Police station will be set on fire, Kudachi MLA warns cops

Belagavi, Jan 13: A video clip has surfaced in which the Kudachi MLA P Rajeev of BSR Congress is seen warning the police personnel that the police station would be set on fire if they harass innocent people, demand money from them or attempt to fix them in false cases.

Incidentally, Rajeev is a former police officer who had quit the service to join politics.

In the 1.18-minute video clip, Rajeev is found warning the personnel from Raibag Circle Inspector of Police office who had reportedly threatened Basappa Bhajantri of Nidagundi village in Raibag taluk that he would be fixed in a case of suicide of a woman.

The warning was issued probably on Tuesday when the MLA was campaigning for the elections to the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees.

In the video, Rajeev tells the police personnel that on the day the woman committed suicide, Bhajantri had accompanied him for the poll campaigning.

Fled fearing false case

Police personnel had reportedly demanded Rs 1 lakh from Bhajantri and later settled for Rs 45,000 to not fix him in the case.

Fearing that the police will file a false case against him, Bhajantri had fled the village for a few days.

When contacted, Rajeev said?on Thursday that he had made the statement in a of fit rage as he was angered by the acts of the policemen. Police stations should protect innocent people and not become centres of political activities and deals, he added.

Earlier this week, a video of Rajeev abusing a surveyor in filthy language had gone viral on social media.

In the video, the MLA was found taking Siddappa Sane to task over the delay in completing the survey of government lands during a visit to the office of the Raibag tahsildar. Government lands are said to have been encroached upon in the Kudachi Assembly constituency.

Rajeev had asked officials to survey the lands and demarcate their boundaries to reclaim the lands.

“You are being paid salaries to protect government lands. If you cannot discharge your responsibilities, seek transfers,” Rajeev is heard telling the surveyor in the video.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

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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