No one should object Bajrang Dal for arms training camp: Governor

Mangaluru/Udupi: A total 237 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Dakshina Kannada (DK) and Udupi on Sunday, a day that DK scaled yet another peak with 196 cases and Udupi tallied 41. 

The grim reaper came calling on patients with co-morbidities, harvesting five souls, to take the total tally of deaths in DK to 46. The spurt also saw DK’s tally of positive cases rise to 2,230 and Udupi’s to 1,608.

The 196 fresh cases in DK included 91 cases of influenza like illness (ILI), the cause of infection in 57 people is yet to be known, 20 are primary contacts, 16 are those with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), 10 are those with international travel history and two are pre-surgery samples, said deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh. The five deceased include three men and two women, the youngest victim being a 50-year-old man and oldest a 72-year-old man.

A total 94 patients were discharged from the designated Covid-19 and private hospitals in the city, taking the total number those discharged to 876, and paring down the number of active cases to 1,309. The commissioner of Mangaluru City Corporation, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Sunda. Deputy Commissioner (revenue), MCC, a primary contact, has home quarantined himself in the wake of this development.

In neighbouring Udupi, the double-digit blip on the Covid-19 radar included 32 primary contacts, six with inter-district travel history, two with inter-state travel history and one patient with international travel history, said district health officer Sudhir Chandra Sooda. The fresh cases also included four children. The discharge of 28 patients took the total numbers of those discharged to 1,273, and there are 332 active cases now. The district has recorded three deaths due to the pandemic thus far. 

Mangaluru, May 4: No major crowds were seen in the coastal city of Mangaluru today except in front of the liquor shops after the district administration relaxed the lockdown norms for 12 hours a day (between 7am and 7pm).

There was no mad rush of vehicles either on city roads when the relaxed lockdown began. There were fewer people to buy essentials in front of grocery and vegetable shops as they had time till late evening.

There was no let down in the number of police pickets as well as curbs on vehicular movement across the city either. 

The government has allowed sale of liquor in CL2 (standalone wine shops) and CL 11 (MSIL outlets) to mop up revenues when Lockdown-3 commenced from Monday. Compared the other parts of Karnataka, the size of queues in front of liquor shops in Mangaluru were smaller. 

Like other parts of the country, the lockdown was imposed in the coastal district on March 24 to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Prior to that, a curfew was imposed in the district from March 22 midnight. The lockdown did not apply to essential services such as sale of food, groceries, milk, vegetables, fruits, and meat and fish. Gradually the district administration had to intensify the lockdown and allow those shops to remain open only between 7 a.m. and 12 noon. 

With the lockdown relaxation extending till 7 p.m., Mangaluru today witnessed people and private vehicles moving freely in the afternoon for the first time in more than a month. However, only those who had to go for work and do other essential activities were seen on roads. After 7 p.m. movements of all kinds of vehicles will be prohibited. 

The relaxation was to facilitate economic activities that had come to a standstill during the first two phases of lockdown. Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Dr P S Harsha, meanwhile, warned the people against misusing lockdown relaxation and venturing out without any genuine reason.

New Delhi, May 14: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the Al-Hind Islamic State (IS) Bengaluru module case has announced a cash reward of Rs three lakh for wanted absconder Abdul Mateen Taahaa.

An NIA spokesperson in Delhi said, "We have declared a cash reward of Rs three lakh for providing any information leading to arrest of Taahaa." The spokesperson said that Taahaa, 26, a resident of Shimoga in Karnataka is wanted in Al-Hind ISIS Bengaluru module case that the agency registered this year. The NIA had taken over the probe from the Karnataka Police.

According to the NIA officials, the case relates to ISIS-linked terror group formed by arrested accused Mehboob Pasha, along with accused Khaja Moideen aka Jalal and his associates involved in the murder of a Hindu leader in Tamil Nadu. The official said that Pasha conducted several meetings in 2019 at his residence in Bengaluru to hatch the conspiracy, by radicalising and recruiting other co-accused to carry out terror activities and join ISIS in Afghanistan or Syria.

The NIA has arrested 12 accused namely Pasha, Imran aka Imran Khan, Mohammed Haneef Khan, Mohammed Mansoor Ali Khan, Saleem Khan aka Kolar Saleem, Hussain Sharieff, Ejaz Pasha aka Azaz Pasha, Zabiulla, Syed Azmathulla, Syed Fasiur Rehman, Mohammed Zaid and Sadiq Basha.

The official said that Taahaa is a friend of arrested accused Saleem and Zaid, through whom he contacted arrested accused Pasha of Al-Hind Trust and was also associated with his online foreign handler.