Bengaluru, Aug 13: The Karnataka bandh called by Kannada and pro-farmer organisations protesting the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu received a mixed response across the state on Thursday, with normal public life largely unaffected in state capital Bengaluru and across the state.

Kannada activists were detained by police as a precautionary measure, while schools, colleges, shops, markets and commercial establishments functioned normally.

The bandh has been called to protest the directions of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. Police have deployed tight security across Bengaluru and appealed to protesters to maintain peace. They have also warned against forcibly shutting down shops and other establishments.

President of the Federation of Kannada Organisations (also known as Kannada Okkoota) and Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha President Vatal Nagaraj was detained by police after he joined the protest in support of the bandh.

Meanwhile, major Kannada and farmer organisations are scheduled to meet Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar at his residence in Sadashivanagar at 10 a.m. on Thursday to submit a memorandum opposing the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

In Bengaluru, schools and colleges have continued to function as usual, with students attending classes from the morning. No holiday has been declared for educational institutions across the state. Parents’ organisations decided not to support the bandh as classes and examinations are being conducted and students should not be inconvenienced.

Public transport services have also largely remained unaffected across Bengaluru and other parts of the state. Shops, markets and other commercial establishments have opened as usual, with most districts extending only moral support to the bandh.

However, as a precautionary measure, bus services from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu have been temporarily suspended, causing some inconvenience to passengers travelling to the neighbouring state.

In Ramanagara, protests intensified at Ijuru Circle, one of the city’s major junctions. Activists of Karunadu Sene and the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (Praveen Shetty faction) staged a large demonstration against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. Carrying empty pots, the protesters sought to draw the government’s attention to the drinking water shortage faced by several parts of the state.

Despite the statewide bandh call, normal life has continued in most places, with authorities maintaining heightened security and monitoring protests to prevent any untoward incidents.

New Delhi, Aug 13: The Lok Sabha, on its last working day of the Monsoon Session, was adjourned sine die on Thursday. The adjournment followed the recitation of Vande Mataram in the House, with all Parliamentarians, from Treasury to Opposition benches, standing in respect for the National Song.

The House proceedings started on a stormy note, with the Opposition members engaging in sloganeering and holding placards while trying to corner the government over ‘jawab do, jawab do’ chants.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla made a brief appeal to maintain order and urged all the members to stand up for the recitation of the National Song.

As the 3.10-minute-long National Song was recited, all the MPs stood in rapt attention while some sang along.

What made the moment remarkable was the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in the House, a grouse held by the Opposition throughout the stretch of the Monsoon Session, particularly after the passage of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill last month, aimed at tackling widespread cheating and paper leaks.

The recitation of the full National Song in the Lower House comes days after the Presidential assent to the Vande Mataram Bill, which brought it on equal footing with the National Anthem.

As per the Home Ministry guidelines issued in February this year, the recitation of all six stanzas of the National Song has been made mandatory at all official functions and gatherings, with all protocols to be followed as accorded to the National Anthem.

Parliament passed the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, last month. The legislation gave Vande Mataram the same statutory protection as that of the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana. After the President’s assent, the bill has become law and offences will be punishable with imprisonment up to three years, a fine, or both.

The Lok Sabha proceedings of the Monsoon Session, from July 20 to August 13, remained marred by the Government-Opposition face-off with little legislative business conducted in the House.

Among the key legislations cleared by the House were the NEET Amendment Bill, some Taxation bills and the recommendation of the FCRA amendment bill to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

Surat, Aug 13: The Surat City Cyber Crime Cell in Gujarat has arrested an alleged associate of a Jamtara-based cyber fraud gang who, according to police, handled money siphoned from victims through mule bank accounts and converted the proceeds into cash before routing them back to other members of the network.

The accused, identified as 26-year-old Sitaram Mandal, a welding shop worker from Bisanpur village in Giridih district of Jharkhand, was taken into custody from Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad, where he was already lodged.

He was subsequently produced before a court and police obtained his two-day custody remand.

The arrest followed an investigation into a complaint in which a Surat resident’s son allegedly lost Rs 5,02,562 after downloading a fake RTO E-Challan APK file sent through WhatsApp.

Police said the incident began on November 20, 2025, when an unknown WhatsApp number sent the malicious APK file to the phone of the victim’s friend, Rakesh Sharma.

The compromised account was then used to circulate the file in a WhatsApp group involving the victim’s son’s friends.

After the victim downloaded the file, his phone was allegedly compromised without his knowledge, and Rs 5,02,562 was transferred from his bank account in multiple transactions.

The complainant contacted the national cybercrime helpline immediately after discovering the fraud and later approached the Surat Cyber Crime Cell on December 14, 2025.

A case was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under Sections 318(4), 336(2), 338, 336(3), 340(2), 61(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2008.

Police said a technical investigation, including scrutiny of banking transactions, led them to Mandal, who was found to be in Sabarmati Jail.

Investigators alleged that Rs 1,47,954 from the complainant’s son’s account had been used for a credit bill payment arranged through an earlier arrested accused, Nishit Nathwani.

According to police, Nathwani retained a commission of 15 to 20 per cent and deposited the remaining cash through a cash deposit machine into Mandal’s bank account.

Mandal allegedly deducted a further 5 to 10 per cent commission before handing over the remaining cash to absconding members of the Jamtara gang in Jharkhand.

Police also found that Rs 2.72 lakh linked to cyber fraud involving this and other victims had been deposited through CDM transactions into Mandal’s Axis Bank account between November 21 and December 18, 2025.

The account recorded credit transactions totalling Rs 15,87,400 between September 19, 2025 and January 8, 2026. Police said Mandal has a previous criminal record, including an FIR registered in Giridih district in 2017 under cheating, forgery and Information Technology Act provisions.

He is also named in five Ahmedabad City Cyber Crime Police Station cases registered in 2026 involving cheating, impersonation, conspiracy and offences under the IT Act.

The investigation has found that the gang used malicious APK files designed to resemble legitimate applications or services.

According to police, once a victim clicked on and installed the file, the application sought administrative permissions that could allow access to SMS messages, contacts, call logs and photographs.

The gang allegedly used genuine-looking bank names, logos and icons to persuade victims to enter banking and KYC information.

Once access to banking details was obtained, money was transferred from the victim’s bank or payment applications to mule accounts or credit cards.

The proceeds were subsequently withdrawn or converted into cash and deposited through CDMs into accounts controlled by other members of the network, according to investigators.

Police said five accused had already been arrested in connection with the case before Mandal’s arrest.

The Cyber Crime Cell has urged people not to download APK files received from unknown sources, even when they appear to relate to RTO challans, banks, KYC updates, customer support, government schemes, appointment bookings or other familiar services.

It also advised people not to click on suspicious links received through SMS or email.