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Karnataka Today newsletter: Special Action Force formed to tackle communal incidents, hate speech, and more

Following the recent killings in the coastal region, the Karnataka government has formed a Special Action Force to tackle communal incidents. The force will comprise 248 police personnel and three companies, each deployed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Shivamogga. It will play a role in gathering intelligence on probable communal and provocative incidents and hate speeches, and prevent them.

A government order issued on May 28, 2025 stated that the Special Action Force will be headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP). The force (248 members) has been carved out of the existing Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) which has 656 officers and personnel. The ANF’s strength will now be reduced to 376 for the next three years.

The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday (May 29, 2025) set aside the Government Order (GO) issued in October 2024 for withdrawing 43 criminal cases, including the 2022 case of Hubballi riots, in which a mob had attacked and assaulted several police personnel over the issue of a controversial post on social media.

A Division Bench passed the order while allowing a PIL petition filed by Girish Bharadwaj, a city-based advocate. The impact of the judgement is that even if the proceedings in any of the 43 cases were already from the jurisdictional courts based on the October 15, 2024, GO, all those proceedings will resume from the stage at which they were withdrawn.

Passengers at Bangalore Cantonment Railway Station in Bengaluru are facing mounting difficulties due to prolonged construction work at the main entrance on Station Road, which has led to complete chaos. Confusion over entry points, misleading signboards, and lack of support from railway officials have contributed to the woes of daily commuters and long-distance travellers.

With the main entrance cordoned off for a ₹480 crore modernisation project, the only access point is a narrow, poorly marked passage located less than 100 metres to the left of the closed gate. When The Hindu visited the spot, small printouts pasted along the road are the only indicators of the change in the entrance; most passengers are likely to miss these printouts.

Chikkamagaluru police arrested the mother of a newborn and another person on the charge of selling the baby in Koppa on May 28. Ratna, a resident of Haravari village in Koppa taluk, gave birth to a female baby at the government hospital in Koppa on May 22. She and her husband Sadanand handed over the baby to Kusuma, a retired nurse.