
Special teams arrest Former YSRCP minister Kakani in Bengaluru
NELLORE: Former YSRCP minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy, who had been evading arrest for the past two months, was reportedly taken into custody by special police teams in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The arrest comes in connection with multiple charges against him, including illegal quartz mining, unauthorised stocking of explosives, and cases under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Police teams from Madanapalle and Nellore, which had been actively tracking Kakani's movements across cities like Hyderabad and Chennai, managed to locate him in Bengaluru finally. He was later shifted to Nellore by road.
Police issued notices once in Nellore, and twice in Hyderabad to Kakani family members. Though he applied for bail in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, and the Supreme Court, Kakani failed to get it.
Very recently, the Supreme Court dismissed his anticipatory bail petition related to illegal quartz mining, and intimidation of tribal communities.
Kakani had filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court seeking protection from arrest. But the former minister did not get any relief from the apex court
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
14 minutes ago
- Time of India
SC deadline nears, illegal buildings in protected Aravalis face bulldozers
Gurgaon: Just a month-and-a-half to go for a Supreme Court-ordered deadline, the forest department and Faridabad administration on Wednesday started a 15-day demolition drive to remove all illegal construction and encroachments from protected Aravali land in the district. Officials said around a dozen banquet halls, boundary walls, gates and farmhouses that were built in Anangpur village of Faridabad were razed on Wednesday. This area is protected under Section 4 (special orders) of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), which bars construction and any non-forest activities in forests. "We have started the demolition drive. We appeal to people to remove illegal encroachment themselves," a senior forest official said. Haryana govt ordered the demolition drive after the Supreme Court gave the state a three-month extension to clear protected Aravalis of illegal construction. SC, in July 2022, had ruled that all Aravali land under PLPA (special orders) should be treated as forest, with provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act applicable there, and any illegal construction should be demolished. Despite clear directives, Haryana over the years did not complete the task, having razed some 30 structures in four villages of Faridabad since the 2022 ruling. The apex court will take up the case next on Sept 8. The 15-day time frame was given to the Faridabad administration after a meeting chaired by chief secretary Anurag Rastogi on June 7. "All unauthorised constructions, including boundary walls — whether built before or after the 2021 survey—must be demolished within 15 days. The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad will oversee the removal of debris, with all costs to be borne by the property owners," read a document on minutes of the meeting. The Faridabad district magistrate will have to submit an action-taken report to the chief secretary, who also said the DM will be held accountable for any delay. Rastogi will hold another review meeting on June 27. On Wednesday, environmentalists said Faridabad was not the only Haryana district where protected Aravali forests have been encroached on. "Although demolition has begun in four villages of Faridabad after nearly three years, the order actually applies to special orders of Section 4 PLPA on all of Haryana, not just these villages. So far, no other districts have initiated the drive," said Sunil Harsana, an ecologist and wildlife expert. After SC's 2022 order, Haryana forest department had carried out a survey to identify illegal construction and found that 6,973 structures – most of them banquet halls and residential settlements – were built over protected PLPA land in four villages of Faridabad. A majority of these were in Anangpur (5,948) and the remaining in Ankhir, Lakkarpur, and Mewla Maharajpur. No such survey has been organised in Gurgaon. But activists allege that illegal construction is rampant in the Aravalis of Sohna, Raisina and Gwalpahari in the city, all of which are also protected by PLPA's special orders.


Hindustan Times
23 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Parliamentary committee reviews welfare measures for scheduled castes in Haryana
A Parliamentary committee on the welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes conducted a study visit here on Wednesday, an official statement said. The committee, under the chairmanship of Lok Sabha MP Faggan Singh Kulaste, held discussions with Haryana chief secretary Anurag Rastogi and other senior officers of the state government regarding the socio-economic and educational condition of the SCs in the state, it said. During the meeting, various central as well as state-sponsored schemes for the welfare of SCs being implemented in the state were discussed. The cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, along with the enforcement measures, were also discussed by the parliamentary committee, the statement said.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Pocso case: Proceedings against Indian Institute of Science assistant prof to continue
Bengaluru: The high court has refused to quash legal proceedings against an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, who is facing trial under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. The case stems from an incident on Sept 30, 2018, during a birthday party of the accused's daughter. It is alleged that during a 'Ghost House' game held in a dark room, the professor inappropriately touched a 10-year-old girl who was among the guests. Following a complaint from the child's father, Jalahalli police filed a chargesheet against him. The accused has denied the allegations, claiming that he merely stepped in to control the children's play. He argued that the complaint was lodged to harass him and cited several procedural flaws in the investigation. These included the similarity of witness statements, alleged irregularities in the court's cognisance of the case, the absence of a medical examination of the child, and inordinate delays in the trial process. However, the additional state public prosecutor countered that around eight children had come forward with similar accounts of inappropriate conduct by the accused, underscoring the need for a full trial. A fter reviewing the case materials, Justice M Nagaprasanna acknowledged the uniformity in the witness statements recorded under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Yet, he held that even a single credible account is sufficient to warrant a trial under the Pocso Act. He also stated that the lack of medical examination does not invalidate the prosecution's case if other substantial evidence is available. The court underlined that Sections 7 and 8 of the Act define sexual assault as involving inappropriate touching of a child's private parts. It concluded that, if proven, the allegations against the accused would fall squarely within these legal provisions. The court added that the consistency in witness statements is an issue to be addressed during the trial, not a valid reason for dismissing the case at the pre-trial stage. Given that the matter has been pending since 2018, the high court directed the trial court to expedite the case and complete proceedings within three months.