Experts roped in to crack RSS worker's murder, says ADGP

CD Network | Photos by Chakravarthi

July 12, 2017

Mangaluru, Jul 12: Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Mohan on Wednesday said experts from different parts of the state have been roped in to crack the murder of RSS worker Sharat Madiwala.

Sharath, who was stabbed on July 4 at Bantwal, died at a hospital in Mangaluru on July 7. “It is a professional challenge and special teams have been formed to probe the case. Experts have been brought from places outside the Dakshina Kannada district such as Vijayapura, Bagalkot and Kolar. We are making sincere efforts in this regard,” the ADGP told reporters here.

Mohan, who refused to divulge details related to probe, exuded confidence of solving the case soon, with investigators working on strong leads already gathered in the particular case.

Asked if there were any similarities in the murder of Sharath and those of other RSS workers in the past, Rudresh in Bengaluru and Raju in Mysuru, the officer said it would be known only after the current case is solved. It took five months to crack Raju’s murder. He was killed on March 13, 2016.

On investigation into stone-throwing during the funeral procession of Sharath, the ADGP said six cases have been registered and video footage are being examined. In all, 17 people have been arrested in connection with various incidents reported in the recent past in the district, starting from the clash at Kalladka. All those arrested are locals and are not from Kerala, he said to a query.

Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel on Wednesday said that if the BJP and Hindu leaders are arrested on the charges of stone-pelting, then the state government and district in-charge minister B Ramantah Rai Rai would be responsible for all the aftermath incidents in the district.

Kateel said instead of arresting those responsible for throwing stones, assault and other untoward incidents, cases have been filed against BJP leaders who were part of the funeral procession of Sharath. The political conspiracy by the Congress was responsible for unrest in Dakshina Kannada district. The Congress is engaged in appeasing minorities for winning the next Assembly elections, he stated.

The BJP Mahila Morcha will stage a protest against the ‘attempt’ by the state government to suppress the BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders, in Mangaluru on July 13. Yeddyurappa will attend the protest.

The ADGP said Mangaluru police commissioner T R Suresh will take a call on giving permission to the protest meeting planned at Nehru Ground.

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all for money.

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U T Khader goes into self-quarantine

coastaldigest.com news network

August 2,2020

Mangaluru, Aug 2: Former Minister and Mangaluru City MLA U T Khader has gone into self-quarantine after former MLC Ivan D’Souza tested positive for coronavirus.

Mr D’Souza had met Mr Khader and many other Congress leaders a day before receiving his throat swab test results.

Mr Khader announced on twitter: “Have gone into self-quarantine with immediate effect after receiving the news about #Covid_19 positive test of Former MLC Ivan D’Souza & his wife Dr Kavitha. Being COVID Incharge DK District taskforce committee, I am one among Ivan's primary contact.”

“I am going to discharge my duties from home for the next few days. You can reach out over phone at any point of time. I appeal to all my colleagues and friends who may have come in contact with us in the last few days to get tested for #Covid_19” he tweeted.

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Harekala Hajabba, the orange seller who set up school for underprivileged, chosen for Padma Shri 2020

News Network

January 25,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 25: Orange vendor Harekala Hajabba, popularly known as 'Akshara Santha' (the saint of alphabets), who went on to build a school at Newpadpu village on the city’s outskirts in 1999 is among this year’s Padma Shri awardees.

When Hajabba received the call on being nominated for the award, he was standing in a queue to buy rations.

As he is not fluent in Hindi, Hajabba handed over the phone to an auto driver, who conveyed the news that the Padma Shri award will be conferred on him.

The unlettered achiever set up a primary school from his meagre savings of Rs 150 per day, selling oranges in Mangaluru.

“The first time I felt bad for being an illiterate was when a foreigner enquired about the price of oranges in English. I did not know what he meant. So, I decided to start a school in my village,” Hajabba had said during a felicitation programme.

When Hajabba decided to start a school, he did not get any support. He started the school with 28 children.

The school today has been upgraded to a composite high school and is catering to the educational needs of hundreds of children in and around Newpadpu.

He ran from pillar to post in the Zilla Panchayat to make his dream come true. All cash awards he had received went into building the school. The United Christians Association, moved by the sight of his dilapidated house, built a 760-square-foot house costing Rs 15 lakh for him.

Hajabba’s life was prescribed for the syllabus of three universities - Davangere, Kuvempu and Mangalore. His success story is also included in a Tulu textbook.

He won the Karnataka Rajyotsava award in 2013, Real Heroes award from TV channel CNN-IBN.

Hajabba, when contacted, said he could not believe his ears when told about the award.

New dreams

The frail vendor, in his 60s, humbly declared that he could achieve all this because of the support of all. Hajabba now dreams of upgrading the school into a full-fledged PU college.

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A big Salute to him!

Great effort,

Where there is will, there is way

May God help him.

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23 lakh acres of Karnataka forests prone to fires: FSI

DHNS

January 2,2020

Jan 2: A year after 12,000 acres of forests in Bandipur went up in smoke, the Karnataka Forest Department is gearing up for the summer even as the Forest Survey of India (FSI) has cautioned that 22.78 lakh acres (9,222 sq km) or about 20% of the green cover spread across three districts in the central part of the state is fire-prone.

The FSI studied forest fire incidents across the country between 2004-05 and 2017 before coming up with state-specific inputs.

According to the 13-year observation, Karnataka has 7,352 “fire points” or areas measuring 5 km X 5 km with frequent fire incidents.

Though the number is lower compared to states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha with over 20,000 points, the sheer spread of the fire-prone area itself is a challenge for the Karnataka Forest Department.

According to data, about three lakh acres (1,199.9 sq km) of forest area is very highly fire prone with 26 to 52 fire incidents in 13 years. This is followed by 7.6 lakh acres (3,067 sq km) of “highly fire prone” areas with an average of one to two incidents every year.

Almost all of the “red alert” areas are concentrated in Uttara Kannada, Chikkmagaluru, Shivamogga and Chamarajanagar districts. As temperature rises at the end of January, so does the risk of forest fires, requiring officials to be on vigil till the end of summer.

After an investigation into the Bandipur blaze revealed that faulty fire lines and poor supervision were the reason for the spread of the fire, the department has come up with a multi-pronged approach to prevent similar incidents this year.

“After the Bandipur incident, we have created a fire cell and a standard operating procedure (SOP) which everyone has to follow. Firstly, a fire management plan is prepared and approved by a competent authority.

The SOP has well defined firelines which have to be executed by December-end and burning must be completed by January 15,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force) Punati Sridhar told DH.

He said that to ensure its strict implementation, GPS readings of firelines are to be submitted for random verification.

“All the required equipment from fire jackets to shoes, gloves, backpack sprayers and tractors mounted with 2,000-5,000 litre tanks with high pressure pumps will be deployed at vantage points,” he said.

In addition, the department’s fire cell works in collaboration with the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC) to give fire alerts within half and hour of an area catching fire and detected by satellites.

“Earlier, the gap used to be four hours by when the fire would have spread beyond control. Now, with reduced time gap, it would be easier to control fire early,” he added.

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