Bannanje Raja comes to Udupi to see his mother in police security
Night stay at city station lock-up
Udupi, July 08: The police have brought underworld fugitive don Bannanje Raja who is in Belagavi jail, to Udupi to see his mother who is suffering from illness, following the permission from the Principal District and Sessions Court of Udupi on Sunday.
As of now, Raja was kept in Udupi city police station lock-up. The police have allowed him to stay with his mother at Kalmadi on Monday from 6am to 6pm.
Court permission
During the hearing at the court, Bannanje Raja who was in Belagavi Hindalga jail had appealed Judge Venkatesh Nayak through video conference to allow him to see his mother as she was ill. His advocate Shantaram Shetty filed an appeal before the court.
Following his appeal, the judge had given permission on July 5 to see his mother and stay with her from 6 am to 6 pm. The court also directed him to bear the expenses of his travel and security and pay it to the police department. Based on that, the DAR police team led by Udupi city police inspector Sunil Kumar went to Belagavi on July 7 and brought him to Udupi on Sunday morning with tight police security. Meanwhile, Raja was subjected to medical check-up at the Kundapura government hospital and brought him to Udupi police station at 6.45 pm.
Tight security around police station
Tight police security was arranged around the city police station where Raja was kept in the lock-up. Armed police personnel were deputed for the security. Before Raja was brought to the station, sufficient police force was deputed around the police station under the leadership of Udupi circle inspector Manjunath. Soon after he was taken inside the police station, the gate was closed and no one was allowed inside.
The police station was equipped with three CCTV cameras to keep a vigil on his movement inside the station where he would stay till July 10 morning. Today, Udupi SP Lakshman Nimbargi and ASP Kumarachandra visited the police station and reviewed the police security. Kundapura DySP Dinesh Nayak was present.
Police security to his house at Kalmadi
Police sources said that Bannanje Raja would be taken to his house at Kalmadi at 7 am with tight police security. The police force has already checked the entire house and inspected it and provided tight police security around the house. Raja was allowed to stay only with his mother from morning to evening. No others would be allowed inside the house. The police would bring him back to the city police station in the evening and keep him till July 10 morning. Later, he would be subjected to medical check-up at the district government hospital and taken to the Belagavi jail, sources said.
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SC asks states to treat rising child trafficking cases as grave; seeks coordinated action
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has voiced grave concern over rising cases of child trafficking, saying gangs are operating across the country and if States and Union territories do not take immediate action, thing will go beyond control.
The court said only the state government and its home department can act vigilantly in this regard.
“As a court we can monitor, but ultimately the action has to be on the part of the state government, the police, and other agencies. Therefore, this is our humble request”, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said during the hearing of a plea on Wednesday.
The bench was irked over the "lackadaisical" approach of several states and UTs in implementing a 2025 judgment aimed at dismantling organised trafficking networks.
Justice Viswanathan said the retrieval of children in some cases proves the problem can be tackled, but it requires a level of political and administrative will which is lacking at present.
The verdict, delivered on April 15, 2025, had mandated several institutional reforms, including completion of trials in trafficking cases within six months on a day-to-day basis.
It had also directed strengthening of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and improving investigation standards.
Besides asking for setting up of state-level committees to monitor vulnerable trafficking hotspots, it had asked the authorities to treat missing children cases as trafficking unless proven otherwise.
Earlier, the bench had termed the compliance reports filed by a few states as "nothing but an eye wash."
On Wednesday, the bench noted that Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Punjab had still failed to file reports in the prescribed format.
When the home secretary of Madhya Pradesh offered an apology for the lapse, the bench granted a "final opportunity" but warned that continued failure would lead to states being officially branded as "defaulting".
The bench noted that at least 15 states are yet to constitute review committees mandated to identify and monitor trafficking-prone areas.
The matter will now be heard on April 29.
