Regional

Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Ananda said the nine accused from

Mumbai, Lucknow, Gujarat and Hyderabad were suspected to have links with

fraudsters from Dubai and China.

Police believe that the gang cheated gullible investors in the country to the tune of Rs 712 and routed this money to China through Dubai in the form of crypto currency.

During the investigation, the police found that a portion of the amount also got transferred to a crypto wallet used by a terror outfit. The police chief said since there was a need for a thorough probe with coordination at the national level, the case would be brought to the notice of the Centre.

The Cyber Crimes Unit which busted the racket also seized 17 mobile Phones,

two laptops, 22 sim cards, four debit cards, documents pertaining to 33

companies, three Bank cheque books, 12 currency notes and 6 coins of Chinese Yuan currency and one passport.

Those arrested are Prakash Mulchandbhai Prajapati, Kumar Prajapati, Naimuddin Wahiduddin Shaik, Gagan Kumar Soni, Parveez alias Guddu, Shameer Khan, Mohammed Munawar, Shah Sumair and Arul Dass.

The investment fraud has been busted during the investigation after a resident of Hyderabad lodged a complaint with Cyber Crime Police that he lost Rs 28 lakh to the fraudsters. The complainant was offered a part time job of “Rate and Review” via telegram app. He believed it to be genuine and registered on their website https://www.traveling-boost-99.com.

Initially he was given simple tasks to give 5 star rating to one set of 5 tasks by

loading/investing a smaller amount of Rs 1,000 and he earned Rs 866 profit.

Every time he loads/invests money his invested amount is displayed in a window like an online wallet which shows options like Invest money, withdraw money, perform tasks etc.

Next time he was given 4 sets of 30 tasks each to be rated, for which the victim needed to load the wallet with money initially and then to rate.

In the first set he loaded with Rs 25,000 and earned a profit of Rs 20,000 on the website, but the victim was not allowed to withdraw the profit. When questioned, he was told that he has to complete all the 4 sets of tasks to get the profit.

The victim invested higher amounts in the subsequent sets. When he wanted

to withdraw profits, he was asked to pay 17 lakhs as withdrawal fee.

During the course of investigation it was found that Rs 28 lakh that the victim lost was transferred to 6 accounts including an account maintained in the name of Radhika Marketing and from there the money was transferred to various other Indian bank accounts and finally in Dubai the fraudulent money was used to purchase crypto currency.

The account in the name of Radhika Marketing was being maintained by Munawar of Hyderabad. Investigations revealed that he along with Arul Dass, Shah Sumair and Shamir Khan went to Lucknow on the instructions of Manish, Vikas and Rajesh, who all are residents of Lucknow, to open bank accounts in the names of shell companies with an offer of Rs 2 lakh per account.

They opened 33 shell companies and 61 accounts in the name of companies and

handed over the same to Manish. Manish had hired Gagan for web designing of

the companies and Nayeem to coordinate with the account holders. After opening the accounts he sold the accounts to Kumar Prajapati, an associate of Prakash Prajapati.

According to police, Prakash Prajapathi, a resident of Ahmedabad is associated with Chinese Lee Lou Guangzhou, Nan Ye, Kevin Jun etc. He was coordinating with the Chinese in supplying Indian bank accounts and shares the OTPs for operating these accounts from Dubai/China through remote access apps.

The Chinese masterminds, as per the police, were running this entire system of task based investment frauds. They are the ones running these scams and luring the victims by sending messages over Telegram.

The defrauded was credited to Primary Shell/Mule bank accounts being supplied by Prakash Prajapati, layered to some secondary bank accounts to hide the proceeds of crime. Finally it was sent to the Chinese.

Prakash Prajapati was coordinating with his other associates, Arif, Anas, Khan

Bhai, Piyush and Sailesh etc who are the residents of Mumbai, settled in Dubai in converting the fraudulently gained Indian rupees to USDT (Crypto) and transfer the same to Chinese. For every fraudulent transaction in these accounts Prakash Prajapati was paid 2-3 per cent commission.

Police found that Prakash Prajapati was transferring part of his commission through Hawala to give the same to the account suppliers with the help of Kumar Prajapathi and he was rooting a major portion from China by importing electric bikes.

Police found that Prakash Prajapathi is using a Tron coin wallet address for getting his commissions to be paid in USDT or TRON. These crypto wallet transactions in his wallet have crypto transfers to another wallet address, which in turn has been found to have transaction linkages with two other crypto wallets including Hezbollah wallet (labeled as wallet belonging to Terror Financing Module) , police said.

--IANS

ms/shb

The bill was passed by a voice vote in state Assembly on Friday.

This bill also makes social pension a legal right for various categories of people.

In a video message, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that Rajasthan is the first state in country to have a minimum guaranteed income law.

"This act is on four laws enacted during former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh' regime-Right to Information Act, Right to Education Act, Right to Food Act and MGNREGA."

The bill promises a minimum pension of Rs 1000 to old people, specially-abled, widows and single women under social security pension schemes.

IANS

arc/shb

In support of his claims, Malviya uploaded a blurred video of the incident on his official twitter handle this morning. The video depicted two women being physically assaulted by the public on the open streets.

The BJP leader claimed that the incident took place on July 19. “The horror continues in West Bengal. Two tribal women were stripped, tortured and beaten mercilessly, while police remained a mute spectator in Pakua Hat area of Bamangola Police Station, Malda,” his Twitter message read.

Claiming that the horrific incident took place on the morning of July 19, the party’s IT cell chief also asserted that the women belonged to a socially marginalised community and had a frenzied mob baying for their blood.

“It had all the making of a tragedy that should have ‘broken’ Mamata Banerjee’s heart and she, instead of merely outraging, could have acted, since she is also the Home Minister of Bengal,” said the message.

He also accused the chief minister of doing nothing in the matter. “Neither did she condemn the barbarity nor did she express pain and anguish because it would have exposed her own failing as a Chief Minister. But a day after, she shed copious tears and screamed blue murder, because it was politically expedient,” his message read.

Admitting that something of that sort has happened, the state's commerce & industries minister Dr Sashi Panja claimed that BJP was unnecessarily politicizing the Malda matter. “The Malda incident was a case of theft, where the two women tried to steal something from a local market. In that process a group of women made an attempt to take law & order in their hands. A case has been registered and the police are investigating the matter,” she said.

On Friday afternoon, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar and party Lok Sabha members told newspersons at New Delhi that at Panchla in Howrah district, a woman was stripped and paraded for fighting as BJP nominee in the rural civic body polls on the panchayat polling day of July 8.

Just hours after that allegations were raised by the BJP leader, in a hurriedly convened press conference Malviya said that following investigation over a complaint filed in this regard, it is evident that no such incident took place at Panchla on the polling day.

A few hours after the DGP’s press conference, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari dismissed the DGP’s statement as “blatant distortion of facts” by posting a Twitter message attaching two videos side by side.

The first video is about Malviya claiming to press persons that no such incident occurred on the polling day and the second video is related to a woman with a blurred face making the same allegations as raised by the state BJP leaders.

In the video, the woman claimed that she was unable to file a police complaint because of the threat that she is receiving from the ruling party activists.

--IANS

src/shb

"The committee, headed by High court retired judge Justice B. Veerappa, will conduct an inquiry," he said.

Talking to reporters, Parameshwara said: "We had demanded for a judicial probe into the scandal earlier. The decision has been taken to bring out the truth. The investigation and recruitment will be done separately. If these issues will be mixed up, it won't possible to make recruitments."

However, he also stated that it is not possible to make recruitments for the posts of 400 vacant posts until this issue is resolved. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led government had ordered a judicial probe into the PSI Recruitment Scandal on Thursday and copy of the order was released on Friday night.

The Congress government in Karnataka had announced that it would re-investigate the Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) recruitment scam in the state.

The police have arrested more than 30 accused persons, including an ADGP ranked officer, for the first time in the history of the state.

The Congress leaders vehemently demanded resignation of former Home Minister Araga Jnanendra. They also alleged corruption by former minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan and indirectly referred to former CM B.S. Yediyurappa's son BJP MLA B. Y. Vijayendra's role as well.

ADGP Amrit Paul, who was arrested long back, is still in the prison.

The Congress leaders said: "The investigation is stuck at this stage and the authorities have not bothered to carry forward the probe as there is involvement of powerful BJP politicians."

The CID had already submitted two charge sheets to the court regarding the scandal and is still investigating the case.

As many as 54,041 candidates appeared for exams held on October 3, 2021 for the 545 vacant posts PSI posts. The exams were held in 92 centers across the state and results were announced in January.

Later, the allegations surfaced that candidates, whose performance was poor in descriptive writing, got maximum marks in Paper 2. However, the police department and then Home Minister under the previous BJP government denied any irregularities in PSI recruitment exams.

One of the candidates filed an RTI application seeking information on OMR sheets of one of the candidates. Though the application was rejected, the OMR sheet of the candidate appeared in public domain. Police sources say that Veeresh, the candidate, had attended only 21 questions in paper 2 but got 100 marks. He ranked seventh.

Minister for RDPR, IT and BT, Priyank Kharge had then alleged that more than 300 of the 545 candidates had paid Rs 70 to 80 lakh bribe to officials and ministers to become PSIs. The then BJP government had challenged him to produce evidence before CID.

--IANS

mka/svn

Four girl students had lodged a complaint with the Urva Store police station in Mangaluru city on Friday evening. Police explained that six students studying medicine in a medical college had gone to Panambur beach in Mangaluru on Friday evening.

The boys had come on bike and the girls had traveled by bus to join them. A gang of miscreants had started watching the movements of the college students. They had taken videos of the boys and girls together.

The college students had ignored them and did not question the miscreants. Later, the boys had gone back on their bikes and the girl students had boarded the bus. Among the four girls, one of them had got down at Chilimbi bus stop and was walking towards her PG.

The miscreants belonging to the same group had followed her and threatened her. The gang members had asked her that had she not learnt anything from the movie The Kerala Story? The miscreants had also assaulted her.

The victim with her friends had lodged a complaint against the culprits and demanded action against the gang. The police are investigating the case.

In a move to curb moral policing activities in the coastal region, the Congress government has initiated slew of measures. A separate wing of police has been established to rein in groups indulging in harassing couples, students in coastal regions especially in Mangaluru.

The move of the police department to issue notice of externment to three Bajrang Dal activists in Mangaluru over their involvement in incidents of moral policing had stirred a controversy. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G. Parameshwara has warned of stern action against moral policing and stated the incidents directly harmed the prospectus of the state to attract investments.

Previous BJP government was accused of supporting Hindu activists and groups who were into moral policing in the coastal region.

--IANS

mka/uk

Incessant rains led to lakes, tanks and streams overflowing in some districts, snapping road communication at few places. With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast of more rains, authorities have sounded an alert.

Authorities have alerted people living in low-lying areas. Heavy downpour and inundation of roads disrupted vehicular traffic in Hyderabad. In view of the continuing rains, the state government declared holidays for all educational institutions in the state for two days - July 20 and 21.

Osmania University has declared holidays for colleges under its jurisdiction and postponed exams scheduled for both days. Meanwhile, water level in Godavari River crossed 41 feet at Bhadrachalam on Thursday.

Officials said that a first warning will be issued if the water level touches to 43 feet. Central Water Commission (CWC) officials said with continuing inflows from upstream, the level is likely to rise further. The district administration has alerted people living in low lying areas along Godavari river.

The continuing rains have also affected coal production in several mines of state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Khammam, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mahabubabad and other districts.

Water from an overflowing stream inundated the road at Basvapur in Siddipet district, disrupting vehicular traffic. Incessant rains inundated low-lying areas in Warangal district. Normal life remained paralysed in the district.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Shanti Kumari held a meeting with top officials in Hyderabad to review the rain situation. She directed officials to ensure all measures to prevent loss of life.

--IANS

ms/svn

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Naveen Khandelwal said: “This initiative is aimed at ensuring unrestricted movement and dispersal of wildlife, particularly the species of big cats, from one part of the reserve to another.”

The DFO will hold a meeting on July 27 with District Magistrate Praveen Kumar Laxkar and other revenue officials to finalise an action plan.

“The renovation of this corridor is expected to mitigate the straying of tigers and the man-animal conflict in the area quite considerably as they will be provided with a safe and uninterrupted passage through the corridor to migrate in the consolidated and extensive wild regions.

"Due to the fragmented core forest of the present time, the felines are bound to stray in agricultural fields to find their way to other forest regions,” the DFO explained.

The Mala forest range, currently divided by 350 to 400 acres of agricultural land and two villages, consists of two parts.

The first spans 500 sq.km and boasts a high density of tigers, while the other covers 200 sq.km with a comparatively lower presence of big cats.

--IANS

amita/ksk

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Dharwad, Sri Ram Sena Founder Pramod Muthalik, said: "If namaz is permitted, we will recite Hanuman Chalisa everyday in the premises of the Vidhana Soudha."

Asserting that the Congress government is "totally anti-Hindu", Muthalik said: "We all know how the Congress party has destroyed the nation. Vidhana Soudha is not Mecca or Medina. Everyone will come up with one or the other demands.

"If namaz is permitted, we will recite Hanuman Chalisa and organise large-scale protests. The whole Karnataka is going to burn," he said.

He further said that Sri Ram Sena supports the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code.

"This should come into force. The signature campaign will be organised across the state in all district headquarters in Karnataka. The campaign will be started by religious pontiffs, advocates, doctors and other important personalities. The Constitution mentions uniform law but it has not been brought even after 72 years. The appeasement policy of the Congress towards Muslims is the reason.

"The High Courts and Supreme Court have been talking about the implementation of uniform laws for 20 years. No other country has two laws and it is only practiced in India," Muthalik said.

--IANS

mka/pgh

The Opposition delegation included BJP State president Samrat Chaudhary, RLJP leader and MP from Samastipur Prince Raj, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and other leaders.

The leaders demanded a CBI inquiry or investigation by high court sitting judge. They also said that they have no faith in Bihar police.

The BJP has alleged that one of its leaders died after police in Patna fired tear gas shells, used water cannons and resorted to a lathicharge to stop party workers from marching to the Bihar Assembly today.

The march was part of a massive protest organised by the party against the “corruption” carried out by the Nitish Kumar-led state government.

BJP leaders also celebrated black day on Friday against the Lathi charge of Patna police.

They burnt effigies of Chief Minister NItish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav.

--IANS

ajk/dan

Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) earned a net profit Rs 69.87 crore in the year 2021-22 with 30 per cent dividend -- Rs 20.96 crore.

The dividend cheque for the amount was received by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

In the 101st Board of Directors meeting that was held last September, KREDL presented the accounts for the year 2021-22.

This was approved in the 26th General Body Meeting of the shareholders held in December last year.

On the occasion, Gaurav Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary K.P. Rudrappaiah, Managing Director, KREDL, were present.

--IANS

mka/pgh