Bengaluru, Jun 12: All the four candidates, including former prime minister H D Deve Gowda (JDS), and senior Congress leader Mallikarjna Kharge, on Friday were declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka.
Karnataka Assembly Secretary sources here said that all the four candidates, who were in the fray for as many berths, were elected after the last date of withdrawal of candidature ended on Friday.
New Delhi, Jun 8: Two civil defence employees have been arrested by the Rajasthan Police today in Jaipur based on Military Intelligence (MI) inputs that they had been passing on sensitive information to Pakistan's spy agency ISI.
The arrested are: Vikas Kumar (29), a civil defence employee at an army ammunition depot near Shri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) and Chiman Lal (22), a civil contractual employee of the army's Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR), Bikaner.
Both were working as espionage agents on behalf of Pakistan's intelligence agency and were giving out details of Ammunition and MFFR, vital military installations in India's Western front.
The MI Lucknow's operation named Desert Chase assumes great importance as the Shri Ganganagar Ammunition Depot and Bikaner MMFR are strategically important military installations on the western front along the Pakistan border.
The work on the "operation" began in August 2019, when the MI Lucknow, through its sleuths, learnt about an espionage agent near Sri Ganganagar who was passing military information to his handlers in Pakistan. The individual was identified as Vikas Kumar - the civil defence employee at an army ammunition depot near Sri Ganganagar.
The MI Lucknow shared the case with UP ATS in the month of January 2020. Vikas's activities were monitored and analysed by a joint team of MI Lucknow and UP ATS. The operation was code-named 'Desert Chase'.
Based on these, it was learnt that Vikas is acquiring photos of a "water distribution register" at a water point/pump house in MFFR through a contractual civil employee named Chiman Lal. The development of the case was halted due to the start of the lockdown period all across the country.
Finally, the case shared with Rajasthan Police Intelligence in the first week of May 2020. A joint team was formed between Rajasthan Police-Intelligence and MI Lucknow.
Fresh leads were found as new payments were detected along with a trail of sensitive information being passed on to Pakistan by two accused.
Vikas Kumar confessed to having passed the following information to Pakistan:
• Details received from Chiman Lal about Army units and their strength coming to MFFR.
• Details of ammunition coming to his ammunition depot including their type, quantity, mode of transportation, date of arrival on a routine basis (almost every time it came to his notice).
• Details of ammunition (to include their type, quantity and mode/date of transportation) further distributed/transferred to local army establishments/units (including two local brigades) and elsewhere from his ammunition depot.
• ORBAT (Order of battle; composition related details) of two local army brigades and all changes in them as they came to his notice.
• Name, rank and personality traits of some Senior Military Officers in the two army brigades nearby, his ammunition depot and others who visited the military station.
• Photos of arms, ammunition, tanks other military vehicles (with their tactical numbers) at MFFR whenever he could visit it after April 2019.
Vikas also confessed to having received at least Rs 75,000 in total from his Pakistani handler for the information he has shared during this entire period. He used to receive them mostly on bank accounts of his and his brother, Hemant Kumar. The latter was found to have no links to the espionage case otherwise. Out of this sum, he had paid approximately Rs 9,000 in total to Chiman Lal for his assistance in lots of Rs 1000- Rs 2000 since their first meet.
Mangaluru, Feb 16: Leaving spectators awestruck, Karnataka's Srinivasa Gowda ran 142.5 meters in 13.62 seconds at traditional buffalo race Kambala, following which people started comparing him to former Jamaican Sprinter Usain Bolt.
Gowda, who is from Mudbidri town, accomplished the feat during a Kambala race in a paddy field in Kadri on February 1.
"People are comparing me to Usain Bolt. He is a world champion, I am only running in a slushy paddy field," said Srinivasa Gowda.
People took to social media and drew a parallel between him and Bolt. Twitterati hailed Gowda and his accomplishment on the muddy grounds.
Kambala is an annual buffalo race held in the southwestern state of Karnataka.
Traditionally, it is sponsored by local Tuluva landlords and households in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
"I'll call Karnataka's Srinivasa Gowda for trials by top SAI Coaches. There's lack of knowledge in masses about the standards of Olympics especially in athletics where ultimate human strength & endurance are surpassed. I'll ensure that no talents in India is left out untested," Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted on Saturday.
Kochi, Jul 12: The two main accused in Kerala gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair have been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Both the accused will be produced before NIA court in Kochi, Kerala on Sunday.
Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair were detained by NIA from Bengaluru, Karnataka on Saturday.
Swapna is named as the second accused and Sandeep has been named as the fourth accused in the FIR taken by NIA and both have been slapped with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, (UAPA) along with first accused Sarith PS and third accused Fazil Fareed
Already, Sarith PS was arrested by the Customs, while Fazil Fareed is still at large.
NIA officials yesterday conducted a detailed interrogation of Sarith after reaching the customs office in Kochi where he is in custody.
The Customs Department had on July 5 seized 30 kg gold worth Rs 15 crore concealed in diplomatic consignment at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport.
The NIA on Friday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Sarith Kumar, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, the three persons allegedly involved in the case.
The agency has charged them with offences under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Swapna Suresh was on the run following the gold seizure. She was employed in Space Park and Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITL), which comes under the IT department, a portfolio held by Kerala Chief Minister. She was ousted after being named an accused in the case.
Sarith Kumar, an accused in the case who had previously worked as a public relations officer (PRO) in UAE Consulate-General's office in Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested on July 6.
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