Karnataka Govt trashes panel reports on church attacks

Bangalore, Oct 17: The State cabinet on Thursday rejected controversial reports on church attacks submitted by justice B K Somashekar Commission of Inquiry and decided to implement the National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC) recommendations which include taking action against pro-Hindutva groups responsible for the incidents.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Law Minister T B Jayachandra said the NHRC had made nine recommendations following the attacks that occurred in various parts of Dakshina Kannada district in 2008.

The State Home Ministry has been directed to take steps to implement them. The NHRC has recommended booking of cases against those responsible for the attacks and action against police personnel who beat up Christians.

Protection to churches, compensation to the victims and training the police in handling human rights issues are some of its other recommendations. œFindings of the preliminary and final reports of the (judicial) commission were contradictory. The commission had, in its preliminary report, stated that certain Hindu groups might be responsible for the attacks. But it did not indict anybody in its final report. It was obvious that the reports were politically motivated. Hence, the Cabinet decided to reject them, he explained.

The previous BJP government had ordered the judicial inquiry by retired Karnataka High Court judge B K Somashekar. In its interim report submitted in February 2010, the commission squarely blamed the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Sri Ram Sena.

It found that the district administration, including the police, had colluded with the attackers. However, in its final report submitted in January 2011, the commission gave a clean chit to the then government and vaguely blamed œmisguided fundamentalist elements for the attacks.

Justice Somashekar himself stated that there was no basis for apprehensions that any Hindu group was responsible for the incidents. The final report also stated that the commission saw no merit in the allegation that the police and the district administration had colluded in attacking churches.

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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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