'Fake letter' on home minister's name: BJP spokesman Hemanth Kumar arrested
Bengaluru, Apr 27: A journalist was arrested here Saturday for allegedly circulating a "fake letter,"purportedly written by home minister M B Patil to Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi in 2017 on religion tag to the Lingayat sect.
Patil had termed the letter fake and alleged that it was a conspiracy against him by his rivals.
Inspector General of Police CID, economic offence wing and cyber crime Hemant Nimbalkar told PTI that Hemant Kumar was arrested here Saturday.
Kumar is special correspondent of a Delhi based English and Hindi magazine.
Police in a release said Hemanth Kumar was arrested, "based on credible evidence corroborated by oral statement."
He was produced before a court, which granted police custody of Kumar till April 30, it said.
The 'letter' had first emerged during the Karnataka assembly elections in 2018.
It resurfaced during the current Lok Sabha election with BJP first publishing it on its Twitter handle on April 15.
Condemning the arrest, a delegation of BJP leaders, led by MLAs Arvind Limbavali and Suresh Kumar submitted a memorandum to the Director General of Police Neelamani M Raju.
Later, speaking to reporters, Limbavali alleged that all those supporting the BJP and working for the party during the election are being targeted at the instance of home minister.
Police barged into the office and arrested Hemanth Kumar, who is a BJPsympathiser, he said.
Patil has repeatedly termed it a fake letter, but it kept resurfacing time and again.
When it came up again,Patil, as home minister, took serious note of it.
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No more street vending on B’luru’s main roads, as govt plans to bring new policy for street hawkers
Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday said that the state government has decided to formulate a new policy for footpaths in Bengaluru, under which street vending will not be allowed on main roads and sub-main roads.
Addressing the media after a budget preparation meeting and executive meeting of GBA corporations at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said discussions were held with MLAs from the GBA region regarding the corporations’ budgets and key civic issues.
Leader of Opposition R. Ashok also participated in the meeting and shared his views. Officials from multiple departments, including police, BESCOM, BMRCL, BWSSB and BDA, along with ministers and legislators, were present.
He stated that all five municipalities have prepared their individual budgets, while MLAs have submitted their demands, including calls for ward-wise grants.
“We have decided to bring a new policy for footpaths. Citizens are struggling to walk as footpaths are encroached upon by street vendors,” Shivakumar said.
Highlighting the need to balance livelihoods and public convenience, he added that “a separate space will be provided for street vendors, and specific roads will be designated for their business,” ensuring that pedestrians can use footpaths without obstruction. He noted that there was unanimous agreement among MLAs on this approach.
Issuing a warning to vendors, Shivakumar said that authorities will act against those violating the rules. “If vendors operate during the day and leave their carts on the roadside at night, authorities will clear them. People should be aware of this,” he said.
Providing data on street vendors, he said that around 60,000 vendors have registered so far, of which 30,000 have applied for vehicles, and a tender has already been floated.
“Only those with street vendor identity cards will be allowed to do business. Those without ID cards will not be permitted to operate on the streets,” he added.
