Human Rights activist M H Sudhir Kumar Murolli is new president of APCR Karnataka chapter
Bangalore, February 16, 2025: The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) Karnataka has announced its newly formed executive team, which will serve for the term 2025-2028. The team comprises legal experts, retired officials, academics, activists, and professionals dedicated to upholding civil liberties and human rights across the state. The executive committee was constituted during the state executive meeting held on January 16, 2025, at Bearys Association, Bhavana, Bangalore.
The team will be led by M H Sudhir Kumar Murolli, a human rights activist and advocate from Koppa, who has been appointed as the president. The vice president positions have been assigned to Akhila Vidhyasandra, an advocate at the Karnataka High Court, and Syed Ulfath Hussain, a former Inspector General of Police in Karnataka.
Mohammed Niyaz S, a high court advocate, will take on the role of general secretary, while Hussain Kodibengre, an activist from Udupi, has been named as secretary. The responsibilities of joint secretaries have been given to Zeeshan Aaqil Siddiqui, an activist from Raichur, and Shajeeha P, an advocate from Bangalore. Abdul Salam N K, also a practicing advocate in Bangalore, has been appointed as the treasurer.
The executive team includes several prominent figures from various fields. Former district judge Mohammad Khan Pathan, senior advocate and former state public prosecutor B T Venkatesh, and Jerald D Souza, the director of St. Joseph's College of Law in Bangalore, are among the members. Other notable individuals include Mavalli Shankar, the state convener of Dalit Sangarsha Samithi; Usman P, an advocate at the Karnataka High Court; and Akmal Razvi, a high court advocate based in Bangalore.
The committee also includes Mohammed Kunhi, the director of Shanthi Prakashana in Mangalore, and Mehadi Kaleem, an activist from Bangalore. Retired Deputy Superintendent of Police (NIA) Mohd A G Kaiser from Gulbarga has also joined the team. Media representation is present with Harshakumar Kugwe, editor-in-chief of Kannada Planet. Other members include social activist Malige from Bangalore, RTI activist Sheikh Shafi Ahmed from Kalburgi, and several legal professionals such as Afwan B from Udupi, Mushtaq Ahmed from Dharwad, and Jasbir Singh Dhoby, the president of Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Bangalore. Sardar Jarnail Singh, who serves as the secretary of Sri Guru Singh Sabha, is also part of the team.
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41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
