Businessman held for 'stalking, harassing' Kannada film actress
Bengaluru, Nov 15 (PTI): A businessman was arrested on Saturday for allegedly stalking, intimidating and harassing a Kannada film actress, police said.
The accused was identified as Aravind Venkatesh Reddy.
In her complaint, the 36-year-old actress stated that she had known Reddy since 2021 and first met him at an event in Sri Lanka in 2022. He maintained a cordial relationship with her for a few months and befriended her.
According to the complaint, they were initially in a live-in relationship. He was affectionate and caring at first, but his behaviour soon turned obsessive and threatening. The accused would often come home drunk, due to which she distanced herself from him.
Despite her attempts to stay away, the accused allegedly followed her everywhere, tracked her location, and on Instagram, morphed her photographs and posted them to insult her, the complaint said.
He also allegedly sent some men to the complainant’s parental home to create trouble. He threatened to kill her younger brother and harassed her, insisting that she continue the relationship with him, she claimed.
In April 2024, distressed by alleged mental and physical harassment, the actress attempted suicide at her residence here after Reddy allegedly threatened to forcibly marry her, the FIR stated.
The harassment continued, including demands for Rs one crore, attempts to defame her before her family, and persistent tracking, it added.
Based on the allegations stated in the complaint, a case was registered at Rajarajeshwarinagar police station on October 17 under Sections 78(2) (stalking), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a senior police officer said.
The case was later transferred to Govindarajanagar police station and, based on the investigation, the accused was arrested today, he said.
The mobile phone allegedly used by him to commit the offence has also been seized, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
