K'taka HC reserves verdict on Tejasvi Surya's plea to quash case for allegedly spreading fake news
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has reserved its verdict on a petition filed by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya seeking to quash a case registered against him for allegedly spreading fake news about a farmer’s suicide in Haveri district.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna, presiding over the matter, stated, “Heard, reserved,” after listening to arguments from both sides.
Surya’s senior counsel argued that the case lacked merit, stating, “The tweet in question was based on a news report. Even if taken at face value, no ingredients of s.353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) are made out. The tweet was deleted, and the father of the deceased gave an interview to the media the following day.”
However, the state’s counsel opposed the plea, contending that the tweet portrayed the current administration in a negative light. The court expressed disapproval of political exploitation of such incidents, stating, “A farmer’s son commits suicide due to debts or other reasons, and politics is being played over it.”
The controversy arose after Surya tweeted on November 7, claiming that farmer Rudrappa Channappa Balikai died by suicide because his land was allegedly taken over by the Waqf Board. The tweet was deleted after the Haveri district SP clarified that the suicide occurred in January 2022 and was unrelated to any Waqf Board dispute, attributing it instead to financial difficulties stemming from crop loss and loans.
Subsequently, a suo motu case was registered under s.353(2) of the BNS for publishing or circulating statements intended to promote enmity between groups. On November 14, the High Court granted interim relief to Surya by staying the investigation.
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Mule bank accounts frozen in crackdown on cyber fraudsters in Karnataka, 68 held
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka State Cyber Command has arrested 68 people as part of a statewide drive against mule bank accounts and “mule herders” involved in cyber fraud, officials said on Friday.
The special operations, which have been continuing since last week across Karnataka, targeted networks engaged in aggregating and selling mule bank accounts used for cyber crimes.
The arrests were made between December 2025 and February 2026, police said in an updated report.
“The Karnataka Cyber Command has conducted statewide special operations against Mule accounts and mule herders across Karnataka. The special drive has continued since last week and this is an updated report,” the department said in a statement.
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Police said the investigation identified a network of “mule herders” — individuals who aggregate and misuse mule bank accounts — who were retailing and selling such accounts to cyber criminals.
A total of 68 key accused and suspects have been arrested during the period.
According to the statement, mule herders had collected personal information and documents from unsuspecting laypersons and opened multiple bank accounts in the names of their relatives.
“These accounts were operated in a business-like manner,” it added.
As part of the crackdown, police registered 60 cases and identified 869 mule accounts across the state. As many as 8,788 complaints were registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) against the identified mule accounts.
The total money involved in all NCRP-linked crimes stood at Rs 85.05 crore, of which Rs 13.43 crore has been put on hold, the Cyber Command said.
During the drive, police obtained 32 search warrants and conducted 35 searches. In the searches, 35 ATM cards, 37 passbooks, 80 mobile phones, 28 cheque books and 22 SIM cards were seized, along with other incriminating materials, officials said. Pronab Mohanty, the Director General of Police (Karnataka State Cyber Command) supervised the special drive, police added.
