Kerala landslides: 40 teams of rescuers resume search operations
Wayanad (Kerala) (PTI): Braving rains and adverse terrain, 40 teams of rescuers resumed search operations in landslide-hit Wayanad district on the fourth day on Friday, officials said.
The search and rescue operations that got underway early morning received an impetus due to the completion of the 190-foot-long Bailey bridge that will enable the movement of heavy machinery, including excavators, and ambulances to the worst-affected Mundakkai and Chooralmala hamlets, they said.
A Defence source said Columns with dog squads commenced search operations at 7 am. Search operations were planned based on local interest.
The 40 teams will conduct search operations in six zones of the landslides-hit areas -- Attamala and Aaranmala (first), Mundakkai (second), Punchirimattam (third), Vellarimala village (fourth), GVHSS Vellarimala (fifth), and riverbank (sixth).
The joint teams will include personnel from the army, NDRF, DSG, Coast Guard, Navy, and MEG along with three locals and one forest department employee.
In addition to this, a three-pronged search operation will begin, focusing on the Chaliyar River, according to the rescue plan devised by the authorities.
The eight police stations, along the 40-km stretch of Chaliyar, will join forces with local swimming experts to search the river for bodies that may have flown downstream or are trapped along the riverbanks.
Simultaneously, another search operation will be conducted using a police helicopter.
Besides this, the Coast Guard, Navy, and Forest Department will jointly conduct a search operation focusing on the riverbanks and areas where bodies may be trapped, according to the rescue plan.
According to official sources, the extent of human loss will emerge when rescuers clear houses covered by debris and wood logs using heavy machinery. So far, 190 people have been killed and over 200 missing in the tragedy.
State Revenue Minister K Rajan, a day ago, had said that a drone-based radar from Delhi would arrive on Saturday to locate bodies buried in the mud.
He also said that currently, six dogs are assisting in the search operation and four more will arrive in Wayanad from Tamil Nadu.
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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.
