Bengaluru: Private hospitals must provide immediate life-saving treatment to victims of snake bites and dog bites without demanding any advance payment, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundurao said on Friday, stressing that the directive is mandatory and has already been issued as an official order.

The Minister was speaking after inaugurating the Snake Bites Prevention and Control and Rabies-Free Karnataka State Action Plan, organised by the Department of Health and Family Welfare under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, at Vikasa Soudha.

Stating that the government aims to reduce rabies deaths in the state to zero by 2030, Gundurao said the action plan focuses on strengthening rabies prevention mechanisms.Anti-rabies vaccines and rabies immunoglobulin have been supplied to all primary health centres, community health centres, taluk hospitals and district hospitals across the state, and maintaining adequate stock has been made mandatory.

He added that private hospitals also have vaccines available and must begin treatment immediately without insisting on advance payment.

"To ensure strict implementation, state-level and district-level joint committees have been constituted to monitor compliance," Gundurao added.

The Minister said the initiative is being implemented with the coordination of various government departments, with non-governmental organisations also extending support.

Gundurao also stated that, “in line with Central Government guidelines, the Karnataka government included all snakebite cases under the list of notifiable diseases in 2024. The guidelines have been prepared in collaboration with NGOs, civil society organisations and multiple departments, focusing on prevention, availability of medicines, training of healthcare personnel and public awareness. The primary objective is to eliminate disability and mortality caused by snake bites.”

Reiterating the government’s stand, the Health Minister said that while free treatment for snakebite victims is being provided in government facilities, private hospitals are also responsible to offer immediate treatment without demanding advance payment.

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Shivamogga (Karnataka) (PTI): Three persons have been arrested in connection with cyber fraud cases involving more than Rs 82 crore and 352 complaints registered nationwide, police said here on Friday.

The accused have been booked by the cybercrime police station under Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act and Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the BNS.

According to Karnataka Police, the prime accused, 43-year-old Jagadish C, allegedly lured a complainant, Wilson, with a promise of commission and persuaded him to open a bank account.

Jagadish later took control of the account and, by impersonating the complainant, fraudulently transferred large sums of money, police said.

Jagadish, a resident of Sharadamma Compound in Sharavathi Nagar, Shivamogga, runs an electronics business, police said.

The other two accused have been identified as Arshad (39), a fish trader from Shankarpura in Chikkamagaluru, and Ananth T (34), a marketing professional from Hosamane in Shivamogga.

Police said 15 bank accounts used for illegal fund transfers have been frozen.

More than Rs 14.71 crore was routed through these accounts linked to over 352 fraud complaints registered nationwide.

The total cheating amount stood at Rs 82 crore, police said.

Two mobile phones, 11 ATM cards, nine QR code scanners and 15 Airtel SIM cards have been seized from the accused.

The trio was produced before a court, which remanded them to judicial custody, police said, adding that efforts are on to trace other absconding suspects.