Tension escalated at Kanaganakuppa village of Manchenahalli taluk in Chikkaballapur district after a protest against a road construction project turned violent, leaving a villager with a bullet injury.
The incident occurred during a demonstration by villagers Wednesday morning against the construction of a road to a stone-crusher site, with the protesters arguing that it would cut through agricultural land and disrupt the ecological balance in the area. The villagers had been protesting peacefully for the past few days, but the situation took a drastic turn when the crusher owner, Sakalesh, arrived at the site with earth-moving equipment to begin the road work.
According to witnesses, a heated argument broke out between the villagers and Sakalesh, who is a close associate of a BJP functionary. During the altercation, Sakalesh claimed someone in the crowd hurled a stone at him, causing a head injury. In retaliation, he opened fire at the protesters, hitting their leader Ravi in the knee, the witnesses said. They stated that after Ravi fell, Sakalesh kicked him, before being restrained by other villagers.
Ravi was rushed to the General Hospital in Chikkaballapur for treatment. Meanwhile, the villagers refuted the stone-pelting allegation, saying the protest had been peaceful until Sakalesh brandished his pistol and dared anyone to approach him.
The crusher site, located about 1km from the village, is also close to two temples. The villagers argued that the setting up of the crusher would disturb the sanctity and environment around the places of worship. Ravi stated that his protest was aimed at protecting the local ecology and preserving the atmosphere surrounding the religious sites.
According to locals, the crusher licence is reportedly linked to a prominent BJP politician, and the site has been leased out to Sakalesh, who is from Bengaluru. Manchenahalli police have arrested Sakalesh and launched an investigation into the incident.
Chikkaballapur SP Kushal Chousky said the 9mm pistol has been seized.
Photo caption: A screengrab of Sakalesh at the protest site

New Delhi: A major boost in revenue from the housing sector has helped Delhi Development Authority record a surplus collection of over Rs 1,300 crore — the highest in 13 years.
In the financial year 2023-24, DDA recorded a surplus of Rs 511 crore under the general development account (GDA) after maintaining a deficit trend for 12 consecutive years. Maintaining this upward trend, the authority jumped to a surplus collection of Rs 1,371 crore in 2024-25. In 2022-23, GDA registered a substantial loss of Rs 1,304 crore.
“The unprecedented sale of housing units across all categories at various locations of Delhi following the implementation of initiatives suggested by lieutenant governor VK Saxena has helped us come out of the red or deficit reported for over a decade,” DDA stated. In 2024-25, it received Rs 3,477 crore under GDA while the total expenditure was Rs 2,106 crore, registering a growth of 169% compared to 2023-24, it added.
GDA is the main account of DDA and deals with transactions relating to the disposal of houses and shops, licence fees from built-up properties and management of sports complexes, etc.
“Due to a huge unsold inventory of flats, DDA was incurring massive losses till 2022. LG, who is the chairman of DDA, took over in May 2022, and in his first meeting, he took strong exception to the consistent losses and asked officials to take corrective measures to curb the losses and make DDA financially self-sustainable. Thereafter, the authority introduced a host of innovative initiatives and people-friendly measures,” said an official.
The steps included increasing the token money substantially to attract serious buyers, changing the mode of allocation from a lottery system to first-come first-serve or e-auction, which gave buyers their choice of flats. Besides, housing regulations were amended, such as removing the clause of excluding those already having a DDA property in Delhi.
“As a result, the collection from the housing sectors increased from Rs 665 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 2,398 crore in 2023-24, which shows a steep impressive upswing of about 260% in the total housing collections. This further exceeded Rs 3,176 crore in the financial year 2024-25,” stated the authority.
In the last three years, the focus was on Narela, where DDA had a huge inventory of around 40,000 flats. “LG placed significant impetus on civic infrastructure in the sub-city, with many projects in the pipeline. The upcoming education hub with all university campuses, proposed International Sports Complex, institutions, court complex, policing and enhanced connectivity are playing a catalytic role in making Narela a preferred choice for buyers,” said an official. Laying the foundation stone for the Rithala-Narela-Kundli corridor of Delhi Metro has also enhanced its locational advantage, he added.
DDA achieved an all-time record of disposal of over 8,500 flats in 2024-25 for over Rs 3,100 crore.
DDA has also registered impressive collections in the sports section, where the revenue steadily rose from Rs 77 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 89 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 111 crore in 2024-25.