Gujarat: Seven Bihari men attacked for wearing 'lungi'; 3 held
Vadodara, Oct 17: Seven men hailing from Bihar were attacked allegedly for wearing "lungi" and "sitting indecently" here, following which three persons were arrested Wednesday, police said.
The attack took place on Monday night in Sama locality in the city, police said.
It has come in the wake of recent attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants in parts of Gujarat. The police claimed that the attack on Monday night was an isolated incident and had "nothing to do with the origin of the victims".
Talking to PTI about the incident, Vadodara Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said, "The men were attacked after they did not pay heed to the local residents, who regularly asked them not to sit there indecently by wearing lungi (a traditional garment worn around the waist)."
He said the incident cannot be termed a "hate crime" against Hindi-speaking migrants.
"The victims, working at a construction site in the locality, used to wear lungi and sit in the area. Women and men, staying at Vankarvas under Sama police station area, had repeatedly warned these men against wearing lungi and sitting indecently," Singh said.
"The victims were attacked after an altercation broke out between the two groups on Monday night," he said.
Sama police station Inspector P D Parmar said those who were attacked belonged to Bihar. While six of them are plumbers, another one is an engineer.
According to police, the attackers also torched a motorcycle belonging to the engineer, he said.
The accused were identified as Dhiru Parmar, Hardik Parmar, and Nikunj Vaghela, police said.
The three arrested accused were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 435 (mischief by fire), and 114 (abettor present when offence is committed).
Parmar maintained that despite the attack, the victims and others from Bihar continue to work at the site .
Several districts in the northern parts of Gujarat were rocked by violence after a labourer from Bihar was arrested on the charge of raping a 14-month-old girl in Sabarkantha district on September 28. The attacks on HIndi-speaking migrants, mostly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh led to the exodus of thousands of migrants from Gujarat.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
