Bhatkal: Coast Guard rescues stranded fishermen
Bhatkal: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Friday successfully rescued 24 fishermen stranded at sea off the Bhatkal coast due to strong winds and swell from the fishing boat 'IFB Qamalrul Bhar'.
After getting distress signal from the boat Thursday evening, ICG Ship Kasturba Gandhi, which was on operational deployment in Karnataka coast, was diverted immediately for undertaking search and rescue operation, a Coast Guard release here said.
The ship arrived at the spot from where the information was passed at 8 pm and established communication with the fishermen and reassured the presence of ICG.
The fishing boat had lost propulsion owing to engine failure and was stranded at sea 15 nautical miles off the Bhatkal coast.
In view of rough weather conditions in the area, the boat owner requested deputy director (DD), Fisheries, Karwar for the rescue of fishermen.
With the information from the DD, the Coast Guard took up the entire rescue operation at sea and all the fishermen on board the boat were shifted to the ICG ship by 10.30 am Friday.
The ship then proceeded to Karwar port for handing them over to the fisheries department.
Electronic surveillance is being maintained in the area through a coastal surveillance network to shepherd fishing boats in the area to safer locations and regular weather warning advisory is also being transmitted, the release said.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
