Belthangady: The body of a 15-year-old boy who had gone missing earlier in the day was found in a pond near his house at Sambolya Baramelu in Kuvettu village on Wednesday, police said.
The deceased has been identified as Sumanth, son of Subrahmanya Nayak, a Class 9 student of Gerukatte Government High School.
According to preliminary information, Sumanth left his house early on Wednesday morning to visit the Nala Temple in Kaliya village to take part in a ritual. When he did not reach the temple, two of his friends who usually accompanied him grew concerned and contacted his family. It then emerged that Sumanth had left home early but had not been seen since.
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Family members and villagers launched a search, following which bloodstains were noticed on the ground near a pond located along the road between Sumanth’s house and the temple. The discovery prompted an extensive search operation involving the police, forest department personnel, fire brigade staff and local residents.
Sumanth’s body was recovered from the pond around noon. Police said the body had a head injury, raising suspicion over the circumstances leading to his death.
Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Dr Arun Kumar, Belthangady Police Inspector Subbapur Math, Sub-Inspector Anand M, Tahsildar Prithvi Sanikam, Revenue Inspector Pavadappa, Block Education Officer Tarakeshwari, along with school teachers and other officials, visited the spot and inspected the scene.
Belthangady police have registered a case and are continuing the investigation to ascertain the exact cause of death.
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Mumbai (PTI): The rupee slumped 12 paise to its record low of 92.37 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday as global crude oil prices showed no signs of easing amid the ongoing West Asian conflict.
A stronger greenback, heavy FII selling and weak sentiments in the domestic equity markets further weighed on the rupee, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 92.33 and slipped further to hit its record intra-day low of 92.37 against the US dollar, down 12 paise from its previous close.
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The rupee touched a fresh intra-day low of 92.36 on Thursday and closed the session 24 paise down at its lowest level of 92.25 against the US dollar.
"Oil prices remained elevated after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is closed permanently till the resolution of the crisis. The dollar index also rose, European and Asian currencies all fell against the dollar," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
The rupee has remained vulnerable and in the absence of the RBI could have reached 93.00 levels, he added.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 99.77.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 4.99 per cent at USD 96.57 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex plunged 560.06 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 75,474.36, while the Nifty tanked 184.45 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 23,454.70.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 7,049.87 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, retail inflation moved up to 3.21 per cent in February compared to 2.74 per cent in the preceding month, driven mainly by higher food prices, government data released on Thursday showed.
