1-year-old boy dies in hospital days after Mangalurean family meets with accident near Riyadh

Palakkad: Three voters from Palakkad, Malappuram and Alappuzha, and a polling agent in Kozhikode died in seperate incidents in Kerala on Friday.

A man collapsed and died after casting his vote at Vani Vilasini in Chunangad, Ottapalam here on Friday. The deceased Chandran (68) hailed from Modernkattil  in Chunangad. Though rushed to the Ottapalam taluk hopsital, he was declared dead on arrival. Palakkad had recorded a high temperature of 40 degree Celsius on Thursday.

A Madrassa teacher, who came home after voting, collapsed and died. The deceased Alikkannakkal Tharakkal Siddhique (63) was the first voter at the polling station in Vallikkanjiram School at Niramaruthur Grama Panchayat in Tirur.

Kakkazham Veiliparambu Somarajan (82), who voted and returned home from the Kakkazham SN VT High School in Alappuzha also collapsed and died. He was a voter from booth 138.

In another instance, a polling agent died after collapsing at a booth in Kuttichira, Kozhikode on Friday. Maliyekkal Anees (66), a retired KSEB engineer from Haluwa Bazaar, was LDF's polling agent at the 16th booth in Kuttichira Government Vocational Higher Secondary School. He collapsed while doing his duty in the polling booth by 8.30 am. Though rushed to the Government General Hospital, he died by 9.15am. He is survived by wife Adakkani Veettil Zereena, childrens  Fayis Ahammed, Fadhil Ahammed, Akhil Ahammed and Bilal Ahammed.

A man also died in bike accident en route to polling booth in Malappuram on Friday. The deceased is Saidu Haji (75) of Neduvan. The bike rammed a lorry near BM School in Parappanangadi.

Polling began at 7am in all 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala on Friday. 

Hassan MP and Lok Sabha election candidate of the BJP-JD(S) alliance Prajwal Revanna, who is facing an inquiry over the alleged sexual abuse of several women, said the truth will prevail.

The MP, who left the country as soon as the election to his constituency ended, has also sought seven days' time to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Karnataka government to inquire into the huge cache of about 3,000 explicit videos and photos allegedly pertaining to him, which have gone viral on social media.

“As I am not in Bangalore to attend the enquiry, I have communicated to CID Bangalore through my advocate. Truth will prevail soon,” Prajwal, grandson of former prime minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda, said in a post on X.

A case has been registered against MLA and former minister H D Revanna and his son Prajwal at Holenarasipura on a complaint lodged by their former cook and relative for allegedly sexually harassing her.

She also alleged that Prajwal made video calls to her daughter and spoke in an objectionable manner, which forced her to block him.

The MP who is seeking re-election from Hassan on a JD(S) ticket, shared a letter by his lawyer Arun G to the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the SIT, in which he has sought seven days' time to appear before the official because he is abroad.

Mangaluru: The passenger vessel service between Lakshadweep and Mangaluru has recommenced operations with the arrival of Parali, a high-speed craft, at the Old Mangaluru Port on Thursday, May 2 

With 160 passengers on board, along with a pilot, a ship engineer, an assistant, and eight labourers, the arrival of the vessel brings hopes of reinstating this vital transportation link.

The passengers were welcomed by Congress brass. The vessels that used to arrive before the Covid-19 pandemic took 13 hours to reach Mangaluru from Lakshadweep. However, the introduction of the high-speed craft, Parali, has reduced the travel time to approximately seven hours, said Abubakar Ashraf Bengre.

Bengre is part of a team that has been instrumental in liaising with the authorities of both Lakshadweep and Karnataka to facilitate the revival of this service. He told reporters that the service would bring better economic activity to Mangaluru. 

Over recent months, discussions have been held with Hamdullah Sayeed, president, Lakshadweep Congress Committee, as well as Karnataka Speaker UT Khader and district minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, to garner support for the reintroduction of the service.

The passengers who arrived mostly sought medical treatment, went shopping or met relatives here. They said that they traveled for Rs 450. Former MLA J R Lobo said that they will urge the government to ensure regular vessel services continue.

The passenger service was discontinued due to a lack of demand, it is learnt. In the year 2018-19, 4,955 passengers embarked and 7,422 disembarked from the Old Mangaluru Port. Subsequently, the figures declined to 3,779 (embarked) and 2,294 (disembarked) in 2019-20. The numbers further plummeted to 561 (embarked) and 19 (disembarked) in 2020-21, leading to the suspension of the service.

At present, the administration of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep has released a schedule for high-speed craft movement from April 29 to May 5.