Mamata claims people took money from BJP for perpetrating violence over CAA

Idukki, Jun 8: Devikulam MLA S Rajendran from CPM along with supporters staged a protest by blocking the Munnar-Udumalpet interstate highway here on Monday, demanding that action to be taken to prevent wild elephants entering into human settlements and destroying properties.

The protest started at 9.30 am and demand was made that senior forest officials should give them assurance of putting an end to the problem.

A police team led by Munnar Deputy Superintendent of Police (SP) Ramesh Kumar was camping in the area.

Wild elephants from the nearby forest are frequently trespassing into Munnar and last night two elephants destroyed a vegetable shop in the town.

If it was a lone elephant that the locals nicknamed as Padayappa that used to enter the human settlement, now along with him a baby elephant is also coming to the town at night.

The locals have named the second elephant Ganeshan. Though there were instances of them destroying crops and eating from vegetable shops, till now the duo has not attacked humans.

Kochi, Apr 16: A middle-aged man carrying his ailing father on his shoulders walked close to one-kilometre in Kerala’s Punalur when the autorickshaw he was driving was allegedly stopped by the police over the ongoing lockdown. He was bringing back his father from the hospital after he was discharged on Wednesday.

In a video that has gone viral on social media, the man can be seen carrying his bare-bodied father on the shoulders and struggling to handle the weight while a woman carrying the hospital documents, prescriptions and other items, is running along with him.

The incident took place in Punalur town of Kollam district.

The 65-year-old man, a native of Kulathupuzha, was released from the Punalur Taluk Hospital and his son was taking him home when he was stopped on the road. The man has alleged that even after he produced hospital documents, the police refused to let him pass with the autorickshaw.

The vehicle was stopped about a kilometre from their house in the middle of a traffic jam and the family had to walk the rest of the path. He said even after he told the police and showed papers from hospital he was not allowed to go.

After the video went viral in Kerala, the state human rights commission took suo motu cognizance of the incident.

The nationwide lockdown has prevented all non-essential movement in the public space while medical emergencies have been allowed. The extended lockdown will now continue till May 3.

According to the police, the vehicle did not have the patient when it was stopped. The driver was asked to show a declaration document.

He stepped out of the vehicle and walked to the hospital which was 200 metres from the checkpoint and returned carrying his father on the back, said the police.

New Delhi, May 28: The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police will file 12 chargesheets against 536 Tablighi Jamaat members from three countries, officials said on Thursday.

Till now, the police has already filed chargesheets against 374 foreigners from 32 countries.

The officials said the charges against the Tablighi Jamaat members pertain to violation of visa rules, government guidelines regarding the Epidemic Disease Act and acting negligently in a way that was likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life.

The Tablighi Jamaat, a religious organisation in Nizamuddin in South Delhi, had allegedly organised a congregation in March in violation of mass gatherings.

The Tablighi Jamaat’s Nizamuddin Markaz (centre) had become a coroavirus hotspot in the national capital.