Cousins found dead together; love affair suspected

June 13, 2014

Mangalore, Jun 13: Two cousins from Moodushedde who went missing from their homes on Wednesday were found dead near Thannirbavi beach on the outskirts of the city on Thursday.

In an apparent case of suicide, the two are suspected to have jumped into the Gurpur river on Wednesday.

The deceased Pratap and Manjula were cousins and had reportedly been in love with each other. Manjula was a 15-year old SSLC student, while Pratap worked in a garage.

Parents of both the cousins found them missing on Wednesday evening and began searching for their whereabouts. After searching in all possible places, the family decided to lodge a complaint in Kavoor police station.

On Thursday evening, their bodies were found by locals at the river bank in Thannirbavi.

After locals spotted the bodies on Thursday, Panambur police took the bodies to the mortuary at Wenlock District Hospital. During investigation, the police found that the two had tied themselves around each other before jumping into the river.

It is said that the two might have resorted to suicide since their alleged love affair was beginning to be noticed by elders in the family.

The police found their mobile phones and few papers on the bodies, however not much information could be gathered from those items.

Panambur police have registered a case.

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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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