Four arrested for assaulting bus conductor for not speaking in Marathi in Belagavi
Belagavi, Feb 22 (PTI): Four people have been arrested for allegedly assaulting a conductor of the state-owned transport corporation bus for not replying to a passenger in Marathi, police said on Saturday.
The incident occurred on Friday on the outskirts of the district headquarters town of Belagavi bordering Maharashtra, they said.
The conductor has also been booked under the POCSO Act, police said.
With tears in his eyes, the 51-year-old conductor Mahadevappa Mallappa Hukkeri on Friday told reporters that a female who boarded the bus with her male companion at Sulebhavi village spoke in Marathi. Hukkeri said he told her that he did not know Marathi and asked her to speak in Kannada.
"When I said I don't know Marathi, the girl abused me saying that I must learn Marathi. Suddenly a large number of people gathered and assaulted me on my head and all over the body," the conductor said.
The injured bus conductor was admitted to the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences, police said adding he got minor injuries and is out of danger.
"A case was registered and we have arrested four people in connection with the assault on the conductor and based on a counter complaint lodged by a 14-year-old girl, a case was registered against the conductor under Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for allegedly using derogatory remarks against her," a senior police officer said.
"No arrest has been made yet in connection with the POCSO Act case. We need to investigate, and look into the allegations and accordingly further action will be taken," he said.
Belagavi has a substantial Marathi-speaking population and a section among them have been demanding the merger of the district with Maharashtra, which is stoutly opposed by the state as well as the Kannada populace residing there.
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Compromised PM didn't sign trade deal with US, but a bargain for Adani's release: Rahul
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of signing a trade deal with the US only to secure the "release" of billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.
"Compromised PM did not strike a trade deal, but a bargain for Adani's release," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X, after reports that the US has agreed to settle the lawsuit that accused Adani of hiding alleged bribery.
The US government has agreed to settle the lawsuit filed against Adani, who is accused of duping investors by concealing that his company's huge solar energy project in India was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme, according to court filings published Thursday.
Reacting to the reports, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said it was now clear why the PM agreed to the "hopelessly one-sided Indo-US trade deal that was really a steal by the US".
"And it is also clear why he abruptly halted Operation Sindoor on May 10, 2025, acting on President Trump's threats rather than on our national interest. Reportedly, the Trump Administration is about to drop all charges of corruption against Modani," he said on X.
"How much more compromised can the PM get?" Ramesh asked.
In the lawsuit filed in late 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, who is a director at the group's renewable energy unit Adani Green Energy Ltd, of agreeing to pay about USD 265 million in bribes to Indian government officials between approximately 2020 and 2024 to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts on terms that expected to yield USD 2 billion of profit over 20 years.
It was alleged in the lawsuit that Adani Group raised USD 2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm's anti-bribery practices and policies.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate had denied the allegations.
