Mangaluru: Fr. Melvin J. Pinto, the Vice-Chancellor (Pro-Vice Chancellor/Co-Vice Chancellor) of St Aloysius University Mangalore, passed away on Friday. He was 63 years old.

Fr. Pinto was also the Rector of St Aloysius Institutions and the Vice President of the Mangalore Jesuit Educational Society. His death has saddened the academic and religious community in Mangaluru.

He was born in 1963. He completed his school and college education at St Aloysius. He joined the Jesuit order in 1981. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest on April 14, 1997.

Fr. Pinto was well qualified. He held a diploma in school administration. He also completed an MA in English. He had a postgraduate degree in teacher education. He earned diplomas in psychology and counselling.

He served in many schools and colleges. From 1996 to 1999, he worked as Headmaster at St Joseph’s Primary School Hassan and St Joseph’s High School Hassan. During this time, he established St Joseph’s Indian PU College Hassan. He served as its Principal until 2007.

From 2007 to 2011, he was the Headmaster of St Aloysius High School Mangalore. Later, he served as Principal of St Joseph’s PU College in Hassan until 2012.

Fr. Pinto also worked abroad. He served at the Vatican in Vatican Communications and Vatican Radio. He worked in the English desk for Asia and Indian languages.

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He later served as Superior at the Jesuit study centre ‘Vidyaniketan Dharwad’. Before that, he worked in Valencia. He was the Superior and Director of the Fatima Retreat House Valencia from May 2017 for two years.

Fr. Melvin J. Pinto is remembered as a dedicated priest and an able administrator. He served education with commitment and care. His passing is a great loss to the Jesuit community and society.

Mangaluru: Mohammed Shareek, the main accused in the 2022 Mangaluru cooker bomb blast, has confessed to the crime. A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has accepted his plea.

Shareek, a 27-year-old from Shivamogga, was injured when the bomb exploded in an autorickshaw due to a timer fault. The driver was also seriously hurt.

After earlier claiming innocence, he filed a confession in December 2025 under Section 229 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The court accepted it on March 26.

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In his statement, he admitted to planting the IED and expressed regret. Investigators say he was linked to an ISIS-inspired module and other terror-related activities.

Mangaluru: Police have arrested an accused who had been absconding for eight years without appearing before the court in a cheating case related to collecting money from the public by promising high interest returns.

The arrested accused has been identified as Lakku Konda Reddy (46), a resident of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

According to police, the accused had collected money from the public in 2015 by promising high interest returns in the name of a company called Maitri Plantation and Horticulture Pvt. Ltd. Later, he allegedly cheated the investors and failed to return the money.

After 2018, the accused stopped appearing before the court and went into hiding. The court had issued a warrant against him.

Based on information about his whereabouts, the Bunder Police Station team from Mangaluru traced him to Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. Police arrested him there on Thursday and produced him before the court.

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Police said that several cases have been registered against him in different places. A total of 11 cases have been registered in police stations across Karnataka, including Mangaluru and Udupi. Another six cases have been registered in different police stations in Andhra Pradesh.