Hanuman flag row in Karnataka: Panchayat Development Officer suspended
Mandya (Karnataka) (PTI): Amid simmering tension in Mandya over the removal of Hanuman flag from a 108 feet tall flagpost, the Keragodu village Panchayat Development Officer has been suspended.
The order issued by Mandya Zila Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Tanveer Asif on Monday said the permission was granted only to hoist the Indian tricolour at Keragodu village.
However, the PDO not only gave an opportunity to the people to hoist the Hanuman flag, but also did not take steps to remove it, the order said.
It was only on January 28, that the Panchayat Sub-divisional Officer along with Tehsildar and police officers removed the flag, which created a law and order problem for which the PDO was held accountable.
As the opposition BJP and its ally JD(S) staged a massive protest in Mandya against the removal of the Hanuman flag and its restoration, security was beefed up on Monday.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the opposition BJP and JD(S) of trying to instigate the people over the issue, with an eye on the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Police on Sunday had resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse the crowd at Keragodu village, and subsequently hoisted the national flag replacing Hanuman flag in the presence of officials of the administration.
On Monday, the protestors marched from Keragodu to the Deputy Commissioner’s office in the district headquarters of Mandya, covering a distance of about 14 km, holding saffron flags amid chants of “Jai Sri Ram”. They also raised slogans against the Congress government.
BJP leaders C T Ravi and Preetham Gowda and JD(S) leaders Suresh Gowda and K Annadani joined the demonstrators.
As the march reached Mandya city, police resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse the crowd as some of the activists allegedly tried to bring down a flex board featuring the image of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders, according to official sources.
Later, scores of protestors gathered near the Deputy Commissioner’s office, where police were deployed in large numbers and barricades were erected.
Ravi and the JD(S) leaders along with former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy addressed the crowd.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
