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Sarnath turtle breeding centre faces cash crunch

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The Sarnath Turtle Breeding Centre in Sarnath is facing a severe cash crunch, mainly due to a technical glitch.

The centre had come into existence in 1987 to meet the requirement of the Tortoise Sanctuary that was declared a wildlife protected zone in a seven-km stretch of the river Ganga from Rajghat to Ramnagar in 1989 under the Wildlife (Conservation) Act-1972.

Officials said that they are banking on borrowed resources to feed these aquatic creatures, which are instrumental in Ganga cleaning.

In 2019, the government decided to relocate the Tortoise Sanctuary from Varanasi to Mirzapur district. The order to shift the sanctuary to the Mirzapur-Prayagraj stretch of the river was issued in June 2020 for its relocation to a 30-km area which was found to be a fit habitat for the turtles.

After the relocation, the turtle breeding centre, a part of the Kashi Wildlife Division, is yet to receive funds from the government to feed the turtles.

According to the forest officials, such a situation occurred due to confusion after the government ordered the relocation of the tortoise sanctuary from Varanasi, as it was not clear at that time whether the turtle breeding centre would also be relocated with the sanctuary.

However, the forest officials claim that the confusion has been cleared now and hope that the turtle breeding centre would get the funds soon.

“We sent a proposal last year, which was sanctioned. The release of funds was delayed due to some reasons like the Assembly elections. We are quite hopeful that the fund meant for the turtle breeding centre will be released in this month,” said divisional forest officer (DFO) of Kashi Wildlife Division, Dinesh Kumar Singh.

He admitted that there was a confusion whether, along with the sanctuary, the turtle breeding centre will also be shifted or will remain at its original place in Sarnath situated at the outskirts of the Varanasi city.

He said that it has been made clear that the turtle breeding centre will remain at Sarnath, and the mature turtles will be released in the relocated sanctuary.

“Currently, there are 887 turtles out of which about 250 are adults, ready to be released into the sanctuary area of the Ganga,” he said.

The turtle eggs were procured from the Chambal river for hatching at the Sarnath breeding centre before releasing in the sanctuary area in the Ganga after attaining adulthood.

According to records of the Kashi WildLife Division, so far over 42,000 turtles were reared at the Sarnath breeding centre in Sarnath and released into the Ganga.

Till 1993, when the first phase of Ganga Action Plan (GAP) had been completed, 28,920 tortoises were dropped into the Ganga. With the end of GAP-I, the tortoise breeding project was also stopped in 1993. Later, the forest department revived the programme in 2005.

Crime

Terrorist killed in joint operation in J&K’s Kishtwar district

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Jammu, April 11: A terrorist was killed in a joint operation launched against terrorists in J&K’s Kishtwar district on Friday, officials said.

The terrorist was killed in the joint operation by the army and the other security forces launched on April 9 in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar.

“The operation was based on specific intelligence inputs, which led to a firefight with terrorists, resulting in one terrorist neutralised. The search operation, conducted by the Army and police, aimed to flush out terrorists hiding in the dense forests, continues,” an official said.

Another operation is going on in the Joffar forest area in the jurisdiction of Ramnagar police station in Udhampur district.

A CASO (Cordon and search operation) by the joint forces was started on April 9, and three terrorists are reportedly trapped inside the cordoned off area.

Civilian Rachpal told security forces that three terrorists dressed in black, heavily armed, entered his house around 8.30 p.m. on April 9 and left around 11.30 p.m.

Following the disclosure by the civilian, security forces tightened the cordon, and after reinforcements were called in, the joint forces were closing in on the hiding terrorists, as per the last reports.

On March 3, a police team immediately reached Sanyal village in the Hiranagar area of Kathua district, where five terrorists were spotted.

Since Sanyal village is barely 4 km away from the international border, the group of terrorists spotted in Sanyal village are believed to have recently infiltrated into the Indian side.

The terrorists managed to escape from Sanyal to the Safiyun Jakhole area. The police team engaged the terrorists in a sustained gunfight, killing two terrorists.

Four policemen were martyred in that gunfight. To trace the remaining three terrorists, joint forces started a ‘seek & destroy’ operation, which was extended to higher reaches of Kathua and Rajouri districts.

A brief exchange of gunfire took place between the terrorists and the joint forces in the Billawar area of Kathua district.

On April 8, Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level security review meeting in Srinagar. The meeting was attended by the J&K Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha, the Union Home Secretary, the IB chief, the army chief, the army’s Northern Commander, GOCs of all the corps in J&K, chiefs of paramilitary forces, the J&K DGP and heads of other intelligence agencies.

The Home Minister appreciated the role of the joint forces in curbing terrorism, but gave orders for the total eradication of terrorism from J&K with special focus on the Jammu division of the UT.

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Crime

Muslim woman harassed for talking to Hindu youth in B’luru; 4 held, minor detained

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Bengaluru, April 11: The Karnataka Police arrested four people and detained a minor on Friday in connection with a case of moral policing reported under the Chandra Layout police station limits in Bengaluru.

The accused allegedly confronted a Muslim woman for speaking with a Hindu youth. They verbally abused her and attempted to assault her.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Maheem, Afridi, Wasim, and Anjum. The police are also questioning the minor boy involved in the incident.

According to the police, the woman, who was wearing a burqa, was chatting with a Hindu youth seated on his bike in the Chandra Layout area. The group of accused individuals approached them and questioned the woman, asking why she was affectionately speaking to a Hindu boy while wearing a burqa.

The gang reportedly insulted her, asking whether she had any shame or self-respect. They also demanded that she provide the phone numbers of her family members so they could speak to them directly.

However, the woman stood her ground and confronted the group, questioning their interference in her personal matters. She reportedly told them that the person she was speaking to was her classmate and asked why she should give out her family’s contact information.

Enraged by her response, the group allegedly attempted to assault both the woman and the Hindu youth. The accused later circulated a video of the two chatting on social media, which went viral.

Following the circulation of the video, some Hindu organisations and activists raised objections and questioned Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, asking whether this incident did not amount to moral policing. They further criticized the state government, rhetorically asking whether Sharia law had been implemented in Karnataka.

The Chandra Layout police registered a case and took swift action by arresting the accused.

In a horrific incident reported from Hangal town on January 8, 2024, a woman, a homemaker, was allegedly dragged out of a hotel after being seen with a person from another community and was beaten up.

The victim, who belonged to the minority community, said that when she was at the hotel, a group of five to six men barged inside, questioned her and took her on their motorcycles forcibly. She claimed that they took her to an isolated place and assaulted her brutally and all of them raped her. Later, they asked her to sit in a car and the driver also raped her. Her ordeal did not end there. She was also taken to other places and gang-raped. The police arrested the accused persons after the victim released a video and appealed for action.

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Crime

Four including shooter arrested in BJP leader Anil Tiger’s murder case in Ranchi

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Ranchi, April 10: The Ranchi Police have successfully solved the murder case of BJP leader Anil Mahato, also known as Anil Tiger, and have arrested four persons in connection with the case including the absconding shooter Aman, an official said. The investigation revealed that the murder was linked to a land dispute.

Ranchi DIG cum SSP Chandan Sinha held a press conference here on Thursday evening, revealing that a conspiracy to assassinate him was orchestrated by land dealer Devvrat Nath Shahdev, a resident of Kishore Ganj, Ranchi.

“Shahdev had a dispute with BJP leader Anil Tiger over the ownership of 10 acres of land in Gagi Khatanga village, under the Kanke police station area,” he said.

According to police, the investigation uncovered the involvement of seven individuals in the conspiracy — Devvrat Nath Shahdev, Abhishek Sinha, Rohit Verma, Aman Singh, Zeeshan Akhtar, Manish Chaurasia, and Ajay Kumar Rajak.

Among them, four persons — Aman Singh, Manish Chaurasia, Zeeshan Akhtar, and Ajay Kumar — have been arrested.

Anil Tiger was shot dead in broad daylight on March 26 around 4 p.m. while sitting inside a hotel at Kanke Chowk in Ranchi.

The killing sent shockwaves across the city, triggering widespread outrage. In protest, several political and social organisations called for a shutdown of Ranchi on March 27, which saw significant public response.

Following the murder, one of the two assailants, Rohit Verma, was arrested after a police encounter. However, his accomplice, Aman, had managed to flee and remained on the run for two weeks.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed to probe the high-profile case, apprehended Aman with the help of the police technical cell.

Apart from Aman, two other individuals have been arrested for conducting a recce of the BJP leader and aiding the conspiracy. Raids were carried out at multiple locations to nab the suspects.

The police are also interrogating Sunny Singh, a known criminal from Kishore Ganj, Ranchi, who is currently in custody on remand.

Initially, Rohit Verma claimed during questioning that the murder was an act of revenge for the killing of criminal Santosh Jaiswal in Lohardaga district, allegedly carried out at Anil Tiger’s behest.

However, police have since found this to be a deliberate attempt to mislead the investigation.

According to the police, fresh evidence now points to a property dispute as the actual motive, with a land dealer believed to be the mastermind behind the assassination.

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