Bengaluru, July 30: Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a protest in Bengaluru on Thursday condemning alleged irregularities in recruitment conducted by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC), with several protesters being detained by police while attempting to lay siege to the KPSC office.

It can be noted that the KPSC is allegedly facing a major cash-for-jobs and OMR tampering scandal involving the recruitment of 400 Veterinary Officers, featuring leaked question papers, Rs 80 lakh bribes per seat, and the suspension of the KPSC Chairman.

The protest was led by ABVP Bengaluru Organizing Secretary Manikantha Kalasa. It was organized over allegations of large-scale irregularities in the recruitment of Veterinary Officers and Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs), which have sparked widespread concern among aspirants and the public.

As the demonstration intensified outside the KPSC office in Bengaluru, police deployed additional personnel to maintain law and order. Barricades were erected on roads leading to the office to prevent protesters from entering the premises.

During the protest, minor scuffles and pushing and bumping were reported between ABVP activists and police personnel as demonstrators attempted to breach the barricades and march towards the KPSC office. Police subsequently detained several protesters to prevent further escalation.

ABVP leaders alleged that repeated irregularities in KPSC recruitments have created anxiety among students and job aspirants across the state and demanded a fair, transparent, and impartial investigation into the alleged scams.

The alleged recruitment irregularities have become a major issue of public debate in Karnataka, with investigations currently underway. Protesters urged the state government to ensure accountability and restore confidence in the recruitment process.

Anticipating further attempts to gherao the KPSC office, police maintained heavy security arrangements in and around the premises. Extensive barricading was put in place from the KPSC office near Vidhana Soudha up to the road leading towards the CID office, restricting public access to the area.

Authorities allowed entry only to KPSC staff members and individuals with essential work at the office.

Meanwhile, candidates selected for the Veterinary Officer posts met Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara in Bengaluru and urged him to complete the recruitment process at the earliest. The candidates maintained that they had secured high marks in the examination and were selected on merit, adding that they were willing to face any investigation.

Several candidates broke down while speaking to reporters and appealed to the government to proceed with their appointments. They stated that if any of the selected candidates are found guilty of wrongdoing during the course of the probe, appropriate action may be taken against them.

The selected candidates further alleged that a large number of employees working on a contractual basis fear losing their jobs if meritorious candidates are appointed and are therefore creating hurdles in the recruitment process.

Kolkata, July 30: After almost 24 hours of marathon raids and search operations coupled with interrogation, the Birbhum District Police in West Bengal on Thursday arrested Minar Mondal, a relative of Tulu Mondal, an influential stone-quarry owner in the district.

Following the marathon operations that started on Wednesday afternoon, the police recovered huge unaccounted cash and gold from Minar’s residence. The cops brought currency-counting machines from a local bank branch to count the cash seized.

The counting and recounting of the cash recovered was completed on Thursday morning; the total cash seizure had been found to be a little over Rs 28 crore, said a member of the investigating team.

Apart from that, he added, 15 kilograms of gold, whose estimated market value is over Rs 21 crore, have been seized from Minar’s residence.

“The estimated value of the seized cash and gold would be to the tune of around Rs 50 crore,” he added.

On Thursday morning, Minar was formally arrested, and the cops first took him to a local police station. At the same time, the police left his residence with a couple of trunks filled with seized cash and gold.

Minar will be presented to a district court in Suri later in the day, and the public prosecutor will seek his police custody.

Initially, Minar refused to answer repeated queries from the cops about the sources of such huge cash and gold. However, he finally admitted that the money and gold recovered were sourced from a syndicated crime racket, confirmed Birbhum’s district police Superintendent, Bidit Raj Bundesh.

According to police sources, last Tuesday, officials of Mohammad Bazar police station in Birbhum arrested seven dacoits. Based on the information from that dacoits’ group, the investigators found the location of the money and gold ‘mine’ in the house of Minar. Accordingly, the raids and search operations started at Minar’s residence on Wednesday afternoon, which continued till Thursday morning.

It is learnt that Minar was a bus driver in the state-run transport corporation. However, locals said he was involved in a major way with the stone-quarry business of Tulu Mondal, who again was a close confidant of Anubrata Mondal, the former Trinamool Congress district president in Birbhum.

The recovery of such a huge amount of cash and gold from his residence this morning has left his neighbours dumbstruck. In the past, the stone-quarry owner, Tulu Mondal, was accused of illegal stone mining.

Tulu Mondal’s name had also come up in the cattle smuggling case. He was under the watch of the ED in 2022. At that time, the Central investigators raided his house and office. The investigators are trying to find whether the huge cash and gold recovered from Minar Mondal’s residence were actually owned by Tulu Mondal.

Kolkata, July 30: A civic volunteer has been arrested for allegedly raping a female colleague multiple times by blackmailing her, said the police on Thursday. The incident took place at Habra police station area in North 24 Parganas district.

According to the police, the arrested civic volunteer and the victim civic volunteer, both work at Habra police station.

The accused has been arrested on specific charges. He was produced before the Barasat court on Wednesday and the court remanded him in police custody for five days.

According to the victim, a male colleague secretly took her photos while she was changing her clothes to get into her uniform. Later, he started blackmailing her by showing her the photographs and forced her to have physical intimacy with him.

According to the victim, the civic volunteer sexually assaulted the female colleague multiple times by threatening to share the photograph with others. Not only that, he also warned her that if she told anyone about it, there would be grave consequences for her.

Finally, the woman gathered courage and filed a written complaint with the Habra police station. After a preliminary investigation, the police arrested the accused.

According to district police officers, there are several serious allegations against the civic volunteer, including rape, intimidation, and threats.

Accordingly, a case has been registered. The civic volunteer was removed from duty soon after the complaint was filed.

Barasat Police District Superintendent, J. Mercy said, “He was removed from duty after receiving the complaint. A case has been registered.”

It may be noted that in March this year, a civic volunteer was arrested for allegedly molesting a teenage girl who later died by suicide after she was unable bear the trauma of the incident. The incident took place in Amta of Howrah district.

In August 2024, the body of a female doctor was recovered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The next day of the rape and murder of the doctor, civic volunteer Sanjay Roy was arrested by the Kolkata Police.