CM Yediyurappa brushes aside speculation of JD(S) joining BJP govt
New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday brushed aside speculation of Janata Dal (Secular) joining the state government or extending any support.
The chief minister, who is in the national capital on a three-day tour, dismissed such reports that emerged after JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy recently met him to discuss "development-related works".
"It is all speculation, there is no truth in it. As one of the leaders of the Opposition party, Kumaraswamy had recently met me to discuss development-related works. There was no political issue discussed in that meeting," Yediyurappa told reporters here when asked about the reports.
He said his party BJP has a comfortable majority in Karnataka and does not require any support from JD(S).
Yediyurappa also refuted the Opposition's charge that his son and BJP state vice-president B Y Vijayendra was acting like a "super CM". He said Vijayendra was focusing on the party works and not interfering in the functioning of the government.
"Some of the opposition leaders are making baseless allegations out of jealousy looking at his political growth," Yediyurappa said.
He said he would discuss the expansion of the Cabinet with party president J P Nadda later during the day. Yediyurappa also held a discussion with BJP National General Secretary B L Santosh.
Earlier during the day, the chief minister called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Union Ministers to discuss development works related to the state, according to an official statement.
Yediyurappa called on Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar at the Parliament House and requested for early grant of the 'Terms of Reference' for the Mekedatu project and first stage forest clearances for the Kalasa and Banduri Nala projects in the state.
He later met Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and urged the government to declare Upper Krishna Project Stage-III and Upper Bhadra Project as National Projects, the statement said.
The chief minister also requested for early approvals and clearances for irrigation and drinking water projects including Mekedatu and Kalasa Banduri Nala to utilise the water resources allocated to the state.
He also called on Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and requested him to expedite the process of disinvestment of the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Limited, it said.
On September 17, Yediyurappa had met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as well as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
With the speculation that the chief minister may undergo cabinet expansion, several leaders from the state including former ministers H Vishwanath and MP Renukacharya have come to the national capital.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
