You didn’t come when our farmers cried for help; now came to launch propaganda: HDK to PM Modi

Bengaluru, Jul 13: In an attempt to avoid the ugly scene of migrant workers walking to their native places due to the current week-long lockdown imposed in the state, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is running 1,600 additional buses on Monday and Tuesday to help them return safely.

The KSRTC has already run 249 additional buses from the State capital and has so far ferried 6,641 passengers and 231 buses have been booked.

The KSRTC appealed to the public not to panic as additional buses have been deployed. "After ensuring social distance and conducting thermal screening, passengers will be allowed to travel. It has already been planned to operate additional buses," the corporation stated in a press release here.

Bengaluru, Jun 26: Karnataka recorded 445 new Covid cases, majority of whom were contacts of earlier positive cases, breaching the 11,000 mark to settle at 11,005, an official said on Friday.

"New cases reported from Thursday 5 p.m. to Friday 5 p.m., 445," said a health official on Friday.

In the past 24 hours, 10 patients succumbed to the virus in Karnataka, three in Bengaluru Urban and one each in Kolar, Dharwad, Shivamogga, Bagalkote, Bidar, Kalaburagi and Ballari.

Like everyday, contacts of earlier cases outnumbered domestic returnees in the number of infections, constituting 39 per cent.

Positive cases with domestic travel history numbered 65, a mere 15 per cent and majority to Maharashtra.

There were also 21 cases with international travel history to countries like Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Dubai.

On Friday, cases spiked in Bengaluru Urban, Ballari, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Raichur, Gadag, Chamarajanagar, Udupi, Yadgir, Mandya, Uttara Kannada, Bagalkote, Shivamogga, Kolar and Mysuru.

Among the new cases, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 144, followed by Ballari (47), Kalaburagi (42), Koppal (36), Dakshina Kannada (33), Dharwad (30), Raichur (14), Gadag (12), Chamarajanagar (11), Udupi (9), Yadgir (7), Mandya, Uttara Kannada, Bagalkote, Shivamogga and Kolar (6 each).

Mysuru (5), Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu (4 each), Hassan and Bengaluru Rural (3 each), Vijayapura, Tumkur and Haveri (2 each) and Bidar, Belagavi, Davangere, Ramanagara and Chitradurga (1 each).

As many 144 patients are suffering from Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and 19 from Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI).

In all, 5.68 lakh samples have been tested so far, of which 5.41 lakh tested negative.

Meanwhile, 178 patients are admitted in the ICU.

Of the total 180 deaths, Bengaluru Urban has accounted for 81, followed by Bidar (16), Kalaburagi (15), Ballari (9) and Dakshina Kannada (8), among others.

A 7-year-old Dalit girl who had gone missing from outside her residence in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkottai district on June 30 was found dead last evening. 

Police sources said that the body with severe injures was found in a forest area bordering her village. The young girl had been sexually assaulted before the murder, according to police.

Victim’s neighbour, Raja, 25, who belongs to the Pandaram caste, has been arrested in connection with the incident.

While they have included murder charges in the First Information Report (FIR) against him, they are awaiting the post-mortem report to add sections of the Protection of Children against Sexual Offence Act (POCSO act) in the FIR.

"The girl was playing outside her home at 4pm. Her parents then found her missing and her father filed a complaint at the station at around 7pm. Efforts were then underway to find the girl," said an investigating official.

They found the minor's body in the forest area near her village on the evening of July 1. Her clothes were in a state of disarray and her face was severely injured.

"She has been beaten with sticks on the face and injuries are clearly visible. The post-mortem will reveal the actual cause of death," says an official from the district.

Police sources further add that the neighbour had found the minor roaming around the area on Wednesday and allegedly took advantage of the fact that she was alone.

"During inquiry he admitted that he had sexually assaulted and murdered the girl," says a police official from the district. "Further investigation is underway and we will have more clarity once we get the post mortem report," he adds.