Idukki (Kerala) (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi interacted with women tea pluckers at an estate in Peerumade here on Saturday.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on his way to board a helicopter in the morning, noticed a group of women plucking tea leaves at the Glenmary estate and asked his convoy to stop before approaching them for an interaction.
Accompanied by Congress MPs K C Venugopal and Dean Kuriakose, Gandhi spoke to the workers and enquired about their wages and the tea plucking process.
The women workers explained to the Congress leader the nature of their work and showed him how the tea-plucking machine is used.
After the interaction, Gandhi took photographs with the workers before leaving the place.
Gandhi had arrived at Marian College in Kuttikkanam to interact with students on Friday.
He had stayed at a resort in Peerumade on Friday night and left for Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday morning to attend various events.
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Mangaluru: Police have flagged a fake marathon campaign being widely circulated on Instagram under the name “Sea Breeze Marathon” and warned the public against falling prey to a suspected cyber fraud network.
The purported post, which began circulating on April 3, claims to offer prize money of Rs 2.51 lakh for a 5 km race, Rs 3.5 lakh for a 10 km race, and Rs 5 lakh for a 21 km race. It also urges participants to register in advance. However, officials have clarified that no such marathon has been organised in Mangaluru.
The poster also promises to provide participants with free sports shoes, goodies bags and refreshments, in order to lure people.
Police suspect that the poster is part of a cyber fraud attempt designed to lure users into registering through fraudulent links.
Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy cautioned that registering through such links could lead to mobile phone hacking and financial loss.
The campaign is also being amplified through a viral video featuring songs from popular movies, along with visuals of people participating in marathons, allegedly sourced from existing footage, giving the content a sense of authenticity and misleading people.
When Vartha Bharati conducted a reverse image search, the video was traced back to marathons held in Mumbai, further confirming that the circulating content is not related to any event in Mangaluru.
Speaking to Vartha Bharati, Commissioner Reddy confirmed that the campaign is fake and that no organisation has approached authorities seeking permission for conducting a marathon, including traffic or road clearances.
“So far, no complaint has been lodged, and no victim of the campaign has been reported,” he said.
