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Monday, 29 June 2015

Age Tires Jawadhu Hills Vigilante

VELLORE:An aged tusker, separated from its herd three years ago in Jawadhu Hills in the Western Ghats, is keeping trespassers to the reserve forest at bay despite its movement being restricted and its diminishing eyesight.

Officials say it protects the forest area as humans fear stepping into the woods due to its presence. The tusker, aged around 50 years, confines its movement between the Ambur Range and Jamunamaruthur Range ever since it was isolated from its herd in 2012.

“Now, it is moving around five to six km per day and moving slowly due to age-related problems. Its eyesight has also been affected,” said a senior forest official.

The elephant was last seen in the Ambur Range 10 days ago. “There is no history of this tusker hurting people, but it has at times blocked vehicles transporting vegetables along the Alangayam-Odugathur Road and eaten some of the vegetables. Regular passersby wait for him to move and then proceed,” said the official.

The aged pachyderm migrated into Jawadhu Hills from its original habitat in Rayakotta in 1988. It was a young adult then and part of a 13-member herd. Work on the National Highway 46 destroyed the elephant corridor between Ambur and Pernambur area and cut off the herd from its original habitat.

While the lone tusker remained deep inside Jawadhu Hills, the rest of the herd migrated to Tiruvannamalai.

“The herd remained inside the forest till 2008. Depletion of food and water forced the herd to stray into human habitation,” said a forest official, adding an elephant needs around 250 to 300 litres of water and 200kg of food per day and Jawadhu Hills is not fit to be a long-term home these mammals.

To keep human-animal conflicts in check, the government translocated the herd after tranquilising them. However, the Rs 73 lakh project, named ‘Operation Malai’ managed to translocate only six elephants, leaving the one tusker to wander alone in Jawadhu Hills. A couple of elephants were electrocuted and a few more died of natural causes.

“Now the lone elephant in Jawadhu Hills is called ‘othai yanai’ (single elephant), or the lone ranger,” said the forest official.

Forest officials are worried about its health and said it was expected to survive a few more years only. Once it stops breathing, the Jawadhu Hills will never see such a majestic creature again, they said.

“It will have a negative impact on the ecology of the Jawadhu Hills, which was once a campaigning place for elephant herds,” said the forest official.

Thursday, 25 June 2015

Special GRP Teams to net Train Robbers

VELLORE: Special teams have been formed by the Government Railway Police (GRP), Chennai Railway District, to track and arrest the kingpins and associates of the Uttar Pradesh-based gang that has been targeting women and robbing them while travelling in trains by night.

The teams have been in Delhi and UP for the last one week and are closely working with their counterparts to arrest the notorious gang.

“We have identified and collected vital information on five to ten members of the gang operating in North India from the seven members arrested earlier this month. Three special teams have been dispatched to Delhi and UP to arrest them at the earliest,” superintendent of police, GRP (Chennai District), P Vijaya Kumar, said.

The GRP police made a dent in the UP gang and their network with the arrest of a seven-member group on June 14 at Latheri Railway Station in Vellore district.Police recovered 18 mobile phones, 1.5 sovereign jewels and a few thousand in cash from the gang when they were arrested. The gang had stacked over 100 sovereigns of stolen jewels in their native place. It has been involved in 30 to 40 cases of robbery, including 11 cases in Tamil Nadu and four in Andhra Pradesh since 2012.

“The gang members hail from Shamli district in UP and are predominantly from the Bawariya tribe community, which is known for dacoity and highway robberies in North India and is also moving into South India,” said a police officer privy to the investigation.

Their modus operandi, as reported earlier, is to pull the emergency chain and bring the train to a halt in places with poor lighting. They get off the train, reach the passengers sleeping next to the window seat from outside by climbing on their fellow gang member’s shoulder.

“The gangs rob actively from March through June taking advantage of the crowds in the trains and turn to casual labour for the rest of the year,” said the police official.

Police officials said that they are planning to obtain custody of the seven arrested for interrogation and to recover stolen property.

Tuesday, 23 June 2015

Teacher Faces Music for Anti-mining Stir?

By J Shanmugha Sundaram

Published: 24th June 2015 06:02 AM

VELLORE:A 35-year-old teacher with the Government Adi Dravidar Welfare Middle School, Melottivakkam in Kancheepuram, with 16 years of service, was suspended on Monday for having been booked in seven cases a few months ago on charges relating to protests by Kalathur villagers against sand quarrying at the Palar. The fact that he was suspended by the school within a day of officials receiving word about his charges, without seeking any explanation from the teacher, has the villagers of Kalathur suspecting the hand of the sand mafia behind the suspension.

V Parankusan is a secondary-grade assistant teacher. The school’s administration in its order stated Parankusan is accused of “inciting criminal and illegal activities, and irregularities while in service.”

D Manoharan, Adi Dravidar Welfare Officer of Kancheepuram, received communication from the Directorate that police have named Parankusan in seven cases and to conduct an inquiry, which Manoharan did.The school’s authorities invoked Section 17 (e) of Tamil Nadu Civil Service Rules and placed Parankusan under suspension. They charged that he had kept the department in the dark about the criminal cases filed against him. Manoharan said failing to keep the department informed about the cases charged against him is a violation of government rules. Parankusan claims that he was merely trying to educate the villagers of the negative and irreversible impact of sand quarrying.

“I educated the villagers about the negative impact of sand quarrying. I neither participated nor did I instigate the villagers into protesting against sand quarrying,” he said. “I was not asked for an explanation as required by the rules and yet they have placed me under suspension.”

Police sources said, Parankusan was named as the prime accused in two cases filed at the Avalur Police for participating in protests organised against the proposed sand quarrying. He was also named as an accused in five other cases related to the protests. He approached the Madras HC and obtained anticipatory bail for the two cases he has been named as the prime accused. Villagers suspect that the department’s move is the handiwork of the sand mafia, who wield influence with political parties. “The department has proceeded to take action against the teacher in one day. It is clear that influential people are behind this,” said a villager.

Kalathur has BJP Support: Ganesan

A National Council member of BJP, L Ganeshan, on Tuesday, said his party was ready to extend free legal aid to Kalathur villagers protesting against sand quarrying. BJP is ready to join hands with other parties in raising its voice, he said

Lone Tusker Turns 'Forest Guard' at Jawadhu

VELLORE: An aged tusker, separated from its herd three years ago, has turned into a lone ranger in Jawadhu Hills in the Western Ghats. Though aging has reduced its movement and dimmed its eyesight, its presence still keeps away trespassers from the reserve forest.

The pachyderm, according to forest officials, is a protective factor for the forest area as many fear stepping into the woods due to its presence. The tusker, aged around 57 years, confines its movement between Ambur range and Jamunamaruthur range ever since it was separated from its herd in 2012.

“Now it is moving quite slowly, for about five to six km per day due to age-related problems. Its eyesight has also been affected,” said a senior forest official.

There is no history of this tusker attacking human beings. But blocking vehicles transporting vegetables along Alangayam-Odugathur Road and eating some vegetables is a habit of this lone tusker. In fact, regular road users wait for the tusker to move and then proceed,” said a senior forest official.

The aged pachyderm migrated to the Jawadhu Hills from its original habitat Rayakotta in 1988. It was part of a 13-member herd then. Construction work on the NH 46 destroyed the elephant corridor between Ambur and Pernambur area and cut off the herd from its original habitat. Since then, the herd was trapped in Jawadhu Hills and migrating from Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Tirupattur and Vellore forest divisions, resulting in human-animal conflict. Ten people were trampled to death and the elephants marauded hundreds of areas of crops when they strayed into human habitation in search of food between 2009 and 2012.

Two adult tuskers of the herd, turned rogue and killed three persons in Ambur forest range and were captured in 1992 and later trained.

While one tusker remained deep inside Jawadhu Hills, the rest of the herd migrated to Tiruvannamalai.

“The herd remained inside the forest till 2008. Depletion of food and water forced the herd to stray into human habitation,” said a forest official and added that an elephant needs around 250 to 300 litres of water and 200 kg of food per day and Jawadhu Hills is not fit to be a long-term home for these mammals.

To keep human-animal conflicts in check, the government carried out a major tranquillising and translocating of the herd. But the `73-lakh project was incomplete as the forest officials translocated six elephants leaving the one tusker to wander in loneliness.

“Now it’s called a ‘Othaiyanai’ or the ‘lone ranger’,” said the forest official.

The forest officials are worried about its health and said it would only survive a few more years. Once it dies, the Jawadhu Hills will never see such a majestic creature again, they said.

Monday, 15 June 2015

Cops Seek Custody of Former DSP

This move comes after Thangavel’s dramatic arrest last Wednesday to interrogate him further.

The police believe they have incriminating evidence against Thangavel in light of information given by red sander smugglers Nagendran and his wife Jothi Lakshmi of Alagiri Nagar in Sathuvachari who were arrested three weeks ago.

The couple have confessed to have been acting in collusion with the former DSP.

“Once we have (Thangavel)in custody, we will try and get answers to many questions about the network, his role and how long he has been associated with the smugglers,” said a police official adding they are awaiting the court’s order.

Police investigating the murder of a red sander smuggler, Chinnapaiyan, last month, unearthed the nexus between the smugglers and former DSP Thangavel.

Following that, the Ambur police arrested Jothi Lakshmi, her husband Nagendran and four of their associates.

Inter-State Gang of Train Robbers Netted

VELLORE: A seven-member inter-State gang has been arrested in connection with the series of train robberies in Vellore district.

With the arrest, the Government Railway Police (GRP) have claimed to solve the cases reported in the past couple of months in the Chennai section, besides cracking their network spread across the country. The gang used to operate during summer and targetted women travelling in sleeper coaches.

The seven accused arrested, at Latheri, in Vellore, on Monday | Express

The arrested have been identified as (left to right) B Mithun (25), J Sunny (alias) Khannia (23), J Krishan Kumar (28), J Ajay (22), J Bituram (22), B Deepak Kumar (19), P Mukeshkumar (36), all residents of Shamli district in Uttra Pradesh. The police seized 20 mobile phones and a few sovereigns of gold jewels from them. The accused have reportedly confessed to have stacked around 100 sovereigns in their home town.

The special team, formed under DSP Pornam following a series of robberies in the Jolarpet-Katpadi stretch, nabbed the gang which was loitering in the Latheri station late on Sunday evening. “The arrest was the result of intensified investigation by the special team. The gang is involved in several cases in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and also a few other States,” Superintendent of Police of GRP, Chennai District, P Vijayakumar told Express.

The gang is involved in more than 30 to 40 cases, including 11 in Tamil Nadu and 4 in Andhra Pradesh, since 2012. “The gang has been operating since 2012. They operate as a team and target the summer crowd on the Chennai-Bangalore route, particularly trains plying to north India from Chennai via Bangalore. For the rest of the year, they work in different places as casual labourers,” Vijayakumar said.

Their modus operandi is to pull the emergency chain and bring the train to a halt in places that have poor lighting. They then get down from the train and reach the passengers sleeping next to the window by climbing on fellow members.

In this way, the gang robbed made away with nearly 15 sovereigns from three women passengers last month. “We have collected information about some of the key members and their network. We will arrest them in the following days,” Vijayakumar added. The accused are also involved in the incident in which Railway police posted on a train opened fire when they pelted stones on them to escape after robbing passengers in Ongole, AP, a month ago.

Mafia: Politicos Rally Behind TN Villagers

Published: 16th June 2015

VELLORE: The village of Kalathur continues to draw state-wide and even national attention, with the villagers’ ongoing three-month-long battle against the demands of the sand mafia to allow sand mining in the area with leaders of political parties including DMDK’s chief Vijayakant and VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan visiting the village on Monday to show their solidarity with the villagers.

Kalathur village, with close to 270 families, welcomed the support of the leaders and declared they will not be divided on political lines and will not allow the environmental issue to be politicised.

Actor-turned-politician, Vijayakant, told the villagers not to look on him as a politician but accept his support on the issue. He stressed the importance of not allowing natural resources to be plundered. He visited the Palar riverbed site for the proposed sand quarry that remains stalled following objections from the villagers.

The villagers gathered in front of a temple at the village and have been camping there in tents. They are also cooking and consuming food as a group. This, according to villagers, is to symbolise their unity on the issue.

The DMDK leader, Vijayakant met the villagers at the camp and interacted with them for nearly half an hour. Two hours after he left, it was Thirumavalavan’s turn to express his solidarity to the villagers. He, however, addressed the issue on caste lines by saying that Dalits are facing such problems in the State and law-enforcement agencies are acting against the community.

He declared that the party will stage a protest at Ranipet on June 19 to highlight the issue.

He also assured that he would make every effort to bring the villagers lodged in the prison in connection with the protests on bail and help them fight the cases legally. Thirumavalavan also urged them to stay united on the cause.

Rahul, a villager, said “We welcome the (politicians’) support but we will remain united and not be divided on political or communal lines,” he said.

It may be recalled that the villagers made demand drafts for the amount of Rs 2.12 lakh, which was distributed by the sand mafias in an attempt to bribe around 30 families, and sent it to the CM’s Public Relief Fund on March 19.

“The police have filed a total of 18 cases against 32 vilalgers, including 15 college and school students, since February this year to scare us. But we will not bow to these kind of threats,” said a group of villagers in unison.