The Weekly
Observer Volume 14 | Issue 5 BRIEFS
HIV positive children face abuse incidents Children affected with HIV are subjected to different types of abuse..
Page 2 Rehab plans for evictees on hold The eviction of slum dwellers is facing fresh controversy with campaigners claiming a lot of families are yet to receive a rehabilitation package.
Page 3 Cops send scooter theft victim traffic fine A student who received a traffic fine three months after she reported her scooter stolen was shown an image of the thief riding her bike.
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Thursday, September 11, 2014
Saudi jobs scam leaves 19 stranded City businessman missing as police launch probe into ghost jobs. Agnivesh Harshan Nineteen
Indian
mi-
grants scammed by a labour
recruitment
agency are stranded in Saudi Arabia. Anwar General Services Corporation, a labour recruitment agency based in Mumbai, approached men nationwide with promises of jobs in Saudi Arabia for which they collected an initial payment of about one lakh each. Mohammed Shihabhe Naizam, from Nelamangala, Bangalore along with three other men collected money mostly from villagers in Andhra Pradesh and Mangalore. A case was filed against them in the Hyderabad Police station earlier this year. The sub agents were all arrested but Shihabhe’s current whereabouts are unknown. Boga Naveen, a tailor from Morthad village, Andhra Pradesh said, “I paid them Rs65,000 for the job they promised. They guaranteed a reasonable salary plus incentives but the company failed to provide a residence or work permit which forced us towards illegal labour. “I was eventually caught and jailed for two months in Daman 91 prison. “We were assured work in Saudi based Afnan Al-
Mashriq Contracting and Catering Service establishment managed by Mohammad Shihab Naizam, the mastermind behind the racket. I went there a year ago and returned six months ago. “I worked as an electrician for two months and I was not paid. After that I was arrested by the Saudi police and imprisoned,” he added. “We had to face a lot of trouble during that period. We were given only one meal a day and had to share
Shihabhe Naizam, accused of stealing 20 lakh in work scam one plate with ten people,” he said. He claims that it was a horrifying experience and doesn’t want to comment further about his time in jail. “I am now employed as a coolie. and broke and borrowed money from a loan shark for my visa. My family sold the land we had and bailed me out but the rest of the migrants were less
fortunate. They went there as a last resort to escape poverty but now they are working in Saudi prisons at meagre wages for the bail amount,” he said. Khadar Alake, owner of AFIFA travel agency based in Mangalore, said “We cleared Shihab’s papers when he first went to Saudi. He approached us later with a proposition of 30 vacancies in his company that needs to be occupied. “We were asked to recruit the men but we just cleared the paperwork for their passports and visas for a sum of 30,000 per head.” “His fraud was later revealed as we came to know that the men sent abroad were cheated of their money and were forced to work without work permits. “We incurred a loss of two and a half lakhs and severe defamation by associating with him. “They say he is in Saudi but we have no clue how he left the country while facing criminal charges,” he added. Shaik Chand Pasha, social worker and president of an NGO, Gulf Returning Members Welfare Society (GRMWS) took up the cause. He contacted the embassy in Riyadh and the protector general of emigrants. It is stated in the letter from Mr. Pasha to the Indian embassy in Riyadh that he has gained over 20 lakhs
through employment fraud. He said “These emigrants go to the Middle East mostly for manual labour, they are illiterate and do not know how to
Boga Naveen was duped approach the embassy when caught in such scams. “They face a language and often their Arab employers severely abuse them. There have been many such instances over the years and this is not an isolated incident.” N.C Chauhan, of the labour and welfare department of the Indian embassy, said: “We have responded with a letter to the recruitment agency based in Mumbai with instructions to contact their Arab employer and resolve the grievances of the Indian emigrants. Failure to will result in the immediate intervention of the ministry of overseas affairs.” Despite repeated attempts, Mohammad Shihab Naizam refused to respond.
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HIV positive children face abuse incidents Aadhira Anandh Children affected with HIV are subjected to different types of abuses by their family after their parents pass away. “Preethy (name changed) was not taken care of by her paternal aunt. When we saw her, she was 11 years -old and weighed 11 kg with a bleak CD4 count of 9. She also had developed acute TB,” said Manoj Joseph, Programme manager of Sneha Care Home. “We rescued her during a community based program which we do in collaboration with the Karnataka government. During this programe we found that she was missing her medication and went looking for her,” he added.
HIV positive chidren at Sneha Care Home The doctor advised to put her under palliative treatment. However, the child always murmured that she wanted to live more. Within few days her condition improved and she recovered in another two months. Now she is doing well at Sneha Care Home. Manoj said, “HIV af-
fected children are considered a burden by their family after their parents pass away.” He explained another incident where Lekha (name changed) in Gulbarga district was ‘sold off ’ to marriage at the age of 13 to a person older than her father. After a few months, an NGO involved in anti-traf-
ficking rescued her from Pune. During the counselling she said that she was sold off to a brothel by her husband and was forced to attend 15-20 clients daily. “Manohar (name changed) hails from Anathapura district ran away from home and reached Bangalore where he was involved in some crimes and caught by the police. Then, from the Department of Women and Child Development he was brought to our NGO but he misbehaved badly. When his behavior reached beyond control he was sent back to WCD.” he added Manoj also said,“We can prevent HIV from affecting the children through their mothers at the time of pregnancy. We are working towards achieving the com-
plete prevention of HIV amongst children in another 15 years.” Father Vince Mathew, Director of Snehadaan Care and Support Centre for HIV/AIDS, said “In rural areas, the girls with HIV positive are treated as a burden and are married off at a young age without knowing the background of the person. But, this person will in turn sell the child to the flesh trade and as time passes they become very meek and are thrown out of the business.” “The reason a child is considered a burden is because of the lack of proper facility and resources in the rural areas. If the government can provide them with better facilities then this situation can be curbed to a large extent.” he added.
Auto drivers lack training despite NGO efforts Punita Maheshwari Despite a fanfare of publicity only 200 of 65,000 auto drivers have undergone training via an initiative launched by Bangalore Police and an NGO. The Bangalore Traffic Police say that combined efforts of traffic police and NGOs have led to a decrease in the cases against auto drivers by 75%, this year. According to the statistics provided by traffic police, cases registered against auto drivers have reduced from 24, 669 in 2013 to 6,261 till September this year.
Traffic Police Management Centre collaborated with an NGO, Peace Auto, which works to create awareness. However, the number of trained personnel has reached only to 200 trained auto drivers but surprisingly the cases registered have gone down by 75%. Anil Shetty, founder, Peace Auto said, “There are 65,000 registered autos in the city, it is not possible to train all of them but we try to reach maximum number through our regular awareness and reward functions.” The Rajadhani Auto Driver Union leader Hasan Sharif, said, “I have not heard of the NGO named
Peace Auto but relations with traffic police have been moderate for a while.” B.C. Kanaka Kumar, Assistant Commissioner, Traffic Police said, “The personnel deployed near signals assist the auto drivers, but an awareness program by Peace Auto have yielded good results.” Arundhati, who commutes for 10-12 kms daily said, “It is easier to deal with auto drivers these days. In case of complaints, we can call the traffic police helpline with the details mentioned on driver’s display cards. I have not noticed any changes with their behavior though.”
An auto driver who works with Peace Auto Foundation
Thursday, September 11, 2014
The Weekly Observer
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Rehab plans for evictees on hold Pulaha Roy The eviction of slum dwellers of the Jai Bhuvaneshwar Nagar is facing fresh controversy with campaigners claiming a lot of families are yet to receive a rehabilitation package. According to the Alternate Law Forum, only 512 families out of 870 families have been rehabilitated so far, despite claims by the Karnataka Slum Clearance Board that all had been rehoused. ALF had already submitted an affidavit regarding the rehabilitation package due to the 378 families. The decision is still pending before the slum board. But Mr. Sashidhar, Executive Officer of Slum
Santha Mary, activist Clearance Board, dismissed it. “We are aware of this situation raised by Alternative Law Forum. But, they need to give us some concrete proof to back their claim.” “During the eviction we found that slum dwellers were demolishing their own houses before moving to Kudlu and blamed the government for it,” he added. Mr. Murgaya, Chief Engineer of the Slum Clearance Board said, “The government had offered rehabilitation package to only
those families who were living there for the last ten years.” Managing Director of National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) lodged a case claiming the property belonged to NIMHANS. The residents of Jai Bhuvaneshwari Nagar were staying there for the last 60 years. But, it was only 10 years back when they got to know it wasn’t a registered slum. The Samata Sainaka Dala is claiming that the district collectorate had asked the slum dwellers, who didn’t receive any rehabilitation package, to get a written statement from the Slum Clearance Board asking for one acre of land. But, the slum board is refusing to comply. In the meantime some
of these residents have moved out with others to Kudlu, where they were rehabilitated. But even there, they are living on the streets. Manoj (name changed), a member of one of the families who didn’t receive any rehabilitation package said, “We are living on the
month.” Kavitha (name changed) a resident of Kudlu where they have been rehabilitated said, “The government promised us a sum of Rs. 2,000 for the transportation but, we had to pay it from our pocket.” she added. Mrs. Santha Mary, a member of Samata Sainaka
Jai Bhuvaneshwari Nagar after the eviction streets. We cannot afford the rented house as they ask for an advance of 1 lakh. We also have to spend Rs. 3,000 for transport every
Dala, said, “The discrepancy lies because the survey done by the government was four years old when the slum had 512 houses.”
Two bodies a day found on Bangalore's footpaths Elizabeth Mani A recent survey by Victoria Hospital revealed that 20 bodies were found on the footpath around KR Market in the past 10 days. “There is at least one or two bodies found on footpaths every day,” said Nagaraj, who works at the mortuary of Victoria Hospital. Abishek Goyal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Department) said, “We don’t have any information about deaths on the footpath, as we have never investigated the issue before.” Asma, who has been
living under a flyover at KR Market for 20 years, said, “We face many health problems in the rainy season and it is difficult to get treated from a government hospital as we don’t have an ID proof. The authorities refused to give me an identity proof as I don’t have a permanent shelter. “Many people have died on the footpath due to infection and hunger. Officials from Victoria hospital would come and take away their bodies,” she added Amir Unnisa, a beggar who has had a leg infection for over a month, said, “I get food from the people who come to the mosque.
But at times a large crowd of beggars surrounds them and because of my infected right leg I can’t run to get the food.”
sell my body parts,” she added. Sevanthi, another beggar under the flyover, said: “I am scared of drunkards
Amir Unnisa has lived under the flyover for 10 years “I don’t go to the hospital as I have no money and I am scared that they will
and thieves. We have to stay awake all night or else they will steal our clothes and
food. No one wants to stay on streets, but we are helpless and we have no other option.” “We get beaten up by the police as we are not allowed to stay here,” said Mangal, who is a daily wage earner at fruit market. He works for eight hours and earns Rs. 40 a day. He has been living under the flyover for 10 years. Ashwath Narayan, Ward Councilor of KR market, said, “I went to the market many times but I couldn’t find any homeless around. If they come to the ward and explain their problems, I will definitely pay heed to them.”
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Cops send scooter theft victim traffic fine Aparna Singh A student who received a traffic fine three months after she reported her scooter stolen was shown an image of the thief riding her bike. In October 2013, 21 year-old Keerthilakshmi, lost her two-wheeler in Gandhi Sahitya Nagar, Malleswaram. After the theft she immediately went to the Malleswaram Police Station to file a complaint of theft on the same day. She went to the police station in December 2013 to see if there were any updates on the case. The police informed her that the case has been closed be-
cause there was not enough data to work on. On March 2014, she got an automated update by the Bangalore Traffic Police website saying she has to pay fine for the traffic rules violated in on 30th January 2014. She went to the police station with the photos generated from the CCTV camera. The police said that the two departments work individually. They referred her to BTP to enquire. The BTP told her it was not their duty to give information to the police to retrieve the stolen vehicle. M.N. Nagaraj, Police Inspector of Malleswaram Police Station said, “The two departments do share data but it gets very difficult
The thief with the stolen vehicle caught on CCTV to keep a check on what is being uploaded on the site.” BTP said, “We share data regarding these issues but it is difficult to coordinate sometimes. We share data with the police only
when they ask for it.” The data available with Bangalore Traffic Police is not being used by the police department to solve crimes because of lack of coordination.
She filed an FIR against the person (circled) in the picture with her vehicle in March 2014. The data generated from the CCTV cameras at the traffic signals is being used by the BTP to send the system updates to the registered owners but the police do not use this data. The police department said that in 2012, 49 cases of stolen vehicle was recorded out of which eight were false and only seven were recovered. In 2013, 41 cases were reported and six of them were false and out of 35, five were recovered. In 2014, 22 cases are reported till date, of which 18 vehicles have already been recovered.
Spike in electricity theft cases Asmita Kundu The city last year recorded the highest number of power thefts since 2011. According to a recent inspection in Bangalore, a total of 3,474 power thefts were detected which levied 25.31 crore penalty in 201314. In total there was a 34% increase this year in Bangalore. In 2012-13, Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited detected 2,335 cases and in 2011-12 they detected 1,306 cases all over Bangalore. The vigilance wing recovered 12.23 crore from
Power poles are routinely targeted in thefts
theft cases alone for different cases of Bangalore. There are almost 15 types of power theft cases, as told by the KPCTL official. According to Vishwanathan. R .Salankey, Executive Engineer, Vigilance wing, KPTCL, there are 15 types of power theft cases including using remote control device, by bypassing meter using spare, by tampering seals & meter and many more. “These days people are discovering new processes for power theft and that is why the number is increasing,” he added. During the inspection by KPTCL in 2013-14, it was
found that Gulbarga tops in the power theft cases. According to a BESCOM official, “Recently five crore penalty was imposed on Karnataka Slum Clearance Board for power theft for last one and half years. This year till now it is the biggest amount of penalty imposed. ” Despite having repetitive attempt some officials of Karnataka Slum Clearance Board, they refused to speak about this issue. The call was cut as the question was asked about the blame they recieved for stealing power. According to the sources, after the inspec-
tion, officials and police takes bribe to close the case. That is why we can not get the proper amount of penalty from the discrepancies detected. The power thieves have to be punished under section 136 and 138, said a KPTCL official. According to section 136 and section 138 of Electricity Act, the theft of electricity and interference with meters are punishable crime, respectively. To make people cautious KPCTL give advertisement through social media, electronic media. and print media. They also use hoardings.
OBSERVER Team: Editor - Punita Maheshwari, Chief Sub-Editor - Aadhira Anandh, News Editor - Darshan Rane, News Desk - Nikunj Ohri, Sub Editors - Kimaya Varude, Pulaha Roy, Natasha Singh, Designer - Devdatta Sukhdev, Layout Desk - Aparna Singh, Nikhil M.Babu, Photo Editor - Asmita Kundu, Proof Reader - Elizabeth Mani, Reporters - Divya Kishore, Apoorva Choubey