Lakhs of rupees cheated in the name of Kodagu district minister
Special teams formed to trace cheaters
Madikeri, November 13: The district police have formed a special squad to trace the accused who cheated a person of Rs 1 lakh in the name of Tourism and District Minister S.R. Mahesh, and started investigation.
The incident came to light very late. A Bengaluru-based person was cheated by a gang of three persons. A case was registered at Madikeri town police station and the special team intensified the investigation. Madikeri CPI Anup Madappa said that the team would nab the accused within a couple of days.
About incident
Bengaluru Banashankari resident Linge Gowda was basically from Maddur village and he has 7 acres of land in Kushalnagar. He has submitted an application to the deputy commissioner’s office for conversion of the land and the files were ready for the conversion.
In view of this, Linge Gowda had arrived at Kushalnagar on November 3 to get the records and stayed there. On November 4, when came to the DC office, a person enquired him about his purpose. When Linge Gowda explained as to why he has come to DC office, the stranger introduced himself as case worker Girish and he has prepared all his land conversion documents and asked him to pay Rs 1 lakh fee for land conversion and additional Rs 1000 for other expenses.
The stranger called another person over phone and handed over the mobile to Linge Gowda saying that he was the personal secretary to District Minister S.R. Mahesh. From other end, the person introduced himself as the personal assistant of the Minister and said all his land conversion documents were ready. Later, that person asked Linge Gowda to speak to Minister S.R. Mahesh over phone and handed over the phone to someone who claimed himself as S.R. Mahesh and said all documents were ready and take them from Girish and disconnected the phone call.
Believing this drama, Linge Gowda admitted that he has only Rs 4,000 cash in hand and he has Rs 47,000 in bank account. Later, he took that stranger to the bank. For the remaining Rs 50,000, Linge Gowda called his friend and asked him to transfer Rs 50,000 to his account. Later, he has drawn Rs 97,000 from a private bank at Kodava Samaj commercial complex and gave total Rs 1,01,000 to the stranger. After getting the amount, the stranger informed Linge Gowda that he would go to the taluk office to pay the fee and will come back to DC office where you can get the documents. But when Linge Gowda waited for the stranger at the DC office, he did not turn up. When he called him over the phone, the phone was switched off. Later, he realized that he was cheated.
Later, he lodged a complaint at the city police station. The police suddenly checked the CCTV camera footage at the DC office and bank. Now, the special team intensified the investigation. Now, the CPI said that the police would arrest the cheaters soon.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
