No clue on Malpe fishing boat missing: Coast Guard continues search operation for fishermen
Malpe, December 24: The search operation for eight fishermen who were missing in the deep sea along with the boat continued on Monday, but no clues were found so far, sources said.
The family members of eight fishermen boat owner Badanidiyur Chandrashekar (40), Damodar Badanidiyur (40), Lakshman of Kumta (45), Sathish (35), Harish (28), Ramesh (30), Jogaiah (40) and Ravi Monkey (27) were panic. All of them had ventured into the sea in Suvarna Thribhuja boat on December 13 at 11 pm from Malpe port. After December 15 midnight, all of them were not reachable and missing. It is said that the boat was missing around 40-50 km Goa-Rathnagiri route from the sea shore.
As a missing case registered at Malpe police station, Fisheries department and police have informed the Mangaluru Coast Guard who in turn informed the Goa Coast Guard. Now, both Goa and Mangaluru Coast Guard teams have been searching for the missing boat and fishermen, but no information was available, sources said.
Fisheries department deputy director Parshwanath told Varthabharathi that ‘Mangaluru Coast Guard officials are in touch with us. They have continued their search operation. But no information is available so far”, he said.
Kidnap suspected
This is the first incident in Malpe port where fishermen were missing along with the boat. Some boats of Malpe have been searching in Goa-Rathnagiri sea range, but no information was received. If the boat is believed to be drowned, there must be some clues like diesel smell, cans or parts of the boat must have floated on the water. But there was no such clue in the sea. So, it is suspected that pirates might have kidnapped them, said Malpe Fishermen Association president Sathish Kunder.
CM contacted: Pramod Madhwaraj
Former fisheries minister Pramod Madhwaraj said that he has informed Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and DGP Neelamani N Raju over phone on missing of fishermen along with a fishing boat from Malpe port.
As the fishermen met Madhwaraj at his home and informed the incident, latter had contacted the CM and the DGP and urged them to take the issue seriously and constitute a special team to trace the fishermen shortly.
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Mystery man posing as AC mechanic to rob residents held in Delhi; linked to viral armed attacks
New Delhi (PTI): A 55-year-old man who allegedly posed as an AC and RO mechanic to rob residents in northwest Delhi's Keshav Puram and Pitampura areas has been arrested, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Ajay Bagga alias Vijay Bagga, was apprehended following an extensive manhunt involving CCTV analysis, technical surveillance and local enquiries, they said.
According to police, Bagga used to roam through residential colonies posing as a mechanic and ring doorbells to identify potential targets.
"The moment a resident opened the door, he would forcibly enter the house, launch a sudden attack and rob the occupants," a police officer said.
The accused had sent locals into panic after CCTV footage of him roaming in residential areas holding a plastic blue bag and hiding a 'gandasa' (machete) surfaced online, triggering a police hunt.
"A special team was formed to nab the accused after multiple incidents with a similar modus operandi were reported," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Akanksha Yadav said in a statement.
She further said that using technical surveillance, CCTV footage analysis and human intelligence inputs, police tracked down and arrested Bagga near Gurudwara Nanak Pyau in Model Town.
Police said Bagga has been linked to two separate FIRs registered at Maurya Enclave and Keshav Puram police stations.
"In the first case, the complainant Sahil Kukreja alleged that Bagga, who was known to him for the past eight to nine years, came to his residence in Pitampura on April 21 on the pretext of meeting his father," the officer said.
After entering the house and asking for water, the accused allegedly attacked Kukreja with a large knife, locally referred to as a "chapad", injuring his left forearm.
The accused then allegedly confined the complainant, demanded money and fled with around Rs 4 lakh in cash and gold jewellery from the house.
In the second incident, in Keshav Puram, Bagga allegedly entered the residence of a woman posing as an RO mechanic on May 8. The complainant told police that the accused threatened her with an iron 'gandasa' after entering the house.
However, the woman resisted and raised an alarm, forcing Bagga to flee after throwing the weapon in a nearby park, police said. The weapon was later recovered and seized by the police team.
"During an investigation, police teams scanned footage from several CCTV cameras, conducted searches at over 50 hotels and interrogated multiple suspects before zeroing in on Bagga. On interrogation, the accused confessed to his involvement in the two incidents," Yadav said.
Police are further investigating Bagga to ascertain his possible involvement in other similar robbery and house trespass cases reported in the city and to identify whether he had any accomplices.
