‘Kulur Ustad’ arrested for cheating, sexually harassing woman under guise of removing black magic
Mangaluru: The Mangaluru Women's Police Station has arrested a man from Hejamady on charges of cheating a woman suffering from depression by sexually harassing her and deceiving her of Rs. 1 lakh under the pretext of treating her for black magic and spiritual afflictions.
The arrested accused has been identified as G. Abdul Karim alias Kulur Ustad, a resident of Guruvayankare.
According to police sources, in 2022, the victim was suffering from depression and, on the advice of her sister's husband, had gone to the house of Ustad Abdul Karim, who was then residing in Hejamady. It is said that there, Abdul Karim, also known as Kulur Ustad, saw the woman and told her that someone had cast a spell on her, and that she needed to undergo a ritual to get rid of it.
Abdul Karim had allegedly asked the woman to visit frequently, promising to cure her of black magic. The woman visited him several times, often accompanied by her elder sister. She informed the police that he had recited verses from the Quran to her during these visits.
However, on February 10, 2022, she went alone as her elder sister had other commitments. During that visit, the Ustad recited the Quran to her but then allegedly molested her under the pretext of treatment and took ₹55,000 from her, according to the complaint she filed with the police.
The victim also alleged in her complaint to the police that Ustad deceived her by claiming that the cost of her treatment would increase each time she visited Hejamady. As a result, she was allegedly cheated out of approximately ₹1 lakh.
It has been learnt that there are multiple complaints against the man, alleging that he cheated and harassed several others in a similar manner, posing as a Ustad who could remove black magic. Reports suggest that he misled people into believing that they needed to follow his instructions to protect their families from black magic, and under this pretext, he also physically harassed them.
Balakrishna Nayak, Inspector of the Mangaluru Women's Police Station, has registered a case in connection with the incident and is currently leading the investigation.
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Army showcases several AI-driven applications at AI Summit, Rajnath visits pavillion
New Delhi (PTI): From a climatology and diaster prediction system to a device that detects driver's fatigue to avert accidents, the India Army has showcased a slew of artificial intelligence-based applications at the AI Impact Summit here, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visiting the Army pavilion on Friday.
The Indian Navy has also put up a pavilion as part of the summit expo.
The AI Impact Summit is being held from February 16-20 at Bharat Mandapam, in which several heads of state, many global AI leaders, academicians and researchers, and heads of global tech giants, and philanthropists have taken part.
The Army has showcased several AI-based applications at its pavilion in Hall no. 4, and Defence Minister Singh interacted with military officials who gave him a tour of the pavilion, which has attracted both young and old-age visitors.
"Delighted to visit the AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam today. India is rapidly emerging as a global leader in Artificial Intelligence and advanced technologies. The Summit showcases the immense talent of our innovators, researchers, startups, armed forces and industry leaders. India's AI vision MANAV, articulated by PM Shri @narendramodi at #IndiaAIImpactSummit2026, sets humanity’s direction towards a secure and future-ready world," Singh later posted on X.
"Guided by principles of morality, accountability, national data sovereignty, accessibility and robust systems, India is helping shape the next civilisational leap through responsible AI.
"AI is not just a driver of economic growth, but also a force multiplier for national security and good governance. I thank PM Modi for hosting the AI Summit in India. Compliments to the organising Teams and all participants for making this Summit a grand success," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the summit on Thursday and unveiled the 'MANAV' vision for a human-centric approach and use of AI with a strong accent on sovereignty and inclusivity.
"Army officers and personnel, researchers and scholars, of course have come to our pavillion in the past few days, but youths too are showing keen interest in AI-based military applications. And, today the honourable defence minister visited and showed keen interest in knowing more about these applications," a senior Army official told PTI.
Some of the AI-based applications which have been showcased include 'Prakshepan' a military climatology and diaster prediction system; Xface -- a facial recognition system for rapid image and video-based verification in boosting security and surveillance mechanism; Nabhdrishti -- a telemetry reporting system which can capture positional data, imagery and orientation, "even based on images of an unidentified drone in flight"; and an AI-based device that detects driver's fatigue and alerts the person behind the wheels to avert accidents.
Lt Col A R Packianathan said 'Prakshepan' was launched by the defence minister last November.
The name draws from Sanskrit word 'Prakshepan', which means projection, he said.
At the Army pavilion, a dashboard has been displayed showcasing how the system works, with "near-live data".
"This application is a cutting edge military climatology application developed in-house by the Army's Directorate General of Information Systems. It has been powered by scientific and technical collaboration from several ministries with agencies like India Meteorological Department, National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Central Water Commission, North East Space Application Centre, Geological Survey of India and Defence Geospatial Research Organisation," Lt Col Packianathan told PTI at the pavilion.
It has three prediction modules -- prediction of flood, of landslide and of an avalanche.
"This is India's first hybrid military climatology system capable of predicting landslides and avalanches 3-7 days in advance using multi-agency scientific datasets, terrain intelligence, and AI/ML (AI/machine learning) modelling," another Army official said.
The Indian Army in January had declared 2026 as the 'Year of Networking & Data Centricity' and said that this initiative will enhance connectivity, real-time decision-making and combat effectiveness, thereby strengthening resilience and agility for a future-ready force.
In line with the vision, the pavilion also showcases visual representations of Army assets and weaponry using holographic projections.
The Army has said that beyond military use, man of these application can have dual-use and help civilian administration and the masses as well,
So, 'Prakshepan' can provide early warnings to civil administration in remote areas, contributing to national disaster resilience and capacity building, Lt Col Packianathan said.
Similarly, the AI-based device that detects driver's fatigue and alerts the person behind the wheels can help avert accidents on highways for civilian drivers too, another official said.
