Pack of 50 stray dogs kills 65-yr-old woman in Kerala Areas in state facing terror threat can be special security zones soon

A 65-yearold woman was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs and parts of her body eaten in Thiruvananthapuram, police said on Saturday, underlining a growing menace described by the Kerala government as a law and order problem.

An hour after Sheeluamma was attacked in the coastal village of Pulluvilla, a 30-minute drive from the state capital, another woman was mauled by feral dogs in the same area but survived, police said.

Areas in Maharashtra facing threats of terror, organised crime or insurgency could soon be declared special security zones (SSZ) that will have high police control and rules that may include a ban on chemical substances and electronic devices.

Eight years after Mumbai was rocked by one of the country’s worst terror attacks and with threats rising across the globe, the state government’s home department on Friday issued a draft for the Maharashtra Protection of Internal Security Act, 2016, which will pave the way for putting in place policy changes to tackle terrorism, insurgency, communal and caste violence.

The act will let the state’s police, for the first time, to identify and prepare crisis management plans for critical infrastructure such as communication, transport, water supply, nuclear reactors and defence.

The draft has been in the offing since last year, but has only now been finalised and put in the public domain for suggestions. It will be tabled in the winter session of the state legislature.

Areas identified as SSZs will hold that status for two years at a time, after which the state will ratify the notification. In these areas, the state can create a separate police command and response system and give directives for how the administration will function.

The new law also plans special courts to try the accused booked under it.