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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Agencies
June 29,2020

Khammam, Jun 29: In an outrageous incident, some youths beat up a monkey and strung it up on a tree to death while also releasing dogs to attack it in Ammapalem village in Telangana's Khammam district.

A video of the heinous incident of animal cruelty has surfaced on social media, in which the monkey is seen hanging by a rope from a tree, desperately flailing its limbs while a couple of dogs attempt to pounce on and torment the hapless simian. After a while, several men are seen in the video approaching the animal with long sticks.

Forest officials have charged one villager Venkateshwar Rao under Wildlife Protection Act along with the other accused and arrested them. They were released on bail on Saturday and are set to be summoned for questioning by forest officials.

Rao had spotted the monkey, which had entered his residence apparently in search of food and beat it with a stick and hung it from a tree with the help of his friend.

In the video of the incident, Rao could also be seen instructing his pet dogs to bite the monkey, which was fighting for its life.

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News Network
July 12,2020

Tamil Nadu, Jul 12: An alleged attempt by a 19-year-old man to "open a branch of the State Bank of India" at Panruti near Tamil Nadu was scuttled and he was arrested for forgery, police said on Saturday.

The man, son of retired SBI employees, had readied fake seals and challans of the public sector lender, and had other paraphernalia like a cash counting machine needed "to run a bank branch," on an upper floor of his residence at Panruti, about 25 km from Tamil Nadu.

He had not, however, put up any signboard. The SBI Panruti branch manager lodged a complaint with police seeking action following a tip-off by a customer that the man was "opening an SBI branch and has challans as well."

A printer who printed the challans and another who had made fake seals were held for similar offences and abetment.

They were produced before a magistrate court and enlarged on bail.

Asked if the man had cheated people by soliciting deposits or facilitating loans, Panruti police inspector K Ambethkar said, "no..we have not received any such complaint so far."

The man's late father had worked for SBI and his mother had retired from the same bank some time back, he said.

To a question, the police inspector said the man's mother, who has mobility issues, and another woman a relative living in the same house had no clue about his "idea."

Investigations revealed that he aspired to work for a bank and since he had closely watched banking operations for long he was "very knowledgeable" about it.

On the suspected motive, he said several of his replies were incomprehensible, childish, and strange notwithstanding his excellent understanding of the banking processes.

"He even calmly told us that he awaited approval from Mumbai to open the (SBI) branch and that he was about to put up a signboard," the inspector said, adding that the man had tried unsuccessfully to get employment on compassionate grounds in the SBI following the death of his father in harness.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Nagpur, July 21: In a shocking incident, an 11-year-old boy allegedly killed self in Maharashtra's Nagpur city after being reprimanded by his mother for buying a samosa, police said on Tuesday.

Veeru Natthu Sahu was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his home in Ganga Nagar in Gittikhadan area on Sunday night, an official said.

The deceased boy's family was struggling to make ends meet after their small business was hit because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, he said.

The Class 7 student had taken Rs 10 from home without asking his mother and bought a samosa, which was then eaten by his elder brother, the official said.

The boy's mother scolded him for taking money without her permission and asked him to get the snack for himself, following which the distraught minor allegedly went into the kitchen and hanged himself using a saree, he said.

The Gittikhadan police have registered a case of accidental death in this regard, the official added.

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