Bagalkote (PTI): Tension prevailed near Saidapur in Mudhol taluk here on Thursday, as several tractors and trolleys carrying sugarcane to a nearby factory were allegedly set on fire by some miscreants. The incident occurred amid ongoing protest by farmers demanding Rs 3,500 per tonne for their produce, police officials said.

Fire fighting personnels rushed to the spot to bring the fire and the situation under control, they said.Farmer leaders, however, claimed that the protesters had nothing to do with the incident, and expressed suspicion that it may have been orchestrated by miscreants to tarnish their agitation.Sugarcane growers have intensified their protest in parts of Bagalkote, Mudhol and few other places demanding Rs 3,500 per tonne.

Last week, the state government had fixed the procurement price of sugarcane, yielding 11.25 percent recovery, at Rs 3,300 per tonne.While farmers in Belagavi and few other parts accepted the price fixed by the government and withdrew their protest, those in Bagalkote and Haveri districts and few other areas continued their agitation, terming the decision "confusing".They also said that fixing the price based on the recovery is risky.

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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.