Toll in flood hit Karnataka goes up to 65
Bengaluru, Aug 16: The toll in rain related incidents in flood hit Karnataka went up to 65 on Friday with the recovery of three more bodies even as relief and rehabilitation work is underway, officials said on Friday.
While 14 people are still classified as missing, nearly seven lakh people have been evacuated till date.
The state government said inflows into reservoirs have reduced and the situation has improved in affected districts of north, coastal and Malnad regions, where the rain fury had created mayhem in the last couple of weeks.
North Interior Karnataka received light to moderate rain in the past 24 hours, while Coastal and Malnad received widespread with moderate rains and at isolated places heavy rains, an official release said.
The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) forecast said light to moderate rains are most likely over North Interior Karnataka for the next three days, while Coastal and Malnad region are most likely to receive widespread with moderate rains and at isolated places heavy rains for the next two days.
Officials said relief operations were being constantly monitored by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and the Chief Secretary.
The Chief Minister on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and urged him to release funds immediately to take up relief works in flood and rain ravaged state.
Responding to his appeal, Prime Minister assured that a central study team would soon be sent to assess the damage due to the floods, the Chief Minister said in the national capital after the meeting, adding that the estimated loss was over Rs 40,000 crore.
As many as 849 relief camps are operational, where clean drinking water, food and other relief materials are being provided to 3,20,106 people, an official release said.
It said 103 taluks in 22 districts have been affected by floods and incessant rains over the past few days,resulting in loss of agriculture and horticulture crops on 6.9 lakh hectares and damaging 74,374 houses.
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Man held for cheating IT official by posing as 'parrot astrologer'
Bengaluru (PTI): A 59-year-old man was arrested for allegedly duping an Income Tax department official by posing as a "parrot astrologer" and promising career growth and better life through rituals, police said on Wednesday.
With the arrest of the accused astrologer Shekar, police claimed to have recovered gold ornaments weighing 124 grams and silver articles weighing 796 grams, with a total value of Rs 20.60 lakh.
The matter came to light after the victim, who is a senior administrative officer in the Income Tax department, lodged a complaint at Bharatinagar police station here on March 5, police said.
According to police, in the complaint, the victim stated that while passing near Sri Circle, he was approached by a person claiming to practise parrot astrology. The accused called him over, claimed he could predict the future by looking at his face, and convinced him to perform a ritual.
Initially, the accused collected Rs 50,000 from the complainant. Later, he allegedly told the victim that an elaborate ritual was necessary for career promotion, transfer, and overall improvement in life, and threatened that failure to do so would bring misfortune, he alleged.
"Under this pretext, the accused took 194 grams of gold ornaments and 1.3 kg of silver articles from the complainant, assuring they would be returned after the ritual," police said.
When the complainant later demanded the return of the valuables, the accused allegedly threatened him, they said.
During the investigation, police gathered credible information and apprehended the accused near Cantonment Railway Station on March 12 and upon interrogation, he confessed to committing the offence with the intention of making quick money, a senior police officer said.
He was produced before a court on March 13 and taken into police custody for five days.
During sustained questioning, the accused revealed that he had sold the stolen gold and silver items at a jewellery shop in Halasuru. Based on his information, police recovered 124 grams of gold ornaments and 796 grams of silver articles from the shop on March 15, valued at Rs 20.60 lakh, the officer said.
The accused was again produced before the court on March 17 and was remanded to judicial custody, he added.
