Daring rescue saves starving family in Wayanad cave
Kalpetta: In a daring eight-hour operation, four forest officers rescued a six-member tribal family, including four children under the age of five, who were found starving in a water-filled cave downstream from Soochipara waterfall. The rescue mission was carried out after landslides devastated parts of Wayanad.
Kalpetta forest range officer K Ashif, along with section forest officer Jayachandran, beat forest officer K Anil Kumar, and forest rapid response team member Anoop Thomas, traversed rocky terrain to reach the family. Ashif recounted, “Initially, she [the mother, Santha] was reluctant to speak to us... It was only then that she disclosed about her husband and three other starving kids, the youngest just one year old.”
After lodging Santha and her eldest child at the forest quarters, the team embarked on a four-kilometer trek through treacherous terrain to reach the rest of the family. Using a rope, the officers climbed down to the cave and found the father, Krishnan, and the three children squatting under a makeshift sheet. “We feared they would not accompany us, but when we explained the gravity of the situation and the danger of staying there, Krishnan agreed to follow us,” Ashif said.
The team then fashioned a sling from a blanket to safely transport the children up the slippery, rocky terrain. "It was very risky—failure would have led to us falling into a 100-meter gorge. While walking back to the camp, we took turns carrying the babies in the sling," Jayachandran added.
The rescued family is now lodged at a forest department facility in Attamala.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
