Bengaluru, Jan 19: More than 40 out of 170 men from Mysuru battalion deployed for Mekedatu padayatra have tested positive for COVID-19, Additional Director General of Police, Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) Alok Kumar said on Wednesday.

In a tweet, he said:"42 men out of 170 deployed from Mysore Battalion for Mekedatu padayatra have tested positive. Luckily they are having mild symptoms. Need to meet them in person and express gratitude for putting their lives at risk in the line of duty, once they are out of isolation."

The Congress' Karnataka unit had organised a ten-day padayatra from Mekedatu to Bengaluru from January 9, that was to span a total distance of nearly 139 km, demanding implementation of the Mekedatu project across the Cauvery river, by violating COVID curbs.

However, with limited options before it amid surging COVID cases, the government prohibiting movement of people, and High Court observations against it, the Congress on January 13, temporarily halted the padayatra on its fifth day at Ramanagara.

Police have filed four FIRs against Congress leaders, including state president Shivakumar and legislature party leader Siddaramaiah, for taking out the march defying COVID-19 curbs.

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Thane (PTI): Two men and a teen have been arrested and their minor sons detained for allegedly carrying out a series of house break-ins and burglaries in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Sunday.

Earlier this week, the Mahatma Phule Chowk (MFC) police in Kalyan busted a family-run burglary ring in which the men scouted for locked houses and directed their sons to break in and steal valuables, a senior police official said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kalyan) Ashok Honmane said that the police have arrested a 19-year-old man, two fathers and detained two minors, and recovered stolen gold ornaments worth Rs 21.6 lakh.

The matter came to light following a complaint lodged on May 8 in Kalyan West, following which a case of housebreaking and theft was subsequently registered, he said.

Acting on tip-offs, the police arrested Kailas Vilas Bhalerao (19), a resident of Mohane in Ambivali, on May 13, and detained two minors aged 14 and 15 years, the official said.

"Interrogation revealed that the fathers, Vilas Prakash Bhalerao (38) and Deepak Ashok Jadhav (40), used their daily jobs to recce houses in residential societies and would then pass on this specific information to their children," he said.

The arrested teen accused would target the houses along with the minors and decamp with cash and jewellery.

Investigations have revealed that the gang was involved in at least three other burglaries in the Kalyan area, the official said.