Karnataka: Former Minister says attempts were made to tap his phone
Bengaluru, Sep 12: JD(S) MLA and former Minister S R Srinivas on Thursday alleged that his phone was tapped during the tenure of the coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy, despite him being the part of the administration.
"Whoever has done things that are illegal should be punished... according to my information, phones were getting tapped...whoever has committed mistake has to be punished mercilessly," he told reporters in Tumkur.
Asked whether it was done at the behest of Kumaraswamy, he said he was not aware of it.
"I don't know whether Kumarawamy or officials were behind it. I had information phones were getting tapped. As soon as I got to know, I changed my number.
During the coalition government (tenure), despite me being part of the government, my phone was tapped,"he alleged.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had last month handed over the alleged phone tapping case to CBI, as signs of the scandal gained political steam ever since disqualified JD(S) MLA A H Vishwanath dropped the political bomb, accusing the Kumarswamy government of tapping phones and spying on more than 300 people, including him.
Congress leaders, including Siddaramaiah, M Mallikarjuna Kharge and home minister in the alliance government M B Patil, had sought a probe, while several BJP leaders had directly accused Kumaraswamy of being behind the episode to save his government, which was then rocked by dissidence within.
Srinivas also hit out at Kumaraswamy for not attending the protest rally organised here on Wednesday by several Vokkaliga outfits against the arrest of senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar.
"We had gone there as a leader of the community was in trouble and the community was protesting against it. Probably he (Kumaraswamy) didn't have that feeling and so he didn't come.
It is not something for which an invitation has to be extended. It is the community's work.
Did we give an invitation to about 25,000 people who came for the protest yesterday?" he asked and said "personal ego" should be set aside on the community issue.
Kumaraswamy on Wednesday had cited not getting an invite as the reason for his absence from the protest rally.
Thousands of people, mostly from the Vokkaliga community, had thronged the state capital to express solidarity with Shivakumar, an influential senior Karnataka Congress leader and former Minister.
Kumaraswamy, who also hails from the community, was conspicuous by his absence at the protest, that was largely seen as as a show of strength of the community, dominant in old Mysuru or southern Karnataka region.
Shivakumar, a key minister in the Congress-JDS coalition government headed by Kumaraswamy that collapsed after losing majority in July,was arrested on September 3 by the Enforcement Directorate in a case of alleged money laundering and has been in its custody since then.
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Indian visa application centre suspended indefinitely in Bangladesh's Chattogram
Dhaka (PTI): India on Sunday suspended visa operations at its mission in Bangladeshi port city of Chattogram until further notice, according to media reports.
The move comes in the wake of a fresh wave of unrest witnessed in the country following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
His death triggered attacks and vandalism across Bangladesh, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram on Thursday.
Hadi, a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, was a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
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He was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area and died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on December 18.
“Due to the recent security incident at Assistant High Commission of India (AHCI) Chittagong, Indian visa operations at IVAC Chittagong (Chattogram) will remain suspended from 21/12/2025 until further notice,” the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) said in a brief statement.
The announcement for reopening the visa centre will be made after reviewing the situation, the statement added. The decision came into effect on Sunday.
There are five IVAC facilities across Bangladesh at Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chattogram and Sylhet. An IVAC official told PTI that the other four offices have remained operational as of Sunday.
India on Thursday resumed operations at its visa application centre in Dhaka, a day after closing it over escalated security concerns, but closed for a brief period two other identical facilities in Rajshahi and Khulna as anti-India protestors tried to march towards the Indian missions there.
On Saturday, security was strengthened at the Indian Assistant High Commission office and the visa application centre in Bangladesh's Sylhet city.
The enhanced security measures were put in place to ensure that “no third party can exploit the situation,” Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police Saiful Islam was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper on Saturday.
Hadi, 32, was laid to rest on Saturday amid extra-tight security beside the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University mosque.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral prayers, and ahead of the ritual, chanted anti-India slogans like “Delhi or Dhaka - Dhaka, Dhaka” and “brother Hadi’s blood will not be allowed to go in vain.”
Earlier on December 17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Bangladesh envoy Riaz Hamidullah and conveyed its strong concern over certain extremist elements announcing plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka.
“We expect the interim government to ensure the safety of Missions and Posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations,” it said.
The envoy was apprised of India's strong concerns about the deteriorating security environment in Bangladesh, it added.
