Saffron outfits warn of agitation if their leaders get arrested for BC Road violence

Bengaluru, Jul 1: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said that the state Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa should apologise to the nation for the Ballari incident.

"It is shocking to see the Ballari incident. The way the dead bodies of the corona victims have been treated is very unfortunate. The entire country witnessed it. I request the Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to apologise to the nation. India is known for its values and traditions," Shivakumar told reporters here.

Earlier, Shivakumar had posted a video which allegedly showed officials 'inhumanly' dumping bodies of those patients who die of COVID into a pit in Ballari, the district administration confirmed it and said that the entire field team involved in the incident has been disbanded.

"It's disturbing to see bodies of COVID patients who have died being dumped inhumanly into a pit in Ballari. Is this civility? This is a reflection of how the government has handled this Corona crisis. I urge the govt to take immediate action and ensure that this doesn't happen again," Shivakumar's tweet, which also had a video of the incident embedded, read.

The Deputy Commissioner, Ballari issued a press note which stated that it had conducted an enquiry after the video surfaced and it was found that the video belonged to the district and "comprises of burial of eight people who passed away after succumbing to COVID-19."

Although, according to the DC, all protocols and SOPs were followed by the team during the burial process, however, the "disrespectful handling of the bodies while being lowered on to the ground by the field staff" led to the entire field team involved being disbanded and will be replaced by a new team trained by the HOD, Forensic, VIMS.

The district administration also issued an unconditional apology to the families of the deceased and to others who were hurt by the incident.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa also termed the behaviour of the staff "very inhuman and very painful" and urged the staff to tread cautiously with humanity in handling the funeral of those affected by the disease, and added, "Let's walk with humanity, and realize that there is no greater religion than humanity." 

Bengaluru, May 14: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Former Union Minister and Congress Karnataka MLC, C M Ibrahim has, in a letter to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, sought permission for the Muslim community to congregate at Idgah grounds and mosques to offer namaz together on the occasion of Id-ul-Fitr later this month.

"The Id-ul-Fitr festival in the state may be celebrated on the 24th or 25th May 2020, during which Muslims have to offer special prayers. On behalf of the entire community. I would suggest that the Government may take a decision by having due consultation with medical experts to grant permission for Muslims on the day of Id to offer prayers in the Idgah maidans or masjids from morning till 1 pm with all precautionary measures and safety norms," the letter states.

"In this regard. I request you to kindly look into the matter and after consulting the medical experts, take a suitable decision enabling Muslims all over the state to offer ld prayers at ldgah Maidans or Masjids in their respective localities," the letter added.

As part of its COVID-19 guidelines, the Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier directed states and Union territories to prevent social gatherings and religious congregations and ensure lockdown measures were strictly followed.

Bengaluru, Jan 31: Senior IPS officer Praveen Sood is the new Head of Police Force in Karnataka as the current DG and IG Neelamani Raju today retired.

Praveen Sood, the DIG of CID’s Economic Offences Wing, introduced several reforms that sped up investigation processes. He introduced the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System all over the state by networking all police stations in the country and ensuring data entry and retrieval of all information in police stations and higher police officers online.

Born in 1964, Sood graduated from IIT Delhi and joined the Indian Police Service in 1986. He kicked off his career as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Mysuru in 1989. He has served as the SP of Ballari and Raichur before being posted as the Deputy Police Commissioner (Law and Order) of Bengaluru.

In 1999, he served as the police officer on foreign deputation as the police advisor to the Government of Mauritius for 3 years.  He was posted as Police Commissioner of Mysuru City between 2004 and 2007.

He took over as the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) in Bengaluru in 2008 and continued in the post till 2011. He has won the Chief Minister’s Gold Medal for excellence in service in 1996, the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2002  and the President’s Police Medal in 2011.

During 2013-14 he took over as Managing Director of Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation. He later worked as the Principal Secretary to the Home  Department as the Additional Director General of Police (Karnataka State Reserve Police) and the ADGP of Administration.

In 2017, he was appointed the Bengaluru Police Commissioner. He was also instrumental in launching “Suraksha” App and “Pink Hoyasalas” managed by all-women police officers.

As the DIG of the CID, Economic offences and Special Units, he is credited for opening the Centre for Cyber-crime Investigation, Training and Research for training police officers, prosecutors and the judiciary in handling cyber crime cases.