Karnataka cops take custody of Varavara Rao in naxal attack case

Agencies

July 3, 2019

Bengaluru, Jul 3: The Karnataka police Wednesday took custody of Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, in connection with the 2005 Tumkur Naxal attack case.

Rao is currently in judicial custody here.

A senior police officer said the Bengaluru police took Rao's custody.

On February 6, 2005, naxal leader Saket Rajan alias Prem was killed in an encounter in Chikkmagaluru district of Karnataka. In retaliation, naxals attacked the Karnataka State Reserve police (KSRP) battalion in Venkammanahalli in Tumkur district five days later and killed seven KRSP personnel and a civilian.

Varavara Rao had addressed public meetings in the Chikkmagaluru area in early 2003.

Rao was arrested by Pune police on August 28 last year in the Elgar Parishad case with activists Sudha Bhardwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Gautam Navalakha.

Rao was accused of having a nexus with top fugitive Maoist operatives and of being actively involved in the procurement of arms and ammunition, recruitment of students and funding of Maoist activities.

Police said the Maoist-backed Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, and the speeches at the event aggravated the violence at the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune district the next day.

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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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