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Skull split by iron rod
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The Daily
VOL 13 ISSUE 2 Tuesday , December 3 , 2013
Observer
Asecurity guard wasrushed to hospital aer acab driver attacked him
with a tyre iron.Rajyappa, 54, had an argument withthe cab driver at the gates of GlobalVillage Tech Park. e driver hit Rajyappa with theiron bar and it lodged in his skull.Doctors at BalagangadharanathaSwamiji (BGS) Global Hospitalrushed him to surgery and removedthe iron rod. B. Raju, another security guard atGlobal village and an eyewitness tothe incident, said: “It was a cab
driver of Infosys. e two had a fightin the evening about entering thegate which turned physical and Ra-jayyapa was attacked. "
He added: “e cab driver in angerhit him with a wheel jack rod of thecar and injured him badly.” e rodpenetrated into his skull. e guardwas taken to BGS Global Hospitalimmediately.
Dr. Venkatrammanna, ChiefNeuro surgeon at BGS Global Hos-pital, said: “e patient was broughtto the hospital with the rod hanging
from his head. Due to the proximityof the place of incident, the patientcould make it just on time. e inci-dent happened when the patient re-fused to adjust the timing and dataaccording to the driver’s wishes."
He added: “It was a skull fracture.We had to open the skull and openthe covering to the brain. We thentook out the rod completely andstopped the bleeding.
Only aer this we could conductthe surgery. We are happy with therecovery the patient has shown as it
was critical surgery. He was willing to talk but thinking
of the incident has made him re-member the trauma again. He isnow shied from the ICU to theward. He is doing well and will bedischarged soon.”
He added that it was a serious headinjury and could have led to paraly-sis. However, since the rod pene-trated the front portion of the skullthe guard was not le paralysed.
Kalidas, son of Rajyappa, said:“My father is doing fine now. Ini-
tially it would have been a very crit-ical situation but we were lucky thathe was saved. He is going to be dis-charged soon. He started walkingand is talking to us now. But he stillremains in shock and trauma. efamily is supporting him as much aspossible. We are happy that he sur-vived. "
When Rajyappa was asked aboutthe incident he burst into tears, un-able to speak about it.
When Kamal Prem, security headat the Global Village, was askedabout the incident, he said: “We donot want to talk about the issue.” Ac-cording to BGS Hospital Authori-ties, the accused was identified bythe patient.
Venkatrammanna added: “A casewas filed at Kengeri police station.e accused has been caught by theKengeri police.”
Bhajan Kumar, another guard,said: “We are aware of the incident.It happened when I was on duty.However, we have not been givenany details by any official here.”
e incident happened on thesame day Jyothi Udaya was attackedin an ATM in Bangalore, November19. Both the patients suffered simi-lar injuries and had to undergo crit-ical brain surgeries.
Apurva Venkat &
Nikita Narvekar
Rajyappa at the BGS Hospital being treated for the skull fracture aer he was hit with an irod rod
Page 3
EXCLUSIVE
Page 4 & 5 Page 6
Woman tried to sell her baby
Disabilitiesday special report
Extortioncaught on camera
X-ray of Rajyappa aer the attack
Skull split by iron rodAn argument with a taxi driver leaves a tech park security guard fighting for his life
e Daily Observer Tuesday December 3, 2013 2
Most of the organizations includ-ing hospitals and educational in-stitutions lack a committee toaddress sexual harassment cases.
Speaking about the importance ofthe internal committees, KantiJoshi, Convener of Sasha, an NGOconsultancy arm said: “It is theneed of the hour to set up commit-tees at the earliest, according to theVishaka guidelines and also accord-ing the Sexual Harassment ofWoman at Workplace Act, 2013. Itis mandatory to have an InternalComplaints Committee (ICC) to
address these issues at workplace. Itsurely helps to have one.”
e importance of these redressalmechanisms was highlighted by therecent case of Tarun Tejpal who al-legedly sexually assaulted his fe-male colleague.It also focused onthe absence of these committees inmany corporate sectors.
Kanti Joshi said that it is impor-tant to be sensitive towards a victimwhile questioning her. erefore,the members of the internal com-mittee need to undergo a sensitiza-tion program.
She said: “ere was this one in-
stance where the complainant wasnot comfortable to speak in front ofthe male members of the ICC.
At her request, only the femalemembers recorded her evidenceand documented the reason fordoing so. Decisions may have to betaken depending on the facts andcircumstances of each case.”
She also said that she receivescases where the complainant ismale. She said: “Anti-Sexual harass-ment Policies of most of the organ-izations are gender-neutral.”
When asked about the increase inthe number of cases in corporate
sector pertaining to sexual harass-ment, Kanti Joshi said: “Numbersare not increasing; but the level ofawareness is increasing. So, a lot ofwomen are coming forward withtheir complaints.”
She added, “Many employers areinitiating a lot of pro-active meas-ures resulting in increase in confi-dence levels of the employees. As aresult of which they are encouragedto come forward and raise theirvoice.”
Uni services refused to commenton being asked about the commit-tee in their organization.
Vaishnavi J. Desai
Kanti Joshi, Convenor OfSasha
Injustice, inhumanity and the AIDS epidemicActivists from World Vision, theBangalore HIV/AIDS forum andstudents gathered at the TownHall for a rally, demanding thetabling of the HIV/AIDS Bill,pending since 2006, in the wintersession of the Parliament.
Commenting on the necessity ofthe Bill, Julian, Community Health-Coordinator, World Vision, said,“e Bill is of utmost importance-for protecting basic human rightsof people infected by HIV such asthe right to proper and free treatment. It is also necessary inorder to tackle the stigma associ-ated with it. "
Surekha N Shetty, Legal and Ad-vocacy Officer, said, "e Bill, until2011, was being draed in coordi-nation with the people and theirgrievances were being heard. Butaer 2011, the Bill has just beenshuffling between the Health Min-istry and the Law Ministry. Wewant this Bill to be passed beforethe 2014 elections. NACO (has alsodiscussed the legislation and are ad-vocating for the Bill."
A 45-year-old engineer workingin a private organization at White-field was allegedly forced to resignlast month aer he got diagnosed
with HIV.Surekha, who is looking into the
case, believes that the Anti-Dis-crimination Law under theHIV/AIDS Bill would help in theprotection of infected people inboth public and private sectorsfrom such discrimation.
But discrimination is not just re-stricted to this. According toSurekha, Bowring Hospital, aprominent government hospital inthe city, refuses to take many pa-tients as the doctors are themselves
scared of getting infected. eycite the lack of paraphernalia as thereason for not taking these patients.KC General Hospital, a governmenthospital in Malleshwaram, allegedlyrefused to admit a pregnant womanin labour last month because shewas HIV+. "Government hospitalsmeting out such treatment is unac-ceptable" said Surekha.
Even the children of the affectedare not spared as a private school inKamlanagar allegedly forced a six-year-old to stop attendingschool in May because his parentswere both HIV+.
Meena, 35, learnt she was HIV+about 21 years ago. According toher, she contracted the disease fromher husband who succumbed to the
disease. She lived in Shimoga withher husband and 4 children. Butaer her husband's death, she wasle in a Bangalore hostel by her-family, never to be taken backagain. According to the Care and-Protection Act (2000), governmenthostels are supposed to take care ofabandoned children but this hostelturned her and her children outaer getting to know that Meenawas HIV+.
According to Yashwanth, StudentUnion President, Jain College, whoparticipated in the rally, said “theproblem is due to lack of awareness.All the sensitization ends with theend of the World Aids Day. "
Grahm Movey-Stratton, an aspir-ing US journalist in India for an in-ternship, seemed to be shocked tosee such recalcitrance in the systemwhen it comes to dealing withsomething as sensitive as this.
According to him, "legislation inthis regard should be speedy as it isextremely important in a countrylike India."
Charulata, 35, a transgender, whowas a sex worker until she got diagnosed with HIV is now forcedto make a living by begging on the
roads. Owing to her gender, shehas no valid ID proof or anythingto even validate the fact that she isa citizen of the country. She re-counted her experiences saying," Ianyway never had any rights owingto what I am and now I have lostmy only source of income. I do nothave means to get proper treat-ment. No government hospital ad-mits me."
A resident of RPC Layout, Vijay-nagar, she is forced to pay a sum of
Rs.200 everyday along with themonthly rent that she pays at theend of the month. Commenting onthis, Charulata said, “is is be-cause I am an HIV+ transgender."
According to Malathi from theKarnataka Network of Positive Peo-ple, "e Bill is very important as itprovides for protection of people
from such inhumanities. "e Bill has separate provisions
for women and children along withprovisions for providing free andcomplete treatment for all HIV+people.
As of October 2013, the Bill hasbeen cleared by the Law ministry
and is now with the Health min-istry once again. Surekha added,“e Standing Committee onHealth, in its report to the RajyaSabha in April 2013, has said thatthe delay in bringing the Bill to theParliament is not justifiable.”
At present, the winter session ofthe Parliament is slated to begin onDecember 5 while the Meenas andthe Charulatas continue to live a lifeof stigma and discriminationclutching on to their only hope thatthe government will someday dosomething for them.
Anannya Sarkar
Firms lack committee to check sexual assaultCharulata, a victim.
At present she lives near Jalahalliand she still faces discrimination asshe said, "My neigbours do noteven allow me to draw water fromthe same tap.”
e Daily Observer Tuesday, December 3, 2013 3
Debt-ridden clerk hangs himself
A 34-year-old police officer committed sui-cide during the early hours of Tuesday.
According to cops at H.A.L police station,the deceased, Ravi Kumar, was a First Divi-sion Assistant at the Commisioner of Policeoffic.
e incident took place at 2am on Tuesdaywhere he committed suicide at his residencein H.A.L police quarters.
Umbalaya, Investigation Officer at H.A.Lpolice station said , “e wife of the deceased,Roopa, 25, and his children were sleeping inthe living room and he had asked his wife andchildren to leave him alone in the bedroom.Soon aer that, his wife got up to see her hus-band but he had already hung himself.”
e police added, “He was a heavy drinkerand used to come home drunk every day andquarrel with his wife. Also, he had not beento work for the past five months. Accordingto the neighbours, they had seen rum bottles
in the living room, which means he wasdrinking the night the incident took place.”
According to the police, the post mortemreport mentioned “drinking heavily since lastnight”.
According to the wife’s complaint, regis-tered at H.A.L police station, he had takenloans from relatives and had pledged all thegold ornaments and so he committed suicide.Kumar’s wife also said that he used to engagehimself in betting at turf club and at cricketmatches.According to the neighbor,the peo-ple he had borrowed money from used tocome to his house every day to get theirmoney back.
Sujata Rashe, 42, who lives in the H.A.Lquarters said, “At 3:45am on Tuesday, I heardhustle and bustle from downstairs, that’swhen I saw Kumar’s body being taken awayin an ambulance. He used to drink every dayand beat his wife.”
She added, “A month ago, he almost be-haved like a mentally retarded person andkept talking to himself. Every time he quar-
reled with his wife, he said sorry to me.” “He owned two auto rickshaws, two two-
wheeler vehicles which he recently sold sincehe required money for drinking.”
Mother gives her baby daughter away
Karishma Ravindran & Vaishnavi
Desai
A mother suspected of trying to sell her new-born babydaughter has been warned she could face jail.
We can reveal the woman, Sushila, 35, claims she sent herdaughter to live with a relative. e Child Development Pro-tection Unit in Ramnagara district of Bangalore is investigat-ing the case.
Sushila, a mother-of-four, gave birth to her daughter onNovember 2 close to Geetamandir, Eijur extension. Twentydays later, Pushpalata, an anganwadi worker who livesnearby, contacted the Child Development Protection Unit totell them the child had gone missing.
“Pushpalata informed us about the missing newborn. Fol-lowing that information two of our Protection Officers, Sajud-din Khan and Jyothi went to meet Sushila”, said Rashmi,Assistant to the Child Development Protection Officer.
Jyothi said: “She denied having sold her baby. She said thatthe child is with her mother-in-law who lives in Mysore. Wehave warned her that such action could land her in jail fol-lowing which she got the baby back.”
Sushila is a widow whose husband died a few years back.She now lives with Ravi who has another wife and three chil-dren.
“She says that she got married to him in a temple but that isnot true. Ravi has another family altogether”, said Rashmi.
“Ravi is my husband. I did not sell my baby. She was with arelative of mine in Mysore Road. I got the baby back whenthey asked me to. She is with the adoption agency now”, saidSushila.
When questioned if she is happy about her baby being sentto the adoption centre, she said, “I have four other children”.
Sushila has four other children who are aged six, five, two-and-a-half and one-and-a-half. She is the only provider in the
family and works at a silk reeling factory that is located closeto her house.
“She used to carry the twenty-five day old child to the fac-tory. She would carelessly place the baby close to the furnacewhile she would continue her work. e other four childrenwould remain unattended in the house”, said Radha, ChildDevelopment Protection Officer.
“Even the other four children are severely malnourished.She does not even send them to school. We are trying toadmit them to a rehabilitation centre in Chenapattna,” addedRadha.
e baby has been recovered by the Child Welfare Commit-tee and is currently with Snehalaya Adoption Centre who willsoon arrange for the child’s adoption.
Sister Cynthia at Snehalaya Adoption Centre said: “emother is yet to sign the adoption form following which wewill start the process.
e baby is very weak and malnourished.”“She claims she did not sell her baby, but she was fine with
us asking to put the baby up for adoption. We have to believewhat she says as we don’t have proof of her selling her baby.But what mother happily sends her twenty-day old childaway?” added Suchitra, Child Welfare Committee.
Sushila handing over her child to the adoption center
Sneha Ghosh
e house where the policeman killed himself
A First Division Assistant at Commisioner of Police Office hung himself at his residence, aer getting into debt.
As the world celebrates Interna-tional Day of Persons with Disabil-ities today, team Observer bringsyou all that is being done in Banga-lore to “Break Barriers, OpenDoors: for an inclusive society anddevelopment for all.”
A school for the differently abledSri Vaishnavi Education Academy
for mentally challenged and disabledhas got 37 admissions in one year ofoperation.e school functions in a place that
was a scrap building inside the gov-ernment hospital compound in Ram-nagra until last year, when it wascleaned and painted to be put to bet-ter use.Inaugurated on November 18, 2012
with just two admissions, it is the sec-ond branch of Sri Vaishnavi Educa-tion Academy.e school enrolls students between
3 and 31 years with mild, moderateand severe mental retardation and as-sociated physical disabilities. eyare divided into four groups accord-ing to their ages.It does not teach them academic
subjects but basic operational skillsneeded every day like eating andbasic communication. ey are alsogiven vocational training in areas likepaper bag making and candle mak-ing.Before this school, parents of men-
tally disturbed children in Ramana-
gra either sent them to normalschools or kept them at home. Kirti, the principal, said, “Only 50
per cent of the parents accept thattheir child has a medical condition.Fearing society’s reaction, they do notsend their children to school."According to Kiran, administrator
of the school, "Since most of the stu-dents in this branch are Muslim, ourteachers are learning Urdu. It wouldhelp in strengthening the student-teacher bond."However, a shortage of special
teachers is a concern. “We need morespecial teachers. Very few agree tocome to a small far-away village tohelp these children.”
Making travel comfortableA cab service designed especially
for senior citizens and the disabledwas launched in the city on Novem-ber 28.Initiated by Vidhya Kalyani Rama-
subban, KickStart Cabs aims to maketransportation friendly for its targetcustomers.According to Ankit Jindal, Co-
Founder of the cab service, “e dis-abled and senior citizens face severalproblems while travelling. e driv-ers of the usual cabs are not sensitiveenough in handling these people,which causes them mental stress andinconvenience.”According to a survey conducted
by KickStart Cabs, all the disabledpeople and senior citizens need spe-cial services and 60 per cent of them
are willing to pay premium prices forsuch a service.KickStart, mainly funded by Em-
phasis Ltd, has three types of cabs tomake the vehicles agreeable to its cus-tomers. e firm is engaging womenand transsexuals as drivers who theyhope will be more sensitive towardsdisabled and old people.“During the pilot service we found
that only 50 per cent of our clientswere disabled,” said Jindal inferringthat the service is gaining popularityother than their target customers.“e designs adopted to make the
cabs disabled friendly are expensive.It costs us around Rs. 4 lakh,” said Jin-dal. e team hopes to expand theservice to Delhi, Mumbai and Chen-nai in the coming years.
Exhibitione Rangoli Metro Art Centre has
organized a painting and pottery ex-hibition, with the artifacts con-tributed by disabled children.e three day event is taking place
at the Rangoli Art Centre. e Ran-goli Metro Art Centre has organizedthe event in association with sevenschools and organizations whichwork for the education and trainingof the disabled. e children arebeing trained all around the year withextracurricular activities like- Potteryand painting which would inculcatein them the confidence that they re-quire.Dr. M. N Nagaraj, Director (Tech-
nical), Dr. S R Chandrasekhar Insti-
tute of Speech and Hearing Centresaid, “Almost 70 per cent of the par-ents who have a disabled child hidethem out of shame. It is not the rightthing to do. Parents should not hidetheir children from the society or betoo protective but rather help them to
face the society and stand on theirown.”Shanti, Vice-Principal of the
Bethany Special School said, “Weneed lot of patience and perseveranceto train these children. It basically re-quires routine repetition, though it
Celebrating the International D The Observer Team
e disabled children about to perform at the function that was held t
e Daily Observer 4
Dr. B. N. Praneshwar Rao at the function NGO workers with some of the disabled children who took part Displays created by disabled childr
takes a bit of time it enhances theirmotor skills and help them be inde-pendent.”She added that they have organized
an Inter-school Athletic meet at theMadhavan Park in order to motivatethe children and provide them with
the much needed respect they de-serve in the society.Vani Nagaraj, Special Educator and
Director, Aarohan- Centre for Learn-ing Disability said that parents shouldbe aware about the fact that thoughthese children behave normally, they
have a problem with reading andwriting. is sort of “Invisible Dis-ability” is difficult to understand evenif there is a problem.She added, “ese disabilities are
irreversible and need the right kindof treatment and training at the righttime which should be initiated at thetender age of 3-4 years, which is theright time to educate the children.”She added, “Parents bring their chil-
dren to me and expect results in ashort period of time but they don’tunderstand that such kind of disabil-ity takes a longer to get better. Stu-dents who have been here for over ayear are now in par with the normalchildren. But for those children whojoin the organization and discon-tinue, have not gained much as theirparents expect immediate result.”Vani added that they conduct coun-
seling for the parents so that they canunderstand the problem better andhave teachers specially trained fromthe Karnataka Parent’s Associationfor Mentally Retarded Citizens tohandle the children with ease.
On the surfaceAt a function held to commemorate
World Disability Day, the state gov-ernment recognized a number of or-ganizations dedicated to helpingpeople with disabilities.e event, held at the Kanteerava
Stadium, was attended by a largenumber of disabled people as well asthe Commissioner of the Directorateof Welfare of Disabled and Senior
Citizens, K. Rajanna.Although it aimed at increasing
awareness about disability and theproblems related to it, several seniormembers of prominent disability-re-lated organizations felt that the eventwas merely aimed at raising publicityfor the government without actuallyaddressing the vast number of prob-lems faced by disabled persons in thestate.N. V. Darshan, Director of Mobility
and erapy, Association of Peoplewith Disabilities (APD), said that thebiggest challenge faced by disabledpeople in Karnataka was the lack ofproper outreach programs coupledwith poverty and social stigmas thatsurround them.According to earlier reports, 70 per
cent of the disabled persons in Kar-nataka are unemployed despite theprovision of the Disability Act. Ques-tions were also raised about govern-mental negligence with regarding toproviding adequate facilities in ruralareas.Dr. B.N. Praneshwar Rao, a repre-
sentative and State Level Coordinatorfor Disabilities, Indian Red Cross,said, that the most important meas-ure to be taken is the proper evalua-tion of identity cards for disabledpeople. He emphasizes that it is es-sential that evaluation of I.D. cards becarried out by certified medical pro-fessionals. "Our biggest responsibilityis creating a barrier-free atmospherefor the disabled."
Technology collaborates with thespecially abled people to make lifeeasier for them with a wide varietyof apps and devices.Every kid is different so this book
is designed for children with specialneeds. Zanny-Born to Run bookcarries a different story which helpsdiagnose a specific learning disor-der. is is the first ever custommade book for special children.Another special app to be men-
tioned is the Grace App. e bestfeature of this app is it provides ameans of communication for thenon-verbal people. It is a simplemechanism where the user canform a sentence by building rele-vant images.
AVAZ with a vision to provide avoice for the non verbal people hasdeveloped affordable tools. Aug-mentative and Alternative Com-munication (AAC) devices are toolswhich are rarely found in India.AVAZ is an artificial voice whichcomes close to being a substitute fornatural voice and is flexible, peoplewith all forms of disabilities can useit. Invention Labs has provided fea-tures which makes the tool loud,fast, clear and most importantly itseco friendly. See. Touch. Learn. by Brain Pa-
rade can’t be le behind. An app forautistic kids to learn from picturecards and the learner’s response canbe tracked automatically. Parentsand teachers can help their kidsbenefit from 60 exercises and highquality images.
Learningapplications
Day of Persons With Disability
to commemorate World Disability Day
Tuesday, December 3, 2013 5
ren were exhibited during the event at the Rangoli Art Centre in the city
e Daily Observer Tuesday, December 3, 2013 6Celebrating the United Nations' 16 day campaign from November 25 to December 10 whichaims to fight violence against women, e Daily Observer brings you the stories of the sur-vivors and healers associated with this gender-based struggle that is still rampant.
Appy to helpA mobile application has been
developed to help public healthworkers find if their patient is avictim of domestic violence.
is app called “Com-Care” (forcommunity care) borrows fromDr. Sunita Krishnan’s carefully de-veloped protocol based on her re-search and documentation, iscreated by Dimagi Inc., funded byU.S. Agency for International De-velopment (USAID) and sup-ported by BBMP.
is initiative has not been madea program by BBMP yet. It is stilla project. e idea of the app wasconceived in 2006 when Krishnanmet the founder of Dimagi Inc.and discussed with him the possi-bility of using their platform to fa-cilitate primary health systemresponses.
Together they created an app thatfunctions as “a job aid.” It helps thestaff carry out the screening proto-col and enables them to look forcertain signs and symptoms to as-sess if their patient is a victim ofdomestic violence.
It makes the health workers askindirect and direct questions tofind out the problems of thewomen patients and then promptsthem to provide informationabout the necessary referrals. If awoman wants a referral, that canalso be recorded on the app and aSMS alerts a Soukhya counselorthat a woman experiencing do-mestic violence has been identi-fied.
“is app is unique because it is
not for women in the communitybut for health workers to system-atically look for domestic violencecases and respond in an organizedway so that the right messages arebeing communicated on a consis-tent basis,” says the woman wholeads the Soukhya Project.
A public health researcher bornin the United States, Krishnanspent the first half of her life there.She calls herself “a women’s healthresearcher and advocate” and is“committed to seeing my researchtranslated to programs and poli-cies.”
e 43 year old has been workingfor women welfare since shestarted her PhD in Public Healthat University of California andBerkley. “I came back to India in1996 and did three years of re-search in Chikmaglur district inrural Karnataka. It was then thatmy interest in looking at women’sissues started.”
She has been involved with in-depth research projects that lookat gender-power dynamics in mar-riage and how it impacts women’ssexual and reproductive health. “Ifound violence faced by women asone of the major health hazards.Its impact on their mental andphysical health has been a constantthroughout my career.”
She believes that since the Delhigang rape there has been a lotmore media and government at-tention to the issue of violenceagainst women and its myriad im-pacts on the victims. “Aer work-ing on this issue for years anddocumenting women’s experi-
ences and the impact of violenceon their health, I am finally seeingpolicy level attention to this issue.”
She has an array of BBMP offi-cials supporting her work who oflate have started recognizing thelink between domestic violenceand women’s health, which, ac-cording to her, “is a huge develop-ment.”
“We need to get the message out,”she declares. “We need to ensurethat the data gathered by folks likeme from these community-basedstudies is understood by the largercommunity.”
Currently working with a non-profit research institute in the UScalled Research Triangle Instituteand serving as a visiting faculty in
adjunct position at St. John’s Re-search Institute in Bangalore, shecollaborates with NGOs to seechange happen.
She intends to launch an aware-ness campaign with women’s selfhelp groups in the city to a con-sciousness about the issue so thatwomen feel more comfortabletalking about their problems.
Sneha Bengani
Dr. Sunita Krishnan, the brains behind ComCare, a mobile app to help domestic violence victims
e Daily Observer Tuesday, December 3, 2013 7
Six men caught for illegal issuing of gun licensesSix security guards were arrested by city po-lice for issuing fake gun licenses .
On October 23, Inspector Girish of D.J.Halli Police Station, led by a team of fourother constables, arrested Ajay Yadav, 28,Ravindra Kumar, 32, Sunil Kumar, 26, Suren-dra Kumar, 22, Nagendra Kumar, 33 andJugetan and Pandey, 20, for cheating peopleby charging exorbitant amounts and handingout duplicate license numbers for guns andrevolvers.
A FIR was lodged by Vijay Kumar at the po-lice station aer the group had tricked twolakh rupees from him. ey had suppliedhim with a single barrel gun and issued a falselicense against it. Mr. Kumar, a Field Officerat Shiva Industries, a security agency, hadcontacted them for they were known amongthe local people for dealing in guns.
Mr. Kumar informed the police of therented apartment at Defense Lane, NandaGokula Layout, where the gang usuallystayed. Following the tip-off, Mr. Girish ar-rested the six, seizing half-a-dozen other du-plicate license numbers, guns and 34cartridges.
Police Sub-Inspector Shivprakash, D.J.Halli
Police Station said:”Most of them are fromdifferent villages in Bihar. Ajay Yadav is fromDharamchack village, Ravindra Kumar fromBagavanganj, Sunil Kumar from Sadabe ,Surendra Kumar from Jehanabad district andJugetanad Pandey from Dumriya, Bochpur.”
Mr. Dinesh, Station-Writer said: “All six ofthem were employed as security personnel indifferent organizations. Nagendra Kumar andRavindra Kumar worked in Bharath Co-Op-erative Bank. Jugetanand Pandey , SunilKumar and Surendra Kumar worked at a cashfilling escort company in Frazer Town. WhileSachin Kumar was unemployed, Ajay Yadavworked as a security guard at an Axis Bank
out let in Cunningham Road.”“All six of them have accepted their charges
during interrogation. ey claim that theirfriend Bijayendra Kumar, who lives in Biharused to supply them with the license num-bers”, said Inspector Girish.
Bijayendra Kumar is absconding and is be-lieved to be the mastermind behind these op-erations.
He got the license numbers issued from dif-ferent district magistrates of other states likeJammu and Kashmir and Nagaland.
He added: “Generally a very nominal fee ischarged for delivering a license number. Butthese people charged their customers a min-
imum of 20,000 rupees. Vijay Kumar wasovercharged as their greed had increased a lotwhich ultimately led to their arrest.”
“A security guard usually has a nominalsalary of Rs. 4000. But if he has a registeredgun with a license number then the companypays him much more. e salary then in-creases to around Rs 12,000. is is the basicreason why they started dealing in weapons”,said Mr. Shivprakash.
A team of four people are being sent toJammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Na-galand within a week to investigate the falselicenses issued allegedly by the Deputy Com-misioner, Dimapur, Nagaland and DistrictMagistrate, Udhampur, Uttar Pradesh.
With the ongoing investigation, the chargesheet is yet to be filed.
On November 25, the group was producedat Regular Court, Mayo Hall and released onbail.
“Based on reports that we will receive aerour team returns from Jammu, if it is foundthat licenses were actually manipulated, thecase will proceed to court and trial will begin.It is going to be interesting as out of six gunswe seized, two were made in Bangalore whileremaining are from UP”, added Mr. Girish.
Girish, Inspector of D.J. Halli Police Station with the six arrested security guards
Sneha Ghosh
Hawkers on walkway pay a bribeVegetable and fruit vendors have to paymoney, allegedly to government officials, tosell their produce outside KR Market on thesurrounding walkways.
ree people were caught on camera on twodifferent days collecting money from ven-dors. Vendors said that they were from thecorporation (BBMP)but their identity couldnot be verified independently.
More than twenty vendors have admitted tobribing the alleged officials and none of thoseinterviewed denied giving money even whilesaying that they can’t speak about it due tofear.
ose who admitted paying a bribe saidthat corporation officials extort money andthat sometimes they are also accompanied bypolice in civil dress. ey said they either did-n’t know the exact name and designation ofthe alleged officials or did not wish to revealdetails out of fear of losing their livelihood aswell as physical harassment.
Anand, a resident of Sudamnagar in Lal
Bagh Road, happened to be the vendor herein the past but le the place five years backdue to the extortion by BBMP officials.
“Officials from both police department andBBMP come and extort. On average they col-lect Rs 100-150 from each vendor. One has togive the money irrespective of the earnings,”said Anand.
He added that there is no fixed person forthe extortion and they keep changing on dif-ferent days.
According to vendors, officials come everyday and take rounds ranging between six andeight and on every such visit they ask for be-tween Rs 10-20.
Finally, at the end of the day almost everyroadside vendor coughs up around Rs 150 intotal to stay and sell there.
Sunil Kumar, currently studying 12th GradeCommerce from National College, whosometimes sells his produce in the absence ofhis father, said that they hardly earn Rs 300 aday and out of that they are forced to shell outsome Rs 150 to the corporation’s officials.
ere are days when they have to returnwithout any money when the sale is below Rs150.
A shop owner in the BBMP owned K RMarket, who did not wished to be named,said that he pays “monthly” rent to BBMPwhereas the small vendors on the walkwayshave to pay “daily” rent, the former beinglegal and the latter illegal.
New CCTV cameras are being installed
around the market. One shop owner said, “let’s see what method they devise now?”
According to Narayansamy, Station HouseOfficer at K R Market, there are already fourCCTV cameras and within a week 32 morewill be installed.
Narayansamy denied having registered anycomplaint about extortion in the market.
Deputy Commissioner (Market), BBMPwas unavailable for comment.
Gaurav Kumar
A vendor paying a bribe to an “official” outside K R Market
e Daily Observer Tuesday, December 3, 2013 8
Medical tourism gainingmomentum in Bangalore
e total number of international patientsarriving in the city for medical treatmenthas doubled since 2008.
e medical industry is expected to boomfurther in the next couple of years, say Inter-national Marketing Heads of private hospitalsin the city.
In 2008, 300-350 international patients havevisited BGS Global Hospital. is has appar-ently increased to around 700 patients in 2012.
Kumar B, Public Relations Officer at BGSGlobal Hospital said, “is is a booming in-dustry.
e economy of the country is growingstronger due to a rise in international patients.If this continues, India could sharply recoverfrom recession.”
He added, “We have registered these inter-national patients mostly coming from MiddleEastern countries and Africa.”
Dr. Shetty, Director of Narayana HospitalsHealthcity said, “India is emerging as a med-ical tourist hub. Bangalore specifically is doinggreat in this industry. e city being famousfor IT industry has now also developed into ahealth destination.”
He added, “ere are not enough medical fa-cilities in Middle Eastern countries andAfrica, hence they are bound to come to ourcountry to get treated. Besides, our hospitalshave aced in oncology, cardiac treatments,neuro-related surgeries and even plastic sur-
gery.”Dr. Priya, Medical Tourism head at BGS
Global Hospital said, “ere are several rea-sons to back the rise in international patientsin the city or country. If one person comesdown to get treated, he/ she is accompaniedwith family. erefore, not just one but the en-tire family gets itself checked. On their returnback to their own country, by word-of-mouth,the news spreads and more people head toIndia to get themselves treated. is is one ofthe major reasons why we succeed in attract-ing international patients.”
Rise in these patients is registered by majorhospitals of the city like Apollo Hospitals, BGSGlobal Hospitals, Manipal Hospital andNarayana Hospitals Healthcity.
Dr. Priya added, “Our cost of treatment is al-most 10 times lesser than that in the West andthe same level of care is offered.”
Dr. Rajan from a private hospital in Delhisaid, “Out of all the cities in the country,Chennai has the highest number of interna-tional patients. is is followed by Bangaloreand then Delhi and Mumbai.”
He added, “Bangalore is still lagging behindChennai by a huge difference. Yet, it has thepotential to top in attracting international pa-tients.”
We Care India, a medical tourism organiza-tion, has recorded a rise in international pa-tients in the country. A spokesperson fromthis organization said, “To alert people fromabroad about our capabilities, we hold campsand meetings in various countries. ere, wemake them aware about the technology weown. We also help patients from Middle East-ern countries to get visas as travelling to Indiais a challenge for them.”
Siddik (44), a patient from Iraq said, “I cameto Bangalore to get treated about four monthsback. I used to get fits. e reason I chose thiscity over any other in the world is becausemany of my relatives have been here before.ey suggested me to come here as it is thebest. I also did my share of research before
heading here.”Fatima, a patient from Dubai, too has got her
knee replacement surgery done in Bangalore
at BGS Global Hospital.Juwaith from Saudi Arabia, said, “I came to
India for my son’s treatment. He was shot inthe chest during a family wedding back in ourcountry. Initial surgeries were done there butlater we flew down to Bangalore aer watch-ing videos on YouTube of Baby Iman who wastoo shot under similar circumstances and wastreated here in the city.”
Habib Kader, International Marketing Headat BGS Global Hospitals, said, “My job is to at-tract foreign patients to this country. I contactthem through medical tourist guides and en-sure that they are satisfied enough to getthemselves treated here. Once they are, myduty is to make sure their safe stay in country.”
Prutha Subhash Bhosle
Observer Team: Editor - Sneha Mejari Chief Sub Editor - Shweta Nair News Editors - Sneha Bengani, Tanisha Das, Tulana Nayak, Shivpriya Jodha, Saikat Ghosh Sub Editors - Sneha Ghosh,Suchitra Sharma, Raju Peethala, Prutha Subhash Bhosle Picture Editors/ Deisgn - Sushmita Sen, Sureshkumar, Sreelakshmy Sivaram Emergency Service - Vaishnavi J. Desai, Rahul Sadhu,Soumya Basu Email- [email protected] An IIJNM Publication (For Private Circulation)
EventsFood
Art
Music
Kids across Bangalore try theirhands at pizza making in the JuniorPizza Chef CompetitionWhere: All outlets of CaliforniaPizza Kitchen, BangaloreWhen: Upto December 14, 2013
Budding and talented artists ofBangalore get an opportunity toshowcase their work at ‘SensorialPerspective’Where: ird Eye- Indian ArtGallery, Airport Road, BangaloreWhen: Until December 31, 2013Contact: 9845585235
e Raghu Dixit Project is here topresent an enticing amalgamationof Carnatic classical and Westernmusic.Where: Opus, Palace Orchards,BangaloreWhen: December 23, 2013Contact:08023442580, 9844030198, 9008303330
Siddik, from Iraq, was cured of fits
Fatima, from Dubai, had a knee operation
Habib, International Marketing Head
