Karnataka becoming safe haven for communal elements, criminals: Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar
New Delhi (PTI): Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed on Wednesday that Karnataka is becoming a "safe haven" for communal elements and criminals as he hit out at the Congress government in the southern state over the killing of a Jain monk in Belagavi district.
The Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka also claimed that the state police swung into action in the matter only after repeated protests by the BJP.
"It is shocking that Karnataka under Rahul Gandhi's Congress government has in a few months become a safe haven for communal elements and criminals. The brutal murder of the Jain monk is shocking," Chandrasekhar said.
Claiming that the state police swung into action only after repeated protests staged by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said it is shocking and questions should be asked as to what is happening in Karnataka where law and order was restored under the previous government of the saffron party.
Citing several recent incidents of crime, Chandrasekhar said it is like "rampant unleashing of vested interests because they must be feeling that Karnataka is a safe haven as long as the target are these people who are associated with a particular religion or faith".
It is sad to see that the state is becoming a "centre of such brutal and violent crimes", he alleged.
Jain monk Acharya Sri Kamakumara Nandi Maharaj, who was heading a monastery at Hirekodi in Chikkodi taluk of Belagavi, was chopped into pieces and his dismembered body parts were dumped in a defunct borewell.
Two men -- Narayana Basappa Madi and Hassan Dalayath -- have been arrested in the case. Police suspect that money-related matters were behind the killing.
Opposition BJP legislators staged a sit-in on Wednesday near the Gandhi statue in the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the Karnataka legislature in Bengaluru, against the brutal killing of the Jain monk.
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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.
