Inter-state burglary accused arrested in Udupi; gold worth ₹3.9 lakh recovered
Udupi: Kaup police on Thursday arrested an inter-state burglary accused in connection with a house theft case reported from Mallaru village in Kaup taluk.
The arrested man has been identified as Umesh Balegar, also known as Umesh P and Umesh Reddy (47), a native of Fakirnakatta in Mallaru village and currently residing in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.
The burglary occurred on December 4, when the house owner, Raghavendra Kini, had locked his house and kept the key inside the electricity meter box before stepping out.
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Taking advantage of this, the accused allegedly retrieved the key, entered the house, locked it from inside, and escaped with gold ornaments weighing about 72 grams, valued at approximately ₹3.9 lakh, along with silver articles worth ₹1,500. A case was registered at the Kaup police station.
Based on the modus operandi, a special investigation team was formed under the guidance of Udupi Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar. The team, led by Kaup Circle Inspector Azamat Ali G, conducted a detailed investigation and succeeded in tracing and arresting the accused.
Police said the accused is a habitual offender with an extensive criminal record. He is involved in around 16 theft cases registered across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, and about 17 cases in various police stations in Karnataka. He has already been convicted in at least 8 cases.
Several non-bailable warrants have been issued against him by courts in Kerala and Karnataka, including cases registered at Thanipalam, Mavoor and Thrissur police stations in Kerala, and Subrahmanya, Belthangady, Puttur Nagar, Moodbidri, Basavanahalli (Chikkamagaluru) and Sirsi Rural police stations in Karnataka.
Police also said that a long-pending case registered at Thirthahalli police station in Shivamogga district was pending against him. In addition, proclamation orders have been issued in two cases registered at Sringeri police station in Chikkamagaluru district.
The arrest operation involved Padubidri Sub-Inspector Anil Kumar T Naik, Kaup Sub-Inspector Shubhakar, and police personnel Rajesh, Mohanchandra, Raghu, Jeevan, jeep driver Jagadish, and CDR section staff Dinesh and Nitin.
Police officials described the arrest as a significant breakthrough in curbing interstate burglary networks operating in the coastal region.
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Grok obscene AI content: X submits response, IT Ministry examining it, say sources
New Delhi (PTI): The IT Ministry is examining the response and submissions made by X following a government directive to crack down on misuse of artificial intelligence chatbot Grok by users for the creation of sexualised and obscene images of women and minors, sources said.
X had been given extended time until Wednesday, 5 PM to submit a detailed Action Taken Report to the ministry, after a stern warning was issued to the Elon Musk-led social media platform over indecent and sexually-explicit content being generated through misuse of AI-based services like 'Grok' and other tools.
Sources told PTI that X has submitted their response, and it is under examination.
The details of X's submission were, however, not immediately known.
On Sunday, X's 'Safety' handle said it takes action against illegal content on its platform, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.
"Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content," X had said, reiterating the stance taken by Musk on illegal content.
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On January 2, the IT Ministry pulled up X and directed it to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content, especially generated by Grok (X's built-in artificial intelligence interface) or face action under the law.
In the directive on Friday, the ministry asked the US-based social media firm to submit a detailed action taken report (ATR) within 72 hours, spelling out specific technical and organisational measures adopted or proposed in relation to the Grok application; the role and oversight exercised by the Chief Compliance Officer; actions taken against offending content, users and accounts; as well as mechanisms to ensure compliance with the mandatory reporting requirement under Indian laws.
The IT Ministry, in the ultimatum issued, noted that Grok AI, developed by X and integrated on the platform, is being misused by users to create fake accounts to host, generate, publish or share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory or vulgar manner.
"Importantly, this is not limited to creation of fake accounts but also targets women who host or publish their images or videos, through prompts, image manipulation and synthetic outputs," the ministry said, asserting that such conduct reflects a serious failure of platform-level safeguards and enforcement mechanisms, and amounts to gross misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in violation of stipulated laws.
The government made it clear to X that compliance with the IT Act and rules is not optional, and that the statutory exemptions under section 79 of the IT Act (which deals with safe harbour and immunity from liability for online intermediaries) are conditional upon strict observance of due diligence obligations.
"Accordingly, you are advised to strictly desist from the hosting, displaying, uploading, publication, transmission, storage, sharing of any content on your platform that is obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, paedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under any law...," the ministry said.
The government warned X in clear terms that any failure to observe due diligence obligations shall result in the loss of the exemption from liability under section 79 of the IT Act, and that the platform will also be liable for consequential action under other laws, including the IT Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
It asked X to enforce user terms of service and AI usage restrictions, including ensuring strong deterrent measures such as suspension, termination and other enforcement actions against violating users and accounts.
X has also been asked to remove or disable access "without delay" to all content already generated or disseminated in violation of applicable laws, in strict compliance with the timelines prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, without, as such, vitiating the evidence.
Besides India, the platform has drawn flak in the UK and Malaysia too. Ofcom, the UK's independent communications regulator, in a recent social media post, said: "We are aware of serious concerns raised about a feature on Grok on X that produces undressed images of people and sexualised images of children".
"We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK. Based on their response, we will undertake a swift assessment to determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation," Ofcom said.
