Spending nights outside bank, people battle fear of leopards

December 11, 2016

Vadodara, Dec 11: Apart from the winter chill, the people in and around Sankhda village in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat who camp outside the local branch of SBI every night have to fight the fear of lions and leopards.

Bank
The people from nearby villages are spending the nights outside the SBI branch in Sankhda -- the lone bank branch in the area -- so that they get the cash before it runs out when the bank opens in the morning.

However, sometimes there are other nocturnal visitors. "A leopard strayed into the village about one week ago. The people who had lined up outside the bank and villagers managed to run it off into forest, but before that it killed a calf," said the village sarpanch Santubhai Gohil.

The area is close to the Gir Lions Sanctuary. The SBI branch at Sankhda caters to about 20 villages.

The sarpanch claimed that though the RBI has allowed withdrawal of Rs 24,000 a week, only Rs 2,000 were being disbursed by the bank as supply of currency was not adequate.

"Shops are no longer willing to sell milk and groceries on credit," Gohil said.

People, desperate to withdraw cash, camped outside the bank armed with blankets and woollens, he said.

"I have made arrangement to provide the people who camp outside the bank with biscuits and water," he said.

Farukh Raja, a resident of nearby Una town, said another problem was the banks were dispensing Rs 2,000 notes, which shopkeepers do not accept easily.

Some people were charging a premium Rs 200 to accept the Rs 2,000 note, he claimed.

Comments

Skazi
 - 
Sunday, 11 Dec 2016

Feku gift to Gujjus ....

ibbu
 - 
Sunday, 11 Dec 2016

MITROOO ... YE ACCHE DIN HAI..... NOW MORE AND MORE ACCHE DIN TO COME..... KEEP SOME OF YOUR ENERGY FOR MORE ACCHE DIN...............

Rikaz
 - 
Sunday, 11 Dec 2016

Poor guys, so heartening to see......

Sherief
 - 
Sunday, 11 Dec 2016

Media / T.V. never highlight sufferings of common man for notes due to Modi's fear.

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News Network
December 15,2025

Mangaluru police have arrested a 27-year-old NRI on his return from Saudi Arabia in connection with an Instagram post allegedly containing derogatory and provocative remarks about the Hindu religion, officials said on Monday.

The accused, Abdul Khader Nehad, a resident of Ulaibettu in Mangaluru, was working in Saudi Arabia when the post was uploaded, police said.

A suo motu case was registered at the Bajpe police station on October 11 after an allegedly offensive post circulated from the Instagram account ‘team_sdpi_2025’. Police said the content was flagged for being provocative and derogatory in nature.

During the investigation, technical analysis traced the Instagram post to Nehad, who was residing abroad at the time, a senior police officer said. Based on these findings, a Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued against him.

On December 14, Nehad arrived from Saudi Arabia at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, where he was taken into custody on arrival. Police said further investigation is underway.

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News Network
December 2,2025

DKSsiddu.jpg

Bengaluru: 'Nati koli saaru' (country chicken curry) considered one of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s favourites along with steaming hot idlis was on the breakfast menu at Deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s residence on Tuesday, according to official sources.

The spread also included 'nati koli' fry, vada and pongal, among other items, they said.

In an apparent show of unity, Siddaramaiah visited Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast, just days after the two leaders shared a meal amid a simmering power tussle in the state Congress.

Siddaramaiah drove to the Deputy CM’s residence in Sadashivanagar, where he was received by Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh, who is a former Congress MP.

Suresh and Kunigal MLA H D Ranganath, a relative of Shivakumar, joined them for breakfast, which featured a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Speaking to reporters later, Siddaramaiah said Shivakumar had invited him during his visit to the CM’s residence for breakfast on Saturday.

Asked about the difference between the two meals, the chief minister said, "At his (Shivakumar’s) house it was non-veg, while at my house it was veg. He is a vegetarian, I am a non-vegetarian. I had not prepared non-veg. I told DK to get chicken from the village as you won’t get the original in Bengaluru."

Shivakumar said he had initially invited Siddaramaiah to his residence, but the CM had suggested visiting his place first and reciprocating later. "It was a vegetarian breakfast at the CM’s house on Saturday," he noted.

"Today, I invited him (the CM) to my house. He enjoyed the breakfast, which had his Mysuru taste," Shivakumar added. At this point, Siddaramaiah remarked that Shivakumar’s wife is also from Mysuru.

Saturday’s breakfast at Siddaramaiah’s official residence, held as part of efforts by the Congress high command to ease tensions in the leadership dispute between the two, reportedly included idlis and sambar, according to official sources.

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News Network
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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