Udupi: A police team has retrieved a box containing Cyanide from the bank locker of the man who is suspected to have planted an explosive at the airport here last week, police said on Sunday.
Aditya Rao, who was taken by the team on Saturday to the bank in Udupi besides a few other places he had frequented in the past, told the police that that powder was cyanide.
The probe team, led by ACP K U Belliappa, sent the box to the Forensic Science Laboratory for examination, police said.
The man, a native of Manipal, had the locker at Kunjibettu branch of Karnataka Bank in Udupi.
A family member had reportedly mentioned to the police that the 36-year old Rao had wanted to commit suicide by consuming poison.
Rao was also taken to Malpe near Udupi from where he had made the hoax call to the airport that a bomb had been placed in the IndiGo flight to Bengaluru on the same day he placed the bomb near the ticket counter of the airport.
He confessed to the police of having made the bomb threat call to the terminal manager, police said.
After the call, he dumped the SIM card and left for Bengaluru where he surrendered to the police on January 22.
Police, however, could not retrieve the SIM card.
Rao, under ten days police custody, will be taken later to Karkala where he worked in a restaurant, police said.
A 'live' explosive device was found in an unattended bag near a ticket counter of the departure gate of the airport here on January 20, triggering a scare before it was defused at a nearby open ground.
Police had released a picture of a man captured on CCTV camera as the suspect who placed the bomb and Rao later surrendered.
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Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has issued directions to municipal corporations across the state to regulate and prohibit feeding pigeons in public places, citing serious public health concerns.
Deputy Secretary to Government V Lakshmikanth has written to the Urban Development Department requesting it to issue directions to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and all municipal corporations to take immediate steps to implement the measures.
In an official note dated December 16 issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department and released to the media on Wednesday, the department said uncontrolled feeding of pigeons in public places has resulted in large congregations of birds, excessive droppings and serious health concerns, particularly respiratory illnesses linked to prolonged exposure to pigeon droppings and feathers such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other lung diseases.
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"The commissioner, the Greater Bengaluru Authority and the Commissioners and chief officers of other municipal corporations shall take necessary action to mitigate the causes of dangerous disease spread by pigeon and enforce specified guidelines in their respective jurisdiction," the note said.
According to the department, these include a prohibition on feeding pigeons or causing pigeons to be fed in areas where it may cause nuisance or pose a health hazard to the public. Pigeon feeding shall be permitted only in designated areas in a controlled manner, subject to certain conditions.
"The designated areas may be selected in consultation with stakeholders. The responsibility for upkeep of the designated areas and compliance to the directions shall be taken up by some charitable organisation or an NGO. The feeding in designated areas shall be permitted only for some limited hours in the day," it said.
The note further stated that authorised officers of local authorities shall issue on-the-spot warnings and may impose fines for violation of the order, or lodge complaints to prosecute offenders under Sections 271 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 272 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
It also directed local authorities to conduct public awareness campaigns, including the display of signboards, banners and digital messages, explaining the health hazards associated with pigeon droppings and feathers, the content of the regulatory directions and penalties for violations, and alternative humane methods of bird conservation that do not endanger public health.
