Mangaluru (Karnataka), Mar 20 (PTI): An 18-year-old engineering student was allegedly assaulted by a group of five individuals, including the owner of a boys' PG (paying guest) accommodation here, police said on Thursday.

The incident occurred under the jurisdiction of the Kadri police station on March 17 around 10:30 pm, they said.

Vikas, a native of Kalaburagi, had been staying at the PG accommodation for the past six months before shifting to another place, police said.

According to the complaint lodged by Vikas, he had posted a negative review on Google, giving the PG a single-star rating and highlighting issues such as the presence of insects in the food, poor hygiene, and unclean toilets.

Following the review, the PG owner, Santosh, allegedly threatened Vikas and demanded that he delete the comment. When Vikas refused, Santosh, along with four others, allegedly assaulted him and forced him to remove the review.

A case was registered against the PG owner and his associates on the complaint of the victim, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.

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New Delhi (PTI): With a new, stringent system to establish user identity, the number of new user IDs being added daily on the IRCTC website has declined to about 5,000 from nearly one lakh, officials said on Saturday.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that the crackdown by Indian Railways on train ticket booking through fake identities is yielding positive results, according to a press note.

Before the latest reforms, this number had touched nearly one lakh new user IDs per day, it said.

"Following the introduction of a stringent system to establish user identity and detect fake IDs, about 5,000 new user IDs are now being added daily on the IRCTC website," the note said.

The officials stated that these steps have already helped Indian Railways deactivate 3.03 crore fake accounts.

"Another 2.7 crore user IDs have either been temporarily suspended or identified for suspension based on the suspicious activities they are indulging in," they said.

The Union minister directed officials to ensure that the ticketing system is reformed to a level where all travellers are able to book tickets easily through a real and genuine user ID, the press note added.

Additionally, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to provide local cuisine of the region in Vande Bharat trains.

Introducing local cuisine that reflects the culture and tastes of the regions being traversed will significantly enhance the passenger experience, officials said.

This facility will be expanded to all the trains progressively in future, they added.