Top cop censures ‘Mangaluru Chalo’ organisers for glorifying Shihab

Mangaluru, May 7: Rubbishing the allegations that the cops had tried to implicate Mohammed Shihab, a resident of Manjeshwar, in the sensational Karthik Raj murder case, Mangaluru city police commissioner M Chadra Sekhar said that glorifying a ‘habitual offender’ and portraying him as a ‘victim’ is a matter of shame.

It could be recalled here that Dinesh Hegde Ulepady, a city based advocate, speaking at the ‘Mangaluru Chalo’ organised in the city on May 2 in protest against alleged police atrocity on Ahmed Qureshi, had claimed that Konaje police had tortured Shihab for a week in the illegal conferment. The advocate also had claimed that the police had tried to implicate Shihab in Karthik Raj murder case. Shihab was also given a space on the ‘Mangaluru Chalo’ stage in the presence of prominent clerics and politicians.

However, according to police records, Mohammed Shihab is a habitual offender and facing four cases including vehicle theft, illegal trespassing and assault. These cases were registered between November 2016 and March 2017. When he was produced before the magistrate, he had stated that the police had not ill-treated him during interrogation.

Expressing deep dissatisfaction over the attempts to demonize police department by glorifying criminals, the senior police officer said that the public applause for a habitual offender will convey wrong message to the society. One should not undermine the human rights of innocent victims while trying to uphold the human rights of an accused, he pointed out.

Mr Chandra Sekhar clarified that there is no connection between Shihab’s arrest and Karthik Raj murder case. “Shihab was arrested in March in connection with a motorbike theft case. Police never tried to implicate him in Karthik Raj murder case. Now, false rumours are being spread by some miscreants,” he lamented.

Also Read: ‘Mangaluru Chalo’ resolves to fight against ‘police atrocities’ on Muslims

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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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