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Bengaluru, Sept 20: The state’s Covid-19 numbers continued their descent - a trend which first set in eight weeks ago. In the last seven days, Karnataka registered 6,131 cases, which is 6.6% lower than the 6,571 cases recorded the week before.

The decline allayed fears that cases were on the rise again between September 15 to 17, when case numbers increased to beyond a thousand per day, after days of a decline.

Considering weekly averages, Karnataka’s Covid-19 numbers fell by 29% over the last 30 days, but of equal concern is that the statewide testing numbers, which despite getting a boost in the middle part of last week, have been steadily declining.

In the last seven days, the state government conducted 9.78 lakh tests, which was 9.84 lakh the week before. The average number of tests conducted has declined by 20.4% over the course of the last 30 days.

The state’s declining case numbers are due to abrupt drops in case registrations on some days. Sunday was one of these days with Karnataka recording 783 new cases. Out of these, Bengaluru Urban disclosed that it had identified 267 new cases, comprising 34% of the statewide total for the day.

The decline in the number of new cases in the city has been less steep. Over the last 30 days, the average number of cases have fallen by 8.6%, with testing rates having plummeted by 12.9%.

The next highest cases were recorded in Dakshina Kannada (97), Udupi district (82) and Mysuru district (69).

The new statewide cases, coupled with 1,139 discharges, leave Karnataka’s active caseload at 15,383. Health officials also announced 16 new fatalities. Barring two of the deaths which happened on Sunday, six were backlog deaths which had occurred in July and May.

Covid-19 among children

Between September 12 and 18, the state recorded 247 new cases of Covid-19 of children aged below 11. Among teens (11 to 19), it recorded 827 new cases. In contrast, 289 pre-teen and 888 teen cases were reported in the week before last (5-11 September). Over the last 14 days, pre-teen cases comprise 4.1% of daily Covid-19 cases.

Bengaluru, Sep 6: The National Investigation Agency today filed charge sheet in special NIA court here against 13 accused illegal Bangladesh nationals in human trafficking case.

An FIR was filed against the accused Bangladeshis on June 8 after conducting a raid by Ramamurthy Nagar police at a rented house in Channasandra in Bengaluru.

In the raid, police rescued seven women and one child of Bangladesh nationality from the custody of four human traffickers.

Investigation revealed that the chargesheeted accused had illegally crossed over to India from Bangladesh.

They were luring women from Bangladesh and trafficking them to India with the promise of jobs. The women were then confined in rented accommodations and subjected to sexual exploitation.

The accused had also forged identity cards and used these forged documents as genuine to obtain Indian identity cards such as Aadhar Card, PAN Card etc., for themselves and their victims.

The chargesheeted accused are: Rafik, Sobuj Shaik, Mohammad Rafikdul Islam Ridoy, Rakibul Islam, Mohammad Babu Molla, and Mohammad Alami Hossen.

Other accused are: Mohammad Dalim, Hossain Mohammad Azim, Mohammed Jamal, Enamul Haque Shuzan, Mohammad Ruhul Amin, Riday Islam, and Mohammed Milon Biswas.

Further investigation in the case is underway.

Bengaluru, Sept 19: Former Union minister and BJP’s Bengaluru North MP D V Sadananda Gowda today filed a complaint with the cybercrime police after a sleaze video purportedly showing him went viral on social media.

Taking to Twitter, the senior BJP leader said that it is not him in the video and added that the video has been created with the intention of maligning his image.

"A morphed (deep fake) video of mine has been making rounds on social media. I would like to inform that, it is not me in the video, its created to malign my impeccable image by my adversaries with vested interest," he said in a tweet.

He said he filed a cyber complaint and added that he has faith in the system and is hopeful that the culprits will be nabbed soon.

"Also, I as per the injunction order of the court, anyone forwarding/uploading the content will be punishable as per the relevant sections of the law. If you know of anyone doing the same, kindly inbox me," he said in another tweet.

A complaint has been filed with the concerned authorities, to arrest and punish the guilty parties immediately, he said.

"Malefactors, who are upset by my rise on the political front, have brought out a fake, lewd video of mine for my fall. The video has become viral on social media, which pains me," he said in a tweet.