Mysuru district admin apprehensive about rise in COVID cases post Dasara festivities
Mysuru: There could be a spurt in coronavirus cases due to tourists from outside who came to the city to witness the Dasara festivities, Mysuru deputy commissioner Rohini Sindhuri said on Monday.
"We have been discussing it (spurt in cases). We will get the effect of Dasara after a fortnight," Sindhuri told reporters in Mysuru replying to queries on the Dasara event.
She added that in December there will be a Panchalinga festival, which too will have an effect on the spread of coronavirus.
The officer said once Mysuru had brought down the cases to zero but there will be a spurt in COVID-19 infections again.
She insisted that the trend of decline in cases needed to be maintained in the interest of people.
According to the health department, Mysuru has cumulatively reported 47,831 cases and 959 fatalities.
The district was in the limelight for the Nanjangud COVID cluster when a large number of employees of a pharmaceutical company were found to be coronavirus infected in April.
The persistence of the district administration had brought down the cases to zero, but the cases later increased to an alarming level of about 1,000 cases a day.
However, it has been brought down to 147 cases a day presently, the department said.
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NIA court to complete framing of charges against 2010 hand-chopping case accused on May 15
Kochi (PTI): A special court here will complete proceedings for framing charges against the prime accused in the 2010 hand-chopping case involving professor T J Joseph, in which PFI activists were accused of attacking him at Muvattupuzha.
Ernakulam Special Court for NIA cases judge P K Mohandas, on April 30, heard the arguments of counsel for accused Savad and Shafeer C and decided to proceed with framing charges against the duo.
A group chopped off Thodupuzha Newman College professor Joseph's right hand in July 2010, accusing him of religious blasphemy in a question paper he had prepared.
The case, later taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), resulted in the conviction of 19 accused.
The first accused, Savad, who allegedly chopped off Joseph’s palm, was arrested in Berram in Mattannur, Kannur, in January 2024, where he had allegedly been hiding under the pseudonym Shajahan.
The NIA also arrested Shafeer, who allegedly arranged shelter and provided logistical support to Savad at Chakkad and Mattannur in Kannur since 2020.
On April 30, the court heard the counsel for the accused and the NIA prosecutor on framing charges against the duo.
"On going through the documents and evidence in the case and on hearing the counsel for the accused and the prosecutor, I am of the opinion that there are grounds for presuming that the first accused has committed offences punishable under provisions of the IPC, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and that the second accused has committed offences punishable under the IPC and the UAPA, and there are materials for framing charges under these provisions against the accused," the court said.
The court directed that Savad be produced and Shafeer, who is on bail, appear before it on May 15 for recording their pleas as part of the charge-framing process.
After framing the charges, the court will schedule the trial in the case.
