New Delhi: Launching a fresh anti-corruption agitation with an indefinite fast here on Friday, social activist Anna Hazare said his efforts to communicate with the Modi government on issues of Lokpal and agrarian distress had yielded no result.

"I have written 43 letters to the Modi government in the last four years but did not get any reply," he said soon after he began his hunger strike at the sprawling Ramlila Maidan here after paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

"The farmers in the country are in distress as they are not getting remunerative prices and the government is not acting to ensure fair prices."

Hazare said he would hold discussions with the government during the agitation but his indefinite hunger strike, called 'Satyagraha', would continue "till the government comes out with a concrete action plan".

He said the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), which decides prices for 23 crops, should be made autonomous for fair price fixation.

Currently, the Central government controls CACP and cuts the fair price rates suggested by states by 30-35 per cent, he said.

The agitation also contributed to the Congress-led UPA losing the 2014 general elections that brought the BJP to power at the Centre.

The veteran activist said Modi was "never serious about Lokpal".

The reason behind the delay, he said, in the appointment of a Lokpal was because the Prime Minister was afraid that once this became a reality, his office as well as that of his cabinet members would also come under its purview.

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Bengaluru, Dec 26: A Japanese national, Hiroshi Sasaki, who works in Bengaluru, lost Rs 35.5 lakh after being 'digitally arrested' by cyber fraudsters, police said, on Thursday.

 

The incident occurred between December 12 and 14, police added.

Sasaki, who lives in a flat near Dairy Circle, received a phone call on December 12. The caller was claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The caller informed him that his phone number would be blocked due to its unauthorised use.

To avoid the disconnection Sasaki was asked to dial a number.

Upon dialling the number, he was immediately connected to a WhatsApp call from someone claiming to be from the Cyber Crime wing of Mumbai Police. The caller informed Sasaki that he was involved in a money laundering case.

The fraudsters "digitally arrested" him and siphoned off Rs 35.5 lakh by having him make payments through various means, including RTGS.

He was also told that the money would be returned after the investigation was completed.

After realising that he had been duped, the victim approached the South East Cyber Crimes, Economics and Narcotics (CEN) police station and lodged a complaint.

'Digital arrest' is a new cyber fraud, where the fraudster poses as law enforcement agency officials from agencies like CBI, and customs and threatens people of arrest by making video calls.

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