Delhi: Child abducted from school bus rescued; 1 kidnapper shot dead, 2 hurt

Agencies

February 6, 2018

New Delhi, Feb 6: A child was who brazenly abducted from his school bus in east Delhi a day before the Republic Day by two unidentified bike-borne men, was rescued in the wee hours of Tuesday after a fierce gunfight with the kidnappers, the police said.

The shootout started soon after the kidnappers fired at the Delhi Police's crime branch officials, who were raiding a flat in an apartment complex at about 1 am in Shalimar City of Sahibabad. One kidnapper was shot dead while two others were injured in the gunfight, police said according to a report.

The Delhi police had got a lead when the abductors called the parents of the child on January 28 and demanded a ransom of Rs 50 lakh.

The incident took place at a time when there was an unprecedented security cover in place in the national capital in view of the India-ASEAN commemorative summit and the Republic Day celebrations.

The incident took place around 8 am on January 25 in east Delhi when the boy was in the school bus along with 20 other students, including his elder sibling, officials said.

The bike-borne kidnappers overtook the bus and then barged inside brandishing weapons. When the bus driver protested they fired at him. They then took the child with them and sped off on their motorcycle, they said.

The police were searching for the child and had alerted their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh.

The police had suspected it as a handiwork of someone who knew the child's family and who was well-aware of his daily routine.

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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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