773 devotees perform ‘Yede snana’ at Kukke temple in 3 days

Bengaluru, Jul 28: Several state Congress leaders, including its President D K Shivakumar, among others, were detained by police as they tried to march towards Raj Bhavan here against the alleged attempts by BJP to topple the party's government in Rajasthan.

Shivakumar, along with Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, state Congress Working President Eshwar Khandre, Salim Ahmed among others were stopped by the police midway as they marched from KPCC office towards Raj Bhavan.

Congress leaders then staged a dharna at the place where they were stopped. Addressing the gathering, Shivakumar accused the BJP of trying to "murder" democracy by destabilizing and removing elected governments.

"We wanted to protest against it and submit a memorandum to the President through the Governor," but the Karnataka government by using police was not letting them proceed towards Raj Bhavan, he said. "Despite our being a peaceful protest, the police stopped us," he said.

Siddaramaiah, echoing similar views, said peaceful protests against injustice was the right of every citizen. Alleging that the BJP was attempting to destabilise and remove the elected government in Rajasthan as it did in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, he said the Governor's office there (Rajasthan) was being 'misused'.

The Governor was working like an agent of the central government, he charged. He said, despite repeated appeals by the Rajasthan cabinet, the Governor there had not convened the assembly session, for the floor test to take place and for Congress to prove its majority. Police subsequently detained Shivakumar and some other Congress leaders and took them to a nearby police station.

They were later released. Meanwhile, as the Congress' protest amid Covid19 pandemic did not follow social distancing norms, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar hit out at that party's leaders. In a tweet Sudhakar said, for Congress leaders getting publicity was more important than social concerns.

Hassan, July 31: A police sub-inspector (PSI) reportedly hanged himself at his official quarters in Channarayapatna town today morning.

The deceased has been identified as Kiran Kumar, 34, who was in charge of Channarayapatna rural police station.

Sources said that he was upset after two murder cases were reported in the last 24 hours in his limits. Kiran reportedly told colleagues an hour before the extreme step that he feared he would be suspended.  

According to locals, the SI was upset after news of the two murders due to alleged negligence of the police spread on social media. He killed himself before a visit by senior officials. IGP, southern range, and SP Srinivasagowda was planning to visit the town and the spots where the murders took place on Friday.

Kiran, a native of Lalanakere village in Arsikere taluk, was known for his rapport with local people. He was alone when the incident took place. His wife and children had gone to Lalanakere for the Varamahalakashmi festival on Thursday night. The body was shifted to the mortuary for a postmortem.