Puttur: The local police have arrested three men for the murder of a young man who was a member of the Kallega tiger dance group, Akshay Kallega, using lethal weapons in Nehru Nagar on the outskirts of the town late Monday night, after a fight between them over a trivial issue a few hours before.

The men are learned to have called Akshay to Nehru Nagar late at night allegedly to discuss matters related to a road accident that took place on Monday evening. The youngster was called especially for a calculation of the shares in the loss incurred due to the accident, but was attacked with lethal weapons and killed by the men, when he reached the place.

Akshay's body was found among the weeds in the paddy fields beside the highway near the road leading to Vivekananda College in Puttur.

Police sources, which confirmed that three men had attacked and killed Akshay, said that two of the suspects, Manish and Chethu, surrendered to the police a few hours after the incident. A third suspect, Manjunath alias Manja, who had been absconding after the act, was arrested on Tuesday morning.

This is the second such murder case witnessed by Puttur town in the last couple of months. In the last week of August, a young woman was stabbed to death by her lover outside the Puttur Women Police Station. Four years ago too, Karthik Merla, Secretary of the Hindu Jagaran Vedike, had been stabbed to death late at night behind the Puttur Rural Police Station.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.

The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.

"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.

Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.

The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."

Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.

"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.

Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.

He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.

"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.