Mangalore, December 27: Expressing solidarity with anti-graft crusader turned anti-government activist Anna Hazare who began a three day fast at Mumbai on Tuesday, the members of Akhila Bharath Karmika Sangha (ABKS) started their indefinite hunger strike in front of the office of Deputy Commission in the city.
Suddata Jain, District General Secretary of ABKS, accompanied by three other members of ABKS namely Santosh Kapthar, Raj Kulal and Chandrahasa Shetty, was leading the protest.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Jain said that they would continue to fast day-and- night till the Congress led union government fulfil the demands of Team Anna, which has been raising voice for a 'strong and competent Lokpal Bill' at the Centre.
Local organisations like Navodaya Yuvaka Mandal, Allegro Ventures and Anganwadi Karyakartara Mahamandali have also extended their support to the fast.
“We have been taking only water since morning. We will be watching Anna's fast closely so that we can plan our fast accordingly. We are not prepared to pay huge sum of money like Team Anna did at Mumbai”, said Mr Jain at around 5:00 pm.
“Corruption is not only confined to union or state governments. In Mangalore too, if someone wants to meet an official or get a house on rent or even at the RTO, there are lot of brokers who come in the way of smooth functioning of things,” he pointed out.
However, Mr Jain clarified that they would not extend their fast to the 'Jail Bharo' campaign. “Instead of Jail Bharo, we will take our hunger strike to the locations like the RTO, DC Office and other government offices where corruption is rampant.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
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