13.20% turnout in Belgaum LS; 19.48 and 19.30% in Basavakalyan and Maski assembly seats till 11 am
Karnataka bypolls
Bengaluru: The Belgaum Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka has recorded a voter turnout of 13.20 per cent, while Basavakalyan and Maski assembly segments reported 19.48 and 19.30 per cent respectively during the first four hours of voting for the bypolls, poll officials said on Saturday.
Polling began with strict adherence to COVID protocols in all the three constituencies at 7 am and will go on till 7 pm.
A total of 22,68,038 voters (including service voters) are eligible to cast their votes at 3,197 polling stations in the three constituencies. A total of 30 candidates in the fray from all the three constituencies.
While, Belgaum has ten candidates, Basavakalyan and Maski have 12 and 8 respectively.
Twenty six out of the total 30 candidates are men, among 4 women include two from Basavakalyan and one each from Belgaum and Maski.
Counting of votes will take place on May 2.
By-polls to Belgaum Lok Sabha and Basavakalyan Assembly seats are necessitated following the death of Union Minister Suresh Angadi and MLA B Narayan Rao respectively due to COVID-19 in September last year.
Maski assembly seat fell vacant following the disqualification of MLA Prathapagouda Patil who had won in 2018 from Congress and is now with the BJP.
The ruling BJP and opposition Congress are battling it out in all three constituencies, while JD(S) has limited itself to Basavakalyan, as the regional party has not fielded any candidates in Maski and Belgaum.
The ruling BJP has fielded Mangala Suresh Angadi, the wife of late Suresh Angadi, from Belgaum Lok Sabha seat.
Pratapagouda Patil, who quit Congress and joined the party is the saffron party's candidate in the Maski assembly segment; while youth leader Sharanu Salagar has been fielded in Basavakalyan.
The Congress has fielded its state working president Satish Jarkiholi, who is currently the MLA of Yamkanmaradi assembly segment, as its candidate from Belgaum.
Mallamma, the wife of late legislator B Narayan Rao is the grand old party's candidate from Basavakalyan seat, while Basanagouda Turvihal, who recently joined the party has been fielded in Maski segment.
JD(S) has named Syed Yasrab Ali Quadri, who was with the Congress earlier as its candidate from Basavakalyan. PTI KSU ROH
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In a first, Bengaluru woman loses Rs 2 lakh after pressing ‘1’ on fake IVR call: Report
Bengaluru: In what appears to be the first such cybercrime reported in Bengaluru, a 57-year-old woman reportedly lost Rs 2 lakh after following instructions and pressing a key during a fake IVR (Interactive Voice Response) call from a nationalised bank.
The woman, a resident of Dattatreyanagar in Hosakerehalli, received a call that appeared to be from the State Bank of India (SBI), a bank she holds an account with. The IVR message claimed that Rs 2 lakh was being transferred from her account and instructed her to press '1' if she did not authorize the transaction, as reported by the Times of India on Thursday.
"I was shocked on hearing the voice note as I had not done any such transaction. I didn't press any number. The voice note repeated, saying that I have not responded. I was confused. After three rounds of such announcements, I pressed 1 as I had not initiated the transaction. Soon after that, there was a second announcement stating, ‘Please visit your bank and contact the manager immediately.' Subsequently, the call got disconnected," she told the national daily.
Shortly after, the call disconnected, and she discovered a Rs 2 lakh loss in her account. She immediately contacted her bank and filed a complaint with the police.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer explained that fraudsters often use IVR calls to ask for personal details like the last four digits of a debit card, bank account number, date of birth, email ID, or other information needed to access online banking. "Once the victim shares the information, the money is siphoned off. Without sharing the credentials, it is not possible to siphon off money just by pressing the options 3 or 1 or 9," he told TOI.
The officer noted that the victim may have shared some information in response to the voice message, which could have allowed the fraudsters to access her account and steal the money. If she didn't provide any details, this type of scam would be new to them, and the investigation will provide more clarity.
A case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and BNS section 318 (cheating).
