CM Yediyurappa accuses previous governments of having turned a blind eye to drug menace
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday accused the previous governments of having turned a blind eye towards the drug menace in the state.
"For more than a decade this was going on but the previous governments had turned a blind eye towards it. This time we are getting it investigated thoroughly," the Chief Minister told reporters in Bengaluru.
He was replying to queries on the police investigation into the drug menace among bigwigs of the state including film actors, children of politicians and realtors.
The Chief Minister said no one would be spared.
"There is no question of sparing anyone. Whoever is involved in it, a detailed investigation will be carried out for the first time in the history of the country," Yediyurappa said.
He pointed out that the investigation has exposed many people and promised that the government would initiate stringent action against the accused persons.
Police have launched a crackdown against the drug menace after the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested three people including a woman who were allegedly supplying drugs to the Kannada film actors and singers.
The police have registered cases against 14 people and arrested seven of them including actresses Ragini Dwivedi, Sanjjanaa Galrani, party organiser Viren Khanna, former minister Late Jeevaraj Alva's son Aditya Alva.
The police have said they may interrogate many more people based on the inputs given by the arrested persons.
Meanwhile, those arrested underwent a dope test in the city to ascertain whether they were addicted to drugs or not.
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Defamation case: Application filed in court for voice sample of Rahul Gandhi
Sultanpur (UP) (PTI): An application for obtaining a voice sample of Rahul Gandhi was filed in an MP-MLA court here on Saturday during a hearing in a defamation case against the Congress leader over his alleged objectionable remarks against then BJP president Amit Shah in 2018.
The plaintiff Vijay Mishra's advocate, Santosh Kumar Pandey, said he filed the application requesting that a voice sample of Gandhi be collected and sent to a forensic science laboratory for comparison with a CD that has already been submitted to the court.
Rahul Gandhi's lawyers registered their objections to this demand. The next hearing in the matter is fixed for April 6, Pandey said.
On February 20, Gandhi, the Lok Sabha MP from Raebareli, had appeared before the court and recorded his statement, claiming the case was filed against him due to political vendetta.
He had also told the court that the audio and video evidence submitted by the complainant was incorrect and said he would present his own evidence.
In December 2023, the court issued a warrant against Gandhi after he failed to appear before it. He later surrendered before the court in February 2024 and was granted bail on two surety bonds of Rs 25,000 each.
The hearing was deferred on Friday due to a holiday on Ram Navami.
Pandey said that during the previous hearing, the complainant's side had filed an application seeking verification of audio and video evidence of the alleged statements made by Gandhi by matching them with his original voice.
The case stems from Gandhi's alleged objectionable remarks against Shah during the 2018 Karnataka election campaign. Following the remarks, Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj under Kotwali Dehat police station area in Sultanpur, filed the defamation complaint.
