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Dharwad: A police officer who had sought voluntary retirement from service (VRS), after facing the Karnataka Chief Minister’s anger during a Congress rally in April, on Thursday said he was attending to his duty. Dharwad additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Narayan Baramani said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, home minister G Parameshwara, and higher officials spoke to him. He did not comment on the episode and the status of his VRS, citing that he is in a disciplined department. “As I’m in a disciplined department, I have shared my feelings with my higher officials. The Chief Minister, Home Minister, and higher officials have spoken to me in this regard. I’m attending duty,” Baramani told reporters. Siddaramaiah, on April 28, had lost his cool and made a gesture by raising his hand at a police officer on the stage, as a group of women, allegedly BJP workers, tried to disrupt his speech during a rally in Belagavi. As a group of women who were amidst the large crowd showed...

Chikkaballapura: The Karnataka cabinet, in a meeting held atop the Nandi Hills here, on Wednesday approved development projects worth Rs 3,400 crores, of which Rs 2,050 crores were earmarked for districts falling under Bengaluru division alone, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said. A key decision taken at the meeting was to rename Bangalore City University as Dr Manmohan Singh Bengaluru City University, in honour of the former Prime Minister, as proposed in the Budget. The cabinet meeting was held atop the Nandi Hills here under Bengaluru division, as per the government’s decision to hold such meetings in all the four revenue divisions of the state. “We discussed and took decisions on 90 per cent of the subjects related to the Bengaluru division in this cabinet meeting. Projects or development works worth Rs 3,400 crores were approved, and out of this Rs 2,050 crores were for Bengaluru division alone,” Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meeting. Subjects related to education, heal...

Additional superintendent of police (ASP) Narayan Baramani of Dharwad district, who was publicly humiliated by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah during a public event in Belagavi, took voluntary retirement. He refuses to withdraw his resignation. In his resignation letter addressed to the chief secretary, ASP Baramani wrote, “Having been publicly insulted and humiliated by the behaviour of the CM on a public platform for a mistake I did not commit, I have no other option but to voluntarily resign, and I request that you accept this.” A video of the incident, which occurred in April, was widely circulated on social media platforms, bringing embarrassment to the Karnataka government and strong criticism from opposition parties. ASP Baramani was in charge of managing security around the stage. However, during the Congress event, BJP women workers were seen protesting in close proximity to the stage, which angered CM Siddaramaiah. He summoned the officer and raised his hand as if t...

Bengaluru: A 30-year-old Infosys employee was arrested on Wednesday, July 2, for allegedly “filming” a female colleague inside the women’s washroom at the company’s Electronic City campus, police said. The accused, identified as Swapnil Nagesh Mali, a Senior Associate Consultant from Sangli, Maharashtra, was caught by HR personnel and handed over to the police. There was no immediate response from Infosys on the incident. Also Read Infosys co-founder, 17 others booked for caste discrimination against Dalit professor According to police, the incident occurred on June 30 when the woman noticed a suspicious reflection and movement from an adjacent cubicle while using the washroom. Moments later, she alleged that Mali was standing on a commode in the next cubicle, filming her with his mobile phone, in her complaint. Shocked, she rushed out screaming and alerted her colleagues. The accused, who tried to flee, was caught by HR staff. On checking his phone, HR personnel found a vid...

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Wednesday approached the High Court challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) order reinstating Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, who was suspended following the tragic Bengaluru stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium last month, which claimed 11 lives and injured 56 others. The Tribunal, on July 1, quashed Vikash’s suspension, terming the state’s action as “mechanical” and lacking substantial grounds. The Bengaluru bench of the tribunal, comprising BK Shrivastava and Santosh Mehra, held that the state failed to present convincing material to justify the suspension. “The order has not been based on convincing materials… the officers have been suspended without sufficient material or grounds,” the Tribunal said, directing the state to reinstate Vikash immediately. Also Read ‘Mechanical order’: Tribunal revokes IGP’s suspension on Bengaluru stamepde case In response, the state government filed a writ petition bef...

Chikkaballapura: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday, July 2, asserted that he will be in office for a full five-year term. “Yes, I will be. Why do you have the doubt?” the veteran leader said in response to a question by reporters about whether he will be the CM for five years. There has been speculation within political circles, especially within the ruling Congress, for some time now about the Chief Minister’s change later this year, citing a power-sharing agreement involving Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. However, Shivakumar on Tuesday said there is no discussion on leadership change and stressed on strengthen the hands of CM Siddaramaiah and the party’s government in the state. Also Read Amid deaths due to heart attacks, Siddaramaiah cautions people against symptoms On claims by the BJP and JD(S) leaders that the CM will be replaced, he shot back, “Are they our high command?” “R Ashoka (Leader of Opposition in the Assembly) is a BJP...

Bengaluru: Simulations and risk assessment, venue safety audit, coordination with event organisers, deployment of a crowd management plan, and on-ground deployment and access control are among the measures mandated by the Karnataka government in its standard operating procedure for crowd management at events and mass gatherings. This SoP, dated June 26, intended as a guideline for police officers and event planners, was released to the media on Tuesday following the tragic stampede incident on June 4 in front of M Chinnaswamy stadium that claimed the lives of 11 people, drawing sharp criticism over the planning and crowd management. The SoP includes general principles, according to which, police responses must prioritise life safety, protection of rights, prevention of property damage, and de-escalation of potential conflicts. “Modern gatherings are often spontaneous and influenced by social media, necessitating adaptive strategies, adding that early planning, coordination with st...