Basanagouda Patil Yatnal urges BJP leadership to send 'unbiased observer' to Karnataka
New Delhi: BJP leader and MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has called on the central leadership of the party to dispatch an “unbiased observer” to Karnataka to evaluate the state unit's functioning. Yatnal has alleged a nexus between former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, his son and BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra, and Congress leaders.
After receiving a show-cause notice from the party, Yatnal submitted a six-page written response and met BJP central disciplinary committee member secretary Om Pathak. He criticised the state BJP leadership under Vijayendra, stating that the unit has “collapsed” due to “adjustment politics and dynastic corruption.”
Yatnal also accused Yediyurappa of sidelining Lingayat leaders to promote his family and claimed that workers had lost faith in the state leadership. “An independently thinking central leader will realise the ground reality in Karnataka,” he said, adding that he presented evidence of his claims during the meeting.
The MLA further asserted that the party should strengthen its commitment to Hindutva principles, which he claimed were gaining traction in states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. “The people of Karnataka are unwilling to accept leaders who do not align with Hindutva,” he remarked.
Pathak reportedly advised Yatnal to avoid airing grievances in the media and assured him that his concerns would be conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP president J.P. Nadda.
Meanwhile, BJP general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, has been tasked with addressing the factional issues in the state unit. Union Minister V. Somanna, former CM Basavaraj Bommai, and MP Sudhakar also met with Nadda, who assured them that the leadership would resolve the infighting at the earliest.
Yatnal reiterated his loyalty to the party, stating, “I am a loyal party leader, and nobody can finish me off.”
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Mule bank accounts frozen in crackdown on cyber fraudsters in Karnataka, 68 held
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka State Cyber Command has arrested 68 people as part of a statewide drive against mule bank accounts and “mule herders” involved in cyber fraud, officials said on Friday.
The special operations, which have been continuing since last week across Karnataka, targeted networks engaged in aggregating and selling mule bank accounts used for cyber crimes.
The arrests were made between December 2025 and February 2026, police said in an updated report.
“The Karnataka Cyber Command has conducted statewide special operations against Mule accounts and mule herders across Karnataka. The special drive has continued since last week and this is an updated report,” the department said in a statement.
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Police said the investigation identified a network of “mule herders” — individuals who aggregate and misuse mule bank accounts — who were retailing and selling such accounts to cyber criminals.
A total of 68 key accused and suspects have been arrested during the period.
According to the statement, mule herders had collected personal information and documents from unsuspecting laypersons and opened multiple bank accounts in the names of their relatives.
“These accounts were operated in a business-like manner,” it added.
As part of the crackdown, police registered 60 cases and identified 869 mule accounts across the state. As many as 8,788 complaints were registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) against the identified mule accounts.
The total money involved in all NCRP-linked crimes stood at Rs 85.05 crore, of which Rs 13.43 crore has been put on hold, the Cyber Command said.
During the drive, police obtained 32 search warrants and conducted 35 searches. In the searches, 35 ATM cards, 37 passbooks, 80 mobile phones, 28 cheque books and 22 SIM cards were seized, along with other incriminating materials, officials said. Pronab Mohanty, the Director General of Police (Karnataka State Cyber Command) supervised the special drive, police added.
