BJP expels ex-MLA for contesting as rebel in Basavakalyan
Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP on Saturday expelled former MLA Mallikarjun Khuba for contesting as an independent against the party's candidate Sharanu Salagar in the Basavakalyan Assembly segment where a bypoll is underway.
"By contesting as a rebel candidate against the BJP's official candidate Sharanu Salagar, you (Khuba) have violated the party discipline. Despite attempts by the party till the last moment you did not withdraw from the fray," an expulsion order by BJP's state disciplinary committee president Lingaraj Patil said.
"So you have been expelled from the primary membership of the BJP for a period of six years for anti-party activities," it said.
Kuba had not withdrawn his nomination as an independent candidate despite attempts by Housing Minister V Somanna, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and district in-charge Minister Prabhu Chauhan, among others, to pacify him.
Kuba was a two-time MLA from the constituency in 2004 and 2013. From JD(S), he had subsequently joined the BJP and lost to B Narayan Rao of the Congress in 2018 Assembly polls.
By-polls to Basavakalyan Assembly seat is necessitated following the death of Narayan Rao due to COVID-19 in September last.
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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).
