Six dead exotic monkeys, 72 rare snakes stuffed in bag on Bangkok flight seized at Bengaluru airport
Bengaluru: Customs officials have seized 72 snakes and six dead Capuchin monkeys that were stuffed inside baggage that arrived on a Bangkok flight at Kempegowda International Airport here, an official statement said on Friday.
Following the incident, the Customs officers of Bengaluru Airport have booked a case of wildlife smuggling at Terminal - 1, Kempegowda International Airport, it said.
According to the statement issued by Bengaluru Customs department, the baggage which arrived by Flight no FD 137 Air Asia from Bangkok at 10.30 pm on Wednesday was found to contain a total of 78 animals comprising 55 ball pythons (in different colour morphs) and 17 king cobras. These were found alive and in active condition. However, six Capuchin monkeys were found dead. All the said 78 animals are Scheduled animals under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and listed under Appendices of CITES, it said.
"The animals were seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962. The live animals have been deported to the country of origin and the dead animals have been disposed of with proper sanitary measures. Further investigation is under progress," the statement added.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
