Club owner murder at Manipal: Three held
Udupi, July 29: Miscreants stabbed the owner of Seventh RC club at Zepta Lang building on Manipal-Perampalli road to death at Manipal on Sunday at 1pm.
The victim was identified as Guruprasad Bhat (44), son of late Sridhar Bhat of Subramanya Nagar in Puttur. In a lightning operation, the police arrested three accused at Kandlur check-post in related to the incident.
Arrested were identified as Pradeep Poojary (36) of Kodannur New Colony, Sujith Pinto (35) of Kalyanapura and Rajesh Poojary (30) of Kunjibettu Kakkunje. Another accused was absconding, according to police.
The accused who came in a white colour car entered into the club and attacked Guruprasad Bhat and stabbed him behind his neck and fled the scene in the same car. Severely injured Guruprasad Bhat was taken to Manipal hospital by the staff of a hotel housed in the same building. Because of heavy bleeding, he died on the way to hospital, it is said.
Murder due to financial dispute
It is said that Guruprasad had financial transaction with many people and the accused might have killed him because of the dispute in financial transactions. He had borrowed money from many people and did not return it. Around 15 years ago, he was identified with Hitendra Prasad of Hai Maruta paper. They were running ‘Satya News’ and ‘Namma Udupi’ weekly magazine. Later, they had also started car gas, Inviter, Cyber, land business, wood carving factory and other businesses. Recently, Guruprasad Bhat had sold wood carving factory and got a club on March 12, 2018 on rent.
Till Saturday late night, he played cards in the club. During that time, he has received many threat calls to his mobile phone. On the wee hours, his friends have left for home and Guruprasad slept at the club. On Sunday at 9 am, he engaged himself in playing cards. After, everyone left the club at 12 noon, he stayed in the club with his workers Shankar and Jaya. The accused have used this time to kill him. When Guruprasad was attacked, the two workers fled the hotel due to fear, it is said.
CCTV footage helps police
The building housed Seven Heaven Bar, Hotel, Pub, Lodging and club and the entire building is under CCTV camera surveillance. The club where Guruprasad was murdered has five CCTV cameras. The white colour car and its number were recorded in the camera installed in the front of the lodge. Inside the club, the cameras have the footage of the accused attacking Guruprasad, and three of them making him to sit in his knees and another stabbed him on his neck.
The police who recovered the footage of the cameras installed in the building and the club managed to identify the accused. The police also recovered the mobile phone of Guruprasad Bhat and listened to the call records and arrested the accused.
SP Lakshman Nimbargi, ASP Kumarachandra, Manipal inspector Sudarshan, Udupi circle inspector Naveenchandra Jogi and others visited the place. Manipal police registered a case.
Relative of MLA Raghupathi Bhat
Guruprasad Bhat is the son of the maternal uncle of Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat. The MLA who visited the mortuary at Manipal Hospital said that though Guruprasad Bhat was his relative, he was not speaking about his business with his family. Everything should come out from the police investigation, he said.
“Miscreants have killed Guruprasad Bhat who has been running a club at Seventh Heaven Hotel. Police teams have arrested three accused at Kandlur check-post and one accused was absconding. Investigation is on”.
-Lakshman Nimbargi, SP Udupi
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India proposes preferential trade agreement with Mexico to deal with high tariffs
New Delhi (PTI): India has proposed a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Mexico to help domestic exporters deal with the steep tariffs announced by the South American country, a top government official said on Monday.
Mexico has decided to impose steep import tariffs - ranging from about 5 per cent to as high as 50 per cent on a wide range of goods (about 1,463 tariff lines) from countries that do not have free trade agreements with Mexico, including India, China, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that India has engaged with the country on the issue.
"Technical level talks are on...The only fast way forward is to try to get a preferential trade agreement (PTA) because an FTA (free trade agreement) will take a lot of time. So we are trying to see what can be a good way forward," he told reporters here.
While in an FTA two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on maximum number of goods traded between them, in a PTA, duties are cut or removed on a limited number of products.
Trading partners of Mexico cannot file a compliant against the decision on imposing high tariffs as they are WTO (World Trade Organisation) compatible.
The duties are within their bound rates, he said, adding that their primary target was not India.
"We have proposed a PTA because its a WTO-compatible way forward... we can do a PTA and try to get concessions that are required for Indian supply chains and similarly offer them concessions where they have export interests in India," Agrawal said.
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Citing support for local production and correction of trade imbalances, Mexico has approved an increase in MFN (most favoured nation) import tariffs (5-50 per cent) with effect from January 1, 2026 on 1,455 tariff lines (or product categories) within the WTO framework, targeting non-FTA partners.
Preliminary estimates suggest that this affects India's around USD 2 billion exports to Mexico particularly -- automobile, two-wheelers, auto parts, textiles, iron and steel, plastics, leather and footwear.
The measure is also aimed at curbing Chinese imports.
India-Mexico merchandise trade totalled USD 8.74 billion in 2024, with exports USD 5.73 billion, imports USD 3.01 billion, and a trade surplus of USD 2.72 billion.
The government has been continuously and comprehensively assessing Mexico's tariff revisions since the issue emerged, engaging stakeholders, safeguarding the interests of Indian exporters, and pursuing constructive dialogue to ensure a stable trade environment benefiting businesses and consumers in both countries.
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Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai has said that Mexico's decision is a matter of concern, particularly for sectors like automobiles and auto components, machinery, electrical and electronics, organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and plastics.
"Such steep duties will erode our competitiveness and risk, disrupting supply chains that have taken years to develop," Sahai said, adding that this development also underlines the little urgency for India and Mexico to fast-track a comprehensive trade agreement.
Domestic auto component manufacturers will face enhanced cost pressures with Mexico hiking duties on Indian imports, according to industry body ACMA.
