Belthangady: A bus traveling on the Charmadi Ghat road late Wednesday night was forced to stop abruptly when a wild elephant appeared on the road. The bus driver immediately applied the brakes upon spotting the elephant standing in the middle of the road, causing alarm among the passengers.

The sudden appearance of the elephant brought traffic to a standstill for an extended period. Vehicles were lined up for about two kilometers as the elephant remained on the road for over 30 minutes before eventually moving back into the forest.

Local residents have reported increased sightings of wild elephants in the Charmadi Ghat region over the past two months. They are concerned about potential attacks on nearby villages and have called on the Forest Department to take action to relocate the elephant.

Get all the latest, breaking news from Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada in a single click. CLICK HERE to get all the latest news from Mangaluru.

 

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Ahmedabad (PTI): The Ahmedabad police have arrested a 29-year-old man who allegedly posed as a senior revenue official and used fake letters claiming to be from various government departments to cheat people, an official said on Sunday.

Mehul Shah, an engineer who manages two schools at Vankaner in Gujarat’s Morbi district, is accused of making lakhs of rupees with bogus documents and false claims, said inspector (crime branch) JK Makwana.

Shah had forged an appointment letter from the Ahmedabad district education officer (DEO) to offer a computer operator’s job in a government office to a complainant’s son. He also introduced himself as a trustee of a school and did not pay a man Rs 7 lakh due to him over the painting of a school building, the official said.

“Despite holding no official position in the state or central government, he used fake work permits and NOCs to cheat people of lakhs of rupees,” the police official said.

One complainant alleged that Shah identified himself as a top revenue department official and produced a fake letter from the chairman of the “department of science and research development” to make him install a siren and curtain in a hired vehicle but did not pay for the job, he said.

Bogus letters claiming to be from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ahmedabad DEO were used by the accused to cheat the complainants, the police official said.

Police have recovered from his possession fake identity cards and letters with headings like “bharat gaurav ratna shri samman council”, “chairman of department of science and research development”, “health and family welfare department”, and “road and building department”.

“The FIR is based on complaints by three victims. We appeal to the people to come forward and submit their complaints if they have been cheated by Shah in any way,” Makwana said.