Murder case: Police will find BJP MLA if he doesn't surrender, says K'taka Home min
Bengaluru (PTI): A day after the Karnataka High Court declined to grant anticipatory bail to BJP MLA B A Basavaraj in a murder case, state Home Minister G Parameshwara on Wednesday said that it will be good if he voluntarily surrenders, else the police will find him.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the case, has formed multiple special teams to find the legislator, who is allegedly absconding, police sources said.
"The court issued an order yesterday. If he voluntarily comes and surrenders it will be good. If not, police will find him," the home minister told reporters in response to a question.
Basavaraj has been named as one of the accused in the murder of Shivaprakash alias Bikla Shiva, a realtor-cum-rowdy-sheeter, who was killed on July 15, last year.
Responding to a question on police recently arresting a Group D employee for allegedly stealing a bag containing gold ornaments and cash from the office of the Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh at Vidhana Soudha, Parameshwara said, stealing was secondary, how the bag entered the state Secretariat unnoticed, has to be probed at the first place.
"First of all my concern is how did the bag go from the gate to inside Vidhana Soudha. So I have ordered a probe, as to from which gate did the bag gain entry into Vidhana Soudha. How did the bag go to the office of a Minister unnoticed. I have given instructions to the police commissioner."
"The Joint Commissioner has taken the responsibility of the inquiry. We will find out," he said.
The employee was arrested based on the CCTV footage available, he added.
According to the police, the complainant had visited the minister's office for some work and inadvertently left his bag, allegedly containing around 300 gm of gold jewellery and Rs 1.5 lakh in cash.
On realising that the bag was missing, he returned to the minister's office in search of it the next day and subsequently lodged a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police station. The incident had occured last week.
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North Korea fires about 10 missiles toward sea in show of force, Seoul says
Seoul (AP): North Korea on Saturday fired about 10 ballistic missiles toward the eastern sea, South Korea's military said, staging its own show of force as the rival South conducts a joint military exercise with the United States.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired from an area near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, but didn't immediately say how far they flew. Japan's Defense Ministry said the weapons landed in waters outside the country's exclusive economic zone.
The South's Joint Chiefs said the military has stepped up surveillance and is maintaining readiness against possible additional launches while closely sharing information with the US and Japan.
The launches came as the US and South Korean militaries conduct their annual springtime exercises involving thousands of troops while the Trump administration also wages an escalating war in the Middle East.
The war has raised concerns about potential security lapses in South Korea, as local media — citing security camera footage and other images — have speculated that the US is relocating some missile defense assets stationed in the country to support operations against Iran.
When asked by The Associated Press this week whether US Forces Korea was moving interceptor missiles from its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system in Seongju to the Middle East, President Lee Jae Myung's office said it could not confirm details about US military operations.
The office said the potential relocation of US military assets would not affect the allies' defense posture against nuclear-armed North Korea, while also citing South Korea's conventional military strength. It earlier gave a similar response to reports about the possible relocation of Patriot missile defense systems from South Korea.
North Korea has long described the allies' drills as invasion rehearsals and often uses them as a pretext to dial up its own military demonstrations or weapons testing.
The North in previous years has conducted numerous salvo launches of missiles or artillery while describing them as simulations of nuclear attacks against targets in South Korea.
The launches came days after the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday criticized Washington and Seoul for proceeding with their drills at a perilous moment for global security, and warned that any challenge to the North's safety would bring “terrible consequences.”
Without directly referring to the Iran war, Kim Yo Jong said the US-South Korea drills undermine regional stability at a time when the global security structure is “collapsing rapidly and wars break out in different parts of the world due to the reckless acts of outrageous international rogues.”
North Korea's Foreign Ministry has released separate statements denouncing the joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran and expressing support for Tehran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
The 11-day Freedom Shield exercise, which runs through March 19, is one of two annual command post exercises conducted by the militaries of the United States and South Korea. The largely computer-simulated drills are designed to test the allies' joint operational capabilities, while incorporating evolving war scenarios and security challenges. Freedom Shield will be accompanied by a field training program called Warrior Shield.
North Korea has repeatedly rejected Washington and Seoul's calls to resume diplomacy aimed at winding down its nuclear program. Talks derailed in 2019 following the collapse of Kim Jong Un's second summit with US President Donald Trump during his first term.
Kim has made Russia the priority of his foreign policy, sending thousands of troops and large amounts of military equipment to support Moscow's war in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for aid and military technology.
