Bengaluru:Multi-lingual actor Prakash Raj on Wednesday said C N Chinnaiah—who had made allegations of “multiple murders, rapes and burials” in the temple town of Dharmasthala—had spoken to him over the phone and sent him information through an audio recording, which he promptly shared with the SIT chief probing the case. Addressing a press conference, Raj said Chinnaiah had contacted him seeking to share information. The clarification from the actor came in the wake of Chinnaiah’s recent writ petition to the High Court, which claims a conspiracy involving monetary supplies aimed at defaming Dharmasthala and mentions Raj’s name. Raj said he received a call from activist Girish Mattannavar, stating that Chinnaiah wanted to speak to him. According to Raj, Chinnaiah, who spoke in Tamil over the phone, wanted to meet him personally, but he declined, saying he was not a police officer. When Chinnaiah insisted, he asked him to record whatever information he had and send it across. “As a citizen, what should I do? I got information from a fellow whom everybody is speculating about. Immediately, I contacted SIT chief Pronab Mohanty,” Raj said. The actor said he later met the SIT chief and handed over the recording sent to him by Chinnaiah. “The SIT chief said, ‘Thank you, Prakash, this is good evidence. If you get any further information, let me know’,” Raj claimed. When the actor followed up with the SIT subsequently, he was informed that certain aspects of Chinnaiah’s claims did not tally and that Chinnaiah was changing his version. “After that, I ended the matter,” he said. Referring to reports about Rs 200 crore mentioned in Chinnaiah’s writ petition, Raj said the public had a right to know whether he had spoken to Chinnaiah and what information had been shared.

Udupi man loses Rs 2.12 lakh to debit card fraud

Udupi:A man in Udupi lost Rs 2.12 lakh from his bank account through cyber fraud after using his debit card at a hospital. He had paid his hospital bill using the card on June 3 and made no further transactions. On June 8, he received an SMS alert about money being debited from his account, prompting him to check the details.

Upon verification at the bank, it emerged that between June 5 and June 8, fraudsters had transferred Rs. 2.12 lakh to an unknown account without his knowledge or consent. The victim immediately approached Udupi Town Police Station and lodged a complaint. Police have registered a case under Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act and initiated an investigation into the matter.