Karnataka's tourism potential not tapped fully: Minister C T Ravi
Mangaluru, Sept 30: Karnataka had failed to aggressively promote and its tourism and its potential remained untapped fully, state minister for tourism, Kannada and Culture C T Ravi said here on Monday.
Addressing a meet-the-press programme at the press club here, he said that despite the state having several scenic spots, including five heritage sites, national parks and waterfalls, tourism has not fully developed in the state to attract more visitors.
Ravi said the state government plans to introduce a tourism circuit plan and adopt a policy to attract tourists to coastal areas and to heritage sites.
Karnataka has 319 tourist destinations which can attract visitors if they are properly connected, he said.
The minister said he would undertake a study tour and visit all the districts to formulate a detailed plan to promote tourism by taking suggestions from experts and private organisations.
He said steps would be taken to develop the 13 islands in the coastal belt of the state by introducing water sporting activities.
The coastal belt also has the potential for wellness tourism and temple tourism, he said.
Administrations in all districts have been instructed to conduct a demand-based tourism survey to help government implement schemes in the sector.
Replying to a question, Ravi said the future of the disqualified MLAs in the state would be decided after the Supreme Court gives its verdict on the issue.
MLAs D Vedavyas Kamath and Bharat Y Shetty were also present.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
