Taxi driver robbed by fake surgeon

March 21, 2012

Mangalore March 21: A miscreant pretending himself to be a surgeon hired a taxi from Ankola and robbed the driver of the taxi after taking him to Manipal.

The imposter, introducing himself as Dr. Rahul from the district hospital at Karwar, called taxi owner cum driver Nagaraj Naik, who hails from Shirkuli in Ankola, on Sunday night and told him that he had to rush to Manipal for an emergency surgery. He also asked the driver to wait at Ankola on Monday morning. Accordingly Nagaraj waited for him near an SBI ATM in Ankola. The imposter went into the ATM and withdrew some money. He gave some money to the driver apparently to win his confidence.

On Monday afternoon both reached Manipal and the imposter allegedly gave another Rs. 1,000 to Nagaraj and asked him to book a room and asked him t take the bag apparently containing money to the hotel room.

The imposter also told the driver that he was heading to Manipal Hospital and asked him to wait at the lodge. Within 30 minutes, he retuned to the lodge and told Nagaraj that there was no proper staff to help him to conduct the surgery and asked if he was ready to help.

He asked Nagaraj to keep his gold chain, cash and other valuables in the same bag which he had given to Nagaraj and asked him to park the car in the parking lot and wait there.

When the fraudster failed to return after two hours Nagaraj went to the room only to find that the valuables are missing. Nagaraj went to Manipal police station to register a complaint, but was turned away. Nagaraj returned to Ankola on Tuesday and filed a complaint with the local police.

The police have gathered the CCTV footage of the man from the ATM and said they would transfer the case to Manipal

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HC refuses to quash probe against Mangaluru WhatsApp admin over offensive posts

News Network

February 1,2026

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash an investigation against a WhatsApp group administrator accused of allowing the circulation of obscene and offensive images depicting Hindutva politicians and idols in 2021.

Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that, prima facie, the ingredients of the offence under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code were made out. “The offence under Section 295A of the IPC is met to every word of its ingredient, albeit prima facie,” the judge said.

The petitioner, Sirajuddin, a resident of Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, had challenged the FIR registered against him at the CEN (Cyber, Economics and Narcotics) police station, Mangaluru, for offences under Section 295A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Section 295A relates to punishment for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens.

According to the complaint filed by K Jayaraj Salian, also a resident of Belthangady taluk, he received a WhatsApp group link from an unknown source and was added to the group after accessing it. The group reportedly had six administrators and around 250 participants, where obscene and offensive images depicting Hindu deities and certain political figures were allegedly circulated repeatedly.

Sirajuddin was arrested in connection with the case and later released on bail on February 16, 2021. He argued before the court that he was being selectively targeted, while other administrators—including the creator of the group—were neither arrested nor investigated. He also contended that the Magistrate could not have taken cognisance of the offence under Section 295A without prior sanction under Section 196(1) of the CrPC.

Rejecting the argument, Justice Nagaprasanna held that prior sanction is required only at the stage of taking cognisance, and not at the stage of registration of the crime or during investigation.

The judge noted that the State had produced the entire investigation material before the court. “A perusal of the material reveals depictions of Hindu deities in an extraordinarily obscene, demeaning and profane manner. The content is such that its reproduction in a judicial order would itself be inappropriate,” the court said, adding that the material, on its face, had the tendency to outrage religious feelings and disturb communal harmony.

Observing that the case was still at the investigation stage, the court said it could not interdict the probe at this juncture. However, it expressed concern that the investigating officer appeared to have not proceeded uniformly against all administrators. The court clarified that if the investigation revealed the active involvement of any member in permitting the circulation of such content, they must also be proceeded against.

“At this investigative stage, any further observation by this Court would be unnecessary,” the order concluded.

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