14-day judicial custody for Santro Ravi, two others: Police
Mysuru, Jan 14: K S Manjunath, alias 'Santro' Ravi', accused of being the kingpin in human trafficking along with having links to politicians and meddling in police transfers, has been remanded in judicial custody, police said on Saturday.
'Santro' Ravi, and two others - Ramji and Satish - were arrested by Karnataka police at Ahmedabad in Gujarat on Friday, and they were brought here earlier on Saturday.
"'Santro Ravi' and two others arrested along with him in Ahmedabad yesterday were produced before the judge of a city court here, who remanded them to 14 days judicial custody," police said.
Ravi (51) has been arrested in connection with a case filed by his wife in Mysuru alleging she was drugged, raped and forced into marriage in 2019.
He was subjected to medical tests and preliminary inquiry by the police, earlier today, before he was produced before the judge.
"We have got him here early this morning. We have got him examined medically. Now, procedures and basic inquiry is on...leaving the travelling time, we will have to produce him within 24 hours before the judge," Mysuru Police Commissioner Ramesh Bhanot had said earlier in the day.
Allegations and cases against him had created a flutter in political circles for the last couple of weeks, with the opposition parties releasing photographs and accusing ruling BJP leaders of hobnobbing with him.
Also, audio clips of Ravi bragging of his proximity to the government and police officials were doing the rounds.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai ordered a probe and had said that even politicians from opposition parties had links with him.
Police have said all other cases he is linked to or are pending against him, including political, would be looked into in the days to come after investigating the case in which he is arrested.
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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.
