Bengaluru (PTI): In a crackdown against autorickshaws overcharging and plying illegally, Karnataka transport department authorities on Monday registered 260 cases and seized 98 vehicles.

The action came days after state Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy directed the transport commissioner to take strict action against app-based and other autorickshaws in Bengaluru that charge fares above the government-fixed rates, calling the practice a "daylight robbery".

In a letter dated June 28, the minister said the permits of such autorickshaws should be cancelled and cases registered against the violators.

"In Bengaluru city, a drive was launched against autorickshaws charging more than the fare fixed by the government and against autorickshaws plying illegally from 8 am on June 30," a transport department official said.

He said the drive was conducted after forming 22 special investigation teams for the purpose -- two each from all the regional transport offices in the city.

There have been complaints from commuters about rising autorickshaw fares. The meter fare is fixed at Rs 30 for the first 1.9 km and Rs 15 for every additional kilometre.

 

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Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): A 49-year-old man was hacked to death with a machete in this district, allegedly over a personal dispute dating back nearly a decade, police said on Tuesday.

The deceased has been identified as Basappa Hosamani, a resident of Sadoni village, they said.

The accused, Irayya Sangayya Mathapati (32), has been arrested in connection with the murder, police said.

According to the police, the incident occurred on Monday evening in Hoolikatti village of Savadatti taluk.

The crime is linked to an incident that took place about ten years ago, when Hosamani allegedly eloped with the accused's mother and went to Kolhapur in Maharashtra. At the time, accused Mathapati was 18-years-old.

Police said Hosamani had recently returned to the village for some work after leaving the woman in Kolhapur.

Investigators believe the accused, who had been nursing a long-standing grudge over the issue, attacked Hosamani with a machete, inflicting multiple fatal injuries.

After the incident, the accused allegedly informed the police himself and remained at the scene until officers arrived, they said.

A case of murder has been registered at the Savadatti police station, and further investigation is underway.