Lightning overpowers lights in less smoke Deepavali

[email protected] (CD Network, Photos by Suhail Hussain, Ahmed Anwar )

October 26, 2011

Mangalore, October 26: It was rather a festival of lightning in Mangalore than that of lights. The Diwali, locally known as Deepavali was on Tuesday literally marred by continued rains coupled with lighting and thunder, which caused immense damage in and around the city in last two days.

The colourful scenes of fireworks reaching sky-high were subsided as soon as the powerful lightning and thunder began to unleash their natural power, creating terror in the hearts of people.

The city had already witnessed a young man's death owing to lightning on the eve of the festival. Moreover, a number of people sustained injuries and a few houses were damaged in lightning strikes across the twin districts of coastal Karnataka.

Apart from nature's fury, the irritating power cuts, offered its own contribution to turn Deepavali into the festival of darkness. In fact there was a demand for extra power during Deepavali. In some parts of the coastal city and its surroundings, officials were forced to stop power supply for hours on Tuesday night to avoid lightning related tragedies.

Elderly people inside houses could not differentiate between the sporadic noise of the crackers and thunder. “I don't understand what's happening. When I asked my grand-daughter Sulagna to come inside the house after hearing the thunder, she replied that it was not a thunder but the sound of cracker she burst. A half an hour later unable to bear the noise of crackers, I shouted asking her to come inside. But, I heard her reply from inside the house saying that she had already stopped bursting crackers, and what I heard a little ago was indeed a thunder”, said Ramakrishna Rao a 70-year-old retired teacher.

Less Smoke

In a significant change, people in the coastal districts seem to have developed a disinclination towards firecrackers owing to various reasons. The number of firecracker stalls too reduced this year compared to previous years.

“The business was far less than our expectation. The demand for firecrackers is has fall by 35% to 40% this year”, said Sandeep, who owns a firecracker stall near city bus terminus area in the city.

Sundara, another fireworks dealers said that the sales have not touched 25% of last year figures with less stock and high prices. "This year I haven't ordered for more firecrackers, as I have huge piles left over last year”, he added.

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HC refuses to quash probe against Mangaluru WhatsApp admin over offensive posts

News Network

February 1,2026

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash an investigation against a WhatsApp group administrator accused of allowing the circulation of obscene and offensive images depicting Hindutva politicians and idols in 2021.

Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that, prima facie, the ingredients of the offence under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code were made out. “The offence under Section 295A of the IPC is met to every word of its ingredient, albeit prima facie,” the judge said.

The petitioner, Sirajuddin, a resident of Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, had challenged the FIR registered against him at the CEN (Cyber, Economics and Narcotics) police station, Mangaluru, for offences under Section 295A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Section 295A relates to punishment for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens.

According to the complaint filed by K Jayaraj Salian, also a resident of Belthangady taluk, he received a WhatsApp group link from an unknown source and was added to the group after accessing it. The group reportedly had six administrators and around 250 participants, where obscene and offensive images depicting Hindu deities and certain political figures were allegedly circulated repeatedly.

Sirajuddin was arrested in connection with the case and later released on bail on February 16, 2021. He argued before the court that he was being selectively targeted, while other administrators—including the creator of the group—were neither arrested nor investigated. He also contended that the Magistrate could not have taken cognisance of the offence under Section 295A without prior sanction under Section 196(1) of the CrPC.

Rejecting the argument, Justice Nagaprasanna held that prior sanction is required only at the stage of taking cognisance, and not at the stage of registration of the crime or during investigation.

The judge noted that the State had produced the entire investigation material before the court. “A perusal of the material reveals depictions of Hindu deities in an extraordinarily obscene, demeaning and profane manner. The content is such that its reproduction in a judicial order would itself be inappropriate,” the court said, adding that the material, on its face, had the tendency to outrage religious feelings and disturb communal harmony.

Observing that the case was still at the investigation stage, the court said it could not interdict the probe at this juncture. However, it expressed concern that the investigating officer appeared to have not proceeded uniformly against all administrators. The court clarified that if the investigation revealed the active involvement of any member in permitting the circulation of such content, they must also be proceeded against.

“At this investigative stage, any further observation by this Court would be unnecessary,” the order concluded.

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