Guard who worked at Manipal press stole question papers for Rs 17 lakh: Cops

News Network
February 5, 2019

Bengaluru, Feb 5: Anil Francis, the 150th accused in the paper leak scam, who was ‘convinced’ to fly down from Sharjah to India, had allegedly sold the papers for ₹17 lakh to one of the accused, Ameer Ahmed. Ameer is from Davanagere and owns a travel agency. The two connected on Facebook through a common friend last year.

As he was a security guard for the Udipi unit of Manipal Technologies, which prints question papers,he decided to earn a quick buck by selling the Karnataka Civil Police Constable written examination question papers to Ameer.

While he was on duty, he stole the question papers from the shredder room. He used the printing press’ photocopying machine and handed the copies over to Ameer near Manipal hospital mortuary a few days before the police constable recruitment exam on November 25.

Ameer passed on the question paper to prime accused Basavaraj C.T. for of ₹55 lakh. “Ameer deposited ₹25 lakh in a bank in Davanagere towards a home loan and invested the rest in a Kannada film, Half Boiled, which is yet to be released,” said Alok Kumar Additional Commissioner of Police.

Basavaraj distributed the question papers to his contacts who in turn charged each candidate ₹8 lakh. In total, the accused collected an advance amount of ₹1.19 crore from 117 candidates who approached them for question papers through the kingpin Shivakumaraiah, who had been arrested for his role in the 2016 II PU chemistry question paper leak scam.

Shivakumaraiah had held a ‘tutorial’ at a school in Doddakodali village, Madikeri district, on November 24 to pass on the papers. The police were tipped off and raided the place. They arrested 117 candidates, Shivakumaraiah, and his assistant Naveen.

Basavaraj, who was in the washroom at the time of the raid, managed to slip away.

The CCB recovered ₹67.7 lakh, 98 photocopies of police constables question papers, 138 hall tickets of candidates, 35 original documents of candidates, 36 mobile phones, 17 vehicles, two printers, a laptop and a tab from the accused.

The exam was rescheduled, but during the investigation, the police learned that the accused were also involved in leaking the BMTC recruitment question paper, Alok Kumar said.

Basavaraj took over the operation after Shivakumaraiah was arrested. He managed to obtain anticipatory bail. But instead of appearing before the CCB, he went underground. According to the police, he was planning to get his hands on the PSI question papers before surrendering. His plan was thwarted by a series of raids carried out by the CCB.

"As all the question papers that were printed at the press in Manipal had been leaked, we have asked the management to conduct a security audit and also upgrade their security checks," Alok Kumar said. He added that the management will also be questioned and action would be taken if any discrepancies are found.

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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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News Network
December 15,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 15: Air India Express has announced that it will resume direct flight services between Mangaluru and Muscat from March 2026, restoring an important international air link for passengers from the coastal region.

Airport authorities said the service will operate twice a week—on Sundays and Tuesdays—from March 1. The initial flights are scheduled on March 3, 8 and 10, followed by March 15 and 17, with the same operating pattern to continue thereafter. The flight duration is approximately three hours and 25 minutes.

The Mangaluru–Muscat route was earlier operated under the 2025 summer schedule, with services beginning on July 14. At that time, Air India Express had operated four flights a week before suspending the service.

Officials said the summer schedule will come into effect from March 29, after which changes in flight timings and departure schedules from Mangaluru are expected. Passengers have been advised to check the latest schedules while planning their travel.

The resumption of direct flights to Muscat is expected to significantly benefit expatriates, business travellers and others, further strengthening Mangaluru’s air connectivity with the Gulf region.

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News Network
December 2,2025

DKSsiddu.jpg

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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