'Operation Bhediya': Another wolf captured, uncertainty over number on prowl in Bahraich
Bahraich(UP) (PTI): A forest department team of Uttar Pradesh captured on Thursday a fully grown male wolf under its 'Operation Bhediya' launched to capture a pack of wolves on the prowl in Mehsi tehsil of Bahraich district that has so far killed seven people.
The department has so far captured four wolves.
Barabanki Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Akashdeep Badhawan, the in-charge of 'Operation Bhediya', told PTI that a male wolf was trapped in one of the cages set up near Sisayya Chudamani village in the morning.
The animal caught is a fully grown male, he said.
Six children and a woman have been killed by the animals in the last month and a half in Bahraich with the latest attack taking place in a village on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
Drone cameras and thermal drone mapping techniques are being used by the forest department to catch the wolves. Permission to tranquillise the animals has been granted by the chief wildlife warden, according to an official statement.
As per the forest department, there is uncertainty about the total number of wolves in the area, officials said.
Principal Chief Forest Conservator (Wildlife) Sanjay Srivastava on Wednesday said 16 teams were working to capture the wolves, and 12 district-level officers are also stationed here.
Additional Principal Chief Forest Conservator Renu Singh will remain on-site until the remaining wolves are captured, he added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Misuse of power, money to control election mechanism seen during Maharashtra polls: Sharad Pawar
Pune (PTI): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed the misuse of power and money to control the entire election mechanism, which was never before seen in any state assembly or national polls, was witnessed in Maharashtra.
Pawar made the statement when he visited senior activist Dr Baba Adhav, who is protesting against the alleged "misuse of EVMs" in the recent state polls in Maharashtra.
Adhav, who is in his 90s, began his three-day protest at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in the city on Thursday.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), have been alleging manipulation of EVMs in the recently held Maharashtra Assembly elections, which saw a landslide victory by the Mahayuti.
The Mahayuti, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, won 230 out of 288 assembly seats in the November 20 polls, while the MVA managed just 46 seats.Talking to reporters, Pawar said elections were conducted recently in the country, and there is a restlessness among the people about these.
Baba Adhav's agitation represents this restlessness, he said.
He said, "There is a murmur among the people that the recent polls in Maharashtra saw 'misuse of power' and 'floods of money', which was never seen in the past. Such things are heard of in local-level polls, but taking over the entire election mechanism with the help of money and misuse of power was not seen before. However, we witnessed it in Maharashtra, and people are restless now."
He added that people were recalling late socialist ideologue Jaiprakash Narayan and felt somebody should take a step forward.
"I heard Baba Adhav has taken a lead into this issue and is agitating at Phule Wada. His protest gives hope to the people, but it is not enough. A mass revolt is necessary, as the danger of the parliamentary democracy getting destroyed looms," Pawar said.
The former Union minister said those who have reins of the country in their hands are least bothered about this.
"Despite widespread discussion over it (alleged misuse of EVMs) in the country, whenever the opposition tries to raise the issue in the Parliament, they are not allowed to speak. Opposition leaders have been seeking an opportunity to speak on these issues for six days, but their demands have not been accepted even once. It shows they want to attack parliamentary democracy," he claimed.
He said Dr Adhav's protest is a fine example of someone revolting against the issue and expressed confidence that his protest will create a ripple effect.
