Leopard spotted at school for special kids near Tumakuru
Tumakuru: Panic gripped a school for specially-abled children on the outskirts of Tumakuru after a leopard was spotted on the campus on Monday.
The incident occurred around 9:00 a.m. at the Indian Red Cross Society’s residential school for speech and hearing-impaired children in Belagumba, located at the base of a hillock, as reported by Deccan Herald.
The leopard was seen chasing a stray dog before it strayed onto the school premises. Terrified by the sudden appearance of the wild animal, students and staff raised an alarm. The leopard, which had reportedly caught the dog by the neck, fled the scene.
The school accommodates hundreds of children with special needs from various districts. Following the incident, both students and local villagers remain on edge.
Residents of Belagumba claim this is not an isolated occurrence, saying leopard sightings have become increasingly common over the past three years. Many have urged the Forest Department to take immediate action to address the growing threat.
Forest and police officials visited the school shortly after the incident to gather information from teachers and students.
“Since the CCTV cameras at the school are not working, there is no footage of leopard straying into school and the village. However, we have placed a cage near the school to catch the big cat,” DH quoted Range Forest Officer (RFO) Namitha as saying.
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.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
