For first time in 125 years, Karnataka has recorded highest rainfall in May: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, May 30 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said, for the first time in the last 125 years, the state has recorded the highest rainfall in the month of May, and 28 districts have received more than usual rainfall.
Addressing the review meeting with Deputy Commissioners of all districts and CEOs of all Zilla Panchayats, he asked them to visit the rain-damaged areas immediately and provide necessary compensation to those affected.
"There is no shortage of funds to provide compensation for rain damage. More than Rs 1,000 crore is available under SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) in the districts," the CM was quoted as telling officers, by his office in a release.
Guidelines have already been issued for providing compensation if houses are damaged due to heavy rain. "Immediate compensation should be provided," he said.
In places where landslides are likely, precautionary measures, including evacuation of people should be taken to avoid the possibility of death, Siddaramaiah said.
In case the house is completely damaged by rains, immediate compensation of Rs 1.20 lakh is being provided, he said, as he asked the Deputy Commissioners to take action like last year by providing new houses to such people.
Assistance should be provided for the construction of houses under various schemes, he added.
The CM said a task force comprising various departments has been formed at all Gram Panchayat levels to deal with the flood disaster, and if they work in coordination, precautionary measures can be taken.
Questioning as to why can't precautionary measures be taken regarding rain in Bengaluru city, he said, "There is information about low-lying areas and waterlogging areas in advance. Officials should be more proactive. Along with temporary measures, permanent solutions should also be taken."
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Man arrested in multi-crore deposit scam in Belagavi
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): A case was registered with regard to the alleged multi-crore deposit scam in Karnataka, and police arrested a person running the firm, accused of attracting deposits from the public by promising extremely high returns, a police official said on Sunday.
Shivaanand S Neelanavar and his firm Shivam Associates, also known as Acumen, were booked after they could not return money to depositors after attracting investments from thousands of people by promising a 36 per cent annual return, in a Ponzi-style deposit scheme, Belagavi Police Commissioner Bhushan Gulabrao Borase said in a press conference here.
The accused has been secured, raids are underway at his offices and residence, and the case will be transferred to the CID for further investigation, he added.
"An FIR has been registered at Malmaruti Police Station invoking relevant sections of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act, the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors (KPID) Act, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The complaint has been received against one Shivanand Neelannavar. He had solicited deposits from the public with the promise of a 3 per cent return per month," Borase said.
According to police sources, Neelannavar was unable to pay depositors their money. As the complaints grew, the district authorities initiated action against him.
Borase said the initial investigations indicated that thousands of people had deposited money in the firm and that the scale of the fraud was substantial.
The Commissioner said Neelannavar had been secured, and searches were continuing at multiple locations linked to him.
"The person has now been secured as we speak. Raids are being conducted at his offices as well as his residential premises," he said.
He further said the case would be handed over to the CID in accordance with Karnataka State Police guidelines.
"As per Karnataka State Police guidelines, this case will be transferred to the CID. We have already written a letter to the DGP and IGP," he added.
Belagavi Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Roshan said the district administration had initiated inquiries nearly one-and-a-half months ago after receiving market intelligence inputs regarding suspected financial misappropriation by Shivam Associates.
"About one-and-a-half months ago, we started receiving market intelligence regarding financial misappropriation by this organisation called Shivam Associates, run by Neelannavar," he said.
Roshan said two parallel inquiries were initiated -- one through the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies and another led by the Assistant Commissioner under provisions of the KPID Act.
"The scope of the inquiry was to examine whether there were any financial wrongdoings, any possibility of diversion of deposit funds, any suspicious financial transactions, and any unregulated deposit mobilisation," he said.
He said the Assistant Commissioner had verified several documents, digital records, bank account details and depositors' information during the inquiry.
"Based on the detailed report submitted by the Assistant Commissioner, which pointed to suspected diversion of funds and the existence of several documents such as issued cheques and hand-loan documents, I forwarded the report to the Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue Department as mandated under the Act," Roshan said.
"I would like to inform all the people that these are Ponzi schemes. Anyone assuring returns of more than 8-9 per cent should immediately trigger suspicion," he said.
Roshan also appealed to investors and members of the public to approach the Malmaruti Police Station with any complaints or information related to the scheme.
Meanwhile, sources said the alleged fraud could run into several thousand crore rupees, with preliminary information suggesting that more than 35,000 people may have invested in the scheme. Investigators are also probing the possible involvement of bank officials after they found transactions worth several crores were allegedly routed through four bank accounts across three private banks.
According to sources, more than Rs 2,500 crore was allegedly transferred through online transactions alone, while over Rs 75 crore per month was allegedly paid out to investors as interest. Authorities have reportedly frozen four bank accounts linked to Neelanavar.
The focus of the probe has now shifted to why the suspicious transactions were allegedly not flagged to the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Enforcement Directorate or the Income Tax Department.
