NEW ORLEANS – Hike up those pants. Droopy drawers that bare skin or underwear might soon be forbidden fashion on the streets of Alexandria and Shreveport, and violators could be forced to part with some cash.

“I’m tired (of) looking at behinds,” Shreveport Councilwoman Joyce Bowman said after Tuesday’s 4-3 vote to ban fanny-flaunting trousers.

Nobody can be arrested just for violating the ordinance, but they could be fined or required to perform community service.

Alexandria’s City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban the baring. Its ordinance allows some sag, but 3 inches or more can bring a fine of $25 to $200.

Some citizens cite objections.

“Are you going to have a ‘sagging’ court?” Michael Williams asked. “The police have more important things to do than chase young boys and girls and say ‘pull your pants up.'”

Indian bank thief delays trial by ingesting knife

NEW DELHI – The Indian businessman spent years evading authorities around the world, fleeing accusations that he’d run elaborate bank scams, investigators allege. When he lost an appeal in Germany against extradition to India, he came up with a novel scheme: He swallowed a knife.

For four years, Amarendra Nath Ghosh refused surgery to remove the knife, hampering India’s attempts to bring him back to stand trial because medics said flying with the 4-inch metal object lodged in his stomach might prove fatal.

Finally, though, authorities appeared to get the upper hand, bringing him back on a private plane staffed with doctors on Monday, said G. Mohanty, spokesman for India’s Central Bureau of Investigation.

Ghosh appeared in a Calcutta court Tuesday to face a host of criminal conspiracy charges – with the knife apparently still lodged in his stomach. The Calcutta judge scheduled another hearing on Sept. 11, according to CBI lawyer T. P. Sinha.

From Associated Press reports