Tusker involved in trampling two men to death captured in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru
Chikkamagaluru (PTI): After a nearly 17-hour operation, the Karnataka Forest Department managed to safely immobilise and capture a 40-year-old tusker that trampled two people to death in this district, officials said on Monday.
Umesh (43) and Harish (42) in Kerekatte range of the Kudremukh wildlife division here were killed on October 31, they said.
Both of them lived on the periphery of Kudremukh National Park and had gone to the forest to collect leaves for cowshed when the elephant attacked them, resulting in their deaths, officials said.
According to the forest department, on Sunday morning, five trained elephants and around 150 officials involved in the operation captured the tusker which was spotted near the Bhagavathi Nature Camp in this district, following which veterinarians fired a tranquiliser dart.
"Acting on authorisation from the Chief Wildlife Warden, the Karnataka Forest Department concluded a 17-hour operation to safely immobilise and capture the "Mallandur" (wild) tusker near Bhagavathi Nature Camp in Kudremukh National Park," a senior department official said.
No personnel or public were injured in the operation, he said.
"The tranquilised tusker is stated to be stable and is currently at Dodda Harave elephant camp, where it is kept under observation," he said.
Explaining the operation, the officer said it began at first light under a minimal-chase, welfare-first protocol. Trained ground trackers, veterinarians, and kumki elephants worked in coordinated sectors while thermal-imaging drones provided real-time situational awareness and helped maintain public safety.
"At 4.45 pm, the veterinary team successfully darted the tusker. The animal was stabilised on site, continuously monitored, and moved along a pre-vetted, terrain-safe egress using reinforced extraction equipment," he added.
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14 India-bound ships in Strait of Hormuz stopped by Iran; 1 hit by bullets, 1 crosses: Sources
New Delhi (PTI): A convoy of 14 India-bound ships carrying crude oil and gas were stopped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by firing at two of them while they were transiting the Strait of Hormuz, leading to 13 of the vessels returning to different locations in the Persian Gulf, official sources privy to the development said.
An Indian-flag carrying ship, which was hit by bullets fired by the IRGC while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, was carrying crude oil and a window pane was broken, forcing it to stop the journey and return. The extent of damage to the second vessel was not immediately known but it also had returned.
However, another ship, which was Indian flagged and loaded with crude oil for the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, sailed through the Strait and is now heading towards India, the sources said.
Two Iranian gunboats approached the targeted tanker and fired at it without warning. Gunboats approached the vessel 37 kilometres northeast of Oman, causing other vessels to return without completing the crossing, the sources said.
The incident was reported in waters between the Qeshm and Larak islands, they said.
Out of the 14 India-bound vessels, seven are carrying the Indian flag, four have the Liberia flag, two are of the Marshall Islands and one of Vietnam.
Six of them are loaded with crude oil, three have LPG and four are loaded with fertilisers. Among the ships, five are bulk carriers. All 14 vessels were sailing in a row.
Thirteen of them were stopped by the Iranian Navy and were instructed to wait. Out of the 13 stranded vessels, seven vessels are drifting south of Larak Island, waiting for clearance from the Iranian Navy, the sources said.
The Indian government is understood to have been coordinating with the Iranian authorities for the safe voyage of the stranded India-bound ships, they said.
The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz reportedly escalated again on Saturday as Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass. This came as the United States pressed ahead with its blockade of Iranian ports.
Confusion over the Strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes, threatened to deepen the energy crisis.
The ceasefire between Iran and the US is due to run out by mid-next week.
Iran's joint military command said Saturday that "control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces."
It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
