Kerala police chief denies confirming 'love jihad' in state

Vijayapura, June 18: Shoukat Ali Sumbad, a local farmer, has donated land for the construction of Chennamma memorial, modelled on the Kittur fort, at Sindagi town in Vijayapura to celebrate the town's connect with the valorous Lingayat queen who fought the British in 1824.

Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swamiji of Lingayat Panchamasali Peetha Kudala Sangam said Shoukat Ali came forward to donate his land adjacent to the state highway when local authorities failed to provide land for the memorial. 

"The committee led by Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swamiji sought a 15x10 plot but when I went through their plan of constructing a model of Kittur fort, I decided to donate 425 sq ft," said the 61-year-old farmer. 

"Rani Chennamma is the pride of every Indian, irrespective of caste and creed, and my contribution is nothing compared to her sacrifice for the nation," he added.

Shoukat Ali, who lives in the neighbouring town of Almel, said he is a man of modest means but proud to make the contribution. "I own nine acres of land in Almel. I have six sons and two daughters. Two of my sons run small businesses in Mumbai. Ten of us live in a small house in Almel," he said.

“I also work as a broker to sell or buy sites. I had bought 15 guntas of land in Sindagi for my children some 15 years ago. When our MLA MC Managuli and Swamiji sought land for the memorial, my entire family agreed wholeheartedly” Shoukat Ali said.

“As Chennamma’s history is linked to Sindagi, there has been a demand for a memorial here since 2008, but the town municipal council failed to provide land due to political and technical reasons,” said Swamiji. 

“There were plans to observe a Sindagi bandh in the first week of June to protest the indifference of authorities. But then Sumbad gave us his land. We have formed a committee to construct a model of Kittur fort and a bronze statue of Chennamma at a cost of Rs 28 lakh,” he added.

Bengaluru, Mar 2: The Opposition Congress and the JD(S) members protested in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Monday over the BJP leader Basavaraj Patil Yatnal's alleged derogatory remark against veteran freedom fighter H S Doreswamy.

Opposition Leader in the Assembly and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, raised the issue, immediately after the obituary reference of sudden demise of former Minister C Chanigappa, and sought permission from the Speaker to raise the issue of Yatnal's outburst in the House stating that the matter of hurling defamatory remark against Gandhian Doreswamy, by Mr Yatnal, was very much serious. However, the treasury bench members protested and urged the Speaker not to allow the matter to discuss as the issue was not in the agenda.

The Speaker, Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri, promised the Congress leader about permitting the issue after the House adopts resolution on the thanksgiving motion for the Governor's address of the joint House recently and asked Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to continue his reply to the Governor's address.

The opposition Congress and the JD(S) members, protesting the Speaker's action, trooped into the well of the house and raised slogans against the BJP government.

The Chief Minister continued his reply amidst the din before the Speaker adjourned the House for 30 minutes after the House adopted the thanksgiving motion to the Governor's Address.

Mangalore, Jan 12: City police on Sunday arrested five people for their alleged involvement in a Rs 50 crore fraud by promising people higher monetary returns.

Police said that the arrested persons are Manjunath Nayak, a resident of Derebail; Denzil Mascarenhas, a Konchady resident; Ashok Naik, a Derebail resident; Vikas Nayak and Vishwanath Naik both residents of Bengaluru were arrested.

The arrested were employed in the ‘Speak and Group’ concern, started by Dhanush M K of Kundapur along with his friends. The firm had managed to collect huge sums of money from people, including NRIs by promising monthly four percent returns on their investment. The employees managed to entice people by showing them a few insurance schemes claiming higher returns.