Case against TV channels telecasting false news: MB Patil
“I don’t have any relationship with rowdy sheeter Cycle Ravi”
Bengaluru, July 17: “I don’t know who cycle Ravi is. But some electronic media and web portals have been tarnishing my image by telecasting false news that I have relationship with him. I have decided to file a case against such media houses”, said former minister MB Patil.
The TV channels and web portals have made the news that “I have relationship with Cycle Ravi and spoke to him over phone several times. The CCB officials are likely to interrogate me shortly”.
When he was in a programme at Vijayapura, one of his friends called him and informed that some TV channels have been telecasting news that the former minister has relationship with the rowdy sheeter. He was surprised to hear such news, he said.
“I am hearing the name of Cycle Ravi for the first time. I don’t know anything about his background and whereabouts. But the media have been saying that I have spoken to him over phone and sent messages. I could not understand this. When I spoke to CCB Joint Commissioner Sathish Kumar and asked him about the news, he told me that ‘the phone number being mentioned in the channels is not the phone number of Cycle Ravi. The phone number belongs to Mandya Congress leader Sachchidananda. But he does not know why the TV channels are making such news’. Some media have made me as a culprit and telecast the news repeatedly. Being accountable to the people, the media should know the reality before telecasting or publishing any news. But these media have crossed their limitations which is regrettable”, the Congress leader said.
“Mandya Congress worker Sachchidananda is a supporter of my close friend and former minister Ambareesh. I know him for several years. This time, he wanted to contest from Srirangapatna constituency from the Congress. I have spoken to him several times. But his phone number was mistaken as the number of Cycle Ravi and telecast false news only to tarnish my image in public life. I would file case against such TV channels and web portals in the court”, he said in a statement.
“TV channels have made big news taking the phone number of some others as the number of MB Patil. I would clarify that MB Patil does not have any relationship with Cycle Ravi”.
- HD Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
