Ankola: Hundreds of fishermen in Keni village, most of whom were found to be women, protested on Monday, and also attempted to commit suicide by jumping into the sea, opposing the construction of a commercial port in Keni.
Three women who fell ill during the protest were shifted to a government hospital in a police ambulance.
Uttara Kannada Deputy Commissioner Lakshmipriya K had denied permission to stage a protest in village under Bavikeri Gram Panchayat in Ankola taluk and Keni village from Monday 6 am to Tuesday 6 am as precautionary measure.
The fishermen, who held the protest in spite of the prohibitory orders by the DC, have warned to continue the stir until the survey of the area for the port, ‘Keni Greenfield’ by JSW, continues. “We will stage the protest again and also commit suicide if the authorities go ahead with the construction of a commercial port in Keni,” they have added.
“Since we are dependent only on the sea for our livelihood, we will continue our protest intensely. Women too are ready to sacrifice their lives if the work on the commercial protest continues. Any such port can only be constructed on our graves,” Shrikanth Durgekar, leader of the fishermen has hit out at the authorities concerned, also asking that fishermen be permitted to continue their work at sea at peace.
Uttara Kannada Superintendent of Police M Narayana, Deputy SP Girish and Inspector Chandrashekhar Mathapathi arrived at Keni and pacified the fishermen, who continued to demand that the survey be halted.
Several leaders of the fishermen, including Durgekar, Sanjeeva Balegara, Shankar Balegar, Hoova Khandekar, Umakantha Hoskota, Chandrakantha Pirankar, Rajeshwari Kenikar, Suraj Harikanthra, participated in the protest.




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Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a probe by the special task force (STF) into alleged irregularities in the rejoining of a teacher at City Intermediate College in Barabanki, observing that the reinstatement appeared to be prima facie illegal.
The court also directed the recovery of the salary paid to the teacher during the disputed period.
A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on a petition filed by the college management committee. The court expressed doubts over the roles of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Barabanki, the college principal and the teacher concerned and hence, directed a detailed inquiry into the matter.
Taking note of alleged manipulation of records and misleading submissions, the court ordered the immediate transfer of the Barabanki DIOS to ensure a fair probe. It also directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the then joint director of education of the Ayodhya division.
In its order, the court found that the teacher, Abhay Kumar, was initially appointed as an assistant teacher in 2018 but joined an Eklavya Model Residential School in Chhattisgarh as a lecturer in June 2024 without obtaining permission from the management. His subsequent request to retain the lien was rejected.
Despite this, he was allowed to rejoin the Barabanki College in September 2025 on the directions of the joint director of education and the DIOS, and was even paid the salary for October 2025. The court termed the rejoining "wholly illegal" and lacking any legal basis.
The bench also expressed concern over lapses in communication within the education department and directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to ensure that official orders are communicated through email and WhatsApp as well, to prevent disputes.
The matter is next listed for hearing on May 28 when a compliance report is sought.
