Another BJP worker killed in Bengaluru; party demands NIA probe

Chikkamagaluru, Jan 28: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Public Works Govind Karjol on Tuesday said that he is ready to quit if the post asks him to do so to pave way for smooth expansion of the Cabinet.

Responding to a question from media persons on the issue here, he said he was ready to quit his post any time.

“If the party asks me to resign now, I will send back my official car and return by bus”, he added.

Further, he opined that there should not be efforts to seek a berth in the Cabinet based on caste.

“Putting pressure on the party based on caste is not right. The party will consider those who worked for the party and also take district-wise representation into account while filling up the vacancies”, he added.

New Delhi, Mar 21: The Indian Railways has cancelled all train services on Sunday in view of the Janata Curfew called by prime minister Narendra Modi. All mail and express trains will stop services from 4 am to 10 pm on Sunday while all suburban train services will be reduced to a bare minimum.

Around 1,300 long-distance, mail express services will also stand cancelled in light of the curfew to bat Covid-19. These long distance trains will remain cancelled between 4 am to 10 pm on Sunday.

All passenger trains originating between the midnight of Saturday-Sunday will not be run till 10 pm, Sunday, a railway ministry official said.

However, the passenger train services already on run at 7 am on the day will be allowed to run to the destinations, a railway ministry circular to zonal railways issued on Friday said.

The Indian Railways operates around 9,000 passenger trains and 3,500 mail express services each day.

“We have sent a directive to all zonal railways, and they will get back with the total number of train services affected, by Saturday afternoon,” an official ET spoke with, said.

In his address to the nation on Thursday, the Prime Minister called for a ‘janta curfew’ between 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday, in a social-distancing drive amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Passengers alighting at enroute stations from trains already on run, and desirous of staying at the station, may be accommodated in the waiting rooms at railway stations, without overcrowding them, the circular said.

The ministry has advised zonal railways to arrange for hassle-free refund to passengers affected because of cancelled trains, while regulating train services on Sunday.

Meanwhile, to contain the spread of Covid-19, all the food plazas, jan aahar stalls have been advised to be shut until further notice by IRCTC.

The on-board catering services in mail express trains are to be closed until further advice, while static units supplying meals to prepaid trains in operation, will continue to function.

Bengaluru, June 21: An assistant sub-inspector of police who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 infection in city-based Victoria hospital passed away on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday as he did not respond to the treatment for coronavirus.

The 59-year-old ASI was attached to the Wilson Garden traffic police station in Bengaluru. He tested positive for coronavirus on June 18 and was rushed to the COVID ward in Victoria hospital on June 19. He had fever for the last four days. His wife and two children have been quarantined. According to the police, the station has not yet been sealed down and no policemen have been quarantined.

The Wilson Garden ASI is the third Bengaluru police personnel to die of COVID-19 in the last one week. Earlier, an ASI from the VV Puram traffic police station had died undergoing treatment. On Saturday morning, a head constable from the Kalasipalya police station who was admitted at Victoria hospital passed away. The series of deaths in the police department has created fear among other policemen across the city.

One the other hand, dozens of policemen were tested positive in different parts of Karnataka today including 21 from two police stations of Bengaluru. 

Around 15 policemen from the Kalasipalya police station and five policemen from the Ashok Nagar traffic police station tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday.

In Kalasipalya, three ASIs, head constables and police constables have tested positive. In Ashok Nagar traffic police station, a probationary sub-inspector, an ASI, two police constables and a lady constable tested positive for the virus.

One more police constable working in Bandepalya police station also tested positive. Seven policemen who were in his primary contacts have been quarantined. BBMP officials have begun the process of fumigating the station premises and its surroundings.