B’luru: Home Guard attached to BBMP harasses Delhi woman for sitting with male friend at lake
Accused Manjunath Reddy arrested by Bengaluru Police
Bengaluru: A BBMP employee was on Tuesday arrested for impersonating a cop and harassing a Delhi woman for sitting "without permission" near the Kundanahalli Lake with her male friend here on Sunday, 29 January.
The arrested accused have been identified as Manjunath Reddy V, who works for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.
The Delhi woman, who identifies herself as Arsha Latif on Twitter had posted a thread of tweets on Monday adding that the person wearing police clothes had harassed them and had made them pay a fine for “sitting without permission” at a public place. She had also accused him of moral police.
“Traumatic experience during visit to BLR. During afternoon, on 29/1/23 my male friend & I visited Kundanahalli Lake to sit in the shade & enjoy the view. A cop started clicking our pictures and started harassing us that we did not have the 'permission' to sit there while there were clearly benches beside us to sit for the general public. He started interrogating us about our jobs, hometown, our purpose of visit and said that we will have to come to the police station with him and pay a fine on grounds of 'sitting' without permission.
“When we asked what we had done wrong, he said you are not allowed to sit here without permission & you may be smoking here. We told him we don't have any cigarettes & we're just sitting here peacefully but he kept on interrogating us as to what the two of us were up to and that we cannot be together and sit there without permission. He then insinuated that he will take us to the police station and his senior will deal with us, but it's best to "settle the matter here" because he speaks a little Hindi but his senior only speaks Kannada.
“Ultimately he asked us to pay him off Rs. 1000 to let us go. Absolutely appalled by such behaviour. Why did we have to put up with this moral policing for literally doing nothing wrong? Why did this cop think he holds a right to harass two people like this for 'sitting without permission' at a public lake & extract money simply because they aren't of the same gender? Attaching a picture of his number plate, requesting @BlrCityPolice to pls take action” (sic) the woman had written in her tweet and had also posted a picture of the number plate of the man’s vehicle.
On Tuesday afternoon, the woman posted an update regarding the same adding that the Bengaluru Police had arrested the accused and thanked the city police for prompt action.
“UPDATE: I have received an update that the identified person Manjunath Reddy V has been arrested. He works for BBMP- Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike & was impersonating the police to extort money. Thank you @BlrCityPolice for escalating the matter & taking swift action.” She posted in her tweet on Tuesday.
In the tweet thread, several Bengaluru people expressed similar concerns adding that such incidents of people impersonating cops to extort money and harass people have been on the rise bringing bad repute to the city. Several people also accused the city police officials of being involved in such activities as extorting money and harassing people in the streets.
Traumatic experience during visit to BLR. During afternoon, on 29/1/23 my male friend & I visited Kundanahalli Lake to sit in the shade & enjoy the view. A cop started clicking our pictures and started harassing us that we did not have the 'permission' to sit there (1/6) pic.twitter.com/4KKMOT0ny7
— Arsha Latif (@ArshaLatif) January 30, 2023
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Kalaburagi: 22-yr-old driver killed on spot as pickup vehicle crashes into bridge on NH in Afzalpur
Kalaburagi: The driver of a pickup truck transporting fish was killed on the spot as the vehicle rammed into a bridge on the National Highway bypass in Balurgi village of Afzalpur taluk early Friday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Anil Dasharatha Bhovi (22), a native of Bandarwada village in Afzalpur taluk. He was reportedly driving from Jewargi to Solapur, when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a bridge on the bypass in Balurgi. Anil Said to have died on the spot due to the intensity of the crash.
Afzalpur Police have said that the body of the driver has been sent to the Afzalpur Government Hospital and will be handed over to the family after completion of the postmortem examination.
A case has been registered in this regard at the Afzalpur Police Station and investigation is underway.
