132 kg ganja confiscated by Mangaluru CCB policemen; two arrested
Mangaluru: Rameez Raaz and Abdul Khader Haris were reportedly arrested by the Mangaluru CCB police near Mudipu for illegal transport of ganja. The police confiscated 132 kg ganja from the arrested men.
Addressing a press meet in the city on Friday, Mangaluru City Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar said that Raaz, 30, of Naringana in Bantwal, and Haris, 31, of Kasaragod, were arrested in Kayargoli in Mudipu Kurnadu village, said sources.
“The arrested men were transporting the processed ganja from Vishakhapatnam to Mangaluru, Bengaluru and places in Kerala. We have seized the loot along with the car that was used for transport, cash and two mobile phones from the duo. The confiscated things are worth approximately Rs 39.5 lakh. Three swords have also been seized,” the police officer reportedly said.
Mangaluru CCB Inspector Mahesh Prasad and PSI Rajendra B led the investigation team, which followed a tip-off on Raaz and Haris on Thursday, he added.
“Three cases have been registered against Raaz at the Konaje Police Station in relation to consumption and sale of narcotics and assault. There are six other cases registered against him at the Ullal and Mangalore North police stations for ganja sale and attempt to murder. Against Haris, there are two attempt to murder cases at the Ullal Police Station and two assault cases at the Manjeshwara Police Station,” Shashi Kumar is learned to have said.
The commissioner further said that the arrested duo had been carrying the swords to use on any policeman or people who stopped them, said sources. The men had filled the car boot with the ganja on their way from Vishakhapatnam to Bengaluru to be supplied in various places in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kasaragod and Uttara Kannada districts.
“We have been informed of a racket to grow the ganja in the forests of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha. The processed ganja is reportedly being supplied in huge quantities to customers in Kerala and Karnataka. The matter came to light while handling earlier cases related to narcotics supply,” the commissioner stated, adding, “A detailed investigation of the activities will be conducted and other people involved in the racket will be found.”
DCPs Anshu Kumar and Dinesh Kumar and CCB Inspector Mahesh Prasad were present at the press meet.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
