Why BJP hesitating to restore Lokayukta in Karnataka, asks Santhosh Hegde

Shivamogga, Feb 1: A three-year-old girl who fell out of a moving vehicle had a miraculous escape in Agumbe Ghat section in Teerthahalli taluk of Shivamogga district of Karnataka.

The incident took place in the early hours of Friday when 12 members from three different families were returning from a tour of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The girl was reunited with her family after 30 minutes of high drama.

The child, identified as Anavi, is believed to have fallen from the vehicle as it negotiated hairpin bends on the Agumbe Ghat road, 350km from Bengaluru. The child's parents, Binu and Lincy, from NR Pura in Chikkamagaluru district, and other family members reportedly dozed off and did not realize the child had fallen off the vehicle until they covered a distance of about 20km.

One of the family members noticed that child was missing from the seat next to the door. When the driver realized the door latch had given way, they suspected the child could have slipped out of the vehicle.

Then the family started searching along the road and learnt from a forest guard at the Agumbe checkpost that a missing child was found and it had been handed over to Agumbe police station.

An advocate who identified himself as Vinay spotted the girl child as he passed the deserted stretch minutes after the vehicle left and picked her up and handed her over to Agumbe police.

The child sustained minor injuries in the fall. She was provided medical treatment before she was handed over to the parents.

Sources said it wasn't known how the vehicle door opened. One theory is that the girl could have accidentally unlocked the door while clutching the latch in the bumpy ride on the ghat. Police did not file any complaint.

Similar incident

This incident is almost a rerun of a Kerala incident in which a one-year-old baby fell off a moving jeep and was reunited with its mother hours later in September 2019 in Idukki district.

The baby had slipped off the mother's arms while she dozed off in the vehicle. CCTV footage showed the baby, after falling on the road, crawling towards a lit-up area close by, which turned out to be a forest checkpost. Family realised child was missing after 20km.

Bengaluru, Feb 25: A day after Karnataka minister BC Patil felt the need for a law to shoot people who raise pro-Pakistan and anti-India slogans, another BJP MLA on Monday said such people should be shot at sight or exiled to the neighbouring country.

Appachu Ranjan, MLA from Madikeri, said a woman named Amulya had raised Pakistan Zindabad slogan at Bengaluru during a CAA-related meeting.

"People saying Pakistan Zindabad, despite living in our country- eating food and drinking water available here- they should be shot at sight. Or else such people should be exiled to Pakistan, and no one should should show softness towards them and fight cases in their favour," he said at Somwarpet in Kodagu.

Amulya Leona, a woman who raised pro-Pakistan slogans at an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act rally in Bengaluru on Thursday, has been booked for sedition and remanded to judicial custody.

She had raised "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans thrice after the organisers, under the banner of "Save the Constitution", invited her to address the gathering in the presence of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

Agriculture minister Patil on Sunday had expressed the need for a legislation to shoot such people, and said he would make a request to the prime minister in this regard. "A law should be brought in the country that who ever raises slogans against India and in favour of Pakistan, they should be shot at sight. Bringing such a law is important," Patil had said.

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.