Veteran Cong leader Kagodu Thimmappa declares political retirement
Bengaluru, July 31: Veteran Congress leader, political stalwart, front leader of Socialist Movement in the state and former minister Kagodu Thimmappa, on Tuesday, declared retirement from the active politics.
Speaking to reporters at the Vidhana Soudha here, the socialist leader said that “I am aged. I have completed the works I had to do. I have contentment about my works. It’s enough. I have decided to keep myself away from electoral politics. I’ll not contest in any election. But I’ll involve myself in social works”, said Kagodu is retiring from his 55 years political career.
After his B Com and BL graduation, Kagodu had started his practice in Sagar as an advocate. Later, he had plunged into politics from Socialist Party. He had contested from Sagar Assembly constituency on Socialist Party ticket two times, but was defeated. Third time, he had entered the Vidhana Soudha in 1972. As he had participated in Sandur Bhoo Vimochana Satyagrah in 1973, he was arrested. Later, he was elected as the MLA and MLC and served the state.
As minister, he had managed various portfolios efficiently. In 1980, he had joined Congress (I) party. He was elected as the MLC from the Assembly constituency on May 5, 1980 with the help of then chief minister Gundu Rao and became the chairman of the Backward Classes Committee. Later, Gundu Rao had made him as the forest minister on October 3, 1980 and made him Leader of the Legislative Council. Later, he was appointed as the PWD Minister. In 1989, he was elected to Legislative Council from Congress and then chief minister Veerendra Patil appointed him as state Housing Board chairman.
He was again elected to Assembly in 1994 and 1999 elections from the Congress. He had served as the Social Welfare Minister in SM Krishna government. In the Siddaramaiah government, he had served as the Speaker and Revenue Minister. But he lost in the 2018 Assembly election from Sagar constituency against BJP candidate Hartal Halappa. Now, he has decided to retire from the active politics.
Foolish act: Kagodu
Responding to separate North Karnataka state movement, Kagodu said that the united Karnataka came into existence because of the efforts of many years. It was the height of the foolishness to demand for two states. No one should support the fight aimed at dividing the state, he said.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
