Missing Kerala youth traced to Afghanistan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Confirming their worst fears, intelligence agencies have traced the latest message of one of the missing Kerala youths to Afghanistan.
Ashfaqe Mohamed (23), missing from Kasargode in north Kerala, on Saturday sent a message to his sister informing her about his well being and requesting his relatives to join him. However, he did not disclose his location.
At least 21 persons, including six women and two children, had gone missing from the state last month sending shock waves across the country. “The message originated from Afghanistan country code 93. We suspect some of the missing persons might have reached the Tora Bora region of eastern Afghanistan,” said a senior intelligence official.
Ashfaqe had left his home on May 28 informing is parents that he was going to Kozhikkode (north Kerala) for Quran classes. A week later, he told his parents he was leaving for Sri Lanka. The parents alerted the police when they received a message a month later, saying he had “reached the final destination, abode of Allah”.
Riddled with many caves, Tora Bora is considered a stronghold of the Taliban. It was the favorite hideout of Taliban chief Osama bin Laden before he was shifted to garrison town of Abbotabad in Pakistan due to US drone attacks.
Officials feel they might have crossed over from Iran. Earlier, the agencies had tracked their travel to Tehran, seemingly by road via Iranian town of Sarbaz.
Though the MEA sought the help of the Iran government, it failed to locate them, said the official. Meanwhile, the Kerala police brought Arshid Qureshi and Rizvan Khan held in Mumbai in connection with the missing case to Kochi. Qureshi, an associate of controversial preacher Zakir Naik, was arrested in connection with the disappearance of Merin alias Mariyam, a Kochi resident.
Investigators found Chaus used various social media to stay in touch with one Faroque from Syria. Chaus also created multiple IDS to enter various chat rooms the foreign handlers use.
Officials suspect Khan’s role was to collect explosives from several places and assemble the bomb. The ATS’ Aurangabad unit that is investigating the case has filed a first information report (FIR) under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967.
Areas like Beed, Malegaon and Parbhani have always been in the news for the wrong reasons and have been under the focus of anti-terror agencies since the early 2000s as alleged terror operatives such as Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, Zulfikar Fayyaz Kagzi and Mirza Himayat Baig have emerged from these regions.
OFFICIALS FEEL THEY MIGHT HAVE CROSSED OVER FROM IRAN. EARLIER, THE AGENCIES HAD TRACKED THEIR TRAVEL TO TEHRAN, SEEMINGLY BY ROAD VIA IRANIAN TOWN OF SARBAZ
The education department has the most number of government servants facing corruption cases, but are yet to be suspended (32). The rural development/zilla parishad/ panchayat committee (22), revenue/land records/registration department (14), health (12) and forest (6) are among the others.
What’s worse is sewage from nullahs and drains that flow into the sea and the creeks adds to the high bacterial concentration.
For instance, the FC count in sewage inside drains or nullahs is between 1 million CFU/100ML and 60 million CFU/100ML.
“The main issue of faecal coliform near the sea shores is open defecation and open discharge from drains. The quantity is less, but it will create problems,” said Rakesh Kumar, director, NEERI.
Kumar said NEERI has also recommended to the civic body that nullahs be connected to the sewage system wherever feasible and then treat the effluents.
“Secondly, all nullahs are connected to slums or slum redevelopment projects, and laying sewer lines won’t happen in the next 5-10 years. Till then, waste water can be treated in the nullahs itself before going into the sea,” said Kumar.
At present, the west coast receives untreated wastewater or sewage from drains and treated effluent only come from preliminary (Malad), primary (Worli and Bandra) and secondary (Versova) levels of wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFS).
For the study, coastal water quality was monitored at 12 locations along the west coast at 1km, 3km, 5km and 7km from the coastline, and at the Worli and Bandra outfalls.
Samples were also collected from 17 nullahs, and effluent from WWTFS discharging into creeks and the coast.
It was between 2001 and 2003 that the civic body commissioned 3.7km and 3.4km long sea outfalls at Bandra and Worli, 65 metres below the mean sea level, to discharge fully or partially treated sewage into the Arabian Sea.
The study also showed that Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) – the concentration of oxygen required for aquatic life – does not comply with the standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Levels of BOD from the Worli outfall that discharges 300 million litres per day (MLD) of treated effluent into the sea was 170mg/l as against 100mg/l.
At the Bandra outfall, which sends 350 MLD million litres of treated sewage every day, BOD level was 120mg/l.
Also, treated sewage discharged into the Malad (100MLD) and Versova (90MLD) creeks was found to be 160mg/l and 25mg/l as against the permissible limit of 20 mg/l.
Similar to faecal contamination, BOD levels from untreated sewage discharged through drains in Worli (150MLD) and Bandra (300MLD) reached almost twice the permissible limit – in the range of 65mg/l and 150mg/l, and from150mg/l to 280mg/l. At Malad (225MLD) and Versova (75 MLD), BOD levels were nearly five times the permissible limit – in the ranges of 125mg/l-290mg/l and 175mg/l-260mg/l.
With the civic body planning an ocean outfall system in Erangal at Malad, NEERI scientists simulated three scenarios by 2025 – no improvement in the existing sewage disposal, 50% improvement and 100% improvement – taking into account an increase in quantity of waste water generated by Mumbai.
With no improvement, FC count continued to stay high at 50 million CFU / 100ml in effluents from Worli and Bandra outfalls, and 30 million CFU / 100ml at Malad and Versova creeks. A 50% improvement would mean 5 lakh CFU / 100ml in treated effluent from sewage treatment facilities, and 100% improvement would continue to see a high FC count of 1 lakh CFU / 100ml in treated effluent in the absence of any provision for bacterial treatment.
A senior government official said Lu and She — who came to India in January last year — visited the Tibetan settlements. “The Mumbai-based Chinese journalists visited Karnataka-based Tibetan camps late last year and didn’t reveal their true identity. Thereafter, the government decided not to renew their visa,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Established in the 1960s, five settlements house around 40,000 Tibetans in Karnataka. Two of these settlements, or camps, are in Bylakuppe and one each in Mundgod, Hunsur and Kollegal. No foreigner or foreign aid agency can visit these or any Tibetan settlement in India without a protected area permit (PAP) which is issued by the Union home ministry and can be applied for online.
“The journalists had not taken the PAP for visiting the camps but their real identities were detected when they reached there,” said the official.
The official said the journalists had not been asked to leave India but their “visa has not been extended”. In the absence of an extension, the journalists have to leave India before their visa expires on July 31.
Sources had on Saturday told HT that the journalists came under the “adverse attention of security agencies” for allegedly indulging in activities beyond their journalistic brief.
Oli has been accused of fail ing to do enough to address the demands of Madhesis and other minority communities seeking changes in the constitution and also to start rehabilitation of those affected by last year’s quake. The 64-year-old, who accused India of imposing an unofficial blockade on Nepal before coming to power, was also seen getting closer to Beijing in an attempt to snub New Delhi
“When I came to power India Nepal ties were at a historic low I have been able to nearly end the bitterness in relations dur ing my India visit and efforts at various levels,” Oli said.
He added that his govern ment had inked trade and transit treaties with China in order to reduce sole dependence on India and also to speed up economic development.
“The relations between Nepal and China and Nepal and India have their own peculiarities and it is not proper to compare the two,” Oli said.
Nevertheless, Chopra was delighted with his record. “It’s an incredible feeling. I was feeling strong and confident before the event, and after the first throw, I was sure I could go farther,” he said.
Chopra said he didn’t expect to throw over 86m. “But in the last couple of months, I have worked hard on my fitness and technique, and it all paid off,” he added.
The top-ranked junior in 2016, he was being trained for the last two months by India’s Australian javelin expert, Garry Calvert, at the Olympic Training Centre in Spala, Poland. “Garry sir has been a huge source of knowledge and help,” he said.
Chopra had equalled the sen ior national record — 82.23m — at the South Asian Federation Games in February.