Illegal sand transport, assault case: BJP ZP member, others booked
Kota: Kota police registered a case against several persons, including Udupi Zilla Panchayat BJP member Pratap Hegde Maarali, in connection with the illegal sand transportation in Sita River and an assault case.
According to a complaint, ZP BJP member Pratap Hegde Maarali, Praveen Hegde Maarali, Vijay Shetty Goliangady Yalanthuru, Sudeep Shetty Halli, Dinesh Shetty Nancharu, Dayanand Shetty and others broke the gates of the Rubber Plantation at Nancharu village and entered illegally on the night of January 18. They had used three tippers, one JCB, and four cars for this, the complaint read.
The complaint also mentions that they loaded sand from Sita River, abused the watchman of the plantation Sudheer Shetty, snatched away his mobile phone and torch light before assaulting him.
Complainant Sudheer Shetty has also said in the complaint that this illegal sand transportation had caused a loss of Rs. 10,00,000 to the government.
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Karnataka new excise policy: Local liquor to get costlier, premium may get cheaper
Bengaluru: The state government on Monday rolled out a new excise policy that shifts from the decades-old bulk litre-based system to a model based on alcohol content in beverages, Deccan Herald reported.
Karnataka becomes the first state in India to adopt this model. The change is expected to make lower-priced liquor costlier, while some premium brands may see a reduction in prices.
A senior Excise Department official said: “The policy is being implemented from today (May 11). The Karnataka Excise (Excise Duty and Charges) (2nd Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified after a public consultation on a draft released on April 18, slashes the number of excise slabs from 16 to 8.”
Local liquor manufacturers have alleged that the policy favours multinational companies producing beer and spirits over domestic distilleries.
According to the Karnataka Brewers and Distillers Association (KBDA), the first five slabs, which cater to the common man, house the maximum number of state-owned distilleries and contribute nearly 70-75% of the state’s excise revenue, have seen their Additional Excise Duty (AED) rise by 20-30%.
In contrast, slabs 6 to 8, which include products from multinational companies such as United Spirits, Bacardi, Heineken, Carlsberg, and Anheuser-Busch, have seen AED reduced by 10-15%. The association said that while larger companies can absorb pricing shifts across their diverse portfolios, smaller regional distilleries limited to budget liquor may face volume contraction and potential closure.
A senior KBDA member said the price of a 180 ml bottle in the lowest slab, which was around Rs 63 last year, has already risen to Rs 80, and the new policy is set to push that price further to Rs 105 a jump driven by a 42.8% tax bracket.
