Bribe to transfer gun license: Retired tahsildar jailed, fined
Mangaluru: The Third Principal District Sessions Court and Lokayukta Special Court has convicted a retired tahsildar to a one-year jail term and slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on charges of taking a bribe to transfer a gun license.
The convicted is identified as retired tahsildar TN Narayan Rao of Bantwala taluk.
About the incident
On February 10, 2012, Sathish Prabhu from Bantwala had applied to transfer a gun license from his father to him. At this time, Narayan Rao had demanded Rs 3000 bribe to transfer the license. While receiving Rs 2000 bribe from Sathish Prabhu, Mangaluru Lokayukta inspector Dilip Kumar and staff conducted raids and caught him red-handed and recovered Rs 85,000 cash from the convicted.
Judge B Muralidhar Pai who heard the argument, sentenced him to one-year simple imprisonment and slapped Rs 20,000 fine under Section 7 and 13 (1) (D) of Anti Corruption Act and if the convicted failed to pay the penalty, he has to undergo three more months imprisonment.
Special public prosecutor KSN Rajesh argued against the convicted. After his retirement, Narayan Rao is residing in Bengaluru.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
