Handover Gauri Lankesh murder case to Modi govt’s agency: BJP

Davangere, Jul 19: A 9-year-old sniffer dog ran 12 km in the night to trace a murder accused and helped the police arrest him in Karnataka's Davangere rural area, an official said on Sunday.

"Doberman Pincher Tunga ran 12 km non-stop from the crime spot at Basavapattana in the city to a house at Kashipur in the rural where murder accused Chethan, 25, was hiding and helped us arrest him on July 17," Davangere Police Superintendent Hanumantha Rai said on phone.

Davangere is 260 km northwest of Bengaluru.

"Though Chethan allegedly shot dead his friend Chandra Nayak with a stolen service revolver on July 10 over sharing the booty (gold ornaments) of the theft they had committed recently with two others. We took female dog Tunga to the crime spot on July 16. She led the sleuths to the area where Chethan was hiding with two accomplices," Rai recalled.

While trained sniffer dogs normally run 4-5 km from a crime spot, Tunga could track the accused 12 km away.

When Tunga's handler (Head Constable Prakash) took her to the crime scene at 9.30 pm, she sniffed around and ran 12 km non-stop to Kashipur. She halted at a wine shop and went to a food joint later. Then she stopped at a house nearby at 12.30 am.

The prime accused (Chethan) was present in the house of his relative. He was arrested after he confessed to the theft and the murder.

The police are on the hunt to trace Chethan's two accomplices who fled from the house they were hiding in.

Karnataka Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Amar Kumar Pandey felicitated Tunga on July 17 at a function here for cracking the murder case with its exceptional sniffing traits.

Dubai, May 9: A flight scheduled to bring back Kannadigas, especially Mangalureans stranded in Dubai on May 14 has been rescheduled to May 12.

The flight will take off from Dubai at 4.10 pm UAE time and reach Mangaluru International Airport at 9.10 pm IST on May 12, announced Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda in a tweet.

The flight was earlier scheduled for May 12 and then it was postponed to May 14. Now, it has been rescheduled to May 12.

It is said that constant persuasion from NRIs in UAE led to advance the paid evacuation drive.

In fact, Karnataka was missing in the list of states to receive special flights when Ministry of External Affairs arranged them to bring stranded Indians at UAE. Special flights were arranged only to Kerala and Tamil Nadu people stranded at UAE in the first stage.

Thanks to Karnataka NRI Forum of UAE which opened helpline to seek assistance to Kannadigas, nearly 2000 Kannadigas have registered for assistance in which 127 pregnant women, 27 senior citizens, 700 people who have lost jobs aftermath of coronavirus sought assistance from NRI forum.

In the first flight, priority will be given to people with medical emergency and pregnant women. Once the passengers reach Mangaluru, they will be quarantined in their home districts.

Shivamogga, Jun 8: Tyavarekoppa Tiger and Lion Safari in Shivamogga re-opened on Monday at 9 am.

Zoo authorities said that they are ensuring that all standard operating procedures are being followed, including ensuring social distancing and wearing of masks by visitors.

It is being ensured that pairs of birds are being kept inside enclosures.

Regular sweeping and spraying on the premises are also being taken care of, authorities said.

Floor markings have been made at the ticket counter to maintain social distancing.