Six police personnel from Karnataka, including three from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in charge of the Gauri Lankesh murder case, have been awarded the Union Home Minister’s medal for excellence in investigation.
The SIT members honoured are M.N. Anucheth, Chief Investigating Officer in the case, Deputy Superintendent of Police T. Rangappa, and Police Inspector G.C. Raja. “It’s a recognition for the team’s effort,” Anucheth said.
Journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh was shot down at her residence on September 5, 2017, and the SIT probe into the case not only uncovered a large conspiracy behind the murder, but also helped security agencies across the country to solve two other murder cases in Maharashtra. The State Government later transferred the probe into the M.M. Kalburgi murder also to the SIT, after the case had gone cold with the Criminal Investigation Department. The SIT has cracked that case as well and is set to file a charge-sheet sometime soon.
Superintendent of Police Jahnavi S. and Deputy Superintendent of Police K. Ravishankar, both with the CID, have been awarded for their probe into an international human trafficking ring in Ramanagaram district. A man named Surendrapal Singh, who had gone missing from Punjab, was found dead in Ramanagaram in December 2017. While probing the case, the CID uncovered a human trafficking and cheating network in which people were promised jobs in Canada and brought to Bengaluru. They were then illegally detained and forced to inform their families in Punjab that they had reached Canada but needed money to a job. Surendrapal Singh, who refused to do so, was murdered. The CID also rescued 12 Bangladeshis detained in the city as well.
Police Inspector B.S. Satish has also been awarded the medal for cracking a rape case involving a minor in Malur earlier this year.
Cops save dog, puppies from overflowing drain
The Madiwala police personnel rescued a stray dog and four of her newborn puppies from a flooded stormwater drain during the heavy rains that lashed Bengaluru recently.
Visitors to the station took videos of the police taking care of the dog and her puppies and uploaded it on social media, where animal lovers praised the efforts of men in khaki. Head Constable Shivashankar from the Madiwala Police Station was on duty when he heard a dog howling from the nearby gutter. The rain was heavy and the stormwater drain was almost overflowing.
Shivashankar saw the dog struggling to save her puppies from getting washed away in the flowing water. He wasted no time in picking the four puppies and bringing them to the station as the mother followed. At the station, the puppies were wiped clean with a cloth and were left with the mother for nursing. The other staff brought milk and biscuits for the new guests
Some policemen had seen the dog go by the station towards the drain to care for the puppies. Since the rescue operation, the dogs are living in the station yard under the care of the police
“We’re planning to hand over the puppies to the animal care activists. Until then, the station is their home,” a policeman said.
