Tiger snatches woman off boat

mangalore@coastaldigest.com (TNN)
August 10, 2014

Tiger snatchesKolkata, Aug 10: A tiger snatched a woman off her boat in the Sunderbans on Friday as her husband looked on helplessly.

The deceased has been identified as Bhagawati Mondal (42), a resident of Dayapur. Bhagawati, along with her husband Sunil Mondal and neighbour Parimal Mridha, had ventured into the forests of Dhulo Bauli under Pirkhali VI compartment to catch crabs.

Sources said they had left home a day before and decided to stay back for another day hoping for a greater catch and moved almost a couple of kilometres deeper, into the river.

"Suddenly, we heard a noise and thought that we were struck by lightning. The boat was also about to overturn. But we were horrified to find the big cat on the middle of the boat. It held Bhagawati by its mouth, made a giant leap and disappeared into the mangroves. We had nothing to do," said Parimal.

She was picked up right from the boat of crab-catchers at the heart of the big-cats' habitat in the Sundarbans. As the woman was being taken away by the tiger, her husband watched helplessly. The tiger jumped on the boat with a blood-curdling roar. It landed on the middle of the narrow boat with its four paws closed on the pond. Ina split seconds, the tiger held the woman with his mouth and flung her on its back and jumped back to the Dhulo Baulir forest in Pirkhali block VI.

Bhagawati Mondal, 42, clad in white sari with red border, accompanied her husband Sunil Mondal and neighbour Parimal Mirdha. They all left their Dayapur home a day before. But this time the catch was very less, so they decided to stay back to have a greater catch. They also moved 1.5 kilometer farther, into the river.

Sunil helplessly saw his wife being taken away by the tiger. "We could see the red bordered sari fast disappearing into the forest. We then rowed back to our village at Dayapur in Satjelia in three hours. We were terrified and Sunil was completely bereaved. We thought of moving forward. But we had nothing else than a stick with us.

Pabitra Mondal, a NGO worker, said that they demanded compensation from the forest department. The compensation is granted by forest department in other district. Why would people living in Sundarbans be deprived from the benefit?

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News Network
May 9,2020

Shillong, May 9: The poisonous mushrooms that killed six people at a remote village in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills district have been identified as Amanita phalloides, commonly known as the 'Death Cap', a senior official said on Saturday.

Six people, including a 14-year-old girl, of Lamin village along the India-Bangladesh border in Amlarem civil sub-division died after consuming wild mushrooms they collected from a nearby forest late last month.

The wild mushroom has been identified as Amanita phalloides and is hepatotoxic as it directly affects the liver, state Director of Health Services (MI) Dr Aman War told PTI.

He said it has been established after an investigation that the cause of the deaths was the poisonous mushrooms.

At least 18 persons from three families were taken ill after consuming the mushrooms.

The symptoms after consuming the poisonous fungus include vomiting, headache and unconsciousness, the senior doctor said.

Most of those taken ill, including a pregnant woman, have already recovered and gone home. Therefore, people can survive as it depends on the amount of poison that you have consumed. Only one person was unaffected, maybe he did not consume much, he said.

Three people are still undergoing treatment and are recovering. Two of them are at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) and one in Woodland Hospital, Dr War said.

He said the health department can only appeal to the people, especially those in the rural areas, to refrain from eating wild mushrooms, while the horticulture department should take measures to create awareness.

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Agencies
February 16,2020

Five Bajrang Dal activists have been arrested for allegedly indulging in vandalism in the city on Valentines Day, police said.

They said about 10 to 15 activists on two wheelers vandalised a shop in Kattupalli area in Hyderabad on February 14.

They held aloft flags and raised slogans against celebration of Valentines Day and "created havoc" at different malls, a police press release said.

On receiving information, police rushed to a mall, but the Bajrang Dal activists escaped from the spot.

Five of them were later identified with the help of CCTV footage and arrested, police said.

The others too have been identified and efforts were on to nab them, police said.

Two cases have been registered against them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code on a complaint from shop owners, the release said.

 

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Agencies
January 12,2020

Mumbai, Jan 12: At least eight persons were killed and several others injured when a massive blast followed by a fire ripped a chemical factory at Boisar in Palghar district, nearly 100 km north of Mumbai, on Saturday, officials said.

Top Palghar district administration, police and fire brigade officials have rushed to the spot for the rescue operation, while Fire Brigade teams from Boisar MIDC industrial area and Tarapur Atomic Power Station are engaged in dousing the flames.

As per local witnesses, the intensity of the explosion was so severe that it was audible in a 35-km range and one building in the factory collapsed.

Besides, many homes in the immediate vicinity were shaken and people ran outside thinking it was an earthquake, as power lines also failed.

The exact cause of the explosion-cum-blaze which occurred around 7 p.m. is not immediately available.

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