Udupi, July 09: Underworld fugitive don Bannanje Raja, who has been in Belagavi jail for the last four years, met his sick mother at his home at Sasithota of Katapadi on Monday following the permission from the Principal District and Sessions Court and spent around 9 hours from morning to evening with his family amidst tight police security.

Bannanje Raja who came from Belagavi on Sunday and stayed in the Udupi city police station lock-up, was taken to his home at Sasithota on Monday at 9 am under the tight police security led by Udupi circle inspector Manjunath and allowed him to stay with his 80-year-old sick mother Vilasini.

During his visit, Raja’s father 81-year-old M Sundar, brother Arun and his wife, children, wife Vasanti and two children of another brother who died a few years ago, and Raja’s wife Sonam and his children who came from Bengaluru were present at the house. Mother of Bannanje Raja was a retired teacher, while his father was a retired revenue inspector.

When Arun brought breakfast, police verified it and allowed him to take it inside the house. For lunch, the family members prepared chicken curry, roti and fish dishes for Bannanje Raja, family sources said.

On Monday morning, SP Lakshman Nimbaragi, ASP Kumarachandra and Udupi DySP Kumaraswamy visited the house of Bannanje Raja and inspected it.

Bannanje Raja, who went underground in 2015, was arrested in Morocco in South Africa and brought him to Bengaluru. Being the accused in several cases including a murder in Karwar, shoot-out in Airodi Jewellers in Udupi and others, he was in Belagavi jail for the last four years.   

Night stay in lock-up

The police brought Bannanje Raja from his home of Kalmadi to the city police station at 6 pm and kept him in the lock-up and he would spend his night in the lock-up.

Even in the lock-up, the police set up three CCTV cameras to keep a vigil on his movements. After conducting medical check up on him at the district hospital, he would be taken to the Belagavi jail with tight police security, police sources said.

House was under CCTV surveillance

From Malpe-Udupi main road, tight police security was deployed till his house, which is around 300 mts from the main road. DAR police were deployed on the main road and the interior road leading to his house. Apart from this, barricades were put up around 100 mts away from his house and in front of his house. Four CCTV cameras were installed inside and outside the house. Police security was beefed up around his house. No one including his relatives, neighbours and media persons was allowed inside the house.

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Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.

The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.

"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.

The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.

There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.

Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.

The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.