TUSKER DIES AFTER TRANQULISATION;

Madikeri January 6, 2009

A tusker being captured by the forest department today died after tranquilisation.

The fourth elephant to be captured by the forest department in the “Operation Elephant”, the thirty year old tusker was shot tranquilising agent in the forest at Awaregundidi near Siddapur. It collapsed after running for a short while. Efforts to wake it up by pouring water did not work.

Range Forest Officer Chinnappa told this correspondent that the tusker died of heart attack.

Autopsy was conducted at the spot and the elephant was cremated there only.

The forest department is holding operation elephant to capture wild elephants creating havoc causing human loss and agriculture crop and property loss.

KODAVA HERITAGE CENTRE IN KODAGU

Madikeri January 5, 2009

Deputy Commissioner Baladeva Krishna inspected land at Madikeri yesterday and said that a Kodava heritage Centre will come up.

Baladevakrishna informed that a meeting was held earlier in the presence of MLC M.C.Nanaiah, Air Marshall {Retired} Cariappa and others and decided to commence the construction immediately. Five acres of land was notified in the outskirts near Golf ground and the centre will be built at a cost of rupees three to four crores. He regretted that the project was Okayed by the government long ago and yet the work was not started. Rupees thirty six lakhs is already in the account and the remaining amount would be released by the tourism department immediately after the commencement of construction.

The centre will house displays of Kodava culture and systems. Information about the weather and crops

The advisor to heritage Centre committee, Rathi Vinay Jha told that it is a project of the central government. She said that the centre will also house a museum and a research and information centre will also be there.

Deputy Commissioner instructed to the Tahasildar to evict encroachments from the land.

Assistant director of tourism, N.Jairam, Girish from HUDCO, DySP Prakash and others were present.

WIFE AND LOVER KILL HUSBAND;UNDER ARREST

On a bizarre incident, investigation to a missing person led police to a murdered body and the accused turned out to be wife and her lover at Shanthalli near Somwarpet.

Somwarpet police have arrested accused wife Lakshmi, 40 from her rented house yesterday and her lover Prasanna who was at H.D.Kote. Her children Soumya, 18 and Santosh, 17 were also arrested as they kept the incident as a secret.

According to police, Lakshmi has told the police that her husband Thammani was torturing her and she had even lodged complaint with police, couple of times. Since she could not find any solution, she decides to kill him along with her friend Prasanna. She strangled him to death on December four and packed him in a gunny sack. The body was later buried in an abandoned land. She shifted her house to the town and began to live in a rented house with her two children who were aware of the murder. Prasanna fled to H.D.Kote.

Recently a protest was organized against police who did not take up any action to trace Thammani, whom people thought has disappeared, in the beginning. Later, as his wife shifted the house and Prasanna fled the place, protestors urged the police to investigate the case as they suspect murder. Budging to pressure police took to investigation and arrested the accused.

The body of the deceased was found in a pathetic form as wild animals had feasted over it, as it was buried in a not so deep pit.

The two naccused are put in prison and the two children are sent to remand house at Mysore.

LORRY GUTTED

A hay filled lorry gutted near Mekeri yesterday as it caught accidental fire.

Police and fire brigade personnel fought in vain to douze the fire which gutted the lorry completely.

Police fought a second incident in the spot as the driver Ummer tried to jump into fire. He was wailing that he had been driving the same lorry for more than two decades and he cannot withstand the sight of the same lorry being burnt in from of him.

Two fire brigades emptied the first load of water and the fire still continued. They were late to return after filling the water second time. Hay was removed from the lorry with an excavator and yet the fire reduced the lorry to ashes.