"It seems our stars are not good", CM Yediyurappa on rain-fury again
Bengaluru, Oct 23: As rains pounded the regions battered by flood havoc two months back, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa wondered on Wednesday whether the stars are to be blamed for nature's fury again.
"There was downpour last time. It seems our stars are not good," he said.
"Once again the Rain God (Varuna) is furious and is pounding many districts, submerging many villages. Deaths have taken place and vehicles have been swept away," he told reporters.
The heavy downpour in August this year in Karnataka led to floods in 22 districts, leading to the deaths of 84 people in rain related incidents.
About 5.5 lakh acres of land were inundated, while crops in about 2.3 lakh acres was completely ruined.
About 1.5 lakh houses were destroyed in August's flood and heavy rains.
Yediyurappa said he was holding discussions with the district authorities and video conferencing with them on providing relief to the rain affected people.
The Chief Minister said whatever support was extended to the flood victims two months ago would be provided to the affected people this time also.
Belagavi, Bagalkote, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Gadag, Hubballi-Dharwad, parts of Mysuru, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru bore the brunt of heavy downpour once again.
Landslides were reported in many places while vehicular movement was hit in several parts of the state.
At Gokak, the administration toiled hard to remove a huge rock in the Mallikarjuna Hills which rolled down and stopped just before it hit a major settlement of homes.
Had it rolled its entire course, it could have severely damaged several houses, officials said.
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Senior citizen duped of Rs 23.5 lakh on threat of digital arrest in Thane district
Thane (PTI): A 68-year-old man was allegedly cheated of Rs 23.5 lakh by cyber fraudsters who threatened him with digital arrest in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Monday.
This is a second such incident reported in the district this week, an official said.
Based on a complaint, the Kalyan police have registered a case under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, Assistant Inspector Vinod Patil of Mahatma Phule police station said.
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"The complainant alleged that two unidentified persons cheated him of Rs 23.5 lakh by threatening to place him under digital arrest and forced him to transfer money through online transactions between December 8 and 12," Patil said.
'Digital arrest’ is a growing form of cybercrime in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officials or personnel of government agencies and intimidate victims through audio/video calls. They hold the victims hostage and put pressure on them to pay money.
He said that the accused allegedly contacted the victim on WhatsApp video calls and claimed that his bank transactions were suspicious and linked to alleged irregularities.
"The fraudsters told him that he could be placed under digital arrest, but assured him that they would help him avoid legal action if he cooperated," the officer said.
He said that the accused repeatedly threatened the senior citizen and put pressure on him to make multiple online money transfers amounting to Rs 23.5 lakh.
The fraud came to light after the victim narrated the incident to acquaintances and approached the police on realising he had been duped.
"We are analysing bank transaction details, call records and digital evidence to track down the accused," Patil said.
