Chennai hospital airlifts heart from Thanjavur by helicopter
Chennai (PTI): A Chennai-based hospital on Friday successfully airlifted a heart from Thanjavur by helicopter, saving the life of a 33-year-old cardiac patient from Maharashtra.
The heart was retrieved from a 19-year-old donor who sustained a traumatic brain injury in a road accident and was declared brain-dead on December 26, said a press release issued by Chennai-based MGM Healthcare.
The hospital claimed that this was the first time a chopper had landed within city limits for an organ transplant operation.
The donor's family consented to organ donation, following which the heart and small intestine were retrieved from Thanjavur government hospital.
The heart and lung transplant team transported the organ by special chopper from Thanjavur to D G Vaishnav College here, from where it reached MGM Healthcare in just two minutes with a green corridor facilitated by Chennai police, said the press release.
The transplant procedure was performed by a team headed by Dr K R Balakrishnan, Director of the Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support at MGM Healthcare.
"This remarkable achievement stands as a testament to the dedication of healthcare professionals and the collaborative spirit of communities working together to save lives," the statement from MGM Healthcare said.
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Mule bank accounts frozen in crackdown on cyber fraudsters in Karnataka, 68 held
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka State Cyber Command has arrested 68 people as part of a statewide drive against mule bank accounts and “mule herders” involved in cyber fraud, officials said on Friday.
The special operations, which have been continuing since last week across Karnataka, targeted networks engaged in aggregating and selling mule bank accounts used for cyber crimes.
The arrests were made between December 2025 and February 2026, police said in an updated report.
“The Karnataka Cyber Command has conducted statewide special operations against Mule accounts and mule herders across Karnataka. The special drive has continued since last week and this is an updated report,” the department said in a statement.
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Police said the investigation identified a network of “mule herders” — individuals who aggregate and misuse mule bank accounts — who were retailing and selling such accounts to cyber criminals.
A total of 68 key accused and suspects have been arrested during the period.
According to the statement, mule herders had collected personal information and documents from unsuspecting laypersons and opened multiple bank accounts in the names of their relatives.
“These accounts were operated in a business-like manner,” it added.
As part of the crackdown, police registered 60 cases and identified 869 mule accounts across the state. As many as 8,788 complaints were registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) against the identified mule accounts.
The total money involved in all NCRP-linked crimes stood at Rs 85.05 crore, of which Rs 13.43 crore has been put on hold, the Cyber Command said.
During the drive, police obtained 32 search warrants and conducted 35 searches. In the searches, 35 ATM cards, 37 passbooks, 80 mobile phones, 28 cheque books and 22 SIM cards were seized, along with other incriminating materials, officials said. Pronab Mohanty, the Director General of Police (Karnataka State Cyber Command) supervised the special drive, police added.
