Bengaluru, Mar 9: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed the presence of the Deputy Commissioners of districts, who provided false information regarding provision of land for burial grounds in all villages.

The court is hearing a civil contempt petition filed by one Mohammed Iqbal, whos plea has claimed that the state government failed to act upon the 2019 order of the HC directing it to provide land for graveyards in all villages of Karnataka within six weeks.

The division bench of Justices B Veerappa and T Venkatesh Naik ordered the presence of the DCs before it on March 17.

In an earlier hearing of the petition in January, the government counsel had submitted before the court that out of the 29,616 villages in the state, 27,903 were already provided with land for burial grounds and only 319 villages were to be given land for the same. The court was also told that encroachment of burial grounds in 56 villages was being removed and 1,394 were uninhabited.

However, the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority verified these submissions and informed the court that the government has provided false information.

As per the KSLSA, a total of 2,041 villages were yet to be provided land for burial grounds. The government advocate, however, told the court that the information was provided by the DC of each districts.

The court observed that it had no option but to initiate contempt proceedings against the DCs who have provided false information.

Providing false information to the court amounted to contempt and cheating, the division bench observed.

The hearing of the petition was adjourned to March 17.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Police has busted a multi-state gang involved in stealing remote radio units, an important device in telecom technology, officials said on Monday.

The operation led to the arrest of four accused persons and seizure of 12 remote radio units (RRUs) worth about Rs 48 lakh, along with specialised tools, scrap material, and a car, police said.

The arrested persons have been identified as Samiruddin (25), Md Zaheem (25), Zaid (20) and Md Sultan (21), all residents of North-East Delhi.

One of the accused, Zaheem, has a previous criminal record, police said, adding that the gang targeted RRUs, a critical component of mobile towers essential for call and internet services.

"Theft of such units can severely disrupt telecom networks, including emergency services such as police and ambulance," a senior police officer said.

Based on a tip-off, police camped for several days in densely-populated areas like Seelampur, Welcome and Gonda, localities known for providing cover to organised criminal activity, the officer said.

Over the course of a week, the team conducted around 16 back-to-back raids. Despite logistical and operational challenges, police tracked the gang's movements, identified its hideouts, and neutralised the module, he said.

"The accused frequently changed their locations and used coded communications to avoid detection,” the officer said.

So far, eight cases of RRU theft have been worked out.

Forensic examination of the seized tools and digital devices is ongoing, and further investigation is underway to trace more members of the racket, including inter-state handlers and scrap dealers.