BALLARI
Vartika Katiyar, a 2010-batch IPS officer, was appointed as the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). She previously served as the DIG of the State Home Guards and Civil Defence Corps. Following the retirement of BS Lokesh, the former Inspector General of Police on April 30, Vartika assumed the position that remained unfilled since then.
The Ballari zone encompasses Ballari, Vijayanagara, Koppal, and Raichur districts, featuring significant locations including the UNESCO World Heritage Site Hampi, iron ore mines at Ballari and Sandur, Tungabhadra dam in Koppal, thermal power stations in Ballari and Raichur, and lengthy borders with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. As a result, there was a rise in interstate traffic, attracting tourists and workers from both India and abroad. Naturally, this led to an increase in crime cases, with the highest number reported in the Hampi Development Authority.
The new DIG is also tasked with managing the multitude of unauthorised resorts and the range of illegal activities taking place there. In the first week of March this year, incidents such as the sexual assault of an Israeli tourist and a local resort owner in Sanapur, located in the Gangavathi taluk of Koppal district, the murder of a tourist from Odisha, and the assault on an American national were highlighted in both national and international media.
Nevertheless, issues such as illegal mining, unauthorised resorts, gambling, and illegal sand smuggling persist without interruption.In the meantime, the Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority (HWHAMA) scheduled an eviction operation for July 16 to remove illegally constructed resorts at various locations along the Tungabhadra River, including Sanapura in Gangavathi. This sparked curiosity among the local residents regarding how the new DIG will tackle this seemingly insurmountable challenge.