Indian naval divers on Sunday pulled out the highly decomposed bodies of two more sailors taking the total count of bodies found to 10. They were among the 18 sailors onboard the INS Sindhurakshak, which sank after a catastrophe occurred on August 13 shortly before midnight. Eight more bodies are yet to be found.
Salvage operations have also begun to bring the submarine to land, following which the board of inquiry will commence its investigation. Soon after the operation, Navy officials will check the submarine’s condition to see if it is in a position to be reused. A former Navy official requesting anony-mity said, “Looking at the magnitude, where a missile has exploded on the submarine, its unlikely to repair and reuse the ship.”
With Sindhurakshak gone, the Indian Navy has only 13 submarines as compared to China that has 45. There is also a heavy economic loss of several hundred crores, as the submarine had undergone major refurbishment this year — costing more than its original cost.
The 25-odd divers carrying out the rescue operation have completed searching all the compartments of the submarine, but there are no signs of the remaining eight Navy personnel. The Indian Navy has taken samples and sent them to forensic lab for identification.
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Toll Plaza case: Kadam charged with molestation
Age Correspondent
Mumbai, Aug. 25
The police has registered an offence of molestation against Shiv Sena MLA Anil Kadam on Sunday. He had allegedly abused female staff at a toll booth near Pimpalgaon in Nashik on Thursday. It is believed that this will add to the troubles of Mr Kadam and the Shiv Sena. He has already
submitted his resignation to party chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday.
The police has said that Mr Kadam apparently lost his temper when asked for his identity card at a toll booth when he was travelling with his party workers in a private vehicle towards a village in his constituency. According to video footage aired by a private channel, he used harsh language with the female staff, went on a rampage, broke computers and vandalized the toll booth.
The police has registered offences under Sections 451 (house-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment), 354 (a) (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 427 (mischief causing damage), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 and 507 .
Although Mr Kadam had tendered his resignation, the party chief is yet to decide on it. While talking to the media at Shirdi, Mr Thackeray admitted that Mr Kadam’s behaviour was improper.