Election Commission transfers SP of Hassan, where Deve Gowda's grandson is in fray
Bengaluru:The Election Commission Thursday transferred the superintendent of police of Hassan and changed an election observer in Mandya-- the two sensitive constituencies from where former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda's grandsons are contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
Hassan SP A N Prakash Gowda has been transferred and Chethan Singh Rathor has come in his place, while Mandya election observer Ranjit Kumar has also been changed, a senior electoral officer said.
The EC has informed the state chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar that it has, in response to his letter, approved the proposal for posting of Rathor in place of Gowda.
"The ECI has transferred A N Prakash Gowda. Similarly, Mandya election observer Ranjit Kumar has also been changed," chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar told PTI.
The transfer of Prakash Gowda comes barely four days after the transfer of the deputy commissioner of the district Akram Pasha who has been replaced by Priyanka Mary Francis.
The BJP had alleged misuse of official machinery and hadrequested the Election Commission to transfer the two officers to conduct free and fair elections in Hassan.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's nephew and Karnataka public works minister H D Revanna's son, Prajwal Revanna is contesting from Hassan.
Prajwal is the grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda.
Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil is fighting a tough battle in Mandya, where he is pitted against multi-lingual actress Sumalatha, widow of former minister and actor Ambareesh.
BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar and MLA S Suresh Kumar hadsubmitted a memorandum to the election commission on March 28 with a list of 13 officers, including Pasha and Gowda, asking it to remove them from theirrespective districts.
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Man arrested for illegal diesel storage in Dakshina Kannada
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): A 35-year-old man was arrested for allegedly storing large quantities of diesel without licence in Dakshina Kannada district, police said on Tuesday.
The incident was reported at Mudalthiyar in Kaniyooru village of Belthangady taluk in this district, they said.
Acting on a tip-off received by Belthangady Sub-Divisional Police Officer Rohini C K, a police team conducted a raid at the location on the night of March 9, officials said.
During the search, officers found diesel stored in a shed near the house of the accused, identified as Jagadeesh, a senior police officer said.
Police said about 20 barrels with a capacity of around 200 litres each and five cans of approximately 35 litres capacity were found filled with diesel.
In all, around 4,175 litres of diesel worth about Rs 3.5 lakh was seized from the premises.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that the fuel had been stocked without any valid licence and without adhering to mandatory safety regulations, posing potential safety risks, police said.
A case has been registered at Uppinangady Police Station, and further investigation is under way.
Officials noted that the village in this incident is situated close to the 280 kilometer Mangalore-Bangalore Petroleum Pipeline owned by Petronet India, which starts near MRPL in Dakshina Kannada and ends to Devanagundi village just outside Nelamangala near Bengaluru. It passes through the eco-sensitive Western ghats part in Dakshina Kannada and Chikkamgaluru districts.
