Yeddyurappa faces ire for eating hotel food at Dalit home

BJP rubbished on Monday allegations in Karnataka that state chief BS Yeddyurappa and other leaders did not consume the food made by a Dalit family during a party programme but ordered food from outside.

The saffron party — which is aiming to make inroads into the Dalit community — said the family itself had ordered food from outside because of too many guests. This came after the Congress and other parties alleged that the BJP state brass did not consume the pulao (rice) made by the family and asked for idlis to be procured from outside.

“It was only when the delegation reached the house that it was found that the food had been ordered from outside. The leaders consumed that food as it would have been disrespectful to refuse it,” state BJP media convenor Shantaram said.

Yeddyurappa criticised both the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) for trying to politicise the issue. The BJP is aiming to dislodge the Congress government in the state in elections scheduled for next year.

A Kerala court on Monday sentenced Devinder Singh alias Bunty Chor to 10-year rigorous imprisonment for burgling the house of an NRI businessman in the state capital four years ago.

Delivering the sentence, the Thiruvananthapuram additional sessions court said the charges of burglary, house break and destroying evidence have been proved against Singh. The court also slapped a fine of ₹20,000 on the notorious criminal and declared him a habitual offender.

Singh was caught five days after he broke into the house of businessman Venugopalan Nair and robbed him of valuables before escaping in the NRI’s luxury car.

The super thief, who has more than 500 cases of theft against him, had cut through Nair’s bullet-proof door and deactivated security alarms and CCTVs in order to carry out the burglary. However, one of the hidden cameras captured his image, which was later used by the police to nab him from a lodge in Pune.

During interrogation, he told the police that he had stolen the car to take revenge from Bollywood director Dibakar Banerjee who based his film “Oye Lucky Lucky Oye” on Singh’s life.

During the trial, Singh tried his best to get out on bail but the prosecution opposed it, citing his habit of jumping bail and committing robberies. Later, Singh’s counsel approached the court, saying he was suffering from acute mental illness. However, the doctors who examined him submitted a report saying he was mentally fit.