3 brothers from Dharwad held in UP for Rs 400-cr scam

May 31, 2017

Bengaluru, May 31: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sleuths have arrested three brothers, the prime suspects in a Rs 400-crore scam involving Harsha Entertainment Pvt Ltd (HEPL) based in Kalghatgi in Dharwad district.

scammer

Harsha Khasnis alias Satyabodha, Sanjeev Khasnis and Shrikant Khasnis were picked up from a hotel in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday and were subsequently arrested. They were brought to Karnataka and produced before a court in Dharwad on Tuesday. The court remanded them in police custody for eight days for further interrogation. Brothers, who floated the HEPL, were on the run since April 11, 2017.

The Khasnis brothers were small-time moneylenders when they started the business in 2005. The business grew rapidly and they started taking deposits from the public. They collected more than Rs 400 crore from the public?by promising monthly returns of 7%. They said the money would be invested in the stock market and film production. Agents were hired to collect deposits from the public and were given a commission. A large number of people, including government employees, from Dharwad, Belagavi, Uttara Kannada, Gadag, Haveri, Vijayapura and Davangere districts had invested in the firm. Some of the depositors had even taken loans for investing in HEPL.

The brothers invested in 10 films. Their plans went well till the demonetisation in November 2016. Post-demonetisation, they found it difficult to manage their business. So, they called a meeting of investors and sought time for making the payments.

The trio wound up the company on April 11 and vanished with investors' money and documents. The victims filed complaints with the Kalghatgi police who registered cases under IPC sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 406 and 408 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and Section 9 of the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act, 2004 (Fraudulent Default by Financial Establishment).

The police arrested four employees of HEPL, Ramachandra, Vadiraja, Mahesh and Shambulingha, after a case was registered.

Considering large sums of money involved in the scam, the government handed over the case to CID to ensure justice to victims. The police conducted searches in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to nab the trio.

Now, the CID sleuths have requested victims cheated by the trio to contact the CID (9480800184/ 94808-00103/[email protected]) and share the details.

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News Network
December 2,2025

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Bengaluru: 'Nati koli saaru' (country chicken curry) considered one of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s favourites along with steaming hot idlis was on the breakfast menu at Deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s residence on Tuesday, according to official sources.

The spread also included 'nati koli' fry, vada and pongal, among other items, they said.

In an apparent show of unity, Siddaramaiah visited Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast, just days after the two leaders shared a meal amid a simmering power tussle in the state Congress.

Siddaramaiah drove to the Deputy CM’s residence in Sadashivanagar, where he was received by Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh, who is a former Congress MP.

Suresh and Kunigal MLA H D Ranganath, a relative of Shivakumar, joined them for breakfast, which featured a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Speaking to reporters later, Siddaramaiah said Shivakumar had invited him during his visit to the CM’s residence for breakfast on Saturday.

Asked about the difference between the two meals, the chief minister said, "At his (Shivakumar’s) house it was non-veg, while at my house it was veg. He is a vegetarian, I am a non-vegetarian. I had not prepared non-veg. I told DK to get chicken from the village as you won’t get the original in Bengaluru."

Shivakumar said he had initially invited Siddaramaiah to his residence, but the CM had suggested visiting his place first and reciprocating later. "It was a vegetarian breakfast at the CM’s house on Saturday," he noted.

"Today, I invited him (the CM) to my house. He enjoyed the breakfast, which had his Mysuru taste," Shivakumar added. At this point, Siddaramaiah remarked that Shivakumar’s wife is also from Mysuru.

Saturday’s breakfast at Siddaramaiah’s official residence, held as part of efforts by the Congress high command to ease tensions in the leadership dispute between the two, reportedly included idlis and sambar, according to official sources.

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News Network
December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A 34-year-old fruit and vegetable trader in Mangaluru has reportedly lost ₹33.1 lakh after falling victim to an online investment scam run through a fake mobile app.

Police said the scam began in September, when the victim received a link on Facebook. Clicking it connected him to a WhatsApp number, where an unidentified person introduced a high-return investment scheme and instructed him to download an app.

To build trust, the fraudster asked him to invest ₹30,000 on September 24. The trader soon received ₹34,000 as “profit,” convincing him the scheme was genuine. Over the next two months, he transferred money in multiple instalments via Google Pay and IMPS to different scanner codes and bank accounts shared by the scammers. Between September 24 and December 3, he ended up sending a total of ₹33.1 lakh.

When he later requested a refund of his investment and promised returns, the scammers demanded additional payments, claiming he needed to pay a “service tax” first. Even after he paid a small amount, no money was returned, and the scammers continued pressuring him for more.

A case has been registered at the CEN Crime Police Station.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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