Eight Sri Lankan players set to return home from Pak due to safety concerns
Colombo (PTI): Eight Sri Lankan players, currently touring Pakistan with the national team for a three-match ODI series, are set to return home on Thursday after expressing concern over their safety following a deadly bomb blast in Islamabad that left 12 people dead and several injured, a SLC source said on Wednesday.
The development means the second ODI scheduled in Rawalpindi on Thursday will not happen. Pakistan had won the first ODI by six runs at the same venue on Tuesday.
The Sri Lankan team is also scheduled to play a triangular series, involving the hosts and Zimbabwe, after the three ODIs.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) sources said replacements will be sent for those returning home.
Sources in SLC added that because of the proximity of Rawalpindi, where the ODIs are being played, to Islamabad was the reason the players expressed the desire to return home.
In 2009, the Sri Lankan cricket team bus was attacked by gunmen when it was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the second Test.
Several members of the Sri Lankan team, including Ajantha Mendis, Chaminda Vaas and captain Mahela Jayawardene, were injured while many Pakistani security personnel were killed.
Following the deadly attack, all foreign teams refrained from visiting Pakistan for over a decade and the country was compelled to use offshore venues in the Middle East to host its home matches.
Coincidentally it was Sri Lanka's tour of Pakistan in December 2019 which signalled the return of international cricket to the country.
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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.
