Regional

Chennai, Oct 6 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu police are on high alert to prevent drug cartels spreading their wings following the recent arrest of a Nigerian woman with 70 small packets of cocaine, worth Rs 5.75 lakh, at Kanathur in Tambaram.

Immediately after the arrest of the Nigerian woman, the state Director General of Police (DGP) held a high-level meeting of top police officials and reported the matter to the state Chief Secretary and Home Secretary.

The DGP has directed all the district superintendents and commissioners of police to be proactive and use their sources to find out if any drug cartels are operating in their respective districts.

While the drugs recovered were of small value, the police are questioning the Nigerian woman, identified as N. Onyeni Monica, to understand the route through which drugs were reaching the state.

It may be noted that there were intelligence reports that the now-defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) trying to fund its activities and recoup themselves using the smuggling of drugs as a main source of income.

A former operative of the LTTE intelligence wing, Satkunam alias Sabesan was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Chennai on October 5, 2021 for smuggling arms and drugs from Pakistan to Sri Lanka. It was revealed that Chennai was being used by the LTTE for managing its operations.

The Tamil Nadu police are also on alert after back-to-back arrest and recovery of drugs from Kerala from an Iranian dhow and the arrest of a Keralite in connection with Rs 1,476 worth drug seizure at Mumbai port.

Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin had in an earlier meeting with officials had directed the police to crush the drug cartel in the state.

In August, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had announced "Tamil Nadu without Drugs" programme and had said that preventing drug abuse is his government's priority.

--IANS
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Kochi, Oct 6 (IANS) The mother of 33-year-old Vijin Varghese, who was arrested last week by the Mumbai unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) after they recovered 198 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 9 kg high-quality cocaine worth Rs 1,476 crore, from a consignment of oranges there, said here on Thursday that her son is innocent.

Joyce, the mother of Vijin said he spoke to her earlier in the day and said that he is innocent.

"He told me he had done no wrong and that he was trapped. He said he got a call from Manzoor asking him to collect the consignment of fruits and when he was doing that, the DRI officials came and took him into custody. Both my sons are innocent and am very sure they will do no wrong," said Joyce.

Vijin was arrested by the DRI Mumbai unit last week from Mumbai for the drugs that were found hidden in a consignment of fruits.

While he is in the DRI custody in Mumbai, his business partner Manzoor, who hails from Kasargod, is on the run.

Following the arrest of Vijin, a food unit run by him, his brother Jibin along with their partner Albin at Kalady near here under the name Yummito International Foods, was raided by a team of Kerala Excise officials on Wednesday and after inspecting hundreds of cartons of fruits that was packed, failed to get anything.

Incidentally, this big haul by the DRI was based on information received through inputs that drugs in high quantity will be smuggled into the country.

According to the inputs, contraband substances would be arriving from South Africa as part of a consignment of fruits.

The agency kept working on the input, following which on Friday evening, a team of DRI officers intercepted a truck in Vashi. The truck was carrying imported oranges.

Incidentally three days back, a high-level team of DRI had conducted an inspection at their factory at Kalady, but failed to get any leads.

--IANS
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Mandya (Karnataka), Oct 6 (IANS) The photo and video of Rahul Gandhi tying the shoelace of his mother, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Mandya district of Karnataka on Thursday has gone viral on social media.

Sonia Gandhi had joined the Yatra which is led by Rahul Gandhi near Bellur Cross in Mandya district. When Sonia Gandhi came down from her vehicle to take part in the padayatra, Rahul Gandhi observed that Sonia Gandhi's shoelaces were not properly tied and he himself went forward to tie the lace instead of asking his mother to do it herself.

The Karnataka Congress Unit uploaded the picture and video to social media. "Those who respect and care for their mothers, will also honor the motherland," the Congress stated.

The Congress party's social media post claimed that "in every step of Sonia Gandhi there is firmness; there is faith; there is patience; commitment; clarity; sacrifice; affection; empathy; sweetness of motherhood; limitless love towards the country and capacity to take insults."

Due to ill health Sonia Gandhi participated in the padayatra briefly and will be leaving for New Delhi later in the day.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had helped a little girl to wear her footwear correctly in Kerala's Alappula district. The photo had gone viral on social media and his humbleness was appreciated. During Bharat Jodo Yatra, the little girl was struggling to walk properly, Rahul Gandhi had observed this and went ahead to help her out.

The photo of Rahul Gandhi delivering a speech amid heavy rainfall in Karnataka had also gone viral on social media.

--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 6 (IANS) Extensive awareness campaigns by the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital have led to an increase in the number of breast milk donors and beneficiaries in the district.

According to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, around 5,511 babies have benefitted from its breast milk bank from January 2022.

The hospital, in a statement, said that 2,355 women donated breast milk leading to the benefit of 5511 infants. It may be noted that the breast milk bank has been functioning in Coimbatore since 2015 and continued awareness programmes on breast milk donation have led to a large number of lactating mothers donating their milk. In addition to this, the beneficiaries of the scheme also have come to know of this through regular awareness programmes.

Coimbatore Medical College hospital Dean Dr A. Nirmala told IANS that infants whose mothers are ill, babies born with low weight, toddlers hospitalised with serious ailments and babies whose mothers are not able to breastfeed are benefitted from the hospital's breast milk scheme. She also said that regular awareness programmes on the same have helped more people approach the hospital to donate milk as well to get the benefit.

The hospital authorities also said that there are women who donate milk on a daily basis and this has led to a regular supply of breast milk in the bank.

--IANS
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Bhopal, Oct 6 (IANS) Untoward incidents, including the death of a girl, acid attack on a woman and clashes were reported during the 10-day long Navratri celebrations in Madhya Pardesh which culminated on Wednesday with the burning of effigies of demon king Ravana and his brothers, sources said on Thursday.

Amid controversies over ID cards made mandatory at the garba venues, a 11-year-old girl, who was watching the progress in Indore, was found dead under mysterious circumstances on the last day. During a medical examination, the doctors detected a bullet-like object in her skull, which was removed during autopsy. The police suspect the victim died in a celebratory firing.

Late on Tuesday in Jabalpur, a group of men attacked a woman with an acid-like chemical at a Durga Puja pandal. The victim, who received severe burn injuries on her face, is undergoing treatment at a hospital. Ten suspects have been detained for interrogation.

"The victim, along with her mother, had gone to a Durga Puja pandal near Sunarhai locality in Jabalpur district, when suddenly some youths threw an acid-like chemical on her face. Once the laboratory reports confirm if it was acid, we will add stricter charges against the preparators," said a senior police official.

Many incidents of clashes between two communities were also reported in different areas in the last one-and-a-half week. One such clash was reported between two groups in the Agar-Malwa district where people from both sides attacked each other with sticks even as women and senior citizens tried to run for cover.

The incident happened at the temple premises of a village in Agar district over 200 km from Bhopal. At least half-a-dozen people received injuries during the clash. Ironically, the crimes at Puja pandals were reported despite the state government and the police claiming full security arrangements in place for the festivities.

--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 6 (IANS) Five people are on the run in Cuddalore district in a case related to child marriage that took place in January 2021, when a 19-year-old youth, N. Badrisan, married a 13-year-old girl.

However, the district social welfare department and women's welfare department officials came to know about it only a few days ago and lodged a complaint with the All Women Police Station (AWPS) in Cuddalore.

Police, acting on the information from sources, arrested N. Suriya (23) after registering a case under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, against six people. The arrested is the brother-in-law of the girl who was studying in Class 7 in a local school in Cuddalore.

The police registered cases against the girl's husband, father, mother, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and maternal uncle. The case was registered on Tuesday and the first arrest was made on Wednesday.

Cuddalore All Women Police officers told IANS that the arrested and the girl's father, father-in-law and brother-in-law are 'Deekshithars' (priest).

With instances of Child marriages on the rise in Tamil Nadu, the state child welfare department, social welfare department, and women's welfare department have been given a high alert to prevent such incedents.

Sources in the women's welfare department told IANS that they are planning to conduct massive awareness programmes across the state roping in known artists including cinema actors and television actors as also sportspersons of international repute in the awareness videos and promotions which will be shot and to be aired on prominent channels.

The videos, according to the women's welfare department will also be displayed in cinema theatres and the department is also planning to use screen it on the mobile phone across the state.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 6 (IANS) At least nine people, including five school students, were killed and several injured when the bus they were travelling in hit a KSRTC bus on the Trissur- Palakkad highway in Kerala.

The accident happened late Wednesday.

A pleasure trip for 42 school students, who were travelling from their school near Kochi and to the Ooty hill station, in the bus ended in tragedy.

The dead included five school students, one of their teachers and the remaining three were passengers of the state owned KSRTC bus that was hit by the ill-fated bus.

State Transport Minister Antony Raju said the report was that the private bus carrying the school children was travelling at a speed of around 97.2 kms per hour.

"It has also come to be known that neither the school authorities nor the private bus owner informed the Motor Vehicles department about the trip. We are awaiting more details. The private bus after overtaking a car lost control and collided with the KSRTC bus which was ahead of it," said Raju.

According to those in the know of things, the tourist bus carrying the school children belonged to the Baselious Vidyanikethan School near Kochi and had left two hours late.

Incidentally, the driver of the bus had returned from another trip to Tamil Nadu.

"Our bus was travelling at a high speed from the start and when we raised this, we were told that the driver is a very experienced one," said a female teacher.

"Everything happened in a flash and I realised that I was lying on the floor of the bus and several other students were on top of me," said a girl student, who escaped with minor injuries.

There were 42 students, five teachers and two bus drivers in the bus-bound to Ooty.

Joemon, the driver of the tourist bus, is reported to have appeared before the police.

--IANS
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Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), Oct 6 (IANS) Firing in the air during the traditional 'shastra puja' on Dussehra led to an FIR being registered against unnamed persons after the video of the incident went viral.

The FIR was lodged against unknown persons at the Baradari police station after the video went viral on social media on Wednesday.

Police said that they were examining the video to identify the accused and have lodged the FIR under relevant sections.

According to the police, the shastra puja was being performed at the Hari Mandir of Model Town, when some residents opened fire and shot several rounds in the air. One of them recorded a video of the entire scene, which went viral on social media.

Sub-inspector Vinay Kumar said that on learning about the incident, police rushed to the spot, but the accused had fled by then.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Rahul Bhati said, "An FIR has been registered against unknown persons under section 336 (act to endanger human life) of IPC and 30 Arms Act."

--IANS
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Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday defended his rebellion against the Shiv Sena leadership, terming it as not ‘treachery but an ‘uprisinig to save the party, and proclaimed himself as the real ‘inheritor of late Balasaheb Thackerays political legacy.

Addressing a massive Dussehra rally at the Bandra Kurla Complex grounds here, Shinde – who toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in June – devoted his speech largely to justify his revolt, and replying to many points raised by Shiv Sena President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray at his rally in Shivaji Park, and upholding his move to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Some of the surprise guests who turned up at the event were Jaidev Thackeray, the elder brother of Uddhav Thackeray, and sister-in-law Smita Thackeray and other clan members.

Countering Thackeray's attacks, Shinde accused him of ‘selling off' Balasaheb's ideals, committing a ‘sin' by joining hands with the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party in his greed for power, and watching the destruction of Shiv Sena with open eyes in the past two-and-half-years of the MVA regime.

"Stop talking of ‘gaddaars' and ‘khokhas' (a slang for crores of rupees)... We are not ‘gaddaars' (traitors), what we did was a ‘gadar' (uprising) to save the Shiv Sena. Look at this gathering, it shows where is the real Shiv Sena and who is the true inheritor of Balasaheb's legacy," claimed Shinde.

He countered by accusing Thackeray of ‘gaddaari' (treachery) with the BJP after the October 2019 Assembly elections to form the MVA government, terming it as a ‘betrayal of Balasaheb, of Shiv Sainiks, of Hindutva, the BJP with whose support he won the polls and the people of Maharashtra', while discarding Hindutva to keep Congress-NCP in good humour.

The CM also chucked Thackeray's allegations that he (Shinde) wanted to become the CM or control the Sena, and said when NCP President Sharad Pawar insisted on Thackeray taking over as CM, he had readily supported the move as he never hankered for power.

"Is Shiv Sena your private limited company, are you our master and we are your servants? Can only persons born with the silver spoon become the CM? Can't ordinary drivers or hawkers occupy the top post? This is the Sena of Balasaheb and Sainiks can make sacrifices for the party and Hindutva," Shinde said.

The CM also lavished praise on the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, saying it was Modi who fulfilled Balasaheb's dream of abolishing Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir and building the Ram Mandir, among other things.

Slamming Thackeray for criticising the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to please the Congress-NCP, Shinde said the RSS has contributed hugely to nation-building in the past 70 years, so demanding a ban on it was ‘laughable'.

Taking a swipe at the NCP, he said it was better to join hands with the BJP than someone who had given a cabinet post to a person linked with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, and not speaking up in favour of the action taken by the BJP to ban the Popular Front of India (PFI), whose activists reportedly raised anti-national slogans recently.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Oct 5 (IANS) Moved by the plight of an injured elephant calf in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has reached out to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Rahul Gandhi, currently on the Karnataka leg of his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', is spending time with his mother and interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi over a two-day break amid the long walkathon.

In his letter addressed to Bommai on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi said, "The Congress President and I briefly visited the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve where we happened to come across the painful sight of an injured baby elephant, with its mother. The little calf has a severely injured tail and trunk, and is fighting for its life."

While acknowledging the viewpoint that nature must be allowed to take its own course, Rahul Gandhi said that exceptions are often made in the case of endangered and iconic animals, in extremely severe cases such as the injured elephant calf.

Throughout his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka, the Congress leader has been targetting the ruling BJP in the state over 'rising corruption' and 'communalism'.

"I wanted to cross political boundaries and appeal to your sense of compassion to intervene and save the little elephant," Rahul Gandhi said.

--IANS
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