Soldier stages ‘PFI attack’ drama to become famous, lands in police custody after friend reveals truth

Tumakuru, Nov 27: In a tragic incident a family of five, including three children, died by suicide, which was allegedly triggered by debt and harassment by neighbours in the Sadashivanagar area of Tumakuru city in Karnataka on Sunday. 

The deceased family elder Garib Saab (36) left a poignant death note addressed to his grandmother, detailing the family's struggles and the reasons behind their extreme step.

According to police, the deceased family hailed from Lakkanahalli in Shira taluk of Tumakuru district. The deceased have been identified as Garib Saab (32) his wife Sumayya (30), their daughter Hazira, and sons Mohammed Suban and Mohammed Muneer.

Earlier, Garib wrote a chilling note to his great-grandmother about his plan to die by suicide. He wrote about his debt and also mentioned that his neighbours were harassing his family. He demanded that the Home Minister should punish them according to the law. "We are losing our lives to the harassment of the neighbours," he wrote in the note.

Garib Saab has written the names of family members and wrote that everything is on the mobile phone, police said.

Tumakur SP Ashok KV said, "We got information that five people committed suicide in the same house. After a few minutes, we reached the place. Two bodies were found hanging. The bodies of three children were found on the bed. The deceased persons were from Lakkanahalli of Shira taluk. Garib Saab wrote a death note before he died. He also sent a video message to his relatives. We will check what information it contains. We will take action based on the video and the complaint."

Saab stayed at Tumakuru to educate his children. The deceased have blamed mental harassment by Kalandar, who stays below their house in a video purportedly recorded by them.

“We were harassed by neighbours led by Kalandar. Those responsible for this suicide should get their due. Don’t conduct post-mortem on our bodies,” the video said. 

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has shot off a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressing concerns and seeking clarification on Rs 798 crore from the Integrated Goods & Services Tax (IGST) being deducted from Karnataka. 

“The information at our disposal indicates that an amount of Rs 798.03 crore has been adjusted out of the IGST settlement as ‘adjustment of advance apportionment to make up shortfall in IGST balance as on 26.12.2022’,” Siddaramaiah stated. 

Siddaramaiah asked Sitharaman to explain the “rationale” behind “huge negative balances of Rs 34,000 crore to accumulate”. He said the accumulation of negative IGST balances would impact treasury management of state finances. 

“In order to facilitate better understanding and transparency, the state of Karnataka seeks information on the total amount of negative IGST balance and the methodology employed for distributing this among the states for recovery,” Siddaramaiah stated. 

Siddaramaiah also asked the union government to make deductions in instalments. “Given the pressing need for resources and the potential challenges associated with lump-sum deductions...we propose a phased approach, preferably in ten instalments, to mitigate the immediate impact on state finances,” he stated. 

“We believe that a transparent and collaborative approach in addressing these concerns will contribute to the effective functioning of the financial ecosystem,” Siddaramaiah stated.

Meanwhile Karnataka GST collection at Rs 11,970 crore finished in second place all India behind Maharashtra. 

Karnataka’s collection was more than Rs 1,000 crore higher than Gujarat, which managed Rs 10,853 crore. 

Tamil Nadu stood at fourth place with Rs 10,255 crore, while Haryana stood a distant fifth with Rs 9,732 crore. UP stood at sixth place with Rs 8,973 crore.

The Kerala police have registered a case against cricketer S Sreesanth and two others based on a cheating complaint filed by a man in north Kerala’s Kannur district.

The complainant, hailing from Kannur’s Choonda, alleged that the accused, Rajiv Kumar and Venkatesh Kini, took Rs 18.70 lakh on various dates from April 25, 2019, by claiming that they would build a sports academy at Kollur in Udupi district of Karnataka, in which Sreesanth is a partner.

In his complaint, Sareesh Gopalan said he invested the money after being offered the opportunity to become a partner in the academy.

Sreesanth and the two others have been booked under IPC Section 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).

Sreesanth has been named as the third accused in the case.