Shortage of staff leaves Udupi RTO lame

Newsroom, Jan 24: BJP leader and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje has been booked by Kerala police over a misleading and communally provocative social media post.

Karandlaje had tweeted that that Hindus from a colony in Kuttipuram in Malappuram district were denied water supply as they supported the the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). 

"Kerala is taking baby steps to become another Kashmir. Hindus of Kuttipuram Panchayat of Malappuram was denied water supply as they supported #CAA2019. #SevaBharati has been supplying water ever since. Will Lutyens telecast this intolerance of PEACEFULS frm God's Own Country!?," she tweeted. 

A case has been booked under section 153(A) of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race etc). Karandlaje took to Twitter to slam the Kerala government, and said it had lodged a complaint against her instead of acting against the discrimination faced by dalit families of Cherukunnu. 

"It is high time the society unites against these pressure tactics of a non-performing, biased left government," she said. 

Karandlaje claimed that the CAA had been accepted by both houses of Parliament and people supporting the Act were facing boycott in business and were being denied basic amenities and jobs. "The CPI(M) government is blind to all these incidents across Kerala, but files a case against me for speaking the truth!" she retorted.

According to reportage from multiple outlets, the colony in Malappuram district's Kuttippuram was dependent on a private individual for water; then came accusations that they were denied the water for attending BJP's pro-CAA rally. 

A resident of the colony was quoted by a newspaper, “We were denied drinking water because our husbands participated in a meeting organised to gather support for the CAA. Some people told the family that they should not give drinking water to us because CAA is a threat to the people in their community.” 

However, the individual in question denied the accusation, claiming a lack of water because of technical issues.

The case was registered after a complaint by lawyer Subhash Chandran, a resident of Malappuram. Aravindan E.A., SI of Kuttippuram police, said, "From a private person's borewell, water was being provided to the people of the colony. This motor had taken for agricultural work and he was recently issued a warning by State Electricity Board. He was told that if he uses the motor for any other purpose, power supply would be disconnected. He then had stopped using the pump following the crisis worsened.”

Bengaluru, Jun 20: A petition has been filed in Karnataka High Court to transfer Amulya Leona case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). She raised pro-Pakistan slogans at an anti-CAA rally on February 20 at Freedom Park.

The petition, filed by advocate Vishal Raghu, blamed the probe team for not filing chargesheet on time and suggested the state government to approach the higher court against bail granted to Amulya Leona.

On June 11, she was granted conditional bail by the Bengaluru civil court.

She was charged with sedition for her actions in the presence of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

The court granted bail after hearing the bail application. Amulya's advocate on behalf of the petitioner said, "the petitioner is just a 19-year-old lady and she is studying in a private college in the Bengaluru. She shouted 'Pakistan Zindabad' but she never mentioned Pakistan as her country."