No evidence of terror link: 10 Muslim youths released by Delhi police

Bengaluru, Feb 22: Thanks to joint efforts by the Protector of Emigrants in Bengaluru and Indian Embassy in Qatar, a 26-year-old woman from Karnataka who had been kept in confinement in Qatar has been rescued and brought back to India.

Anupama (name changed) from Holenarasipura in Hassan district arrived in Bengaluru on Thursday night. She was allegedly locked up in a house for 14 days, restrained from using a mobile and wasn't fed. There were three other women with her. On the midnight of February 12, they broke the window panes and fled before contacting local police.

Anupama, a diploma graduate in computer science, was jobless and her friend working in Kuwait suggested she try for a job abroad. She contacted an agency based in Chikkamagaluru which offered her a nanny's job in Qatar. After document verification, the agency demanded she pay Rs 2 lakh but she said she didn't have that kind of money.

The agency sent Anupama on a visitor visa but told her if questioned by immigration officials, she must claim she was visiting her sister. They also gave her a return ticket.

As Anupama was travelling abroad for the first time, she said she was ignorant about several things.

On January 12, Anupama left Bengaluru. But as she reached Qatar, all her documents, including passport, were confiscated by the agency. Her return ticket was cancelled and she was sent to a house to work as babysitter-cum-cook for Rs 30,000. She lived with four other maids in the same house, where they were made to work for 16-18 hours a day.

"I used to wake up around 5.30am every day and had to prepare breakfast for the employers by 6.30am. My work would end around 11pm every day. We never even got time to eat," Anupama told media on Friday. Four days into work, Anupama's nose started bleeding. However, the employers cared little and insisted she continue to work. After 18 days, she requested her employers that she be relieved.

The agency sent her to a house where three women were already present and locked her up with them. "They used to give us a glass of raw rice, an onion, tomato and potato to cook for ourselves. While we got rice every day, we had to use the vegetables for three days. We were not supposed to use mobiles or go out. Two people were monitoring us," she recalled.

Anupama and the others decided to approach police but for that they needed to escape. Around 1.30am on February 12, the four women managed to break window panes and jumped out. They ran for more than a kilometre and managed to approach police, who summoned the agency and got the women to speak to their families.

Anupama called her brother-in-law, who approached the Protector of Emigrants office in Koramangala, Bengaluru. Shubham Singh, PoE in Bengaluru, said they took up the issue with the Indian Embassy in Qatar, which immediately got in touch with Qatar police. Anupama said, "We were kept in prison for a couple of days and were sent to the deportation centre later."

Meanwhile, the Indian embassy got the agency to return the women's documents. However, the agents did not pay their salaries. Two of the women were sent to Hyderabad and the third to Kerala. On Friday, Anupama met Singh at his office, where her statement was recorded. "We have started the process of initiating action against the agency in India," he said.

Bengaluru, Jan 25: The local police will provide security for Sri Nijagunananda Swami and his Kittur Nishkal Mantapa Mutt following a letter containing a threat to his life that was received on Friday.

The letter, containing the names of 15 liberal thinkers and activists, was circulated widely on social media and shown on some Kannada TV channels. The letter is addressed to the seer, and it condemns his lectures where he speaks in favour of liberal values.

“The decision to eliminate you will be taken on January 21. You will be eliminated, along with 15 of your followers and people who think like you,” the letter said. 

Among those threatened are Nidumamidi Channammalla Swami, Jnyana Prakash Swami, the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, actors Prakash Raj and Chetan Kumar, writer Chandrashekar Patil, Brinda Karat of the CPI(M) and writer K.S. Bhagavan.

It is not the first time that the seer is getting such threats. Two years ago, Belagavi Police had provided security to the seer following threats to his life. Last year, he got a phone call from a person from Shivamogga district. But the seer did not bother to complain.

This time, the district police will seek a written complaint from the seer. “We will assess the threat perception and the security levels. Adequate security will be provided,” the police said.

The seer is now camping in Jewargi in Kalaburagi district. “We have intimated the Kalaburagi Superintendent of Police of the need for immediate security arrangements. We will take steps to provide adequate security to him once he arrives in Belagavi district,” Superintendent of Police Lakshman Nimbaragi said.

Bengaluru, Feb 17: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday assured that the Centre is committed to stand by its promise of providing Rs 18,600 crore Bengaluru suburban Rail project.

Addressing a press conference after a post-budget interactive session with the representatives of the various trade bodies, industry leaders and others here, she said that the union cabinet has already given its clearance for the long-pending project.

Informing that the central government will have 20 per cent of its capital share in the project followed by another 20 per cent share from the state government, she said "beside this, the union government will stand for a sovereign guarantee for the rest of the 60 percent share, which can be raised through loans from external agencies".