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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CM Siddaramaiah, FM Nirmala Sitharaman lead polio vaccination drive in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman led the statewide pulse polio vaccination drive on Sunday.
While Siddaramaiah kicked off the campaign along with state Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and Home Minister G Parameshwara at his residence 'Kaveri' here, Sitharaman, who is in Vijayanagara district in the state, holding Chintan Shivir, administered pulse polio drops to children below five years of age in Kamalapura.
"Smt @nsitharaman launched the Polio Immunisation Drive in Kamalapura, Karnataka, reaffirming the Government’s commitment to safeguarding child health and ensuring a polio-free India," a post on her 'X' account said.
The post further said that children under five years of age were administered Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) drops, "reinforcing the collective effort to protect future generations through timely immunisation."
According to the details shared by the health departments, about 62.4 lakh children have been identified for it.
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"Under the routine immunization programme, every Child is given 5 doses of OPV (Oral Polio Vaccine) and 3 doses of IPV (inactivated injectable polio vaccine) and Government of Karnataka is committed that no child should miss these doses," a government statement said.
Apart from all hospitals in the state, special focus will be given to immunise children living in villages, hilly areas, brick kilns, slums, migrant areas, farmhouses, urban slums. Booths will also be set up in railway stations, metro stations, airports and Seaports, the statement said.
The state health department has set up 33,258 booths and deployed 1,030 mobile teams, 2,096 transit teams, 1,13,115 vaccinators and 7,322 Supervisors.
All children below five years of age will be administered the oral polio vaccine on December 21, 2025.
"Even if your child has received any number of doses of OPV before, it is very essential to immunise your child again during this round," the department said.
In order to allay concerns, the department said the polio vaccine is completely safe and people should not to believe in any false rumours.
Smt @nsitharaman launched the Polio Immunization Drive in Kamalapura, Karnataka, reaffirming the Government’s commitment to safeguarding child health and ensuring a polio-free India.
— Nirmala Sitharaman Office (@nsitharamanoffc) December 21, 2025
On the occasion, children under five years of age were administered Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV)… pic.twitter.com/PN4IJUGtnn
ಗೃಹಕಚೇರಿ ಕೃಷ್ಣಾದಲ್ಲಿ "ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಲಸಿಕಾ ದಿನ"ವನ್ನು ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೆ ಪಲ್ಸ್ ಪೋಲಿಯೊ ಲಸಿಕೆ ಹಾಕುವ ಮೂಲಕ ಉದ್ಘಾಟಿಸಿದೆ.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) December 21, 2025
ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬರೂ ತಮ್ಮ 5 ವರ್ಷದೊಳಗಿನ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿದ ತಪ್ಪದೇ ಪೋಲಿಯೊ ಲಸಿಕೆ ಹಾಕಿಸುವ ಮೂಲಕ "ಪೋಲಿಯೊ ಮುಕ್ತ ಭಾರತ"ದ ನಮ್ಮ ಅಭಿಯಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಬೆಂಬಲವಾಗಿ ನಿಲ್ಲಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ಮನವಿ ಮಾಡುತ್ತೇನೆ.
ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಸಚಿವರಾದ ದಿನೇಶ್… pic.twitter.com/uClMoqOnyB
