Dakshina Kannada to be smoke-free district within a month: Nalin Kumar Kateel

Bengluru, Apr 20: Lockdown restrictions have been extended by a day by the Karnataka government, in an order issued by chief secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar on Sunday.

The order directed all heads of departments, district deputy commissioners and superintendent of policies to "continue to implement the measures presently in force" as per Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines dated April 14, "till the midnight of April 21, 2020."

The MHA guidelines had earlier allowed the state government to relax lockdown norms post-April 20.

Bengaluru, Mar 6: All the arrested in a case of sedition filed over a school play in Karnataka's Bidar have been granted anticipatory bail by a court that said the case lacked enough basis.

The play, themed on protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), "has not caused any disharmony in the society", said the district and sessions court in Bidar.

The play, performed in January by the children of prestigious Shaheen School, landed in trouble when a sedition complaint was filed over an 11-year-old girl's lines - enacting an elderly woman, she said if anyone asked for documents she would hit them with slippers.

That led to a sedition case and the police questioning children, teachers and the school management over many rounds.

"The drama has not caused any disharmony in the society. Considering all the circumstances, I am of the opinion that the ingredients of Section 124A of IPC (Sedition) are prima facie lacking," said the court.

Five members of the school management team have been granted protection from arrest. Earlier, the head teacher and the mother of the student who spoke the dialogue were sent to custody, but on other charges including the abetment of an offence. They were not accused of sedition. They were later granted bail.

The repeated questioning of young students and the arrest of the widowed mother of a student caused a huge uproar in the town.

An order is expected soon on the bail application in another sedition case in Karnataka, against three Kashmiri students. The students, who were studying in Hubbali in north Karnataka, are facing charges for reportedly using pro-Pakistani slogans in an online post. The Hubbali Bar Association had asked its members not to represent the students. Lawyers from Bengaluru who went to Hubbali represent the students were heckled.

On Thursday, a team of lawyers from different districts again went to Hubballi and were provided police protection. BT Venkatesh, one of the lawyers, said he had a meeting with bar association members and that the matter was sorted out. The students have applied for bail and an order is expected next week.

Bantwal, Feb 2: A 45-year-old man was found murdered in a parked Innova car at Shantinagar near Nagri in Sajipa Munnur in Bantwal taluk today. 

The deceased has been identified as Tasleem, a native of Kerala who was wanted in a few criminal cases. He was, according to reports, a member of Kerala's notorious Ziya. 

Tasleem was an accused in Kalia Rafiq murder in Ullal (2017). He was arrested last year in connection with a jewellery store robbery case registered in Mangaluru North police station and was sent to Kalaburagi prison. He was later released on bail. 

Police are of the suspicion that a rival gang might have kidnapped him, tried to strangle him and then stabbed him in the stomach, before fleeing the spot.

The car had been parked at the spot since morning. The locals who grew suspicious at this informed the police. Circle inspector T D Nagaraj and other officers conducted spot investigation.