Congress govt's two-year celebration likely in Vijayanagara on May 20
Mysuru/Bengaluru, May 12 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday indicated that the Congress government’s event in the Vijayanagara district to mark two years of the party in power is likely to be held on May 20.
He said his government had walked the talk by fulfilling the promise it had made to the people of the state.
The Cabinet on Friday decided to indefinitely postpone the government’s event marking two years, in the view of the military conflict between India and Pakistan.
"We want to do it (celebration event), because when we decided in the Cabinet to postpone it, the ceasefire was not yet announced," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, he said Congress general secretaries Randeep Singh Surjewala and K C Venugopal have already communicated to party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi about the postponement.
"They (Surejewala and Venugopal) will now check with them (Kharge and Gandhi) and let us know. We want to organise the event, " he added.
Responding to a question as to how he rates his government's performance, Siddaramaiah said, "If there is any government that has walked the talk, it is our government. We have performed as promised."
Not wanting to respond to a question if the cabinet reshuffle was on the cards, the CM said the media will be informed when it is done.
To mark the second anniversary of its rule, the Congress government is planning to distribute one lakh title deeds to eligible beneficiaries, whose "undocumented habitations" have been declared as revenue villages, during the event.
Earlier, speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief D K Shivakumar too said preparations are being initiated to organise an event at Vijayanagara on May 20.
"We had decided to postpone it considering the situation at the border, but now with the ceasefire in place, we want to do it," he said.
All district in-charge ministers have been asked to visit assembly segments and to hold meetings with officers and party karyakartas separately there. The government also plans to distribute one lakh title deeds to eligible beneficiaries during the two year's celebrations, as committed in the manifesto, he said.
"Congress party leadership will also be invited for the event," Shivakumar added.
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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.
