Jokatte accident: Errant labour contractors feel the heat as police book four persons

[email protected] (News Network)
May 8, 2012

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Mangalore, May 8: The major road accident that claimed eight lives at Doddakere near Jokatte on the outskirts of the city on Sunday has forced Mangalore city police to take note of the manner in which human lives are being compromised.

This is the second accident involving labourers, most of them migrants from Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, to work at Mangalore Special Economic Zone sites, in the past three months. On February 12, three workers were killed and 21 others were injured when a mini bus in which they were travelling from their worksite in Jokatte to their rooms hit an electricity pole and toppled at Shantigudde Cross under Bajpe police station limits. About 70 labourers, police said, working for Punj Llyod, were travelling in the mini bus (KA 19 C 8423) at the time of the mishap.

City police chief Seemant Kumar Singh said that he has directed Mangalore north sub-division ACP M Puttamadaiah and police inspectors of Bajpe, Panambur and Surathkal police stations to convene a meeting of contractors and subcontractors who supply labourers to MSEZ and MRPL forthwith. We will also collect details of labourers and the type of vehicles used to transport them. Surprise checks will be conducted on the routes used by contractors to ferry labourers to the worksites of MSEZ and MRPL. "The absence of a dedicated traffic police station in the area is felt more acutely than ever before after the Sunday's accident.

However, it cannot be an excuse for overlooking blatant violation of traffic and human safety," he said. Contractors on their part cannot seek to cut corners by cramping labourers in pick-up vehicles. "The accident has opened our eyes. We are also thinking of involving the regional transport office in curbing the menace within the scope of powers vested in them," he added.

Four persons booked

Meanwhile, police have also booked four persons for negligence in connection with the accident.

The Panambur police have booked the official of the Toya Company who issued the order for the painting work to 21 workers. The main contractor Mukund Enterprises, sub contractor Narmati Enterprises and the truck driver Saji have been named as the accused.

Victims identified

The police on Monday have identified eight persons who were killed when the multi-utility vehicle in which they were traveling plunged into a gorge near Jokatte.

According to police, the deceased are Chandramohan (40), Kettu Chitra Paniya (36), Chandan Patra (34), all residents of Behra village in Orissa, Chitrasan Giri (56) of Karanjiya in Orissa, M D Irfan (26) of Ranchi in Jharkhand, Nannu Khan alias Salman Khan (35) of Jharkhand, Prakash Chandra Naik and Mutsud Khan of Jharkhand.

As many as 13 persons had sustained injuries and are recuperating in the hospital. The police said that few family members were informed about the tragedy. The bodies have been kept at the mortuary in Wenlock Hospital and Fr Muller Hospital.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 25,2020

Udupi, May 25: In an early morning robbery, two miscreants snatched around 1.2 kilo grams of gold jewelleries from a jeweller and ran away in Udupi.

The incident took place at around 5:30 am near Beedinagudde junction when jeweller Vijay was carrying the gold for lapidary work from his house at Bannanje to his store at Sri Laxmi Towar in Beedinagudde. 

They bumped into him when he going to the second floor of the Sri Laxmi Towar.

According to him, the miscreants who were wearing helmets threatened him with a knife then robbed jewelleries worth around Rs 50 lakh.

While decamping, the robbers also snatched his mobile phone and threw down from building.

Udupi town police conducted the spot investigation and registered a case. Further investigations are on.

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News Network
February 22,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 22: President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said an ideal trade-off needs to be reached between new media -- which is fast and popular -- and traditional media which has developed skills to authenticate a news report, which is a costly operation.

Addressing the fourth edition of ‘the Huddle’ – the annual thought conclave of the Hindu here, he asserted that the internet and social media had democratised journalism and revitalised democracy, but had also led to many anxieties.

While the new media was fast and popular and people could choose what they wanted to watch, hear or read, traditional media would have to introspect on its role in society and find ways to earn the reader’s full trust again as "the project of democracy was incomplete without informed citizens – which means, without unbiased journalism."

Debate and discussion were internalised in India’s social psyche to arrive at truth since time immemorial, he said.

"There is no doubt that perception of truth is conditioned by circumstances. The conditions that cloud the truth’s positions are effectively dispelled by a contestation of ideas through debate, discussion and scientific temper. Prejudices and violence vitiate the search for truth."

Expressing happiness to attend ‘The Huddle’ organised by The Hindu, he said the Hindu group of publications had been relentlessly aiming to capture the essence of this great country through its responsible and ethical journalism. He commended them for their insistence on sticking to the five basic principles of journalism – truth-telling, freedom and independence, justice, humaneness and contributing to the social good, an official release here said.

Mr Kovind said dogmas and personal prejudices distorted the truth. In the 150th year of Gandhiji’s birth, he asked all to ponder over this question: "will it not be proper to pursue truth itself as the ideology? Gandhiji has shown us the path by walking ceaselessly in search of truth which would ultimately encompass every positive attribute that enriches the universe."

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News Network
April 18,2020

Dubai, Apr 18: A 47-year-old Indian worker has allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the third floor of a building here, according to a media report.

Ashokan Purushotaman, a native of Kollam in Kerala, cut the arteries in his legs and jumped from the third floor of a building in the city's Jebel Ali area on Friday, the Gulf News reported.

Purushotaman succumbed to his injuries in Rashid Hospital.

Meanwhile, Dubai Police has rejected reports that Purushotaman killed himself because he had coronavirus. Personal reasons were cited as the cause for suicide.

“His suicide is not related to COVID-19. The building is clean and there are no infection cases there. He committed suicide due to personal reasons,” director of Jebel Ali police station Brigaider Adel Al Suwaidi told the Gulf News.

Consul-General of India Vipul confirmed Purushotaman's death. “We are yet to get more information. Considering the death was of unnatural circumstances, authorities will conduct due forensic tests and provide us with more details," Vipul told the daily.

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