Udupi limps back to normalcy; eight cases registered; Annamalai returns to Chikkamagaluru

Mangaluru, Jun 1: A youth was hacked to death and two others suffered critical injuries following a fight between two gangs at Yekkaru Devaragudde near Kateel under the limits of Bajpe police station last night.

The deceased has been identified as Keertan (20), a resident of Marakada. The injured are Nitin (20) and Manesh (20). It is learnt that old animosity led to the attack and murder.

According to sources, members of both gangs were friends in the past. They had become enemies of each other following a fight regarding sand mining.

Sources said that Keertan, Nitin, and Manesh had reportedly invited their rival gang to Devaragudde for some discussion. A verbal friction arose between the two gangs and it culminated in the attack by the rival gang members with daggers. Keertan reportedly died on the sport. The other two were taken to hospital.

The accused fled the scene soon after committing the crime. A case has been registered at Bajpe police station. A manhunt has been launched to nab the accused.

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Former Prime Minister and JDS supremo H D Devegowda on Thursday gave a clarion call to party workers to take steps to strengthen the party from the grossroots level and to 'expose the failures' and 'anti-people' policies of BJP government both at the Centre and State.

In an open letter to the workers here, he alleged that the urgent need is to create awareness among the people about failure of the governments which have brought in policies which are deterrent to the poor and downtrodden.

BJP government headed by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in Karnataka has come up with an amendment to the Land Reforms Act,1961, which is 'against' interests of the small and medium farmers as even a non-agriculturist can purchase agriculture land, thus giving an opportunity to the rich people to 'exploit' illiterate farmers and purchase their land and use it for some other purpose after some time.

Shivamogga, Feb 1: A three-year-old girl who fell out of a moving vehicle had a miraculous escape in Agumbe Ghat section in Teerthahalli taluk of Shivamogga district of Karnataka.

The incident took place in the early hours of Friday when 12 members from three different families were returning from a tour of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The girl was reunited with her family after 30 minutes of high drama.

The child, identified as Anavi, is believed to have fallen from the vehicle as it negotiated hairpin bends on the Agumbe Ghat road, 350km from Bengaluru. The child's parents, Binu and Lincy, from NR Pura in Chikkamagaluru district, and other family members reportedly dozed off and did not realize the child had fallen off the vehicle until they covered a distance of about 20km.

One of the family members noticed that child was missing from the seat next to the door. When the driver realized the door latch had given way, they suspected the child could have slipped out of the vehicle.

Then the family started searching along the road and learnt from a forest guard at the Agumbe checkpost that a missing child was found and it had been handed over to Agumbe police station.

An advocate who identified himself as Vinay spotted the girl child as he passed the deserted stretch minutes after the vehicle left and picked her up and handed her over to Agumbe police.

The child sustained minor injuries in the fall. She was provided medical treatment before she was handed over to the parents.

Sources said it wasn't known how the vehicle door opened. One theory is that the girl could have accidentally unlocked the door while clutching the latch in the bumpy ride on the ghat. Police did not file any complaint.

Similar incident

This incident is almost a rerun of a Kerala incident in which a one-year-old baby fell off a moving jeep and was reunited with its mother hours later in September 2019 in Idukki district.

The baby had slipped off the mother's arms while she dozed off in the vehicle. CCTV footage showed the baby, after falling on the road, crawling towards a lit-up area close by, which turned out to be a forest checkpost. Family realised child was missing after 20km.