Floods bring crocodiles to Vadodara streets
Ahmedabad: Rains have given respite to Vadodara city in central Gujarat after an unprecedented downpour two days ago, but the authorities are now facing the task of capturing crocodiles which arrived with floodwaters. Seven mid-sized crocodiles which swam into the city as the Vishwamitri river overflowed have been captured by forest department’s teams from areas such as Raj Mahal Road and Fatehgunj which are on the riverbank. Three crocodiles were captured on Thursday and four on Friday, Assistant Conservator of Forest Vinod Damor, who is in charge of rescue of stranded crocodiles, said. “The stretch of Vishwamitri passing through the city is home to around 150 crocodiles. Some of them entered residential areas after water from the river flooded the city,” he said. “We have formed six teams to capture them,” he said. Each team comprises a forest department personnel and three volunteers with experience of animal rescue. Many city residents uploaded videos of crocodiles on innundated streets on social media. One video showed a mid-sized crocodile sneaking up on a dog and attacking it. The dog, however, escaped unhurt. (PTI)
Delhi CM receives threat mails
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has received two e-mails from an anonymous e-mail ID allegedly threatening to kill him, police said on Friday. Kejriwal’s office received the e-mails on his official e-mail ID — the first on July 25 and another on July 30, the police said. A case has been registered and investigation taken up. The police said both the e-mails did not have any text but “kill, kill, kill” was written on the subject line. “We received a complaint about the threats from the Delhi government’s Home Department following which a case under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code was filed. “We have approached the service provider and sought details about the user of the e-mail ID in question,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell) Anyesh Roy. (IANS)
Eight girls rescued from spa
Mumbai: Police said on Friday they have rescued eight girls and arrested three persons after raiding a spa in suburban Goregaon on suspicion a flesh trade racket was operating from there. Acting on a tip-off that aprostitution racket was allegedly being run under the name of providing massage services at the spa, the police raided the outlet on Thursday night. According to the police, they rescued eight girls from the outlet and arrested three persons, including the owner and manager of the spa. They were booked under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA), the police said, adding further investigation was underway. (PTI)
Tourist taxis stay off roads in Goa
Panaji: Several hundred tourist taxis, including yellow and black cabs operating at Goa’s airport, stayed off roads on Friday to protest against the state governments refusal to accept their demand to scrap an app- based service. A large number of tourists were stranded at hotels as taxi operators refused to ferry them to the Dabolim airport, around 40km from Panaji, and various railway stations. Earlier this week, the government had refused to accept the demand of tourist taxi unions to scrap app-based cab service GoaMiles, which is backed by the state-run Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC). According to taxi unions, GoaMiles is adversely affecting their business. “We have remained off roads to protest against the governments action of not scrapping GoaMiles. The protest is symbolic, Vinayak Nanoskar, a taxi union leader, said. He said all tourist taxis, numbering more than 25,000, stayed off roads in the coastal state, where tourism is a major business activity. “Yellow and black cabs, which operate from the Dabolim airport, have also joined us, he said. (PTI)
Man loses wife in gamble
Jaunpur (UP): In a horrifying incident, a man addicted to gambling and alcohol, bet his wife after running out of money and allowed his friends to gangrape her after losing the stake. The incident took place in Jaunpur district and after the incident, the victim went to court when the police refused to take action on her complaint. Following a court order, an FIR has been registered in Jaffarabad police station in Jaunpur district. The victim, who lives in the Zafarabad police station area, claimed that her husband was an alcoholic and had put her on stake while gambling.Reports said her husband’s friend Arun and relative Anil often used to visit their house for drinking and gambling. One particular day, last month, her husband put her on stake while gambling with Anil and Arun. On losing, Arun and Anil gang-raped her. After the incident, the victim went to her maternal uncle’s house. Her husband followed her there, asking for forgiveness and said that it was a mistake. After he apologised, she went back with him in his car. On their way, her husband stopped the car and allowed his friends to gangrape her once again. When the woman complained to the police, they refused to file a complaint, following which, the victim approached the court. The court ordered police to register a case of gangrape. (IANS)