Mangaluru (PTI): A retired engineer was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.6 crore by frauds here who asked for “caution money” to ward off a possible probe by a central investigative agency, police said on Thursday.

The accused, posing as employees of an international courier service, claimed that a package the victim sent had incriminating documents and drugs and probe agencies knew of it, they said.

They allegedly asked for “caution deposit” saying it will be returned once the investigation is over, and the victim paid Rs 1.6 crore to them, police added.

The alleged transactions happened between May 2-6 and the matter came to light when the man told his daughter about it.

Police said a case regarding the incident has been registered at the Cyber, Economic and Narcotics Crime Police Station in in Mangaluru city.

 

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Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.

Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.

He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.

Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.

He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.

Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.

He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.