Bangalore

In what is becoming the norm for Bengaluru police, another ‘green corridor’ was created for safe transportation of the live heart of a brain dead person from MS Ramaiah Hospital in North Bengaluru to BGS Global Hospital in Kengeri.

The patient reported to be 21, had met with an accident near Jalahalli on January 1st and declared brain dead the next day. The authorities at MS Ramaiah Hospital had spoken to the family members about possible organ donations.

A special bench of the Karnataka High Court will hear, from Jan 5, the corruption case against former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa and her three aides on a daily basis.

Though the case came up for hearing Friday before Justice H. Billappa, Jayalalithaa’s counsel sought its postponement to Monday, as Justice C.R. Kumaraswamy, who has been appointed to hear it, is on leave till Saturday.

Senior IPS officer S Murugan, who was in charge of the Anti-Naxal Force in Bengaluru, Friday assumed charge as the city police commissioner.

He replaces R Hithendra, who has been transferred to Bengaluru.

After taking charge, Murugan told reporters that his priority was setting up a people-friendly police system.

Murugan, the fourth police commissioner of the city, hails from Tamil Nadu and is a 1997 batch IPS officer. He had won President’s medal for his achievements.

—PTI

Alleged pro-Islamic State (IS) Twitter account handler Mehdi Masroor Biswas was in touch with ISIS combatant stationed in Iraq, a top police official said.

“During our interrogation of Biswas, we have found that the IS account holder was in touch with the ISIS combatant and he was an aide,” Bengaluru Police Commissioner M N Reddi told reporters here.

Biswas was produced before a city court today and sent to judicial custody till January 16.

In a freak incident, three students of a private school suffered ‘minor’ injuries on Friday when gelatin sticks they took from a waste dump exploded in their classroom, police said.

The children studying in the Sai Baba School at Madiwala had found the gelatin sticks lying in a waste dump while they were playing and carried them to their classroom, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar said.

The explosion occurred as soon as they switched on the electric panel into which they had stuffed the gelatin sticks, he said.

Thousands of Bangaloreans heralded New Year early Thursday, cheering, dancing, hooting, whistling, bursting crackers and greeting each other amid tight security across this tech hub.

Undeterred by the presence of hundreds of police personnel, heightened vigil and CCTV cameras in downtown, about 8,000 people ushered in 2015 by milling around the upmarket MG Road, fashionable Brigade Road, posh Lavelle Road, serene Cubbon Road and the bustling Commercial Street, which were lit up for the occasion.

Security has been stepped up in the world heritage site of Hampi and other sensitive areas in the district in view of the blast in Bengaluru.

Tungabhadra Dam and Ballari Thermal Power Station and other high population density areas had also come under the security blanket, police said.

As per instructions from the office of the Director General and also in view of New Year celebrations, police are also checking vehicles and have deployed sniffer dog teams and metal detectors.

A man allegedly posted a morphed image of Karnataka Health Minister U T Khader on a movie poster on a popular social networking site here, police said on Wednesday.

The poster of ‘PK’ movie bearing the morphed image of the minister was circulated on WhatsApp by the accused Naresh Gatty along with some adverse comments and a Pakistani flag in the picture, police said.

The creator of the group, Hameed Hasan, filed a complaint with the Ullal police station saying that Gatty’s post had hurt the sentiments of the local community, police said.

Days after a blast in Bengaluru killed a woman, city police will now deploy drones with aerial cameras to man the hotpot areas which are expected to be frequented by revellers during New Year celebrations.

Drones equipped with camera will monitor from a height of 50 to 60 metres above several areas of the city including MG Road, Brigade Road and Church Street.

Talking about the recent move of the police, DCP Central (Bengaluru) Sandeep Patil tweeted,”For 1st time Drone Areal Cameras being used for new yr.Remote controlled .Go upto 50 mts.”

As investigators zeroed in on some terror groups, sketches of suspects have been drawn in connection with the explosion outside a restaurant here that killed a woman and injured three others.

“We have zeroed in on some (terror) groups – and have drawn sketches of some people belonging to these outfits. We are in a process of verification and confirmation – whether these sketches match the suspects who were involved in the explosion,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar told PTI.

Bengaluru Police commissioner M.N. Reddi on Wednesday informed the media that they have got the sketches from the people who were present on the street during the blast.

“The teams have been continuously working on various fronts and pursuance of various angles. They have also been able to get some sketches from people who were there on the street,” said Reddi.

He, however, added that the police is not 100 percent sure whether those sketches are of the people whom they would like to publicize at this point in time.

Security has been beefed up around the restaurant in Bengaluru where a bomb explosion claimed the life of a Chennai-based woman and left three others injured.

Bengaluru’s Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Patil said that security has been tightened in anticipation of New Year’s day crowds congregating in the area.

The Bangalore police on Monday announced a reward for credible information leading to the detection of the culprits behind the explosion that rocked the city.

The police were referring to an explosion triggered by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on Sunday evening, which led to the death of one person, with a further three injured.

City police has requested citizens not to pay heed to rumour mongers in the wake of threatening tweets from a twitter account, claiming responsibility for the Bengaluru blast and warning more, that is now ‘suspended’.

“BCP (Bengaluru city police) is aware about the tweets of LatestAbdul. They r being examined. There is NO reason to be alarmed. Please do not pay heed to rumours,” CCB (City Crime Branch) said in a tweet.

Outlawed outfit SIMI’s possible role has come under the scanner of investigators probing the terror attack outside a restaurant here that killed a woman and injured three others, as government announced a raft of measures to ramp up security, particularly in crowded areas.

“There is a possibility,” said Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, on whether men – said to be members of the Students Islamic Movement of India -could have been involved in the blast that is being probed by National Investigation Agency (NIA) and city police from “all angles.”

Bangalore Police Commissioner M N Reddi on Monday said that security will be tightened in the city, both in general and in view of the New Year celebrations, adding that the situation was under control.

Reddi’s statements came after a blast, triggered by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), hit Bangalore on Sunday evening, leading to the death of a woman, with three others injured.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today announced a compensation of Rs five lakh to the kin of a woman who was killed in the low-intensity explosion outside a popular restaurant here that also left three persons injured.

Speaking to reporters after visiting the injured at a hospital here in the wee hours, Siddaramaiah said the government would provide a compensation of Rs five lakh to the family of the woman, who succumbed to injuries sustained in the explosion last night.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is holding an emergency security review meeting with senior police and intelligence officials a day after a bomb explosion killed a woman and injured three others.

Before going in for the meeting, he confirmed that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has offered central help for the investigation.

Earlier on Sunday, a woman was killed and three others were injured in an explosion triggered by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in front of a famed restaurant.

Bangalore Police Commissioner M N Reddi on Monday said special teams have been deployed to investigate Sunday’s blast in which a woman was killed and three others were injured.

“An improvised explosive device was used in the blast. Investigations are on; special teams are examining all clues. The possibility that it might be a terror attack cannot be ruled out. However, it’s too premature to say anything as no one has claimed any responsibility,” said Reddi.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today announced a compensation of Rs five lakh to the kin of a woman who was killed in the low-intensity explosion outside a popular restaurant here that also left three persons injured.

Speaking to reporters after visiting the injured at a hospital here in the wee hours, Siddaramaiah said the government would provide a compensation of Rs five lakh to the family of the woman, who succumbed to injuries sustained in the explosion last night.

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One killed, three injured in bomb blast outside restaurant in Bengaluru

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday night said he has called a high-level meeting here tomorrow in the wake of the blast in front of a restaurant that killed one woman and injured three others, and maintained that the incident happened despite police being on high alert.

Rushing to the blast site from Mysuru, Siddaramaiah said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to him and offered central help in the investigation into the blast, triggered by an Improvised Explosive Device.

One woman was killed and a man injured in an explosion triggered by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in front of a famous restaurant on a busy road in the heart of the city tonight.

The woman identified as Bhavani, who hails from Tamil Nadu and was on a visit to the City, succumbed to serious shrapnel injures sustained on her head, City Police Commissioner M N Reddi told reporters at the site late night. The second person identified as Karthik was out of danger, he added.

Police force in Kolkata has been asked to be extra alert following the bomb blast in Bengaluru this evening, a top police officer said.

“Police has been sensitised following the blast in Bengaluru,” Commissioner of Police Surajit Kar Purkayastha told PTI.

Asked whether any high alert was issued in the city following the Bengaluru blast, the Commissioner of Police said, “Our force is always alert and there is no such system to issue high alert. We have sensitised them and they are extra cautious now.”

Alleging BJP of indulging in spreading false propaganda against the party by painting it anti-Hindu, Karnataka Congress chief G Parameshwara on Sunday called on the Congressmen to raise their voice against such wrong information.

“BJP people are unnecessarily talking about the Congress, they are trying to project Congress as anti-Hindu, but the truth is Congress looks at all religions equally,” he said.

Speaking at the Congress Party’s 130th Foundation Day programme here, he called on the party workers to become the ambassadors of the party.

JDS on Saturday said it opposed a bill, which religious mutts fear is an attempt to take over their institutions, and hit out at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for blaming its coalition government with BJP for first initiating the legislation.

“This issue was started in 1997 by the then government. That bill was implemented in S M Krishna’s time in 2003,” the party state unit chief H D Kumaraswamy, who headed the JDS-BJP coalition government, told reporters here.