Uttar Pradesh Govt removes 25,000 home guards ahead of Diwali due to 'budget constraints'
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government is doing away with 25,000 home guards, saying the state cannot afford the new allowances the Supreme Court has asked it to pay.
The daily allowance for the home guards is now Rs 672, up from the Rs 500 before the court order in July. The government said this would have cost the state an extra expenditure of Rs 10 to Rs 12 crore every month.
It, therefore, decided not to deploy home guards meant for security at police stations and traffic signals. The home guards are not permanent employees and are recruited on a casual basis.
Officials said a large number were taken on in April. The Supreme Court in July, however, meant a hike in the cost of deploying them.
According to an order issued by Additional Director General (ADG) BP Jogdand, "The decision not to deploy 25,000 home guards was taken on August 28 this year in a meeting chaired by the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary."
The home guards were deployed through a government order dated April 3.
Home Guards do not have any fixed monthly salary and are paid based on the number of days of duty. Till now they have been expected to work for 25 days but the government decreased it to 15 days.
Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police OP Singh said this step has been taken due to the extra financial burden on the police department following the Supreme Court order and it is a temporary one.
"After the Supreme Court order, the police department would have had to bear the extra burden of Rs 10 to Rs 12 crore per month. This decision of not giving postings is a temporary one, and if and when required they will be called for duty," the DGP said.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
