Lakshman Singh appointed as K-RIDE MD
Bengaluru (PTI): The Centre on Thursday approved the deputation of Lakshman Singh, Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE), to the post of Managing Director of Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Ltd (K-RIDE).
K-RIDE is presently undertaking the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP) – the work that is going on at a snail’s pace in the absence of a technocrat to head the organisation, sources said.
"The appointment comes after several years of demand for a technocrat for the post since the job involves high technical expertise," a source said.
Currently serving as Chief General Manager (Civil) at Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL), Singh will assume the new role on deputation terms, retaining his parent pay plus deputation allowance.
The appointment is for a period of three years starting from the date Singh takes charge or until further orders, whichever comes first, the order said.
His total deputation tenure will be calculated from his initial deputation date with BMRCL, it said.
The Railway Ministry has requested BMRCL to relieve Singh for this assignment and to inform the date of his relief.
According to sources, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya pursued the matter with the Railway Board that an expert in the domain is appointed as the MD.
While laying the foundation stone for the BSRP on June 20, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the project would be completed in 40 months. The project should have been completed by the end of December, but it has not made any headway till now.
Karnataka Infrastructure Development Minister M B Patil had also set a deadline of December 2027.
"Given the pace of work, it is highly unlikely that it will ever be possible. Now that we have a technocrat as MD, we feel that the work would gain momentum," a government officer said.
The project has seen many hiccups. An IAS officer Vasanthi Amar B V, who served as Special Deputy Commissioner at K-RIDE, was raided by the Karnataka Lokayukta on July 23. She was responsible for the land acquisition for BSRP.
Due to inordinate delay in the land acquisition, the project had come to a grinding halt.
The project hit another roadblock when the Indian multinational conglomerate Larsen and Toubro (L&T) terminated two contracts for Corridor-2 and Corridor-4 of the BSRP on July 31.
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Naval information leak case: Fourth accused held
Udupi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Udupi police have arrested another accused in a case involving the alleged transmission of confidential information related to the Indian Navy to Pakistan, taking the total number of arrests to four, officials said on Thursday.
The arrested accused has been identified as Alif Islam (21), a native of West Bengal, who was presently residing at Marayur village in Idukki district of Kerala, they said.
He was apprehended in connection with the alleged leak of a confidential list containing identification numbers of Indian naval vessels, police said.
According to investigators, the accused are suspected to have shared sensitive information through WhatsApp and Facebook with contacts in Pakistan without authorisation.
The case was registered at Malpe police station in 2025 following a complaint regarding the alleged illegal transmission of naval-related data, officials said.
Police said the investigation pertains to the alleged sharing of a classified list of ship numbers linked to the Indian Navy.
In November 2025, two accused -- Rohit and Santri from Uttar Pradesh -- were taken into custody in connection with the same case. Later, Hirendra Kumar from Gujarat was arrested in December 2025.
With the latest arrest, the number of persons held in the case has risen to four.
Police said one more accused is yet to be apprehended. The operator of the Facebook page allegedly used to transmit the information also remains at large.
Investigators suspect that Islam may be a Bangladeshi national, and efforts are on to verify his citizenship and other credentials.
Further investigation is under way, police added.
