Suspended engineer back in same post

April 29, 2012
BBMP

Bangalore, April 29: Bruhat Bengalauru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Superintending Engineer K T Nagaraj, suspended six months ago on a charge of corruption, is back in the same post in the same Major Works Department of the civic body.

But another Palike Superintending Engineer, S Prabhakar, who probed the charges against Nagaraj, has been shunted out of the Major Works Department and dumped in the garbage section to handle solid waste management.

Nagaraj’s suspension was triggered by a Deccan Herald exposé on July 8, last year, which was based on the documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. On the basis of the report, the erstwhile BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah had ordered the Technical Vigilance Cell under Commissioner (TVCC) to probe the matter. At that time, Prabhakar was the second-in-command in the cell.

The probe into the works carried out in 2009, in and around Jalahalli in the City, had revealed that 14 engineers, including Chief Engineer Krishna Reddy, Superintending Engineer K T Nagaraj and audit officer Shashidhar had facilitated contractor Munirathna, now Yeshwanthapura corporator, to get his bills cleared even before the work was completed.

The TVCC had also found that the estimates and the payments were much higher than the rates fixed by the Karnataka PWD, incurring a loss of Rs 1.85 crore to the Palike. While placing Nagaraj under suspension, Siddaiah had recommended the government to recover the amount from these officers and initiate action.

While the state government kept the recommendation for recovery of the amount and action against the erring officers in cold storage, Nagaraj managed to get posted in the same place from where he was thrown out.

Three months ago, Nagaraj managed to find a place in the Yelahanka Zone of the BBMP. Around the same time, Prabhakar was shifted from the TVCC to the Major Roads department. Five days ago, the Palike administration effected another reshuffle bringing Nagaraj to the Major Works Department and dumping Prabhakar to the Solid Waste Management Department.

When contacted, BBMP Commissioner M K Shankarlinge Gowda said Nagaraj’s posting became necessary since the work on Mysore Road “is moving at a snail’s pace.”


Former corporator M Pari, who had extracted information about Nagaraj and 13 other officers under the RTI, said he was shocked by the turn of events.


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News Network
May 28,2020

Hyderabad, MAY 28: A three-year-old boy who accidentally fell into a newly drilled open borewell in Telangana's Medak district was found dead in the early hours of Thursday, police said.

The kid's body was retrieved at around 4 am after a nearly 10 hours' long rescue operation involving different agencies, they said.

"He died a while before we evacuated him, most likely due to the mud that covered him from the top sealing off necessary oxygen supply, " Medak District Superintendent of Police Chandana Deepti told PTI.

The boy had accidentally slipped into the 120- feet borewell at around 5 pm on Wednesday in an agricultural field located in Papannapet mandal of the district when he was walking with his grandfather and father, police earlier said.

As part of rescue efforts, a parallel trench was dug along the borewell hole with the help of earth excavating machines and oxygen was supplied into it, but the efforts went in vain as the boy's body was found stuck at a depth of around 25 feet, the police said.

Apart from the police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel were also involved in the rescue operation.

The borewell into which the child fell was one among the three dug by the family since Tuesday night to try and find water for their fields. But none of them yielded any water, police had said.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Guna (MP),  Jun 27: A 20-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly eloping with her minor partner and "marrying" her at Guna town in Madhya Pradesh, police said on Saturday.

The matter came to light, when a resident of Budhe Balaji area approached the Kotwali police station on Monday with a complaint that his 17-year-old daughter had gone missing, additional superintendent of police T S Baghel said.

On investigation, it was found that a relative from a village Shivpuri district, who was living with the family, was also missing, he said.

A team was sent to the village and the duo was caught on Friday, the official said, adding that the woman had married the minor, who claimed that she had eloped of her own volition.

The woman was arrested under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while the minor was sent back to her family after counselling.

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Agencies
May 26,2020

New Delhi, May 26: A massive fire broke out on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday in the slums of the Tughlaqabad area in south east Delhi in which over 250 shanties were gutted, however, no one was injured, fire officials said.

Atul Garg, Chief Fire Officer, told IANS, "We came to know about the fire in the slums around 12.15 a.m. following which 28 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. And the fire was brought under control by 4 a.m."

He said, the Tughalaqbad slums have over 500 shanties, out of which over 250 have been destroyed in the fire.

He said, it took time for the fire tenders to reach the spot as it was on the hills, but the fire was doused within four hours and by 8 a.m. cooling off procedure has also been completed.

When asked if there is any casualty in the incident, he said, "No injury or casualty has been reported."

He also said that as of now the actual reason for the fire is not known. "But we are trying to find out the reason of the fire," Garg added.

South East Deputy Commissioner of Police R.P. Meena said, "In the night it seemed that almost 500 shanties were gutted. However, in the morning it became clear that only 250 shanties have been gutted in fire."

He said, the South East district police after receiving the call also rushed the ambulances and the local police team in the area for rescue operation. Meena further said that very few people were residing in the shanties, and the people came out of their shanties after the fire broke out in one of them.

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