Smart City development works accelerated: Minister Khader
Bengaluru, July 18: Urban Development and Housing Minister UT Khader said that a meeting of higher officers of the Urban Development department and officers of the cities selected for the much ambitious Smart City Project of the central government was held here on Wednesday to give a boost to the development works.
Speaking to reporters at the KUIDFC office here, the Minister said that total seven cities were selected under the Smart City Project of the central government and this year, Bengaluru city was also included. The projects would be completed in five years with 50:50 sharing between the central and state governments. It was decided to take up the projects worth Rs 14,798 crore, he said.
In order to implement the project, managing directors were appointed for all the Smart Cities. They would discuss with the respective deputy commissioners and manage the works. For the effective implementation of the project, a committee comprising of six corporators and an officer was constituted in each city and it would take up the complete responsibility of the project. The officers were already warned of taking action against them if they failed to conduct monthly review meeting about the works and submit the report to the department Secretary, he said.
For the first time, a website was developed to observe the works of the Smart Cities by general public and officers concerned and it would be launched shortly, he added.
Bengaluru Smart City works were already taken up. Total 17 roads would be developed at a cost of Rs 190 crore. It was also planned to develop KR Market and Russel Market at Shivaji Nagar in Bengaluru, he said.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
