No idea whether Ambareesh accepted ticket or not, no plans to meet him: CM

Bengaluru, Feb 10: Two Iranian nationals have been arrested by the Karnataka police for allegedly stealing money from car showrooms by diverting cashiers’ attention in Mangaluru, Udupi and Bengaluru.

The arrested are Saeed Rostami, 26 and his friend Saber Hossein Eghbalzadeh, 35, are both residents of Tehran and in India on tourist visa. They were caught by the sleuths of Bengaluru’s RMC Yard police station.

The accused would approach the cashiers, asking for change for Rs 2000 notes to divert their attention and flee with cash from the showroom. 

The duo landed in New Delhi on January 16. Later, they arrived in coastal Karnataka before reaching Bengaluru on February 1. 

The same day around 4pm, the two visited Trident Automobile Pvt Ltd’s service centre in RMC Yard. They went to cashier Kiran and sought change for Rs 2000. One of them dropped the note and Kiran picked it up for him. Meanwhile, Kiran also noticed there was no change in his cash box and informed the duo accordingly. 

“Kiran later realised Rs 44,000 was missing from the cash box. He verified CCTV footage and found the two visitors stole the money when he bent down to pick up the Rs 2000 note,” a police officer said.

Kiran filed a theft and cheating case against the men. RMC Yard police suggested Kiran circulate the footage at other car showrooms and service centres as they had heard about similar incidents being reported from Udupi, Mangaluru and other places in Bengaluru.

“Sharing of CCTV footage helped us nab the suspects. They visited a showroom near Cauvery junction on Ballari Road on February 6. The staff noticed the duo and realised they were the same guys, who had stolen the money at RMC Yard and informed us,” said police.

Mangaluru, Apr 4: The chemistry department of National Institute of Technology-Karnataka (NIT-K) here has started producing hand sanitizers in view of its shortage in the market after the coronavirus outbreak.

The social initiative led by Arun Isloor, professor and head of the department, was launched by NIT-K director K Uma Maheshwar Rao.

The raw materials needed for this product were provided by the institute.

Bengaluru, Apr 19: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan on Sunday said that "only essential and critical number of" employees of the Information Technology (IT) companies will be allowed to work from offices from April 20 onwards in Bengaluru, while others will have to continue working from home.

"Only essential and critical number of employees required will be allowed to turn up. In the next two days, it will be reviewed and a suitable decision will be taken. 

All the details will be communicated to the IT companies," Narayan said here.

Earlier on Saturday, in a meeting to review COVID-19 situation in Karnataka, it was considered that one-third of the employees of IT and biotechnology companies could be allowed to work from the office premises, while the rest should continue to work from home.

Earlier on April 17, the Deputy CM, after holding a video conference meeting with heads of the IT and biotechnology companies, had told reporters that up to 50 per cent of the workforce would have the opportunity to function from office premises after April 20.