Dalit brothers who cracked IIT attacked, provided police protection

June 23, 2015

Allahabad, Jun 23: The family of Brijesh Saroj and Raju Saroj, two Dalit brothers from Rehua Lalganj village of Pratapgarh district who made it to the coveted IITs despite their poverty, has been provided police protection after unknown persons attacked the family with stones on Sunday night.

UP-brothers-IIT
Apprehending further trouble, district magistrate Amit Tripathi rushed SDM Lalgunj YP Singh and half a dozen policemen on Sunday night to guard the tormented family after he was informed of the attack.

The Saroj family was attacked soon after the brothers returned to Rehua Lalganj from Lucknow, where they were honored by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav for their feat. "We were sitting outside our hut when some unknown people started pelting stones on us. Ramesh Soni, my brother Brijesh and some women of the family were hit," Rajesh Saroj, elder brother of the duo, told media.

"Things could have taken an ugly turn, but for the police protection," a worried Rajesh added.

The father, Dharamraj, could not believe that his family had to seek police protection just because his sons made it to the IIT. "For years, my father, my sons and I have tolerated discriminatory acts of some villagers as we wanted the children to focus only on studies and not get distracted. This shows some people are envious of my boys," he said.

"Now here we are, feeling unsafe in our own village despite the whole village applauding us. It is so uneasy to see police deployed in front of your house surrounded by people with whom my sons grew," Dharamraj added with a heavy heart.

Raju, Dharamraj's younger son who scored AIR-167 in JEE Mains, is confused. "We only raised the issue of village welfare with the chief minister. Why would someone throw stones on us... and we are being forced to take police refuge and our fault perhaps: clearing IIT?" Raju said.

"In fact, when we spoke to the CM about problems in our village, he announced that it would be developed as an Adarsh Lohia Gram," said Raju. "We were pelted with stones just because we have achieved what we wanted for every bright child of the village," Raju lamented.

Cops protected the Saroj family through the night on Sunday and on Monday. "It is shocking. Although a handful of people could be involved in the incident, which we are probing, it puts us all in bad light," said Tripathi.

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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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News Network
December 2,2025

Puttur: The long-cherished dream of a government medical college in Puttur has moved a decisive step closer to reality, with the Karnataka State Finance Department granting its official approval for the construction of a new 300-bed hospital.

Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai announced the crucial development to reporters on Monday, confirming that the official communication from the finance department was issued on November 27. This 300-bed facility is intended to be the cornerstone for the establishment of the government medical college, a project announced in the state budget.

Fast-Track Implementation

The MLA outlined an aggressive timeline for the project:

•    A Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the hospital is expected to be ready within 45 days.

•    The tender process for the construction will be completed within two months.

Following the completion of the tender process, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the project.

"Setting up a medical college in Puttur is a historical decision by the Congress government in Karnataka," Rai stated. The project has an estimated budget allocation of Rs 1,000 crore for the medical college.

Focus on Medical Education Department

The MLA highlighted a key strategic move: requesting the government to implement the hospital construction through the Medical Education Department instead of the Health and Family Welfare Department. This is intended to streamline the entire process of establishing the full medical college, ensuring the facilities—including labs, operation theatres, and other necessary infrastructure—adhere to the strict guidelines set by the Medical Council of India (MCI). The proposed site for the project is in Bannur.

Rai also took the opportunity to address political criticism, stating that the government has fulfilled its promise despite "apprehensions" and "mocking and criticising" from opposition parties who had failed to take similar initiatives when they were in power. "Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has kept his word," he added.

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News Network
December 2,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 2: Mangaluru International Airport responded to a medical emergency late on Monday night. Air India Express flight IX 522, travelling from Riyadh to Thiruvananthapuram, was diverted to Mangaluru Airport after a passenger in his late 30s experienced a medical emergency on board.

The Airport’s Operations Control Centre received an alert regarding the passenger’s health condition. The airport activated its emergency response protocol, mobilising the airport medical team and coordinating with stakeholders including CISF, immigration, and customs. 

Upon landing, airport medical personnel attended to the passenger, assessed his condition, and arranged to shift him to a local tertiary-care hospital for further treatment. The passenger’s relatives accompanied the passenger, who incidentally received necessary medical care on board, which helped stabilise the situation.

Following the handling of the emergency, the flight departed for Thiruvananthapuram at 2:05 am on Tuesday.

"We appreciate the cooperation of all parties involved, and this incident reaffirms our ongoing commitment to prioritising passenger safety and readiness to respond to unforeseen emergencies with professionalism and care," the Airport spokesperson said. 

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