Karwar, Aug 14: After more than two weeks, full-fledged search operations were resumed on Wednesday by the Navy, National Disaster Response Force along with other agencies to trace Kerala lorry driver Arjun and two others who were missing following a landslide at Shirur village in Uttara Kannada district, police said.

The incident which occurred on National Highway 66 on July 16 claimed the lives of eight people.

The search operations were halted on July 28 due to adverse weather conditions, high river current and other factors, they said.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had recently written to his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah requesting him to resume operations to trace the lorry driver from Kozhikode.

Superintendent of Police (Karwar), Narayana M, said a full-fledged search operation resumed on Wednesday by the coordinated efforts of the Navy, NDRF, State Disaster Response Force, and the department of fisheries and port.

"Our police team is also part of the operation. We recovered eight bodies during the extensive rescue operation that we carried out last month in the landslide-affected area on the National Highway," he told PTI.

"Now, search operation is focused on tracing three people -- Kerala lorry driver Arjun and two other natives of Karnataka -- on four places identified within the landslide-affected areas, and divers will also be part of the rescue operation," he added.

Get all the latest, breaking news from Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada in a single click. CLICK HERE to get all the latest news from Mangaluru.

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.



Palakkad (Kerala) (PTI): Five people have been arrested for allegedly beating to death a Jharkhand native on suspicion of theft near Walayar here a day ago, police said on Friday.

The arrests were formally recorded late Thursday night and all the accused have been booked for the offence of murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, an officer of Walayar police station said.

The deceased -- Ramnarayan Bhayar (31) -- was working as a labourer in the Walayar area.

According to police, Bhayar was attacked by a group of men on Wednesday evening, alleging that he was involved in a theft at Kizhakeattappallam near Walayar.

As per the FIR, the incident occurred before 7.40 pm, and the injured Bhayar was rushed to the Palakkad District Government Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Police said a detailed investigation was underway to ascertain the sequence of events leading to the incident.