Karnataka to provide Anti-Rabies Vaccine free of cost for all animal bite victims
Bengaluru(PTI): The Karnataka Health Department has directed all government hospitals to provide Anti-Rabies Vaccine (ARV) and Rabies Immunoglobulin (RIG) free of cost as per requirement for all animal bite victims, irrespective of APL or BPL card.
A circular issued on Thursday by the state's Health and Family Welfare Services Commissioner said although Rabies is a fatal disease, timely and appropriate treatment can save lives.
"Elimination of dog-bite mediated rabies by 2030" is the mission of the National Rabies Control Program (NRCP). Rabies has been declared as a Notifiable Disease in Karnataka from December 5, 2022.
In this regard, ARV and RIG, the main stay of treatment to prevent the fatal rabies disease, have been made a part of the annual indent supply by Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd and sufficient stock has to be maintained in all government hospitals, it said.
"No animal bite victim shall be denied treatment irrespective of their possession of APL/BPL card. Therefore, it is hereby directed to provide ARV and RIG free of cost as per requirement for all animal bite victims. The Medical Officers are instructed to judiciously use the RIG as per the NRCP recommendations," the circular added.
According to a recent systematic estimation survey carried out by the city civic body, Bengaluru has a total of 2,79,335 stray dogs.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
