Bengaluru: Pre-school principal held for extorting Rs 20 lakh from student’s father

Vartha Bharati | 02-04-2025 | 18:43:00 IST

Bengaluru (PTI): A pre-school principal and her two associates were arrested for allegedly extorting money from the father of a five-year-old student with whom she had an affair, police said on Wednesday.

The woman allegedly blackmailed the 34-year-old man by threatening to leak his private pictures on social media if he did not pay her Rs 20 lakh, they added.

The man became friends with the woman after enrolling his daughter in her pre-school in 2023 and later got into a relationship with her, police said.

According to a senior police officer, the man used a separate phone to communicate with her. Over time, she extorted Rs 4 lakh from him under various pretexts.

Later, she demanded that they live together, and when his family was away, she visited his home and borrowed Rs 50,000 from him, he said.

When he refused, she allegedly intimidated him, claiming she had contacts in the police.

As a result, he began distancing himself from her. Facing financial difficulties, he decided to withdraw his daughter from the pre-school and relocate his family to his native place in Gujarat, police said.

At the principal’s behest, her two male associates allegedly demanded Rs 20 lakh from him to delete his private videos and photos.

To protect his reputation, he agreed to pay Rs 15 lakh and initially transferred Rs 1.9 lakh, police added.

However, when he failed to pay the remaining amount, they continued to harass him, prompting him to approach the police last month, police said.

"Based on the complaint, we arrested all three on Monday and sent them to judicial custody," police added.

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Karnataka issues nutrition advisory for govt events; recommends millets, healthier options

13-04-2026 ¦ 13-04-2026 IST

Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government on Monday issued a nutrition advisory recommending healthier food and beverage options at meetings, functions, and other official gatherings held in the state.

The advisory has been issued by the Department of Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Services to promote healthy dietary and nutritional habits among officials and staff, noting that food, refreshments and beverages served in government offices and official programmes are "often not aligned with nutrition standards."

The advisory recommends serving snacks such as millet-based, low-fat and low-sugar foods, fresh fruits, vegetable salads, sprouts, roasted nuts and seeds during in-house office meetings and breaks.

Beverages such as green tea, low-fat buttermilk, and locally filtered or boiled water served in glass bottles or steel flasks have also been suggested.

According to the advisory, for larger government events, conferences and exhibitions, departments have been advised to include at least one millet-based item during snacks and a minimum of two millet dishes in meals, along with local cuisine and at least one regional recipe.

It also recommends the use of brown rice instead of white rice, freshly prepared vegetable salads, and fresh fruits or low-sugar fruit juices.

If non-vegetarian food is served, it should consist of well-cooked lean or white meat, the advisory stated.

In eateries operating within government office campuses, the department has recommended millet-based foods, fresh vegetable salads, boiled pulses such as horse gram or chickpeas, and low-fat beverages.

It suggests serving food using reusable metal plates and glasses.

The advisory also recommends avoiding microwave-heated food, industrially processed food, fried snacks, high-fat or heavily spiced dishes, carbonated drinks, high-sugar fruit juices, and alcoholic beverages.

It further discourages serving milk-based tea or coffee and plastic-bottled water during official events.

“Overall, hygiene and cleanliness should be maintained while serving food and water. Local cottage industries, self-help groups, prison kitchens, nutri-gardens and others should be preferred for placing food and beverage orders,” the advisory added.