Sugarcane farmers continue struggle for MSP; block roads in rural Bagalkot
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Bagalkot: Farmers from Mudhol taluk, demanding higher minimum support price (MSP) for sugarcane, intensified their protest and blocked various prominent roads starting Wednesday morning.
The farmers have demanded Rs 3,500 per tonne of sugarcane while the state government offered Rs 3,300 a tonne, without taking into account the factory owners’ Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP). As the farmers were not in unison on whether to accept the offer, the meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner Sangappa had failed.
Following the meeting, the farmers gathered on and blocked prominent rural routes in places like Shirola, Manturu and Yahadalli on Wednesday morning. On the road near Shirola, the farmers stacked up hay and weeds and set fire to the stack as part of the protest.
The Mudhol-Jamakhandi Road and the PM Road in Budni were closed for vehicular movement, while a bandh was organized in Mudhol town, with the protesters shouting out their demand for Rs 3,500 a tonne as MSP.
The farmers have warned that the protest will only be intensified further if the government fails to fulfill their demand. They have also said that they would pressure the sugar factory administration boards to urge the government to raise the MSP for sugarcane.
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Illegal betting case: ED attaches ₹177 crore assets linked to Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra
Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached assets worth ₹177.3 crore belonging to Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra, also known as ‘Puppy’, and his associates in connection with an illegal online betting and gambling case, Deccan Herald reported.
According to the ED, the attached properties include immovable assets such as agricultural land and residential sites, along with other movable assets. The agency said these assets are believed to be proceeds of crime generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities.
The ED claimed that its investigation uncovered that Veerendra and his associates were the masterminds behind a nationwide illegal online betting network operating with the same modus operandi.
“The investigation has established that the accused generated substantial proceeds of crime by cheating the public through online betting and impersonation scams. In the scheme, unsuspecting players were induced to stake money on rigged illegal gaming websites, which functioned like online casinos. Their deposits, running into crores of rupees, were collected through payment gateways into designated payment aggregator accounts,” Deccan Herald quoted the agency as saying.
“The victims were initially shown fake winnings to build trust and were later blocked from withdrawing money. The investigation revealed the use of hundreds of mule accounts and multiple payment gateways for laundering the proceeds of crime,” the agency said.
Earlier, the ED carried out search and seizure operations at more than 60 locations across several states, during which large quantities of cash, gold bullion, gold and silver jewellery, vehicles, digital devices and incriminating documents were seized.
The ED also arrested Veerendra under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and a prosecution complaint has been filed before the Special PMLA court. Based on the evidence gathered, the agency has provisionally attached properties held directly and indirectly by him, which are believed to be linked to money laundering.
“With this, the ED has attached assets worth more than ₹320 crore in the present case under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. Further, during the course of the investigation, proceeds of crime exceeding ₹2,300 crore have been identified so far, which were generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities and subsequently laundered through multiple layers of transactions,” the agency said.
