BJP leaders carry out signature campaign, silent protest against Bengaluru tunnel road project
Bengaluru (PTI): BJP leaders in Karnataka on Sunday carried out a signature campaign and a silent protest at the Lalbagh botanical garden here, against the state government's proposed tunnel road project in Bengaluru.
The protest led by the Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly R Ashoka and Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya, under the slogan "Protect Bengaluru - Stop tunnel road", was also participated by several party legislators from the city.
The leaders also interacted with the public, morning walkers at the Lalbagh regarding the proposed project.
BJP leaders and other activists have raised concerns over the possible environmental impact of the project on Lalbagh, and have said it will clearly be a disaster for Bengaluru.
Leaders have alleged that in Lalbagh, 6 acres of land will be acquired for the project.
Tejasvi Surya had recently said that the Tunnel Road, which is meant to resolve traffic, will end up creating 22 additional choke points - as per the project's DPR itself.
Tunnels are meant to save time and shorten travel distance but this Bengaluru tunnel will actually increase travel distance by 2 km as each entry and exit ramp is more than 1 km long, he said.
The proposed 16.75-km tunnel road will connect Silk Board and Hebbal, at an estimated cost of about Rs 17,800 crore.
Ahead of BJP's protest Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the Minister in-charge of Bengaluru, on Saturday had said that he was ready to form a committee on the tunnel road under the leadership of Ashoka.
"....let the committee give suggestions and directions. We will include any member they recommend. Let's all work together," he had said.
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Four held for Rs 33 lakh online investment fraud; interstate racket busted
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has busted an interstate cyber fraud syndicate involved in an online investment scam and arrested four persons, an official said on Saturday.
A crime branch team arrested the accused in a case where a victim was allegedly cheated of Rs 33.83 lakh on the pretext of lucrative returns through online trading platforms.
“Police said the accused lured victims with promises of high returns and later coerced them into depositing more money on the pretext of unlocking or withdrawing earlier investments,” the officer said.
Police said the racket operated across several states, including Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan, and used a network of mule bank accounts to route and layer the defrauded money to conceal its origin.
“During the investigation, the cheated amount was traced to 15 bank accounts. Thirteen of these accounts were registered outside Delhi, indicating the organised and interstate nature of the syndicate,” said the police officer.
The accused have been identified as Mohammad Khalid (26) and Atiur Rahman (23), both residents of Delhi, Ramandeep Singh (29) from Punjab, and Tanish alias Heera Ram (27) from Rajasthan.
According to the police, Khalid was arrested on March 15 and allegedly disclosed that he gave his bank account details and SIM card to a co-accused for a commission.
Rahman, who was already lodged in a jail in Haryana in a similar case, was later formally arrested. Ramandeep Singh was arrested on April 6 and allegedly admitted to sharing his account credentials for monetary gain.
Tanish was apprehended from Rajasthan on April 9 for facilitating the use of such accounts in the fraud network.
During the probe, officers analysed over 100 call detail records, IMEI data and transaction-related digital evidence to track the accused and establish the money trail.
Three mobile phones and SIM cards used in the crime have been recovered.
Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate and trace additional financial linkages, the police said.
