Foreign national arrested for transporting cocaine worth Rs 1.20 cr from Mumbai to Bengaluru
Bengaluru (PTI): A foreign woman has been arrested for allegedly transporting 121 grams of cocaine, valued at Rs 1.20 crore, from Mumbai to Bengaluru by concealing it in bread covers while travelling in a private bus, police said on Tuesday.
Along with the contraband, a mobile phone allegedly used in the offence was also seized from her, they said.
Police, however, did not disclose the identity of the accused woman.
Acting on a tip-off that a foreign woman residing within the limits of Varthur police station was supplying cocaine to known persons, the CCB Narcotics Control Wing conducted the raid recently and secured the accused, a senior police officer said.
According to police, the woman had come to Delhi in 2024 on a student visa, claiming to pursue studies at a university. However, without enrolling in any college, she stayed in areas such as Ghatkopar, Ambawadi and Nallasopara in Mumbai.
She allegedly procured cocaine from a friend in Mumbai and, as per his instructions, transported and supplied the drug to designated locations, thereby engaging in drug peddling and earning illegal money, police said.
Preliminary investigation revealed that she frequently travelled from Mumbai to Bengaluru in private buses and transported cocaine by concealing it in covers of bread and similar products to evade detection, the officer said.
A case has been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Varthur police station. The accused is presently in judicial custody, police added.
In another incident, police arrested two persons from another state for allegedly selling prohibited narcotic drugs in Bengaluru.
With their arrest, police claimed to have seized 247 grams of hydro ganja and 19 grams of MDMA, together valued at Rs 26.90 lakh.
The arrests were made on December 21 after Jalahalli police station staff received information that some persons were in possession of prohibited narcotic drugs and were selling them to customers near Kalingarao Circle, within the limits of the police station.
Following a raid, the accused duo were secured and, during interrogation, allegedly confessed that with the intention of earning more money, they had purchased hydro ganja and MDMA at a low price from an unknown person and sold them to customers at a higher price, the officer said.
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AI-powered robotic canal cleaning system commissioned in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) (PTI): In a major step to phase out manual scavenging and ensure the safety of sanitation workers, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation commissioned G-Spider, an AI-powered robotic canal-cleaning system, at the Amayizhanchan canal near the railway station premises at Thampanoor here, officials said on Thursday.
The system was launched by Minister for Local Self-Governments MB Rajesh at a function presided over by Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor VV Rajesh on Wednesday.
The AI-powered canal cleaning project is a joint initiative of the city corporation and Technopark-based Genrobotic Innovations, which developed Bandicoot, a robotic scavenger.
As per the agreement, Genrobotics will bear the full cost of deploying the robotic system, while the corporation will supervise its operation and maintenance.
Speaking at the event, the minister said Genrobotics has set an example of how innovative ideas can be transformed into impactful entrepreneurship.
He said that of the seven compressed biogas (CBG) plants to be commissioned in the state for solid waste management, one will be set up in the state capital.
Rajesh said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the Rs 100-crore CBG plant at Brahmapuram in Kochi on February 28, adding that 90 per cent of the nine lakh metric tonne of accumulated waste at the site has already been removed.
He further said work on the Palakkad plant will be completed in February, while construction of another plant in Thrissur is progressing, and a plant at Changanassery is in the pipeline.
The minister added that the construction of four sanitary plants will be inaugurated next week.
In his address, the mayor reiterated the corporation’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technologies for waste management and lauded the Genrobotics team, stating that the civic body would explore all possible ways to utilise the company’s technology.
Repeated manual cleaning efforts in the area had led to serious safety incidents, including the death of sanitation worker Joy in 2024.
In this backdrop, the corporation initiated the deployment of robotic cleaning technology in strict compliance with the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, with the aim of eliminating human entry into hazardous canal-cleaning operations, officials said.
Corporation Deputy Mayor Asha Nath GS, Divisional Railway Manager Divyakant Chandrakar, and Genrobotic Innovations CEO and co-founder Vimal Govind MK were present on the occasion.
G-Spider is designed to operate in complex, high-risk canal environments without requiring human entry.
Built on a cable-driven parallel robotics architecture integrated with AI-enabled vision and sensor systems, the robotic platform enables precise detection, assessment and removal of accumulated waste.
The system uses machine vision and intelligent sensors to autonomously identify and assess waste in real time, dynamically adapting to varying waste types, water flow conditions and structural constraints within canals, officials said.
Guided by AI-driven vision algorithms, the robotic mechanism performs precise waste extraction through a five-degrees-of-freedom configuration, enabling accurate positioning, stable gripping, and reliable debris removal.
The extracted waste is automatically transferred to designated collection vehicles, enabling a fully hands-free, end-to-end canal cleaning process from detection to disposal, they added.
