A young man and his sister-in-law died in a motorbike accident that occurred early on September 29 (Sunday) morning on Pandit Karuppan Road.

The bike that Sufiyan, 22, of Kasaragod, and Meenakshi, 21, of Thevara were riding rammed a post in front of a church on the road. They were reportedly going to get food in connection with an event that was scheduled on Sunday.

Flower pots and wall graffiti set up in Eloor municipality as part of the drive to check illegal waste dumping.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The Eloor municipality has initiated a project to transform waste dumping sites into flower gardens as part of efforts to make the local body waste-free by next year.

Flower gardens have come up in spots near Companypady, Hindustan Insecticides Ltd, Travancore Cochin Chemicals Ltd, Pathalam and near the FACT market. The project has been initiated with the support of the Suchitwa Mission, which had sanctioned around seven lakh for clearing up the waste dump sites and to set up flower gardens.

A. D Sujil, chairperson of the municipality, said that the attempt is to create an awareness among the public to keep their areas clean and waste-free. Stringent action will be taken against those dumping waste in violation of the rules along the roads and open spaces, he said.

The civic body has set up wall graffiti highlighting the threat of illegal waste dumping and requesting the cooperation of the public across various wards to ensure compliance of norms related to waste management. CCTV facility has been set up select locations to check dumping of waste in public places.

The services provided by the Haritha Karma Sena volunteers, who have been actively participating in the doorstep collection of non biodegradable waste, have been publicised as part of the efforts to curb unscientific disposal of waste. The authorities have also urged the public to avail the eco-friendly utensils provided on rent by the green volunteers instead of plastic materials while holding various public programmes and celebrations.

The Ernakulam Rural police arrested a Karnataka native on September 29 (Sunday) in connection with the alleged defrauding of ₹11.50 lakh from a Kizhakkambalam native after promising him huge profits through online trading.

Prakash Eerappa, 49, of Gulbarga was arrested by the Thadiyittaparambu police. He allegedly claimed to be the chief of a private company’s share marketing division and gained the victim’s trust by communicating through social media and WhatsApp calls. Prakash and his gang reportedly blocked his number when the victim demanded the return of the invested amount and profits.

A probe revealed that the fraudsters had ‘purchased’ bank accounts of others and conducted transactions worth lakhs, while the money illegally obtained was converted into Bitcoin. The police gathered information on the fraud by staying undercover in Karnataka which revealed that many had been cheated by the gang.

The police exhorted people to report online frauds as swiftly as possible in the helpline number 1930, to enable freezing of the accounts and to recover the lost amount.

Cop suspended

A Sub-Inspector of Kothamangalam Police Station, Hari Prasad, was suspended on Sunday by the Ernakulam Range DIG on the charge of making a social media post that was reportedly defamatory to CPI(M) activist Puthukudi Pushpan, who died on Saturday after being bedridden for 30 years following the Koothuparamba police firing incident that took place three decades ago.

In addition, a departmental enquiry has been ordered against him, for alleged violation of discipline.