BJP names candidates for Kundgol and Chincholi bypolls
Bengaluru, Apr 28: BJP Sunday announced the names of former MLA S I Chikkanagowdar and Avinash Jadhav as candidates to contest the Kundgol and Chincholi assembly seats, where by-polls will be held on May 19.
The by-poll to Chincholi was necessitated as Umesh Jadhav quit as Congress MLA and joined BJP to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Gulbarga against veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, while Kundgol seat fell vacant following the death of MLA and Minister C S Shivalli.
Chikkanagowdar, who is said to be a relative of state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa, had lost in Kundgol in the 2018 assembly polls to Congress Shivalli by a wafer thin margin of 634 votes.
Chincholi candidate Avinash Jadhav is the son of Umesh Jadhav, whose resignation necessitated the by-polls.
While Umeshs brother Ramachandra Jadhav’s name was earlier recommended by the state BJP core committee to the high command for Chincholi, he is said to have later lobbied for his son Avinash, sources said.
As M R Patil from Kundgol and Sunil Valyapure from Chincholi were also in the race for the candidacy, there is some disgruntlement within the local units of the BJP, which the party leadership is trying to resolve.
Avinash himself met Valyapure on Sunday and sought his support.
Congress has fielded Subash Rathod from Chincholi and widow of C S Shivalli- Kusumavathi as the candidate from Kundgol.
Congress alliance partner JD(S) is supporting the grand old party in this by-poll, which is determined to retain both seats that was under its control.
The outcome of by-polls along with Lok Sabha results is crucial for the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance as it will have a bearing on the longevity of the coalition government, triggering the numbers game in the assembly.
Monday is the last date for filing nominations for the May 19 by-polls, for which the results will be declared on May 23, along with Lok Sabha poll results.
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FIR filed after e-commerce platform linked tech firm alleges SMS spoofing fraud
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against unknown people for allegedly sending fraudulent messages in the name of an e-commerce platform with promises of cash rewards, further disrupting its operations, police said on Wednesday.
The offence is said to have taken place between April 23 and April 27, they said.
A representative of city-based technology company Hiveloop Technology Pvt Ltd (HTPL), part of the Udaan group (eB2B platform), has lodged a complaint alleging a large-scale SMS spoofing fraud following which a detailed investigation has been initiated into the matter, a senior police officer said.
According to the FIR, HTPL is a registered entity on the TRAI-mandated DLT platform, which permits only pre-approved SMS templates and whitelisted URLs to be sent through authorised sender IDs.
The issue came to light on April 23, when HTPL received alerts from buyers about fraudulent SMS messages appearing to originate from the company's sender ID "UDAANN". The messages reportedly contained Bitly links and falsely claimed a credit of Rs 10,001, urging recipients to withdraw money, it said.
On April 27, at around 12:49 pm, the DLT platform blacklisted HTPL's SMS templates, citing their alleged use in sending fraudulent messages. Within minutes, the company's sender ID was also blacklisted. Airtel's DLT system subsequently confirmed the action and shared details of the fraudulent messages that were circulated in HTPL's name without its knowledge or consent, the FIR stated.
Following this, the company's messaging operations were affected, and even legitimate communications such as one-time passwords to buyers began failing. Later, the DLT operator suspended HTPL's entire account following complaints raised on TRAI's Chakshu platform, bringing all SMS services of the company to a halt, it further stated.
HTPL has stated that neither it nor its authorised vendors sent the fraudulent messages. The links embedded in the messages reportedly redirected users to an online betting website, the FIR stated.
The company has claimed that the incident has resulted in a complete breakdown of SMS-based services, including buyer authentication, order updates and promotional communication, leading to significant financial losses.
At least 13 victims have been identified so far, with the possibility of more affected users. Victims were allegedly directed to an online betting platform, raising concerns of potential financial fraud, the FIR added.
