Fact check: Images of burnt animals supposedly from Bandipur fire are fake

Fact check

Old images of charred animals are being forwarded as animals that died in Bandipur forest fire.

Haripriya Suresh

Warning: Graphic images Multiple images of animals charred to death are being forwarded following the horrific forest fire in Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district. The fire is estimated to have gutted 2,000-3,000 hectares of the forest. There have been reports of loss of wildlife, but nothing has been confirmed so far. As for the four images of animals charred to death doing the rounds, all of them are from different parts of the world and were taken at different times. TNM did a reverse image search for each of the four pictures that we got on multiple WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages and this is what we found.     The image of the snake charred to death doing the rounds is from the department of Antioquia in northwest Colombia, in a fire that broke out in the Necoclí region. This image appeared online on April 24, 2015, for the first time, and therefore cannot be from Bandipur.     The image of a rabbit suffering from burns is from the Woolsey Fire in Malibu in California, USA, that began on November 8, 2018. The image was taken by Chris Rusanowsky from the Zuma Press, and was taken on or before November 14, 2018. This image is of endangered Bornean orangutans was taken in late February 2016 and released by the Center of Orangutan Protection on March 3, 2016, according to international news agency Agence France-Presse. It was taken after a forest fire at the Kutai National Park in Borneo Island, in the East Kalimantan province of Indonesia. Orangutans are not found in India, and are only found in Borneo and Sumatra.   The final image is of a flock of sheep that were burned to death in a wildfire on July 23, 2012, in Darnius, close to the Spanish-French border, and reportedly gutted over 17,000 acres. It was taken by AFP photographer Lluis Gene. Punnati Shridhar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), told TNM that the main tiger reserve was intact, and they have not, so far, seen dead animals. “As far as we could see, there were none. The animals usually move away seeing the heat. There is a lot of cooked up things in social media,” he said. An activist present on the ground told TNM on Saturday that deer were seen running away from the fire. “This is also breeding season for reptiles and there are ground nesting which we expect will be affected,” the activist said. (With inputs from Soumya Chatterjee)

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7-yr-old electrocuted to death after he steps on live wire at a Bengaluru park

Accident

Sunday’s incident comes within days of a similar tragedy in Hyderabad, which killed a 6-year-old boy.

Soumya Chatterjee

Callousness by civic authorities in Bengaluru claimed the life of an innocent seven-year-old boy who had gone out to play in his neighbourhood park. The incident occurred in Dr Rajkumar Park in Bengaluru’s in Banaswadi on Sunday when Uday Gor had stepped on a live wire at around 7:30 pm. Uday was with his five-year-old younger brother when the accident occurred. He also got hurt while trying to rescue his elder brother. Uday was living just three-four buildings from the park. Passers-by were alarmed by Uday’s younger brother’s screams, after which they took the two to a nearby speciality clinic. Unfortunately, doctors declared Uday brought dead while his younger brother was treated for minor injuries. According to local residents, who have gathered in the park on Monday in a mark of a protest, said for the last few days old lamposts in the park were being replaced by new ones. It was for this purpose that wires were being dug out and were connected to the new ones. Unfortunately, one of the wires which were left unattended caused the tragedy. "An FIR has been registered against unnamed officials of the BBMP, BDA and the contractor who changed the lights in the park for causing death by negligence," Inspector of Banaswadi Police Station told TNM. A Kondana Reddy, the corporator of Banaswadi ward could not be reached for a comment.  Neighbouring ward corporator D Munilakshmamma of Kamanhalli ward said he was visiting the park to meet with the protestors and send his condolences to the aggreived family. Sunday’ incidence comes within days of a similar tragedy that took place in Hyderabad. A six-year-old child was electrocuted on February 11 while playing with his friends inside his apartment complex. He had died due to electrocution on coming in contact with a lamppost.  

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Overheated silencer of a car probably led to Aero India fire: Ministry of Defence

Aero India

In view of the massive fire that gutted around 300 cars in the parking lot, it was decided at a review meet to take extra precautions while organising such events in future.

TNM Staff

An overheated silencer of a car stationed at the parking lot of the Yelahanka Air Force station could have probably caused the fire, the Ministry of Defence has suggested. A Defence Ministry spokesperson said in a tweet, “This quickly led to spreading of the fire, accentuated by strong winds.”  During the briefing to RM Smt @nsitharaman, the probable cause was stated as fire starting from an overheated silencer of one of the cars parked in the Parking Area of AeroIndia2019 . This quickly led to spreading of fire accentuated by strong winds. (1/n)@PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/bCHj5NQKpx — Defence Spokesperson (@SpokespersonMoD) February 24, 2019 Meanwhile, a high level meeting was constituted by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy to review the Aero India show that concluded in Bengaluru on Sunday. The massive fire in the air base parking lot on Saturday that gutted about 300 cars and the death of an IAF pilot after two Surya Kiran jets collided in the air and crashed on Tuesday while rehearsing for the flying display, were discussed at the meeting, where IAF and defence ministry officials, state officials and city police were present. "It was decided that both the central and state government departments and agencies concerned would work in coordination for relief works. It was also decided to provide all the required assistance to the victims who lost their vehicles. It was decided to take extra precautions while organising such events in future," read a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.  During the meeting, the reason for the fire at the parking place and mitigating measures taken after the incident were discussed with state Home Minister MB Patil, who was also present. "The meeting decided to take precautions while organising such events in future and measures to mitigate the hardship of the gutted car owners," added the statement. Earlier on Sunday, Nirmala Sitharaman visited the site of the fire which gutted cars stationed at the parking lot of the air show.  Kumaraswamy urged the Defence Minister to continue holding the biennial airshow in Bengaluru. "Kumaraswamy requested Sitharaman to hold the Aero India air show in Bengaluru only in the coming years too as the 2019 and previous 11 editions were held here over the last 22 years," said the statement, after they met at the CMO in Bengaluru. The appeal comes after Nirmala Sitharaman did not announce the dates of the next Aero India show in 2021, as has been the practice in international airshows.  Speculation was rife in July-August last year about a change of venue following media reports that the Defence Ministry was planning to shift the prestigious event to Uttar Pradesh ahead of the general elections.

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A day after 300 vehicles charred in Aero India fire, another fire reported in north B'luru

Fire

A fire official told TNM, “We did not get any distress calls from the public. We came to know through TV channels about the fire."

Soumya Chatterjee

Representational image

A day after 300 cars were gutted in a major fire in one of the parking bays of Aero India held in the Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, another fire was reported in Jarakabande state forest on Sunday. There was no harm to human life or property due to the fire, officials said. A little after 3 pm on Sunday, a fire was spotted in the forest area of Jarakabande and it was contained within one hour by two fire engines of the Yelahanka Fire Station. A fire official at Bengaluru Fire Control Room told TNM, “We have not got any distress calls from the public. The fire was near Jarakabande in MS Palya and it has been completely put out. We came to know through TV channels. At 3.40 pm, two vehicles left the station and had returned within one hour.”   The cause of fire is yet to be known. TV channels reported that the fire was allegedly caused by miscreants who had deliberately lit dry grass. On the same day in neighbouring Chennai, in a repeat of sorts of the Aero India car burning incident, more than 100 parked vehicles in a parking facility opposite Ramachandra Hospital were ablaze. The cause of the fire in that incident is also yet to be known. Meanwhile, the reason for the fire in the Aero India incident is suspected to be an overheated silencer of a parked car, according to a Ministry of Defence statement. The spokesperson said the rapid spread of fire was aided by strong winds reaching in excess of 30 kmph and the fact many vehicles were parked in direction of wind.  “The OCC Commander along with State Fire Department put into action together more than thirteen fire tenders, seven water bowsers and 33 Agni Varuna vehicles to douse the fire. Additionally, six Crash Fire Tenders (CFT) of IAF, which is used in case of Aircraft Crash, was used to control the rapid spread of fire and the entire fire was doused within 45 Minutes and more than 3000 litres of foam was used,” the statement said.

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As fire rages for the 4th day in Bandipur forest, activist says warning signs ignored

Environment

According to forest officials, the fire was put out on Saturday night but it has started again in one location.

Soumya Chatterjee

The fire in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district continued to rage for the fourth consecutive day despite the continuous effort by foresters, firemen and volunteers. The fire which began on Thursday has affected all six ranges of the forest, primarily due to strong winds and prevailing dry conditions. As a result, 70% of the forest, spread over more than 500 acres, has been reduced to ashes and many wild animals have been killed in all the six ranges. Forest officials have stopped issuing permits for safaris in the forest for next week. Tourist vehicles were stopped from entering the forest area since Friday. Scary video of forest fire posted by activist. Place: GS Betta, Bandipur Tiger Reserve Time: Around 3pm today pic.twitter.com/AGZHLH03gi— Soumya Chatterjee (@Csoumya21) February 24, 2019 In a tweet on Sunday, CM HD Kumaraswamy said, “We are closely monitoring the forest fire in Bandipur. Forest Minister is overseeing preventive action and forest officials and fire service personnel are trying to contain the fire. I have instructed officials to also take preventive measures for the future.” We are closely monitoring the forest fire in Bandipur. Forest Minister is overseeing preventive action and forest officials and fire service personnel are trying to contain the fire. I have instructed officials to also take preventive measures for future.#Bandipur #fire — CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) February 24, 2019 Sridhar Punnatti, the head of the forest department and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) told TNM, “The fire is on again after we managed to put it out last night. The fire is mainly limited to Gopalaswamy Betta and neighbouring hillocks. We are trying to restrict the fire wherever we can. There is a lot of strong winds. There is no way we can actually go deep inside and put out the fire. Suppose there is a road nearby, we are forced to allow it up to the road and ensure it does not spread to the other side. There are around 300-400 people on the ground including volunteers.” Other than the loss of green cover, the fire has increased the risk of man-animal conflicts. Activists on the ground witnessed elephants, spotted deer and sambhar trying to escape the smoke and move towards human habitat. While the weather conditions remain unfavourable, questions have been raised about authorities’ lack of preparedness. Wildlife conservationist and activist Joseph Hoover said, “Dry weather, strong winds and the hilly terrain — all these factors are making it worse. But on top of that, the lack of preparedness is visible. There is no Conservator of Forests here, we have a Field Director. He is not there at the spot, so we can expect these kinds of things to happen. There attitude of a couple of RFOs (Range Forest Officers),  especially the Kundike RFO and the Bandipur RFO, is lackadaisical. While it is highly impossible to contain these kinds of fires immediately, my question is why weren't we prepared for it? These fires have been going on for the last month in small scales in Kundike, which is a very dry, shrubby area. With the warning signs, they should have been prepared for further eventualities.” “The Field Director here has been given dual posts of both Bandipur and Mysuru. Moreover, local people should have been taken to confidence as often in the past they being the first responders have dealt with incidents better,” he added.   Volunteer/ activist Nakul Dev fighting the forest fire in GS Betta , Bandipur Tiger Reserve just with sticks appeals for greater allocation of resources from the govt pic.twitter.com/PKRMHG1v73 — Soumya Chatterjee (@Csoumya21) February 24, 2019   The Bandipur Tiger Reserve located at the tri-junction area of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and covers an area of 5,52,000 hectares along with the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and the Nagarahole National Park, to form one of India's ecologically diverse regions. It is home to vulnerable species like elephants, gaurs, tigers and Indian rock pythons. Similarly, neighbouring Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala and Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai Tiger Reserve saw 60 hectares and 20 hectares of forest affected respectively due to similar forest fires.

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Prakash Raj's defamation case against Pratap Simha: Court issues warrant on BJP MP

Controversy

In November, 2017, referring to a tweet by Simha, Prakash Raj had filed a case in a Mysuru lower court.

Soumya Chatterjee

File image

  Mysuru CIty Police Commissioner KT Balakrishna has been asked by a special Karnataka court to execute a warrant against Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha in connection with a defamation suit filed by actor-politician Prakash Raj. The special court for people’s representatives in Bengaluru has asked Balakrishna to produce BJP MP Simha before the court on March 19. It may be recalled that taking exception to Simha’s comments on him, Prakash Raj had sent a legal notice in November, 2017. Referring to a tweet by Simha, Prakash Raj had filed a case in a Mysuru lower court after the MP did not reply or apologise, seeking a compensation of Re 1. The case was however transferred to the special court, based on a Supreme Court directive. On October 2, 2017 Simha had tweeted, “Being sad due to son’s death, having left your wife and ran behind a dancer, do you Mr. Raj have any right/legitimacy/worthiness to say anything to Yogi-Modi.” The tweet was a response to Prakash’s criticism on the Prime Minister’s silence over the murder of noted journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh. Pratap Simha however told TNM that he did not appear in court as his office had failed to inform him about the summons. “When the court sent summons to my office, the staff refused the summons without bringing it to my notice. Just because it was not in my knowledge, I was not able to appear yesterday. The court took it seriously just because i have not employed any advocate for the case and  had not appeared. Otherwise it is a trivial case. I will approach the court before March 19 and get the case recalled. I will personally explain in the court,” the MP told TNM. Claiming that this was a publicity stunt by the actor-politician, Simha added, “I haven't made any derogatory comments against him. I had shared an article by Postcard News. If he really wanted justice in court, he should have filed a case against Postcard.” The legal notice had further objected to Pratap Simha’s comment on a regional TV channel where he said, “Your name in Kannada is Prakash Rai and Prakash Raj in Tamil Nadu. You change your name and identity according to your convenience and necessity in different states.” Addressing reporters on the legal notice, the actor had said in November 2017, “I sent a legal notice not because he represents a party, but because he trolled. But today people who are voted are shamelessly trolling others. If he does not answer legally I will be taking action. This is not against any party.” Prakash Raj added, ”He was trying to instigate and it has made my personal life difficult. When I'm sharing my hurt you can't troll me and ask your followers to troll. Mr Simha is a serial offender. When the wife of late senior leader Mahadeva Prashad stood for elections in Karnataka, Simha had the audacity to say that he thought she was in mourning but instead she was greedy for power. She cried on the stage.”          

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Kept hearing 'Pakistan': Eyewitness recalls mob forcing Karachi Bakery to cover its sign

Crime

According to eyewitnesses and employees at the baker, the entire ordeal lasted close to half an hour and did not escalate to violence.

Prajwal Bhat

When Sheila* entered the Karachi Bakery outlet in Bengaluru's Indiranagar on Friday evening, she had little clue that she would not be able to finish eating the snack she had ordered. She packed her snack and left the outlet within 20 minutes after a group of unidentified persons began chanting slogans at the entrance to the bakery. "When we were walking into the restaurant around 8 pm, there was a crowd of maybe 15 people standing outside who looked like a group of colleagues hanging out together after office hours. They did not have any symbols or anything you could identify them or their affiliations with..Inside the bakery, there were five customers when the group was speaking to the employees in the bakery," recalls Sheila. A few minutes passed without incident when suddenly, one of the men entered the ground floor of the bakery and started filming a video on his phone. "We could identify the word 'Pakistan' being repeated loudly so we were scared that we are in Karachi bakery and we had not thought of that until this moment. Along with the person filming, there was one more person who was vocal. The others were just standing behind these two and not singing slogans initially but the situation had grown tense by this point. So, we decided to pack our items and leave the bakery," she says. After leaving the bakery, Sheila watched the tense situation play out from across the road. "We waited on the opposite side of the road for another 20 minutes and we saw people climbed on the main name board to put a cover on the word 'Karachi'. After the word had been sufficiently covered, tthe group of people were still speaking to employees and trying to get them to display the Indian flag. This took some time because they did not know where to display the flag and eventually it was put up on the first floor on the window. They shouted couple of slogans and that was it," she says before adding, "I wanted to call the police but the situation was quite under control. There was no security or police official nearby." According to eyewitnesses and employees at the baker, the entire ordeal lasted close to half an hour and although no violence was reported, it was an unnerving experience for the customers and employees of the Karachi Bakery outlet. The identity of the people in the mob is still unclear. After the crowd had dispersed, a distress call was sent to the police and officials from the Indiranagar police station arrived on the spot to enquire about the incident. Police are yet to register a case but confirmed that they are investigating the incident. "We received a call yesterday about this and our officials have immediately reached the spot. We are investigating the incident," a police official from Indiranagar police station told TNM. Police confirmed that they have not registered a case in connection with the incident. An employee of the bakery outlet confirmed to TNM that the intention of the mob was to change the name of the bakery. "We displayed the Indian flag in order to satisfy them and make them leave. We continued to operate as per usual after they left,"a manager at the bakery said. The official Facebook page of the bakery franchise posted a statement on Saturday clarifying that they are an Indian company. "We would like to clarify that Karachi Bakery was founded by Shri Khanchand Ramnani, who migrated to India during the partition. The brand was established in 1953 and is an Indian company based out of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The popularity and love for its products has contributed to its growth throughout India and abroad. The essence of Karachi Bakery is absolutely Indian by heart and will remain so. We request everybody to refrain from any kind of misconception," This is however not the first time that Karachi bakery is becoming a target. In 2016, they faced a boycott campaign, as they were reported to be selling Israeli dates as part of Ramadan gift hamper. Many social media users said that sentiments of Muslims were hurt as they perceive Israel to be an aggressor in the ongoing occupation of Palestine. *Names changed to protect identity  

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