Tourist centres have been closed in many districts, including Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram, and a night travel ban has been imposed in the hilly areas of Idukki district.
Renowned urologist George P Abraham was found dead at his farmhouse in Nedumbassery, police said on Monday. He was 75.
A YouTuber has been arrested in Thrissur, Kerala, for allegedly blocking the convoy of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the police said on Monday.
Prominent businessman Boby Chemmanur was taken into custody on Wednesday by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the sexual harassment case filed by Malayalam actress Honey Rose, official sources said on Monday.
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai has given a missive to Kerala DGP and the Kochi city police commissioner on the possibility of a Lashkar terror attack in the city in the near future.
The Kerala Police are investigating the mysterious deaths of an IRS officer, his sister, and their mother in Kochi. The officer, Maneesh Vijay, and his sister, Shalini Vijay, were found hanging inside their house, while their mother, Shakuntala Agarwal, was discovered dead on her bed. Police have not yet established a direct link between the deaths and a CBI case in which Shalini was summoned as an accused. Preliminary findings suggest the siblings died by suicide, but the cause of their mother's death is still under investigation. The family had been residing in the quarters for the past year and a half but reportedly kept to themselves, maintaining limited interaction with neighbours, police added.
Landslides blocked arterial roads leading up to Dharali where dozens of people were trapped and many homes and cars swept away by the raging waters on Tuesday. Eleven Army personnel from the nearby camp in Harsil were among those missing.
The editorial came amidst the ongoing tussle between Arlekar and the Marxist party-led Left Democratic Front government over the usage of 'Bharat Mata portrait' during official functions being held in Raj Bhavan.
The explosion that rocked the Ernakulam district collectorate on Friday was not an accident but a pre-planned blast, said state Director General of Police Jacob Punnose.It may be recalled that a pipe bomb had exploded in the fifth floor of the Ernakulam district collectorate and a Revenue Department official was injured in the incident.Punnose said that the investigation into the blast would be headed by Kochi Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham.
Sources said Babu, during the recording of his statement last week in Delhi, has "denied" knowledge of involvement of any ED officer vis-a-vis the VACB case, saying he "only" knows a person named Wilson.
While granting him interim protection from arrest till June 2, the high court had directed him to immediately appear before the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case and had permitted the police to interrogate or question him.
'They will cover up the failures of all the others.'
A Liberian cargo ship carrying 640 containers, including 13 hazardous cargoes, has sunk off the coast of Kerala, raising concerns of environmental damage. The ship, MSC ELSA 3, capsized and sank in the early hours of May 25 after listing rapidly. The three remaining crew members were rescued by the Indian Navy. The Indian Coast Guard is monitoring the situation for any oil spills and has positioned a ship with pollution response equipment at the scene. The ship was carrying 84.44 MT of diesel and 367.1 MT of furnace oil, in addition to the hazardous cargo. The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has cautioned the public against touching any cargo containers or oil spills that may wash ashore.
Separate cases have been registered in Kerala against popular Malayalam actors Jayasoorya and Maniyanpilla Raju following an allegation raised by a female actor that they had sexually assaulted her, police said on Thursday. Multiple FIRs have been registered against many high profile Malayalam film personalities following allegations of sexual harassment against various directors and actors in the wake of revelations in the Justice K Hema Committee report. In a Facebook post, the woman actor had said, 'I am writing to report a series of incidents of physical and verbal abuse I suffered at the hands of 1 Mukesh 2 Maniyan Pilla Raju, 3 Idavela Babu, 4 Jayasoorya (Jayasurya), 5 adv Chandrasekaran, 6 production controller Noble and Vichu, in the Malayalam film industry.'
A private marketing firm in Kerala has been accused of subjecting its underperforming employees to degrading treatment, including making them walk on their knees like chained dogs and lick coins from the floor. The state Labour department has ordered a probe into the alleged inhuman workplace harassment after disturbing visuals were aired by local television channels. The incident has sparked outrage and prompted investigations by the Labour department, the State Human Rights Commission, and the Kerala State Youth Commission.
A court in Kerala has sentenced five men from Uttar Pradesh to life imprisonment and an additional 40 years in prison for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl from Kerala five years ago. The accused, who were migrant workers residing near the victim's home, were involved in the crime that occurred in 2020. They enticed the girl with the promise of a SIM card and then subjected her to sexual assault at various locations. The court also directed the convicts to pay compensation to the victim.
Twenty priests have been booked by the police in Kochi, Kerala, for allegedly assaulting a police officer during a protest at the Bishop's House. The incident occurred on January 11, with the priests protesting against the unified Holy Mass. The police registered a case against the priests under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for unlawful assembly, rioting, and causing hurt to a public servant. The protest follows a controversy over the unified Holy Mass, which the Archbishop has defended, stating that altering decisions approved by Pope Francis is impossible.
A 26-year-old man, Anandu Krishnan, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding people across Kerala by promising them scooters, sewing machines, and home appliances at half price. The accused claimed to use Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds from big companies. The case has taken a political turn with the involvement of Congress leader Lali Vincent, who served as a legal advisor to an NGO involved in the transactions. Vincent defended Krishnan and said he was not a fraudster, claiming he was made a scapegoat after those who promised CSR funds backed away. The case is being investigated by the Kerala police, who are also looking into the role of certain political leaders in the fraud.
Sachin Yadav, who will be competing in his first international competition in the Asian Championships, is considered the next big thing in men's javelin after Neeraj Chopra.
The activist will be produced before the magistrate court in Kochi after completing formalities of her arrest, they said.
Sunanda, who was not married to Tharoor then, had refuted allegations of any wrongdoing.
The fallout from the Justice K Hema Committee report on harassment and abuse in the Malayalam film industry intensified on Monday as a case was filed against well-known filmmaker Ranjith, and several female actors stepped forward with disturbing accounts of the mistreatment they faced at the hands of their various male counterparts.
'These allegations need to be treated with utmost seriousness.'
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has begun questioning Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to uncover the larger conspiracy behind the deadly strikes. Rana, who was extradited from the US, is being held at the NIA headquarters in New Delhi. The interrogation is focused on his possible connection with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and his suspected links with the Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Kochi resident Xavier, who runs a business in the city, was arrested by the police for allegedly writing the threatening letter in the name of another person.
The much-hyped 'Kiss of Love' event in Kochi failed to take off on Sunday as police detained the organisers and sympathisers, including women, even before they could reach the venue of the symbolic protest against moral policing.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India on Thursday after being "successfully extradited " from the US, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin landed in Delhi in a special plane on Thursday evening, ending days of speculation of when and how he will be extradited, officials said. The NIA said in a statement that it had secured the successful extradition after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring to justice the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem that claimed 166 lives. Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the the three-day terror siege of India's financial capital.
'Let his soul rest in peace...We should all be proud of him in every way. And we will make him proud in every way'
Defence sources said the deceased has been identified as Tushar Atri, a resident of Aligarh in UP.
The top officer said that shadow police would be present at all shooting locations and raids would be carried out if information is received about use or sale of drugs.
The Kerala police have registered another case against Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar for allegedly making statements that promote enmity between different groups through social media posts in connection with recent blasts at a convention centre in Kochi.
The police search comes just a couple of days after a group of SFI activists allegedly trespassed into the Kochi office of the news channel and intimidated the staff.
Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, George Kurian, strongly condemned the alleged threatening of teachers at a government school in Kerala by Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists over Christmas celebrations. Kurian urged the state government to take stringent action against the culprits to prevent such incidents from recurring. The incident sparked outrage, with opposition leaders accusing the Sangh Parivar of attempting to create communal tension. Meanwhile, VHP leaders clarified that they were not against any religion and admitted that their district office bearers had questioned the teachers about the organisation of the Christmas celebration.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor were also present with the PM as he interacted with the students inside the train.
In the human sacrifice case, a pervert is the prime accused, who exploited the fears of a man and his wife over their financial woes and two women were killed following torture, police said.
MLA of the ruling CPI-M and actor M Mukesh was on Tuesday formally arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the rape case against him on a complaint by a female actor.
They had visited the hospital in Alappuzha with fever and were sent to the isolation ward, but left the place shortly thereafter.
Heavy rains continued to lash several parts of Kerala on Thursday, leading to waterlogging in the low-lying areas of major cities, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Thrissur.
Kerala on Friday said a tearful goodbye to most of the 23 victims from the state who died in the Kuwait fire tragedy -- one of the biggest incidents to ever affect the state's expatriate community known for their dedication and hard work.
A group of young women and men have had enough of moral policing in Kerala. On Sunday, November 2 they plan to meet at Kochi's Marine Drive and stage a somewhat unique protest that involves... kissing.
