurly-burly began with Channagiri Congress MLA Basavaraju Shivaganga asking for Shivakumar, the deputy CM, to get a promotion.

“Siddaramaiah was CM for five years. And, he’s been the CM for the last 1.5 years. All MLAs have cooperated. Let D K Shivakumar become the CM now,” Shivaganga said.

This statement added to the Congress’ woes as the party is already facing demands for the appointment of more deputy chief ministers.

“Congress won nine Lok Sabha seats, up from just one five years ago. This was because of Shivakumar’s organisation skills. If the party wants to benefit from that going forward, Shivakumar should become CM,” Shivaganga argued.

Shivaganga even pointed out that as per convention, Shivakumar should have become the CM after Congress won the Assembly polls last year. “Conventionally, the Karnataka Congress president becomes the CM,” he said.

Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna, who has been pushing for the appointment of additional deputy CMs from the Veerashaiva-Lingayat, SC/ST and minority communities, said the Congress high command should decide on making Shivakumar the CM.

However, Rajanna raised the ‘one man, one post’ policy to hint that Shivakumar, being deputy CM, should give up the KPCC president’s post. “I’d like to remind (the party) that Shivakumar was to continue as KPCC president till the Parliament elections,” he said.

Talk in Congress circles is that some leaders are trying to convince the party to make Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre, a Lingayat, the next Karnataka Congress president.

The likes of Rajanna and Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi are batting for more deputy CMs, which Shivakumar is not in favour of. In fact, the demand for more deputies, first raised last year, is seen as a plan to counterbalance Shivakumar.

Reacting to the demand for more deputies, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Congress high command’s decision will be final on this.