Low-key Ugadi celebrations in Karnataka
Bengaluru: With the COVID-19 spread looming large and the government ordering a lockdown to combat the threat, it was a low-key Ugadi celebrations in Karnataka with people mostly staying indoors.
People ushered in the New Year amid all social and commercial activities other than essential services being halted to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Ugadi is a festival celebrating New Year's Day for Hindus from Karnataka and some other states.
Visits to temples and family gatherings, common on Ugadi, were not seen as prohibitory orders are in place aimed at ensuring social distancing.
Though usual heavy rush was not seen at major markets where people come in large numbers to buy festive essentials, people were seen flocking to shops and markets in nearby localities to purchase vegetables, flowers and grocery on the occasion.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had appealed to people to have a low-key Ugadi and not to venture out of their homes.
He had also warned of stringent action against those violating the prohibitory orders in place in the wake of the coronavirus.
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Four booked for tying 18-year-old to tree, beating him up in UP's Pratapgarh
Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Four people were booked here for the abduction and assault of a man who they allegedly tied to a tree and beat up, police said on Wednesday.
The incident, a video of which has gone viral, took place on Tuesday afternoon under the Kunda police station limits.
The FIR was registered on Wednesday evening based on a complaint from the victim's father.
According to Keshav Prasad Yadav, a resident of Mauli village, some people called his 18-year-old son Nikhil Yadav on the phone and asked him to come out of his house around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.
As he reached outside the village as instructed, the accused allegedly forced him into a car and took him towards the Tinpedwa forest area, where they tied him to a tree and assaulted, the complainant said.
The attackers also recorded a video of the incident and circulated it on social media. The purported video shows the men thrashing Nikhil one after another, while one of them is assumed to have recorded the act.
Kunda Station House Officer Manoj Pandey confirmed the incident and said efforts are underway to identify and arrest all the accused.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has shared the video on social media, describing the incident as reflective of a "dominant mindset" against the PDA (Pichda or Backward, Dalit, and Alpasankhyak or Minority), and demanded strict action against the accused.
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