Karnataka govt to pay Rs 80 lakh pending hotel bill of PM Modi’s stay in Mysuru

Udupi: The Udupi CEN Police have arrested two people from Gujarat in connection with a cybercrime where they posed as customs and police officers and swindled Rs 1.33 crore from a 53-year-old man in the name of FedEx courier. The police have recovered Rs 13.95 lakh and five mobile phones from the arrested. 

Udupi Superintendent of Police Dr Arun K said that the arrested are Navadia Mukeshbhai Ganeshbhai (44), from Surat and Dharamjeet Kamlesh Chauhan (28), from Rajkot in Gujarat.

Complainant Arun Kumar had stated that he had received a call on July 29 from an unknown number, posing as a customs official and falsely claimed that a FedEx courier booked using the victim's Aadhaar number contained five passports, five ATM cards, 200 grams of MDMA, and $5000.

When the victim denied booking a courier, the fraudsters connected him to a senior officer who claimed to be a police officer who in turn had informed him that his Aadhaar card had been linked to several bank accounts used by terrorists to purchase SIM cards.

The victim was then put under "virtual arrest" wherein he was monitored via Skype. Based on the instructions of the ‘officers’ he was confined to a room in his house from July 29 to August 9. He was asked to transfer money to various bank accounts to resolve the case.

Based on the complaint, Udupi CEN police had registered a case under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act, and Section 318(4) of the BNS.

The SP had formed a special police team led by Inspector Ramachandra Nayak comprising PSI Ashok and officers Praveen Shettigar, Rajesh, Arun Kumar, Yateen Kumar, Raghavendra Karkada, Dikshit, Prashant, Mutteppa Adin, Mayappa Gadade, Parashuram, and Sudeep to investigate the case.

Sources said that the police was closely monitoring the bank accounts involved in the scam and acted immediately when the money was withdrawn, and suspects were arrested.

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Friday joined the Congress ahead of the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls and will be the candidate from Julana. Along with Phogat, Bajrang Punia also joined the party.

Meanwhile, Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh took a jibe at the wrestlers saying, "God has punished them for cheating."

"Haryana is the crown of India in the field of sports. And they stopped the wrestling activities for almost 2.5 years. Is it not true that Bajrang went to the Asian Games without trials? I want to ask those who are experts in wrestling. I want to ask Vinesh Phogat whether a player can give trials in 2 weight categories in a day? Can the trials be stopped for 5 hours after the weigh-in?... You did not win the wrestling, you went there by cheating. God has punished you for the same, " Brij Bhushan said, as reported by ANI.

Additionally he also called out Congress leader Bhupinder Hooda.

"I am not guilty of disrespecting daughters. If anyone is guilty of disrespecting daughters, it is Bajrang and Vinesh. And the one who wrote the script, Bhupinder Hooda is responsible for that. If they (BJP) will ask me (to campaign in the Haryana polls), I can go. One day Congress will have to regret it...," he said.

Both Phogat and Punia met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence before officially joining the party at an event at headquarters in the presence of General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal.

Vinesh Phogat, who defied several odds to make the final of the women’s freestyle 50 kg event of the Paris Olympics, was disqualified after being overweight by a few grams.

Now, Olympians Phogat and Bajrang Punia, who were at the forefront of the wrestlers' protest against former WFI chief and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year, entered the political arena on Friday by joining the Congress with a vow of "not being scared or backing off".

Hours after joining the Congress, Punia was appointed as the working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress. It seems unlikely now that he would be fielded in the polls.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.

In response to a surge in dengue cases, the Karnataka government has declared dengue an epidemic, laying out specific responsibilities for the public and government agencies, and empowering officials to take necessary actions.

A recent gazette notification announced the amendment of the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Regulations, 2020, now titled the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Regulations, 2024. These updated regulations, effective from August 31, mandate comprehensive measures to prevent mosquito breeding, which is a primary cause of dengue.

The regulations specify that owners, builders, managers, institutions, and occupants of any land, building, household, or public space—such as parks, water tanks, or playgrounds—are responsible for enforcing measures to prevent mosquito breeding. These measures include:

• Covering water storage containers and tanks.
• Proper disposal of solid waste to prevent water accumulation.
• Ensuring that unused tanks, pits, burrows, or buildings under construction do not collect water.

These requirements apply to both private and government-owned properties, as well as semi-government establishments.

Under the amended regulations, the Chief Commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in Bengaluru and the Deputy Commissioners of each district outside BBMP jurisdiction have been designated as the competent authorities to oversee the implementation of these measures. They have the authority to inspect properties, issue notices, and enforce compliance to prevent the spread of dengue.

As part of the enforcement, the authorities have the power to inspect lands, buildings, water tanks, parks, playgrounds, and other areas periodically. If they find any collection of water that could serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, they are authorized to issue notices requiring the responsible parties to eliminate the water and destroy the breeding sites. Failure to comply can result in a penalty of up to Rs 2,000. An additional 50% of the initial penalty may be levied for each week of continued non-compliance after a notice has been served.

In a proactive step, the BBMP and the state health department have launched a pilot study, installing 120 ovitraps in Gopalpura to help curb the spread of dengue.

As of September 2, Karnataka has reported a total of 25,408 dengue cases, resulting in 12 deaths.