Bengaluru: Rajasthan man arrested for selling smuggled food products with fake FSSAI stickers
Bengaluru: City Police Commissioner B Dayanand stated that the sleuths from Economic offences wing of Central Crime Bureau (CCB) arrested an individual for selling untaxed imported food products to malls and supermarkets in the city with fake FSSAI stickers, on Wednesday.
The accused is identified as Narendra Singh (45). A case has been registered at the Kalasipalya Police Station in this regard.
Narendra Singh, originally from Rajasthan, had been living in the city from many years. Food products worth 1 crore has been seized from him. Starting the illegal business 5-6 years ago, he imported chocolates, biscuits, cold drinks and other food products from foreign countries. The consignment would be shipped to Mumbai port first and would be transported to Bangalore on road. The food products thus imported would be stocked in a warehouse in Sudhama Nagara. Based on credible information, CCB officers raided the warehouse and arrested the accused.
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Police discovered that the accused smuggled the food products to the country without paying any taxes. He pasted fake FSSAI stickers on the stocked items and made profits, illegally, by selling them to malls and supermarkets at expensive prices, the police commissioner stated.
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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses EC of ‘bias’, defends state guarantee schemes ahead of bypolls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the EC of "double standards" and "bias" after it sought details on the state’s guarantee schemes in Davanagere and Bagalkot districts, where bypolls are scheduled for Thursday.
In a post on 'X' on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said the Election Commission of India had asked the Karnataka government for information on fund releases under five ongoing guarantee schemes in the constituencies going to polls.
The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, respectively.
The schemes are Gruha Jyothi, which provides 200 units of free electricity to every household; Gruha Lakshmi, offering Rs 2,000 to women heading families; and Anna Bhagya, supplying 10 kg of rice per month to each member of BPL families.
In addition, Yuva Nidhi grants Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders aged 18–25 for two years, while Shakti enables women to travel free of charge within Karnataka on government non-luxury buses.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the ECI had remained silent when similar cash transfer schemes were announced in Maharashtra and Bihar ahead of elections, calling the scrutiny of Karnataka’s schemes a "clear case of bias".
"In states like Maharashtra and Bihar, cash transfer schemes were announced or fast-tracked just before elections, directly benefiting voters. Yet the ECI remained silent. This is not neutrality—it is complicity," he said.
The CM accused the BJP and NDA governments of "a double standard", noting that when they act, the ECI "looks the other way", but when Karnataka fulfils its promises, it faces "intense scrutiny".
He added that targeting the state’s guarantee schemes is "not just political but anti-poor, anti-women, and anti-Karnataka."
Siddaramaiah clarified that these schemes were not launched in connection with the bypolls but are ongoing programmes implemented as part of the Congress government’s commitments from the 2023 Assembly elections.
Funds are transferred regularly to beneficiaries in a transparent and structured manner, he added.
"The guarantees are part of governance—a direct investment in human dignity, household stability, and economic participation, not inducement," he said.
He also accused the BJP of "hypocrisy", saying that while it criticises Karnataka’s schemes as "freebies", it rolls out similar programmes in states it governs.
"The Karnataka model has set a benchmark for the country. What is deeply concerning, however, is the ECI’s selective approach," Siddaramaiah added.
