Anti-toll gate protest: Prohibitory orders in Surathkal
Mangaluru (PTI): Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have been clamped within a radius of 200 metres around the toll plaza at Surathkal in the city where the anti-toll gate protesters have announced an indefinite day-and-night protest from Friday.
City police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said the order will be effective from 6 AM on October 28 till 6 PM on November 3 in view of the protests planned by the action committee demanding the closure of the toll gate.
Meanwhile, Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Dr. Kumara urged the anti-toll gate action committee to put off their agitation till the government officially issues a gazette notification to scrap the toll gate as promised.
National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) project director Linge Gowda also requested the protesters to wait for the government's decision. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has directed the authorities to remove the Surathkal toll gate and a gazette notification is pending, he said.
However, toll gate action committee leader Muneer Katipalla said the agitation will continue till the toll collection from the plaza is stopped. "We have received several such assurances from the authorities in the past which were not implemented," he said.
People have been protesting against the 'illegal' toll collection from the plaza which is just 10 km away from the nearest toll gate at Hejamady, violating Highway rules which stipulate that no two toll plazas should function within a distance of 60 km.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
