Mangaluru: In an unfortunate incident, a big purse seine fishing boat that had ventured on a fishing expedition reportedly drowned at sea, several nautical miles away near the western part of the sea at Ullal. The 6 fishermen on-board are allegedly still missing.

The fishing boat by the name ‘Shri Raksha’, which belonged to Prashant, a resident of Bolar, had ventured into the sea for a fishing expedition before daybreak on Monday. There were reportedly 25 fishermen on the boat. The crew had successfully caught a large number of fish and were recovering the dragnet at 6.30 PM to wrap the day’s work when the boat reportedly capsized due to the ferocity of the waves.

As the purse seine Commercial Boat is largely composed of steel, it has steeped into the ocean. Out of the 25 fishermen on-board, 19 of them have safely reached land. The fishermen’s leader Nitin Kumar has told ‘Vartha Bharathi’ correspondents that there is a possibility that the remaining 6 fishermen, who are missing, could have been caught in the dragnet.

On Tuesday, several boats were dispatched to the site of the accident to help in the search and rescue operations undertaken to find the missing fishermen. Sources reveal that the rescue operations are still underway.

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Chandigarh (PTI): Masked men tried to break into the ancestral house of Haryana Congress president Rao Narender Singh in Narnaul, but failed after some staff members woke up on hearing the noise and informed police, officials said on Sunday.

The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday in Narnaul's Shiv Colony. The family members of Singh's brother Rao Devender were inside the house at the time of the incident.

A group of four-five masked men scaled a boundary wall to enter the house from the rear side. They cut off the CCTV wires and locked the rooms of the house staff from outside, police said.

Then they attempted to break open the rear entrance of the house using sharp tools. The house staff was woken up by the noise and raised an alarm, following which the intruders fled by jumping over the boundary wall.

Police said they reached the spot immediately after receiving the information about the incident.

Narnaul Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bharat Bhushan said special teams have been formed to nab the accused.

An FIR has been registered under Section 330 (house-trespass and house-breaking) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in the matter, he said.

Police teams examined CCTV footage from near the house, in which four masked men are seen on foot. According to preliminary investigation, it appears that the accused may be part of a gang which is active in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, the DSP said.

"It appears that they entered Rao Narender Singh's house at random for theft and the house may not have been their specific target," Bhushan said.

"We hope to make early arrests in the case," he added.

The opposition Congress targeted the BJP government over the incident, alleging that the law and order in the state is deteriorating.

Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said the accused cut the CCTV camera wires, broke the locks and attempted a "deadly assault" on Singh's family. He demanded immediate arrest of the accused.

He said if such an incident can take place at the house of the state Congress chief, imagine the state of fear the common people must be living in.

Surjewala said Singh and other Congress leaders have consistently raised their voices against the "organised crime mafia across Haryana".

Extortion, ransom demands, murder and robbery have become everyday occurrences in Haryana and crime reigns supreme, the Congress leader alleged.