32-year-old man from Dakshina Kannada dies in Saudi Arabia

Udupi, Jun 24: Nearly four years after he was arrested in the murder case of NRI entrepreneur Bhaskar Shetty, the District Sessions court has granted conditional interim bail to Niranjan Bhat, one of the three prime accused in the case.

The development comes two days after the death of Niranjan’s father Srinivas Bhat(65). Though Srinivas and his driver Raghavendra were also arrested in the case on the accusation of destruction of evidence, they were released within a month.

Through his lawyer Niranjan had appealed to the court seeking bail to perform his father’s post-death rituals. 

After hearing the arguments, the court granted conditional interim bail till July 7 on furnishing a bond of Rs 5 lakh. The judge directed the accused to report to the court on or before July 7 to be taken into judicial custody.

Bhaskar Shetty, who owned a chain of supermarkets in Saudi Arabia, went missing from his house in Udupi on 28 July 2016. His mother Gulabi Shetty lodged a missing person complaint on July 29. The police arrested his wife Rajeshwari, her son Navaneeth and astrologer Niranjan Bhat on the charge of murdering Bhaskar Shetty and destroying the evidence, in Udupi on August 7, 2016. Rajeshwari is already out on bail. Navneet is still in prison.

Shetty was murdered at his house in Indrali and later his body was taken to Belman. It is alleged Niranjan Bhat had put the body of deceased Bhaskar Shetty in the pit used for Homa rituals and burnt it.

Bengaluru, Jan 13: Though he submitted his resignation as leader of the opposition over a month ago, former chief minister Siddaramaiah continues as the face of the Congress in Karnataka.

However, this may change as All India Congress Committee (AICC) interim president Sonia Gandhi has summoned Siddaramaiah to Delhi for a final consultation over change of guard. Over the past month, there has been speculation over the possibility of Congress persisting with Siddaramaiah as opposition leader and either party troubleshooter DK Shivakumar or former ministers MB Patil, HK Patil or Eshwar Khandre replacing incumbent president Dinesh Gundu Rao. Both tendered resignations owing moral responsibility for the party's dismal performance in the 15 bypolls held last month.

In the past 24 hours, there has been talk of Siddaramaiah being asked to be the state unit president and vacating the other post for a young turk or experience legislator including the likes of Shivakumar who could be the face of KPCC by 2023 if he gets a clean chit from the ED in cases of money-laundering, etc. Seniors, including former KPCC president and DyCM G Parameswara and former minister HK Patil, are strong contenders to be leader of the opposition if Siddaramaiah is asked to vacate the post.

However, sources in the Siddaramaiah camp dismissed the possibility of him becoming KPCC president. "He has never aspired for the post and the high command is not inclined to do it," said a member in his camp.

Siddaramaiah may meet Sonia on Tuesday morning. It's still unclear if any other KPCC functionaries have been summoned. Sources said Sonia is scheduled to leave India for medical treatment on January 15 and wanted to complete the consultations about Karnataka. The high command has reportedly gone through reports submitted by party observers Madhusudan Mistry and Parameswara.

Mangaluru, Feb 1: “1) Take necessary precautionary measures. 2) Don’t blindly believe in social media rumours.” These are the two important advisories issued by the authorities in Dakshina Kannada district in the wake of coronavirus scare.

According to DHO Dr Ramakrishna there is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for coronavirus infection. Supportive care for infected people can be highly effective, but, there is no vaccine available for coronavirus.

In a health meeting, he advised people to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Following are some of the precautionary measures.

1) Wash your hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitiser.

2) Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

3) Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

4) Stay home when you are sick, and cover your mouth when you cough or use a tissue while sneezing.

5) Throw the used tissue in the dustbin. Clean and disinfect surfaces frequently.

Deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said there is no need for people to panic about coronavirus.

Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat CEO R Selvamani said IEC programmes will be held to create awareness on possibilities of spread of diseases.

He also advised people not to follow blindly the advisories being shared on social media, especially WhatsApp without proper verification.

“Posts on cures for coronavirus which are not scientifically proven are being shared on social media. Do not follow such advisories without verifying facts,” he said.