BJP supporters among leading beef exporters: Siddaramaiah
Siddaramaiah urges Centre to ban export of beef
Bengaluru, Dec 11: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday alleged BJP supporters were among the leading beef exporters in the country, as he attacked the ruling party in Karnataka over the contentious anti-cow slaughter bill, terming it "draconian and unscientific".
Two days after the state assembly passed the bill that proposes a maximum of seven years' imprisonment and fine of Rs five lakh for the offenders amid a walkout by Congress, Siddaramiah also demanded a ban on beef exports and a uniform policy across the country.
"..those who are involved in beef exports are mostly from BJP, see their names, they are all BJP supporters," the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly told reporter, listing out some names.
Quoting a prominent Hindu seer Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, Siddaramaiah said the beef exports have risen after the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014 and gave figures for the last few years.
"So I demand, ban beef exports, bring uniform policy across the country," he said and asked as to why BJP was bringing in such laws in select states.
He said in 2012-13 beef exports stood at 10.76 lakh tonnes and rose to 14.75 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 while it hovered over 13 lakh tonnes in the subsequent three years.
"Have they (BJP) controlled it. on one side you give permits for exports and encourage making money from it, on the other side you bring in such laws without proper thinking," he said adding if the ill effects were not addressed it will lead to economic problems, unemployment and farmer distress.
The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill was passed by the assembly on Wednesday, amid din and stiff opposition from Congress, which eventually staged a walkout.
As the bill is yet to be introduced in the legislative council, which has been adjourned sine die, the government is now mulling promulgating an ordinance to bring it into effect.
Siddaramaiah described the legislation as draconian, unscientific and anti-farmer and said no study was undertaken on its social or economic impact.
"Bring a policy for the whole country, before that constitute an expert committee, let the Centre do it, let their report about the social and economic impact of such a decision be placed before the people, let there be discussion...," he said.
The former Chief Minister said let the government purchase the unproductive cattle or the ones that were not used for agriculture purposes instead of putting the burden on farmers.
He also raised apprehension that the bill, if implemented, may legalise lynching.
Siddaramiah expressed displeasure over the manner in which the bill was introduced and passed in the assembly on the same day without discussion.
If @BJP4India has so much concern about Cow, they should come up with one law for the entire country, including Kerala and North Eastern States. It should also stop exports of cattle meat.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) December 11, 2020
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
