Dharwad (Karnataka), Jul 3 (PTI): Additional Superintendent of Police Narayan Baramani, who had sought voluntary retirement from service (VRS), after facing the Chief Minister's anger during a Congress rally in April, on Thursday said he was attending to his duty.

He said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Home Minister G Parameshwara, and higher officials spoke to him.

He did not comment on the episode and the status of his VRS, citing that he is in a disciplined department.

"As I'm in a disciplined department, I have shared my feelings with my higher officials. The Chief Minister, Home Minister, and higher officials have spoken to me in this regard. I'm attending duty," Baramani told reporters.

Siddaramaiah, on April 28, had lost his cool and made a gesture by raising his hand at a police officer on the stage, as a group of women, allegedly BJP workers, tried to disrupt his speech during a rally in Belagavi.

As a group of women who were amidst the large crowd showed a black flag and shouted slogans during his speech, visibly upset Siddaramaiah summoned the Additional SP rank officer onto the stage. He addressed him in singular and said, "Come here, who is the SP? What are you doing?".

The CM was then seen making a gesture by raising his hand at the officer out of frustration, but withdrew it immediately, and subsequently instructed him to remove the people who were creating a disturbance.

"Having been publicly insulted and humiliated by the behavior of the Chief Minister on a public platform for a mistake I did not commit, I have no other option but to seek voluntary retirement," Baramani's purported letter to the Home Department said.

Sharing the contents of the letter, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka, in a post on 'X', on Thursday, alleged that the morale of the police department has been damaged by the Congress government.

"Whether the incident in which you raised your hand at Additional SP Narayan Baramani on a public platform was due to your arrogance of power or frustration at leading a failed government, or with a feeling that you will have to relinquish power soon, I will leave that to your introspection," he told Siddaramaiah.

"But your action has damaged the self-respect of a dutiful officer. It has brought down the morale of the entire police department. It has hurt the morality of the bureaucracy, and the self-confidence of the workforce has collapsed," he added.

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New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday it has arrested a woman, who claims to be an actor and a cosmetologist, under the anti-money laundering law in a case of alleged fraud and misrepresentation.

The agency said the purported links of the woman, Sandeepa Virk, with a Reliance Group executive, Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman (President, Corporate Affairs), are also under its scanner. Sethuraman, in a statement, denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.

Virk was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday after searches were conducted against her and her associates in Delhi and Mumbai over the last two days.

A special court sent her to the ED's custody till August 14, the agency said. The woman claims to be the owner of a skin care products selling website named hyboocare.com, which the ED claimed was a "front" for money laundering.

She and her associates are being probed for allegedly exerting undue influence through "misrepresentation" and "defrauding" individuals by soliciting money under false pretences.

According to an Instagram ID of Virk, she is an actor and entrepreneur and the founder of the said website.

The federal agency said in a statement that the woman was also "in touch with" Sethuraman, former director of erstwhile Reliance Capital Limited.

She was communicating with him regarding "illegal liaisoning", the ED claimed, adding that the searches at Sethuraman's residence "confirmed" these allegations.

"Besides, diversion of funds for personal benefit has also been unearthed during the course of the search action," it said.

The ED alleged that public money worth about Rs 18 crore belonging to Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) was disbursed to Sethuraman in 2018 by "flouting" prudent lending norms.

The funds were lent under terms that allowed a deferment of the principal amount as well as the interest, with multiple waivers granted and no due diligence conducted, it said.

The ED claimed that besides this, a home loan of Rs 22 crore was provided by Reliance Capital Limited by "violating" the prudential norms. "A large part of these loans are seen to have been eventually siphoned off and remained unpaid," it alleged.

Sethuraman, in a statement, dismissed the allegations as "baseless". He denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.

Detailing about Virk's web portal, the agency said it purportedly sold FDA-approved beauty products. However, the ED said the products listed on the website have been found to be non-existent and the portal lacks a user registration option and is plagued by persistent payment gateway issues.

A scrutiny of the website uncovered minimal social-media engagement, an inactive WhatsApp contact number and an absence of transparent organisational details, all of which reinforce the finding of "non-genuine" commercial activity, the ED claimed.

"These factors, including limited product range, inflated pricing, false claims of FDA approval and technical inconsistencies, indicate that the website serves as a front for laundering funds," it said.

Another social media-hosted bio data of the woman said she is a certified cosmetologist.

The ED said several "incriminating" documents were seized during the searches and the statement of a man named Farrukh Ali, stated to be an associate of Virk, was recorded.

The money-laundering case stems from an FIR lodged by the Punjab Police.

Sethuraman said that the home loan he received from Reliance Capital was granted following due process and was secured by the property offered as collateral.