IAS officer attracts CM's ire for not implementing govt orders

Kasaragod, Jul 22: An accused in a POCSO case jumped into the sea at Kasaba Coast near here on Wednesday.

Sources said the accused Mahesh (28), resident of Soorlu Kanhangad, was brought to the groyne ('pulimuttu' in Malayalam) at the coast for collecting evidence.

He escaped from the police and ran around 200 meters towards the sea and jumped into it. The effort to rescue him also failed.

Police, Fire & Rescue officials and fishermen are searching for the body of the accused.

Mahesh was arrested on charge of capturing the video of a minor girl in a washroom on his mobile. 

During interrogation, he had told the copse that he had hidden the mobile, which was used to video record the act, near the groyne. Accordingly, the police had brought him to this place.

May 28: The Karnataka State Election Commission on Thursday announced postponement of gram panchayat polls citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Out of 6,025 gram panchayats, the tenure of 5,800 gram panchayats will end by June-August 2020.

"After examining the feasibility of conducting general elections to gram panchayats, the State Election Commission, considering the current situation as exceptional circumstance, has decided to temporarily postpone the general elections to the gram panchayats," the SEC said in a release.

It said after examining the situation in the days to come, the decision will be taken on holding the general elections to the gram panchayats.

The CEC also states that report by Deputy Commissioners of districts on holding the elections was verified and it has been found that district administrations are involved in COVID-19 related work and there will be shortage of staff and transport facilities for the elections. Besides, there would be a problem in maintaining law and order.

Last week through a letter to Deputy Commissioners of districts, the commission had sought opinion on holding panchayat polls amid the COVID-19 crisis. It had also pointed out that electoral roll needs to be prepared and reservations had to be allocated as per the new amendments.

Stating that the state election commission's decision to postpone gram panchayat elections was against the provisions of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act 1993, the Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah said the Congress will question this "undemocratic act" in the court of law.

He accused the commission of playing to the BJP's tune and said the congress will protest the decision at gram panchayat level.

Opposition parties in the state, especially congress, have been demanding elections.

The government was in favour of postponement of polls and wants to have administrative committees to govern the panchayats, until the polls are held, according to government sources.

The Congress, raising apprehension about administrative committees, has accused the government of conspiring to have ruling BJP workers as its members.

A congress delegation had last week submitted a petition to State Election Commissioner B Basavaraju and urged the Commission to hold elections.

The congress had even suggested continuation of sitting panchayat members until the polls are held, instead of appointing administrative committees.

Bengaluru, Jul 6: With a record 1,925 new cases across the state during the last 24 hours, Karnataka's Covid-19 tally rose to 23,474 including 13,251 active after 9,847 were discharged till date, an official said on Sunday.

"Of the total cases across the state on a single day, Bengaluru accounted for 1,235, taking its positive tally to 9,580, including 8,167 active," said the health official in a statement.

With 37 succumbing to the disease in the state, including 16 from Bengaluru, the state's death toll increased to 372, with 145 from this tech city since March 9.

Of the 603 discharged from across the state during the day, 302 were from Bengaluru, taking its total number of cured to 1,267 so far.

Of the 243 cases in the intensive care unit (ICU) across the state, 132 are in Bengaluru, 15 at Dharwad, 12 at Kalaburagi and 10 each at Ballari and Raichur.

Of the 16,899 samples tested in the day, 14,649 were negative and 1,925 positive. Of the total 7,06,425 samples tested so far, 6,65,525 were negative and 23,474 positive.

After Bengaluru, Dakshina Kannada reported 142 positive cases followed by Ballari 90, Vijayapura 57, Kalaburagi 49 and Udupi and Dharwad 45 each.

Of the total 603 discharged, 52 were from Kalaburagi, 37 from Ballari, 36 from Dakshina Kannada and 22 each from Udupi and Dharwad.