'Fake news specialist' Mahesh Vikram Hegde taken into custody over provocative letter; BJP stands with him

News Network
April 25, 2019

Bengaluru, Apr 25: Mahesh Vikram Hegde, the editor of Post Card News, which is notorious for producing fake news to promote BJP and to spread communal hatred, was taken into custody by the Karnataka police yesterday for circulating a fake and inciting letter that was falsely attributed to Karnataka home minister and Congress leader M B Patil to defame him and his party during Lok Sabha polls.

According to senior police officials, Mr Hegde, who was picked up from Virajpet in Kodagu, was only taken in for inquiry and was not arrested. 

Mr Patil had filed a complaint against former BJP MP Vijay Sankeshwar-owned Kannada daily Vijayavani, for carrying a copy of the fake letter with the former’s signature on 16 April.

The fake letter was in fact first carried by Mr Hegde’s portal just before the Karnataka Assembly elections last year. Though Mr Patil did not follow through with a complaint last year, he had taken it up after it appeared in the Kannada newspapers earlier this month, in which he named the role of Post Card News as well. The portal has since taken down the article fearing legal action.

The letter that has since been ruled as fake, was addressed to senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, which stated that the Congress had hatched a plan to unite the minority communities under faith and divide the Hindus based on caste and sect to help the party win the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The letter referred to capitalising on the “prevailing differences between the Veerashaiva-Lingayat" community to break up Hindu voters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had alluded to the contents of the letter in an election rally in Bagalkot earlier this month, stating how the Congress had tried to divide the Lingayat community.

“This is done with the intention to polarise the votes," Patil had said at the time of filing a complaint with the police and Election Commission earlier this month.

BJP stands with him

The action by the police sparking off bitter reactions by state leaders of the BJP who accused H D Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government of misusing the police to carry out vendetta politics. The BJP IT cell even trended the hashtag #IStandWithMaheshHegde and encouraged him to continue such work. 

“Karnataka govt again arrested @mvmeet today! The only crime of Mahesh Vikram Hegde is that, he has been exposing the lies of Gandhi family. Height of Vendetta politics, Coalition govt is imposing real emergency. Shame!!," tweeted Shobha Karandlaje, the member of Parliament from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru.

C T Ravi, BJP leader and MLA of Chikkamagaluru tweeted: Realizing that their Unholy Alliance Government is on the death bed, CM @hd_kumaraswamy and @siddaramaiah have let loose State Police on Nationalists. I urge them to stop playing "Neech Politics" & do something good for the People in the remaining days. #IStandWithMaheshHegde

It can be recalled that Mr Hegde was arrested in March last year for spreading a fake news that a Jain monk was attacked by Muslims in Bengaluru. In reality, the monk was injured in a bike accident. He had used an image of the accident to paint a picture of attack by Muslims.

Comments

harsha vardan
 - 
Thursday, 25 Apr 2019

These type of Hegde are curse to humanity....let him begg and fill his family stomach instead of divide and fake news spreading...

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News Network
June 22,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 22: The opening of Schools in the state, is unlikely before Dasara festival, as a majority of the parents are averse to send their children due to the COVID-19 scare.

According to official sources, in the State education department, a majority of parents, who were asked to give their opinion on re-opening of schools in the state, have reportedly favoured continuing the closing of schools till September.

The primary and Secondary education department had received feedback from various stakeholders including educational institutions, parents and Teachers, clocking high towards not opening the schools for the 2020-21 academic year till Dasara days.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 27: JD(S) leader and former Labour Minister K Amarnath Shetty passed away at a private hospital in Mangaluru on Monday morning. He was 80. Shetty was unwell for sometime, and was admitted to the hospital a few days ago, family sources said.

Amarnath Shetty, a trustee of Alva's Education Foundation (AEF), had joined politics in 1965.

He became the president of Paladka Gram Panchayat and soon was elected as MLA from Moodbdri constituency in 1983. He won the successive elections held in the same constituency in 1987 and 1994. He had served as Tourism and later as Labour Minister.

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News Network
July 8,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 8: Karnataka on Wednesday reported the biggest single-day spike of 2,062 coronavirus cases and a record 54 fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 28,877 and the death count to 470, the health department said.

778 COVID-19 patients were also discharged after recovery in the state.

Out of the fresh cases reported today, 1,148 cases were reported from Bengaluru alone with 22 deaths.

The previous biggest single-day spike was recorded on July 5 with 1,925 cases.

As of July 8 evening, cumulatively 28,877 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 470 deaths and 11,876 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

It said out of 16,527 active cases, 16,075 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and stable, while 452 are in ICU.

The dead include 22 from Bengaluru urban, Dharwad seven, Ballari four, three each from Hassan and Raichur, two each from Ramanagara, Chikkaballapura, Vijayapura, Tumakuru, Mysuru, and one each from Bidar, Dakshina Kannada, Kalaburagi, Chikkamagaluru and Bengaluru rural.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounted for 1,148 cases, followed by Dakshina Kannada 183, Dharwad 89, Kalaburagi 66, fifty nine each from Ballari and Mysuru, Bengaluru rural 37, Ramanagara 34, Chikkaballapura 32, 31 each from Udupi and Haveri, Bidar 29, Belagavi 27, Hassan 26, and 24 each from Bagalkote and Tumakuru.

While Chikkamagaluru reported 23 cases, it was 20 in Mandya, Uttara Kannada 19, Davangere 18, 17 each from Raichur and Shivamogga, Kolar 16, 11 each from Yadgir and Koppal, Gadag five, Vijayapura four, and Chitradurga two.

Bengaluru urban district tops the list of positive cases, with 12,509 infections, followed by Kalaburagi 1,816 and Dakshina Kannada 1,534.

Among discharges, Bengaluru urban tops the list with 2,228 discharges, followed by Kalabuagi 1,351 and Udupi 1,178.

A total of 7,59,181 samples were tested so far, out of which 19,134 were tested on Wednesday alone.

According to the bulletin, so far 7,11,319 samples have been reported as negative, and out of them 16,503 were reported negative today.

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