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Tuesday,05-November-2024
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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

Mumbai: Man Stabbed To Death After He Intervenes To Settle Dispute In Sion Koliwada; Antop Hill Police Arrest 5

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Mumbai: Man Stabbed To Death After He Intervenes To Settle Dispute In Sion Koliwada; Antop Hill Police Arrest 5

Mumbai: A 22-year-old was murdered in the early hours of Friday in Mumbai’s Sion Koliwada area after an argument broke out over noise pollution. The Antop Hill police have registered an FIR in the case and so far five people have been arrested and further investigation is underway.

The incident took place around 12:30 am in Kokri Agar In Jai Maharashtra Nagar, Antop Hill. Vivek Gupta (22) was attacked with a knife and he succumbed to his injuries. As initial information available, a group of people were making noise causing disturbance on the street which lead to an argument broke out. Gupta had gone to resolve the dispute between the accused, however, angered over his interference, Gupta was attacked.

What started as a small fight soon escalated and Gupta was attacked with a knife. He was immediately taken to Sion Hospital, however, he succumbed to his injuries. He was pronounced dead at 3:30 am. The senior police officers of Mumbai Police Zone 4 were present at the hospital. The cops have so far arrested five suspects connected to this incident, and further investigation is underway.

The arrested accused are: Karthik R Mohan Devendra, Karthik Kumar Devendra, Vicky Muttu Devendra, Miniappan Ravi Devendra and the wife of Karthik R Mogan, the police informed. The case is registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.

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Crime

Mumbai: 6 Booked For Defrauding Stock Trader Of ₹1.5 Cr In Bitcoin Investment Scam

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Mumbai: The Bandra police have registered an FIR against six persons for allegedly defrauding a stock trader of nearly Rs 1.50 crore in a Bitcoin investment scam. The suspects fled even before the case was filed, prompting a manhunt. They have been identified as Abur Sode, Dhanjibhai Rawaria, Jishan Shaikh, Indrajit Latif, Abdul Latif, and Ramkumar Dharmak, all from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

The complainant in the case, Yogesh More, 50, is a resident of Parel and operates a stock trading business in the Marwari area in Bandra West. He met the accused three years ago, during which they introduced themselves as representatives of a company called Friptex Finsol, claiming to offer Bitcoin as a virtual currency.

Trusting them, More transferred around Rs42 lakh in cash and Rs1.08 crore via cheque to various bank accounts associated with the company for Bitcoin purchases between November 2021 and October 2024. Despite these payments, he did not receive the promised Bitcoins, and after multiple inquiries, the accused continued to evade him. Over the last three years, neither the Bitcoins nor a refund was provided.

Complaint Lodged At Bandra Police Station

Suspecting fraud, he began investigating and discovered that Friptex Finsol was a bogus company, and the accused had orchestrated a scam. He then lodged a complaint with the Bandra police. Following an initial inquiry, the police registered a case against six persons under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 34 (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

A police officer said that the accused are from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. “The preliminary inquiry has not revealed any past criminal history. We are searching for the accused,” the officer added.

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Crime

West Bengal: Youth Arrested For Rape Of Deaf & Mute Woman In South 24 Parganas’ Kultali

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Kolkata: A youth was arrested on the charges of raping a deaf and mute woman at a deserted building in Kultali in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

Even as the main accused in the case has been arrested, the local people had been agitating claiming that a local Trinamool Congress panchayat chief Prahlad Nashkar allegedly pressurised family members of the victim to settle the matter against Rs 2,00,000.

However, Nashkar has denied the allegations, saying he was the first to reach the spot and inform the family members of the victim about the incident.

Complaint Filed

The victim’s family members filed a complaint on Wednesday evening. Thereafter, the police started an investigation and based on circumstantial evidence, the accused youth was arrested.

He will be presented at a district court in South 24 Parganas on Thursday only and the public prosecutor will seek his police custody, a district police official said.

Part Of Kultali & Jaynagar Turn Into Virtual Battlefields

In the first week of this month, part of Kultali and adjacent Jaynagar turned into virtual battlefields over violent protests by the local people over the rape and murder of a minor girl there.

At that point in time, the main allegation of the local people was against the police and the latter ignored the missing complaint by the parents of the victim. The local people also alleged that had the police been active in tracking the victim minor, the heinous crime could have been averted.

The protesters became violent and attacked the police station. A local police camp was ransacked and set on fire. The police had to resort to massive lathi-charge to dispel the mob then.

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