Gold bars seized at Mangaluru Airport; passenger from Dubai held

March 17, 2015

Mangaluru, Mar 17: Officers of Customs at Mangaluru International Airport here on Tuesday seized five numbers of 10 tola gold bars weighing 583.300 grams, valued at Rs 15,25,330, brought by a passenger who arrived from Dubai.

The passenger had brought the said contraband gold bars by concealing them under seat number 23F of Jet Airways Flight 9W531 in which he had travelled from Dubai to Mangaluru.

The passenger has been identified as Abdul Khader Kunhamoo, 58 years, a resident of Kasargod, Kerala, who arrived at MIA at 8.25 a.m. by Jet Airways Flight 9W531.

Abdul Khader was arrested and produced before the chief judicial magistrate, Mangaluru for remand. Further investigation is under progress under the direction of commissioner of customs, S Rajarethinam, assistant commissioner of customs (airport), Mangaluru stated.

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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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