Mangaluru, July 24: Congress leader Jagdish Koyla alleged that the followers of MLA Rajesh Naik Ullapadi have involved in sand business.

Speaking to reporters at the party office here on Tuesday, he said that MLA’s followers like Praveen Alva, Nandappa Rai and Prakash Alva have been running illegal sand business. The sand and tipper lorry confiscated near Mullarapatna bridge were belonged to Praveen Alva. In order to cover-up this, the BJP leaders have been pointing towards former minister Ramanath Rai. The BJP leaders were alleging that Mullaraptna bridge was collapsed because of the illegal sand business of the followers of former minister Ramanath Rai. But people knew that who have involved in the illegal sand business. Just beside the pillar of the Mullarapatna bridge, a pipeline was laid by making dredging and the sand removed from dredging was transported illegally by Bantwala town municipal BJP councilor Govind Prabhu in his tipper lorry. In spite of this, the BJP leaders have been trying to shield their leaders and accusing others, he said.

The Congress would fight against BJP leaders who have involved in illegal sand business legally. A complaint would be lodged against Govinda Prabhu and an engineer of a company with the Mines and Geology department and Lokayukta. After the collapse of the bridge, the people were facing the problem. MLA Rajesh Naik Ulepadi should take steps solve this problem, he demanded.

ZP members Chandra Prakash Shetty and Padma Shekhar Jain, Bantwala Block Congress president Mayilappa Salian, BUDA president Sadashiva Bangera, leader Baby Kunder and others were present at the press conference



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New Delhi: In a concerning development, several Indians who were illegally enlisted in the Russian Army and forcibly sent to the war zone on the Russia-Ukraine border are reportedly still missing.

According to a report published by The Hindu on Sunday, citing communication from the Ministry of External Affairs and statements from the families of two missing men, Mohammad Amin Sheikh, a 65-year-old resident of Kupwara in Tangdhar, Jammu and Kashmir, said that his 27-year-old son, Zahoor Sheikh, last contacted the family on December 31, 2023.

Amin Sheikh mentioned that his son said that he was going for training and would not be available for the next three months on phone. “But when we started getting news about the deaths of Indians in Russia in January, we got worried and called on his number. We could not reach him. We are yet to hear from him,” Sheikh, a retired Inspector from the Public Health Department in Jammu and Kashmir, was quoted as saying by the publication.

Last week, Mohammad Amin Sheikh and his two other sons travelled to New Delhi to seek answers from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Russian Embassy after the Indian Embassy in Moscow failed to give them information about Zahoor Sheikh.

“We submitted a petition at the Russian Embassy,” 31-year-old Aijaz Amin, Zahoor Sheikh’s elder brother, told The Hindu. “They said they are looking into the matter. The MEA officials said that at least 15 Indians are still missing and though the Russian government is cooperative, their commanders on the ground are not responsive,” he added.

Zahoor had travelled to Russia after he came across a YouTube video promising the job of a security helper in Russia. Instead, he was reportedly deceived into joining the Russian Army.

Similarly, 30-year-old Mandeep, from Jalandhar in Punjab, has been missing since March. His brother, Jagdeep Kumar, also arrived in Delhi, looking for answers from the government about his sibling's whereabouts.

“We last spoke on March 3. He initially went to Armenia and was supposed to go to Italy from there in search of work. Instead, he was tricked by an agent to go to Russia and was forced to join the Russian Army. He was sent to the war zone after a few days of training,” Kumar told The Hindu.

Kumar said he met officials from the External Affairs Ministry in the capital city, who told him that at least 25 Indians were reported missing in Russia.