Eight arrested in connection with abduction of BPO employees in Bengaluru
Bengaluru (PTI): Police have rescued four manager-level employees of a city-based BPO firm who were allegedly abducted by a gang of eight persons posing as cops, and have nabbed the accused, which includes a police constable.
The accused had allegedly extorted Rs 8.90 lakh from the operations manager of the firm, and had demanded for more money, police said.
The incident took place around midnight on Friday and most of the accused are from Kolar, police sources said, adding that one of the accused is a police constable in Kolar, and further investigation is on.
The accused had claimed to be police personnel conducting a cybercrime inspection, officials said.
Those abducted were kept as hostages at a place in Kolar district's Malur.
Police swung into action on receiving a complaint on emergency helpline 112 from the BPO staff, early on Saturday and arrested the culprits.
Home Minister G Parameshwara, speaking to reporters on Sunday said, arrests have been made in the Koramangala case. The arrested police constable is posted at the Malur town police station.
He said instructions will be given in the department to be vigilant, and take merciless action against the police personnel involved in such activities, by taking disciplinary and legal action.
DCP (south-east) Sarah Fathima told reporters on Saturday said, "On Friday at 1 am, eight people posing as police took four manager level employees working at a BPO in Koramangala police station limits under the pretext of an inquiry and kidnapped them."
She said they demanded money from the abducted and forced one person--operations manager of the firm--to transfer Rs 8.90 lakh to four bank accounts of those related to the accused through online. They also demanded more money in the form of cash.
Police received the complaint at 4.30 am on Saturday and four teams were formed to track the case.
The DCP said eight accused persons have been arrested and two vehicles used for kidnapping have been seized.
"The accused have tried to get as much money as they can. They had demanded hard cash and had tried to share location over phone to deliver the money. We have nabbed the accused kidnappers before the delivery," she said.
Most of the accused are from Kolar district doing different kinds of jobs.
They have been arrested and further investigation will be done, the DCP said.
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Opposition plans to move fresh notice seeking removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar
New Delhi (PTI): Undeterred by the rejection of their earlier notices, opposition parties are planning a fresh move to seek the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, sources said on Saturday.
According to highly placed sources, leaders from several opposition parties are in talks, and at least five senior MPs from different parties -- including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the DMK -- are working on drafting a new notice to initiate removal proceedings.
It has, however, not yet been decided which House the notice would be moved in, or whether it would be introduced in both Houses as was done last time, the source added.
Buoyed by the defeat of The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 in Lok Sabha on Friday, opposition leaders are aiming to secure more MPs' signatures on the notice and are looking at garnering at least 200, the source said.
"We want to make a statement. We first need to prove that the number last time was underestimated," the source added.
In its earlier notices, the opposition had accused CEC Kumar of a "failure to maintain independence and constitutional fidelity" and of acting under the "thumb of the executive".
The notices levelled sweeping charges against the CEC, alleging “proved misbehaviour” on grounds including a compromised and executive-influenced appointment, partisan functioning -- such as the alleged “graded response” doctrine targeting opposition leaders -- obstruction of electoral fraud investigations, and erosion of transparency through refusal to share data and materials.
They further accused him of enabling large-scale disenfranchisement via Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercises in Bihar and elsewhere, defying or delaying compliance with Supreme Court directions, and acting in alignment with the political executive, thereby undermining the independence of the Election Commission.
However, in almost similar responses, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan rejected the notices, holding that even if the allegations were assumed to be true, they did not meet the high constitutional threshold of “misbehaviour” required for removal.
They reasoned that appointment-related issues or prior government service do not constitute misconduct; differences in public statements or administrative decisions lack evidence of wilful abuse of authority; and actions like data-sharing or electoral roll revisions fall within the commission’s constitutional mandate and are subject to judicial review.
The responses also stressed that many issues cited were either speculative, politically interpretative, or sub judice, and that removal proceedings cannot be based on disagreement or perceived political consequences but require clear, specific, and provable misconduct, which, they concluded, was absent in this case.
