New Delhi: In a damning revelation, a top Ministry of Defence (MoD) official has been quoted in a Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Report on the ‘Role and Functioning of the Coast Guard’ as saying that a 26/11-type attack can be repeated by terrorists since boats can still come in undetected despite increased monitoring by the coastal security mechanism.

Meanwhile, another report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Defence on Thursday reportedly criticised the Defence Ministry for “milking existing resources” to raise a mountain strike corps aimed at countering China.

So far as the PAC report on the Coast Guard is concerned, the top MoD official was quoted in the report as saying, “Now we have these two lakh boats; and just about anybody can go and come as and when he pleases. I have no system of monitoring it although the fishermen’s Identity Cards are being issued.... The boats have no identification method.

For example, what is the origin of that boat and so on? Now, it is really beyond the human capacity of any border guarding force to look at every boat every day and find out whether there is a risk or there is no risk... When we receive a threat or a credible information, we would immediately increase our patrolling in the waters... But that itself may not prove to be always enough. Therefore, if you ask me a very specific question that ‘Can 26/11 be repeated? Can a boat get in without being detected?’ Within the confines of this room, Sir, my answer would still be yes. We apprehend that. We have to improve. We have to improve much more. Therefore, what I feel is that other than the assets, there is a whole lot of work, which needs to be done by the Coast Guard to achieve that level.”

Mangaluru: Nazir, the injured in the attack that happened on Thursday, died in hospital today in a private hospital.

Four unknown people who came on bike and had attacked a rickshaw driver and a passenger with ghastly weapons. They pretended as if they are asking address and then they attacked the driver and the passenger.

The incident had happened at Kandur on Thursday night. The injured were Aladi resident Mahammad Mustafa and Nazir. Both were on treatment in a private hospital. But Nazir is disclosed dead on Friday 3.30 pm.

The situation is tensed in the surroundings due to the death of the lad. Police is monitoring the situation with eagle eye.

The will be taken to native after postmortem in A J Hospital.

Vittla: A gang from Kerala allegedly attacked two yout with sharp weapons and stones near Saletthoor here on Thursday night August 6.

The injured youth have been named as Abhijith (20), son of Vishwanath Bangera, a resident of Mitthagutthu in Manchi and Vijeeth (22), son of Vitala Adyantaya. The injured were admitted to a hospital in Mangaluru.

It is reported that on Thursday night Vijeeth was riding his bike on Saletthoor-Manchi road. Abhijith was in the pillion. A gang of six came in a car and waylaid the bike at Puddottu near Saletthoor. They attacked the duo with sharp weapons and stones and even tried to kill them by strangulating, it is stated in the complaint.

Locals admitted the badly injured youth to the hospital and their condition is said to be critical. The injured youth have named Shafi a resident of Kerala and his gang in their complaint to the Vittla police.

Mangaluru: The hope of full recovery is fading and the future seems like a long struggle for the family of Sundar Malekudiya (48), who was attacked by local landlord with a weed removal machine. Sundar lost two fingers while his left hand was nearly severed.

The alleged attacker, Gorpala Gowda, is still at large.

But for now, the sole breadwinner of the family is Sundar’s son Poornesh Malekudiya (20). Poornesh, who cleared his II PU exam last year, had to work as a farm labourer after his father was hospitalised for treatment of cancer. After the attack, Poornesh has returned to work in the farm. “My son has no other choice. He has to work to feed the family,” Sundar told the press from his hospital bed.

“Poornesh also has the additional responsibility of taking care of his three younger sisters, and protect the cows. There is a fear of attack as Gowda is yet to be arrested,” said Poornesh’s mother Revati, who is taking care of Sundar at the Government Wenlock Hospital.

There is a history behind these attacks, claims the family, the root being land rights. In 1998, Gowda and his family members had attacked us following an order allotting nearly five acres of government land, on which Gowda was cultivating, in Sundar’s name, the family said. “I was attacked with a sickle when I tried to protect Poornesh, who was only three-years-old,” said Revati. Doctors treating Sundar say it will take a long time for him to recover from the injury.

Superintendent of Government Wenlock Hospital Rajeshwari Devi H.R. said he had suffered multiple cut injury on the left elbow causing damage to artery and nerves. His thumb and forefinger on the right hand had been severed and there is deep cut on the palm. “We have carried out vascular, nerve and tendon repair. We are observing him as he is also undergoing chemotherapy, which slows down the body’s capacity to recover,” Dr. Devi said.

"I wanted to pursue B.Ed and become a teacher. But my family’s situation has forced me to discontinue studies. I had to take up work in an estate near our village." says Poornesh Malekudiya with a sigh.

Kasargod: Beef merchants in Kerala on Monday revived their protest against checks and attacks on vehicles carrying cattle from other states.

In what the traders called the second stage of agitation against continuing attacks — most of them reported near Palakkad, bordering Tamil Nadu — beef stalls downed shutters across the state on Monday.

Livestock trade between Tamil Nadu and Kerala has been hit since mid-June after the attacks on cattle trucks, allegedly by Sangh-affiliated outfits with a proclaimed stance against cow slaughter.

They have severely affected consumption of beef, a staple in the state’s non-vegetarian menu.

Sources said supply of red meat in Kerala was only about 10 per cent of its potential. Kerala Beef Merchants Association (KBMA) vice-president K M Ummer said transport of cattle from other states, too, has stopped following protests in Tamil Nadu against extensive government checks at the state border and continuing attacks by people claiming to be animal rights activists. “These attacks clearly have nothing to do with animal rights. These are criminal acts by people who are against cow slaughter. We don’t have a choice but to shut business and make ourselves heard,” Ummer told Deccan Herald.

KBMA representatives said the state government was yet to act on the issue, which is snowballing into a livelihood crisis for thousands of workers in the state.

Price rise

The price of beef in Kerala crossed Rs 300 per kg on Monday. Hotels in the state, hit by the shortage, have reportedly hiked prices of beef dishes.

KBMA members are said to be planning a protest march in Coimbatore later this week. They are also reportedly planning to block entry of trucks carrying vegetables and poultry from other states. While the movement of cattle trucks into Kerala was stopped on Monday, players in the branded and organised sectors continued to supply beef.

“We don’t have a slaughterhouse. We source the meat from elsewhere. As of now, the crisis has not affected these sellers,” said Baby, an employee at a meat stall here.

Surathkal: A person attacked a married woman with sharp weapon and slit her face her face many times.
The incident occured at Makhrana tiles in Honnakatte here on Tuesday morning August 4. The injured lady has been identified as Soumya, a resident of Katipalla Kaikamba.  It is said that Soumya was working in Makhrana tiles. On Tuesday attacker waited for her near the showroom, when she reached the gate of the showroom the accused attacked her with a sharp blade and slit her face indiscriminately. He then fled away from the site.

The people present on the spot tried to catch him but failed. The woman was rushed to Padmavathy hospital in Surathkal. But after providing first aid she was shifted to A.J Hospital in Mangaluru.

The reason for the attack is not clear. Police suspect that one sided love might be the reason for this inhumane act. The clear picture will emerge only after the arrest of the absconding accused.
Surathkal police filed a case and searching for the attacker.

Thiruvanantapuram: A day after beef merchants in Kerala ended their two-day shutdown protesting attacks on vehicles transporting cattle from other states, trade continued to be dull and more hotels started displaying no-beef signs.

Beef merchants and slaughterhouses in the state had downed shutters on Wednesday and Thursday to protest against attacks on cattle trucks from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, reportedly by Sangh-affiliated outfits, near Palakkad and Wayanad.

Representatives of beef traders’ associations said support from the state government on the issue have been limited and the state, known for its flourishing beef trade, was staring at possibilities of acute shortage. Conservative estimates put beef as constituting more than half the share of meat consumed in the state. According to beef merchants, close to 90 per cent of the trade depends on cattle arriving from other states.

“Issues near the two border districts have led to a drastic fall in numbers of loads coming in from other states. On an average, Kerala used to receive 150 loads with 30 cattle each, every day. It has come down to about 10 loads now,” K M Ummer, vice-president of the Kerala state Beef Merchants Association, told Deccan Herald.

While activists against cow-slaughter claimed to have intercepted trucks and “freed” the cattle or relocated them to dedicated cow shelters in Tamil Nadu, reports said some of the animals were later re-sold. Sources said cattle markets in and around Coimbatore district have been affected since the emergence of anti-cow slaughter “activism” in the region.

Managers of some of the hotels in Thiruvananthapuram city said beef would be off the menu till things “settled down”. The market has, over the past four days, seen at least a 30 per cent hike in beef prices; the red meat now costs around Rs 280 per kg.

Gurdaspur: Postmortem examinations were on Friday being conducted at the civil hospital in Gurdaspur on the bodies of the three terrorists, who had stormed a police station in Gurdaspur and were gunned down by Punjab Police personnel during a day-long operation.

"Postmortems were being conducted at Gurdaspur civil hospital here amid tight security," Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Abhinav Trikha confirmed. The DC said three panels, each consisting of as many doctors, were constituted for conducting autopsies on the bodies kept in the mortuary of the hospital.

A posse of police personnel has been deployed at the civil hospital and areas nearby, he said. The postmortems were given the go-ahead after police submitted 'required documents' with the hospital authorities, Trikha said.

The terrorists had Monday attacked passengers in a moving bus and stormed a police station, killing seven persons, including an SP. All the terrorists were gunned down after a day-long operation by Punjab Police and elite commandos of the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT).

Sophisticated weapons, including China-made grenades and Global Positioning Systems (GPS), were seized from them. The Centre had on Thursday asserted that the terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan to carry out the strike. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh who made a statement in the Rajya Sabha on terror attack on Thursday said, "Preliminary analyses of GPS data indicates that the terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan through the area near Tash in Gurdaspur district, where the Ravi river enters Pakistan."