Kerala: Woman IPS officer goes to Saudi, brings man accused of Minor's rape, back to India
Kerala: Kollam Police Commissioner Merin Joseph, who took charge in June this year, on Sunday left for Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to extradite Sunil Kumar Bhadran (38), a resident Kollam, wanted in a child rape case.
Sunil Kumar, a native of Kollam, was a tile worker in Saudi Arabia. In 2017, while he was holidaying in Kerala, he sexually assaulted his friend’s 13-year old niece for three months.
The victim who belonged to a scheduled caste community, finally revealed her ordeal to her family. She was then shifted to Government Mahila Mandiram rescue home at Karicode in Kollam District.
But by the team police initiated action and issued look out notice notice against Sunil, he had fled to Saudi Arabia. The parental uncle of the victim who introduced Sunil to the family of victim killed himself followed by the victim who killed herself in June 2017.
The case impacted public conscience and people were outraged at the crime and demanded extradition of Sunil from Saudi Arabia. Although the International Investigation Agency of the Kerala Police was following up with the Saudi police on cards with the India-Saudi extradition treaty signed in 2010 by them Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Saudi King Abdullah.
A few days ago, Saudi Police informed their counterparts in Kerala that they had arrested Sunil and can go ahead with extradition. Though most IPS officers would have sent junior officers to secure the man, Merin chose to go herself.
“This was the first time that we would be doing such an extradition. I wanted to learn how it works so that I could, in turn, share the knowledge with my team. There was a lot of paperwork, it involved the CBI and the Interpol too. We also had to make documents to bring him back. This is why I decided to go. I am also passionate about cases involving women and children, and this was a man I believed should be brought back to face trial," news agency The News Minute quoted the officer as saying.
Sunil Kumar’s extradition is now first such extradition of a Indian criminal from Saudi Arabia, nine years after the two countries signed extradition treaties.
Sunil now under the custody of Kerala Police and will be tried as per the law.
Sunil Kumar
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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses EC of ‘bias’, defends state guarantee schemes ahead of bypolls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the EC of "double standards" and "bias" after it sought details on the state’s guarantee schemes in Davanagere and Bagalkot districts, where bypolls are scheduled for Thursday.
In a post on 'X' on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said the Election Commission of India had asked the Karnataka government for information on fund releases under five ongoing guarantee schemes in the constituencies going to polls.
The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, respectively.
The schemes are Gruha Jyothi, which provides 200 units of free electricity to every household; Gruha Lakshmi, offering Rs 2,000 to women heading families; and Anna Bhagya, supplying 10 kg of rice per month to each member of BPL families.
In addition, Yuva Nidhi grants Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders aged 18–25 for two years, while Shakti enables women to travel free of charge within Karnataka on government non-luxury buses.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the ECI had remained silent when similar cash transfer schemes were announced in Maharashtra and Bihar ahead of elections, calling the scrutiny of Karnataka’s schemes a "clear case of bias".
"In states like Maharashtra and Bihar, cash transfer schemes were announced or fast-tracked just before elections, directly benefiting voters. Yet the ECI remained silent. This is not neutrality—it is complicity," he said.
The CM accused the BJP and NDA governments of "a double standard", noting that when they act, the ECI "looks the other way", but when Karnataka fulfils its promises, it faces "intense scrutiny".
He added that targeting the state’s guarantee schemes is "not just political but anti-poor, anti-women, and anti-Karnataka."
Siddaramaiah clarified that these schemes were not launched in connection with the bypolls but are ongoing programmes implemented as part of the Congress government’s commitments from the 2023 Assembly elections.
Funds are transferred regularly to beneficiaries in a transparent and structured manner, he added.
"The guarantees are part of governance—a direct investment in human dignity, household stability, and economic participation, not inducement," he said.
He also accused the BJP of "hypocrisy", saying that while it criticises Karnataka’s schemes as "freebies", it rolls out similar programmes in states it governs.
"The Karnataka model has set a benchmark for the country. What is deeply concerning, however, is the ECI’s selective approach," Siddaramaiah added.
