Chairman of K'taka Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti ends ties with JD(S), to join BJP
Hubballi, Apr 3: Chairman of Karnataka Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti on Sunday said he would join the BJP and likely be its candidate for the upcoming MLC polls from West Teachers' constituency.
Horatti, elected as MLC seven successive times from 1980, has ended his association with the JD(S).
"...the time has come to join (BJP), not sure when...all (BJP) leaders have told me, I have also accepted it...they have not announced a candidate from this constituency for my sake," Horatti said.
Speaking to reporters, he said JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy too said he has no objections to Horatti's decision.
"I'm still the chairman, I will join the BJP ahead of filing nomination, once the elections are declared....all leaders, including Chief Minister (Basavaraj Bommai) and Yediyurappa (BJP leader), have agreed. Yediyurappa called me yesterday (Saturday) and said J P Nadda (BJP national president) has agreed, things are almost final," he added.
Considered to be among the senior-most MLCs, Horatti was seen as JD(S)'s prominent face from north Karnataka.
He had been State Education Minister, and been elected as the Chairman of the Legislative Council in February 2021.
The MLC polls from graduates' and teachers' constituencies are expected in June or July.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
