19 kg of ganja meant for distribution in coastal belt seized from youth

February 6, 2017

Kasargod, Feb 6: In a major crackdown on smuggling of narcotic products, Excise sleuths here seized 18.750 kg of ganja and arrested a 30-year-old man on Sunday.

On a tip-off, the Excise personnel, headed by Inspector P.J. Robinbabu, arrested M. Ratheesh, a resident of Neyyattinkara as he got down from a train at Kumbla station around 7 a.m., Excise sources here said.

The arrest was made as the youth, carrying the narcotic product in a suitcase and a handbag, confessed that he was ferrying the product for distribution at the northern border towns of Kumbla, Uppala, Badiyadukka and Bandiyode near Manjeshwaram, they said.

The ganja procured from Andhra Pradesh for Rs. 50,000, was brought here by rail, to be sold through middlemen to pocket Rs. 2 lakh, the man confessed during the interrogation. The officials were now inquiring whether others were involved in the large scale smuggling of the contraband product.

Ratheesh, who had been arrested earlier under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act 20 b II B, was produced before the district session court, and was remanded in custody for two weeks.

Comments

This Ganja is meant to distribute between bjp/bd/rss/srs terrorists.

BJP/RSS candidate must go behind bar for at least 10years

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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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