COVID-19: Public celebration of Ganesh festival restricted to 3 days in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Sep 7: The Bengaluru civic agency has permitted only three-day Ganesha Pooja celebrations in the city in public places against the Karnataka government order allowing five days' of festivities in the state, to keep COVID-19 infections in check.
"Ganesha festival will not be allowed for more than three days in Bengaluru city. There should not be any procession while bringing the idol or during immersion," the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said in a circular.
The instruction came after Gupta had a meeting with senior district level officers and Bengaluru police commissioner Kamal Pant.
Later talking to reporters, Gupta said the BBMP had last year permitted Ganesha festival for three days, which will continue this year as well.
He said the decision to have it for only three days was taken after inputs from the police that there were possibilities of large gatherings participating in the public celebrations.
Gupta also said that Ganesha idols made of plaster of Paris have been banned.
He asked people to immerse the traditional Ganesha idol, made up of biodegradable material in their homes in buckets or mobile tankers of the civic agency.
"Idols installed at homes should be immersed at home only or in our mobile tank. Ganeshas installed at public places should be of (a maximum of) four feet height and should be immersed in mobile tanks. We are also creating immersion tanks. We have also arrived at a decision to ban immersion of idols in lakes," Gupta said.
Pant said one Ganesha idol at public place in each ward is permitted, for which the organisers will have to get the nod from the BBMP and then inform the deputy commissioner of police of the area.
A BBMP official the number of infections in the city is still on the higher side and hence it was decided to limit public celebrations to a maximum of three days.
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Slain Australia beach shooting suspect native of Hyderabad: T'gana police
Hyderabad/Melbourne (PTI): Sajid Akram, the 50-year-old slain suspect in a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia, was an Indian citizen hailing from Hyderabad, Telangana Police revealed on Tuesday.
While he had migrated to Australia 27 years ago, Akram carried an Indian passport. Akram, along with his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, recently travelled to the Philippines on an Indian passport.
Akram, one of the two suspects in the mass shooting that has left 15 people dead and dozens injured, migrated to Australia in 1998 and had limited contact with his family here since then, the Telangana DGP's office said in a statement.
"Sajid Akram (50) is originally from Hyderabad, India. He completed his B.Com degree in Hyderabad and migrated to Australia in search of employment, approximately 27 years ago, in November 1998," it said.
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He married a European-origin woman before settling permanently in Australia. The couple have one son, Naveed (the second suspect who is in custody at a hospital in Australia) and one daughter, it said.
Naveed and Akram's daughter were born in Australia and are citizens of that country, the statement said.
On Tuesday, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett described the mass shooting as "a terrorist attack inspired by the Islamic State."
According to Australian authorities, the suspects were a father and son, aged 50 and 24. The older man, who was identified as Sajid Akram, was shot dead.
The Telangana police said Akram visited India on six occasions after migrating to Australia, primarily for family-related reasons such as property matters and to meet his elderly parents.
It is understood that he did not travel to India even at the time of his father's demise, the statement said.
The family members have further expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation, police said.
"The factors that led to the radicalisation of Sajid Akram and his son, Naveed, appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana," Telangana police said.
Telangana Police further said it has no adverse record against Akram during his stay in India before his departure in 1998.
The state police said it remains committed to cooperating with central agencies and other counterparts, as and when required, and urged the public and media to avoid speculation or attribution without verified facts.
Quoting security sources, Australia's ABC News reported that Akram and Naveed travelled to the Philippines to receive "military-style training".
"Investigators are now examining the Akrams' ties to an international jihadist network, after discovering the pair travelled to Manila in early November," it said, quoting officials briefed on the investigation.
The Philippines Bureau of Immigration confirmed the pair arrived in the Philippines from Australia on November 1, declaring the southern city of Davao - a hotbed for Islamic militants since the 1990s - as their destination, it said.
"They left the country on November 28, 2025, on a connecting flight from Davao to Manila, with Sydney as their final destination," ABC News quoted the Philippines' Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval as saying.
Sandoval said Akram entered the country on an Indian passport, while his son, Naveed, entered on an Australian passport.
In the Philippines, Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office and Press Officer for Malacanang Palace Claire Castro said that the National Security Council (NSC) is currently looking into reports that the father and son duo travelled to the country a month before the attack.
