Ex-Karnataka ADGP B Bhaskar Rao joins AAP
New Delhi, Apr 4: B Bhaskar Rao, a 1990-batch Karnataka cadre IPS officer and a native of Bengaluru, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here on Monday after serving the police force for 32 years in various capacities.
He was welcomed to the party fold by senior AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
AAP's Karnataka unit convenor Prithvi Reddy, election in-charge for the state and Timarpur MLA Dilip Pandey, organisation secretary Damodaran and other leaders were present on the occasion at the party headquarters here.
Rao, who was serving as the Additional Director General of Police (Railways), had resigned from the service in September last year, citing personal reasons.
He demitted his office on Friday to join the AAP after the Karnataka government accepted his resignation and relieved him of his duties.
Rao's joining is seen as a shot in the arm of the AAP with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party preparing for the Karnataka Assembly elections next year, starting with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (Greater Bengaluru Municipal Corporation) polls this year.
The party leaders believe that the popularity and clout of the former IPS officer would help the AAP better execute its expansion plan in the run up to the assembly elections in the state, currently ruled by the BJP.
Riding high on its stupendous victory in Punjab, the party is hoping to gain its toehold in the southern state this time.
During his service, Rao held various positions and served as Bengaluru Police Commissioner, State Transport Commissioner and Additional Director General of Police (ADGP)-Internal Security.
He received the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2015, Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2008 and United Nations Medal for the Services rendered in International Peacekeeping in a warzone in 2000.
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Saif meets auto-rickshaw driver who took him to hospital after knife attack
Mumbai (PTI): Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan has met auto-rickshaw driver Bhajan Singh Rana, who rushed him to hospital after he was injured in the knife attack at his home in Mumbai, and thanked him for the help.
The actor also gave the driver some money and assured all help to him whenever needed.
Khan (54) was repeatedly stabbed with a knife by an intruder inside his 12th-floor apartment in the upscale Bandra area in the wee hours of January 16.
The actor suffered multiple stab injuries in the attack and underwent an emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital. He returned home on Tuesday.
Khan met Singh Rana on Tuesday at the hospital before getting discharged.
"I met him (Saif) yesterday at the hospital. He called to thank me, to help him reach the hospital. He praised me. I got the blessings from him and his family," the auto-rickshaw driver told PTI.
"He (Khan) introduced me to his mother (Sharmila Tagore), and I touched her feet. He gave me (money) whatever he felt was right, and said whenever I need help he will be there," Singh Rana said.
The intruder, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, a Bangladeshi national who had illegally entered India and changed his name to Vijay Das, was held on Sunday from adjoining Thane city.
A preliminary investigation suggests the accused had entered the actor's home intending to commit theft, according to police.
He gained entry into the actor's building here by scaling its compound wall and went inside the main entrance after finding the security guards asleep, the police earlier said.
