Businessman 's family end lives after sending suicide notes on WhatsApp

May 29, 2014

Belgaum, May 29: Three of a family allegedly consumed poison, in what appears to be a suicide pact, at a hotel here in the early hours of Wednesday.

The deceased were identified as Hubli-based businessman Mahantesh Mallikarjun Dhawan (46), his wife, Shobha (38), and son, Amogh (12).

The deceased left a suicide note and also sent it on WhatsApp, holding a Hubli-based jeweller and his two sons responsible for his financial problems.

According to the police here, Mr. Dhawan, a businessman engaged in industrial valve manufacturing at Belur industrial area in Dharwad, and his family left home after informing relatives that they were going to Goa to take their son for a medical examination. However, they went to Belgaum and booked a room at a hotel on Tuesday.

The police suspect that the family consumed the poison around 12.30 a.m. on Wednesday.

During preliminary investigations, it was revealed that Ms. Shobha had called her brother and wished for his family 's well-being. She disconnected the call after mentioning suicide. Her brother, who became anxious, called back but got no response.

He immediately informed the police control room in Hubli and requested that they trace the family.

However, all three were dead by the time the police traced their location in Belgaum.

After conducting panchanama, the bodies were taken to the district government hospital for post-mortem. The bodies were handed over to relatives.

Relatives and friends of Mr. Dhawan staged a protest outside the jeweller 's shop in Hubli.

They kept the bodies outside the shop and staged a protest for nearly 40 minutes.

However, the shop was locked and the owners did not turn up. The police arrived at the spot and brought the situation under control.

The protesters alleged that the jeweller had cheated many people by promising to double their money.

The persons responsible for the death of the Dhawan family should be arrested and legal action should be taken against them, they demanded.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

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December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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Think Before You Post! Mangaluru Police Crack Down on Provocative Instagram Accounts

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December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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