Skeletal remains of a missing Turkish man, who was murdered over 40 years ago, were discovered after a fig tree grew from a seed in his stomach.
The man identified as Ahmet Hergune was killed during the conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in 1974. He had been taken into a cave with two others and a dynamite was thrown after them. The dynamite killed the three men and also blew a hole in the side of the cave which allowed light to seep in. This, in turn, allowed the fig tree to grow from the Hergune's body, according to reports in MSN.
In 2011, the tree was spotted by a researcher who became curious to know how the tree grew in the cave, especially in a mountainous area. While carrying out his research and digging around the tree, the researcher found a human body underneath. On digging further, police recovered a total of three bodies.
Hergune's 87-year-old sister, Munur Herguner, said: "We used to live in a village with a population of 4,000, half Greek, half Turkish. In 1974, the disturbances began. My brother Ahmet joined the Turkish Resistance Organization. On June 10, the Greeks took him away."
Hergune was believed to have had eaten the fig, and blood samples from Munur's family matched DNA fragments. "The fig remnants in my brother's stomach grew into a tree as the sun crept into the cave through the hole made by the explosion. They found my brother thanks to that fig tree," Munur added.
Launched in 1981, the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus has been searching for 2,002 people who disappeared on the Mediterranean island between 1963 and 1974.
Courtesy: www.khaleejtimes.com
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New Delhi, Nov 26: RPI(A) leader Ramdas Athawale, a key BJP ally, on Tuesday called for a quick decision on the next chief minister of Maharashtra and suggested that incumbent Eknath Shinde should shift to the Centre as a Union minister.
Addressing a press conference here, Athawale also backed senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister of Maharashtra, contending that the saffron party won the maximum number of seats in the 288-member Assembly and should have the right to the top executive post in the state.
He said a peculiar situation has arisen in Maharashtra where BJP leaders want Fadnavis as the chief minister, while Shiv Sena leaders want Shinde to continue in the post, citing the good work he has done over the last two and a half years.
Athawale, the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, said NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has declared that he was not in the race for the chief minister.
"We need to resolve this matter, without any further delay. The election results were announced on November 23 and we should have had the oath of the new chief minister on November 26, the Constitution Day," Athawale said.
Backing Fadnavis for the post of chief minister, Athawale said Shinde can become the deputy chief minister or shift to the Centre and join the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Athawale said his RPI(A) has a presence in every part of the state, but unfortunately lost the two seats -- Dharavi and Kalina -- offered to it in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections.
He demanded that an RPI member be made an MLC and a minister in the state government.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won a landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections winning 235 seats in the 288-member House. The BJP won 132 seats, followed by Shinde-led Shiv Sena (57) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP (41). Smaller parties, who are part of the alliance, won five seats.