Bantwal: The 21 farmers who were accused of indulging in a fight with the police have been acquitted by the court on Wednesday December 3.  

The incident took place nine years ago. The farmers protested against the order of the Mescom not to use the water from the river and irregular load shedding. The farmers gathered under the leadership of rivulet water consumer’s forum and staged a protest during which police tried to stop the farmers and violence broke out.

Speaking to the media after the court judgement Sarapady Subbanna Shetty, one of the leaders of the farmers said this is the victory of the farmer’s continuous fight.  The farmers distributed sweets and shouted slogans.  

In 2005 Mescom had passed an order that farmers should not use Nethravathy river water. The farmers staged a protest in front of Mescom office. The verbal war between the police and the farmers snow balled into physical combat and then circle inspector Sanjeev Naik ordered laati charge on the farmers. Many farmers were injured in the incident.

Later the police registered case against 21 farmers. In 2013 accused farmers availed anticipatory bail. Efforts were made to solve the case outside the court through compromise, but that never happened.

Vittla: A mentally ill woman ended her life by jumping into a rivulet near Kotikere here on Wednesday December 3.

The deceased has been identified as Swarnalatha (44) wife of K. Shivakumar resident of Kashimat in Vittla Kasaba village. She went missing on Wednesday morning. Later her footwear was found near Kotikere. When the locals searched for her in the rivulet her dead body was found. A case has been filed in Vittla police station.

Shivakumar had married Swarnalatha of Palaru in Kerala 14 years ago. The couple has a son named Ramakrishna studying in sixth standard. Swarnalatha was suffering from mental illness and was being treated in Puttur hospital. Police now investigating the reason for her death.

Vittla: A vain effort was made to steal the cattle from its shelter in the late night of Tuesday in Kuddupadavu here.

The thieves broke into the cow shelter of Muliya Dambe Balakrishna Shetty and tried to take away cattle. As the dog in the house barked the occupants of the house woke up and the feared cattle ran away from the thieves and ran into the hills. The robbers escaped from the site in an Alto car.

Mangaluru: A ganja peddler was arrested by CCB police led by Valentine D’Souza on Tuesday December 2 near Mahaveer circle here.

The accused has been identified as Umesh (33), a resident of Jeppinamogaru. CCB police nabbed Umesh red handed while he was trying to sell ganja near a hotel near Mahaveer circle.

The police have seized 500 grams of ganja and two mobile phones from the accused. The value of the seized items is around Rs 10,000.

During interrogation, it came to light that Umesh has been secretly supplying ganja to under trials in the jail too.

The accused and the seized ganja have been handed over to Mangaluru rural police for further investigation.