Palike staffers held for issuing fake voter IDs

The City Crime Branch (CCB - cheating and misuse wing) sleuths arrested two employees of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and an associate of a corporator for allegedly distributing fake voter ID cards at Banasawadi.

The police have arrested Anand, Suresh and Manjunath and seized several fake election ID cards, hologram stickers, photographs and other particular details of card-seekers, a pen drive, cellphones and a two-wheeler.  

Anand, who is working for Kodanda Reddy, Sarvajna Nagar corporator, along with tax inspectors of the area Suresh and Manjunath and Somashekhar, a computer operator appointed by the Palike on contract basis, used to distribute fake electoral photo identity cards to people, including those aged below 18, sources said.  Anand allegedly charged Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 per card, claiming that he would ensure that they would get the cards without delay. He would provide the election ID card within two days. Suresh, Manjunath and Somashekhar used to print the cards using the original hologram stickers, the police said.

Nine arrested for murder

The Cottonpet police have arrested nine people, including a woman, in connection with the murder of an auto rickshaw driver.

Shivananda alias Ananda, 25, who is also an auto driver, Raghuveer, 20, Varalakshmi, 25, Santosh, 19, Suresh, 22, Kumar, 30, Nataraj, 24, Fayaz, 20 and Karunakara, 27 are the arrested.

The suspects allegedly hacked Naveen Kumar, 26, to death on October 13 near Shantala Silk House junction.

The police said Naveen, a native of Mandya and resident of Sunkadakatte, was in a live-in relationship with Netra. Netra allegedly had a rift with her neighbour Varalaskhmi, who was living with Shivananda.

Naveen allegedly abused Varalakshmi during the quarrel. The couple wanted to take revenge on Naveen and they  roped in Raghuveer who was released from jail recently.

Raghuveer also wanted to settle scores with Naveen for refusing him financial help when he was in jail, the police said. They conspired to eliminate Naveen and hired the six men to execute it, the police added.

Three end lives

A 10th standard student was found dead, hanging from a fan at her residence in Benson Town, JC Nagar, on Saturday.

Shilpa, the student of Gulabi High School, suffered from acute stomach ache, the police said. The autopsy was conducted at Dr Ambedkar Medical College.

In another incident, Shubha, 23, who lived in a paying guest accommodation at HMT Layout, was found hanging from a ceiling fan on Friday. Jyothi, her roommate employed with an IT firm, found Shubha hanging from the fan, when she returned from work in the evening.

Police sources said Shubha was staying with her mother in Kuwait and had returned to the City only two months ago, while her father lived at Bommanahalli. Her parents were separated but she would visit her father regularly.

In another incident, Chinnatambi, 19, was found dead at his house in Ambedkarnagar Pipeline area. According to the family members, the teenager was a school dropout and worked as an auto driver. He took the extreme step when his family members were away in Tamil Nadu, shopping for his sister’s wedding.

His mother had called him on his cellphone, but he had not responded to the call. They returned home late in the night and found him hanging from the roof.

2 killed in accidents

Takinder, 18, a native of Uttar Pradesh, was mowed down by a speeding tractor when he was crossing the Outer Ring Road, near Karthik Nagar on Saturday. Takinder, a painter, was on his way to work along with his father and a few friends when the incident occurred.  

The tractor driver fled the scene. Airport Traffic police rushed to the spot and seized the tractor.

In another incident, a two-wheeler  rider was knocked down by an Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) bus near Balekundri Circle on Friday night. Jemshed Badshah, 30, from West Bengal, was a resident of Nehru Nagar and worked in a jewellery shop at Cottonpet. Badshah was returning home on his bike when the speeding bus hit him from behind. He sustained severe head injuries and was rushed to a nearby private hospital where he died later in the night.

Cubbon Park traffic police have seized the bus and arrested the driver, Ramababu, 30. A case has been registered at the Cubbon Park traffic police station.