High alert continues in Karnataka, security beefed up
Bengaluru, Aug 16: Security arrangements across major towns and cities in Karnataka have been beefed up after a high alert was sounded on Friday.
Police said it was only an extension of the usual alert sounded for the Independence Day.
Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, Bhaskar Rao, in a memo to all senior police officers directed all top ranking officers to remain on high alert.
They should sensitise the public about the alert at all iconic installations like Vidhana Soudha, Vikas Soudha, high court, railway stations, bus stands, Bengaluru Metro Rail, high end schools, malls, five star hotels and markets with high footfall.
Officials have also been asked to post pickets, ensure CCTVs were functional, high level of police presence and continuous visibility, verifying antecedents of suspects, seize unattended bags and vehicles and intensify night checking.
Special attention should be paid to hostels, serviced apartments and accommodation near religious places, the memo said.
A senior police official told PTI that the alert was only an extension of the usual alert sounded for the Independence Day.
Security drills were carried out at all the important locations while bomb squads and dog squads were also pressed into the service, police sources said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
