Crime and Accident

Kolkata, September 22: Security forces are combing an area in West Bengal’s Midnapore district Tuesday following overnight clashes between Maoist guerrillas and villagers, police said.

Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh told IANS that there was no sign that anyone had died in the fighting late Monday that lasted for hours.

“The joint forces have launched a combing operation at Inayatpur area. We found some used cartridges there, but no dead body was found,” Bhupinder Singh said.

Hyderabad, September 22: Twelve youths were killed when their van collided with another vehicle in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh today, police said. The incident occurred when the van carrying the youths, who were on an excursion to Belum caves near here, collided with the speeding car at Ballapnur on Kurnool-Chittoor state highway, they said.

The youths, belonging to Nandayal town in Kurnool, were killed on the spot while five others in the car suffered serious injuries. The injured have been admitted to the government hospital in Kurnool, they added.

—PTI–

Srinagar, September 22: A separatist guerrilla and a trooper have been killed in clashes in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, an army spokesperson said here Tuesday.

Acting on specific information about the presence of guerrillas, troops of the Rashtriya Rifles started searches in Baramulla’s Tangmulla forests Monday evening, spokesperson of the army’s 15 Corps, Col Uma Maheshwar, told IANS.

‘When the terrorists were challenged to surrender, they resorted to firing at the surrounding troops triggering an encounter.

Kanpur, September 22: Three persons were killed and atleast 50 others injured when a bus in which they were travelling collided with a truck in Akbarpur area here, police said today. The accident occurred yesterday when the bus, on its way to Kanpur from Auraiya, was hit by the truck near a highway in Brahmpur area, they said, adding it fell into a gorge.

Imphal, September 22: Four militants were killed in separate incidents in two districts of Manipur today. Two militants were killed in a gunfight with police commandos at Sekmaijin area, official sources said.

In another incident, two militants were killed by some unidentified gunmen in what appeared to be factional fight in a militant outfit at Nongdren area in Imphal East district in the wee hours. All the four bodies have been sent to Regional Institute of Medical Science and Hospital here for post-mortem

—PTI—

Bhubaneswar, September 22:Hundreds of women complained of itchy and swollen palms and hands in three northern Orissa districts Monday after applying mehndi (henna) on their hands to celebrate the Eid festival, health officials said.

The henna decoration proved costly for the women and girls, mostly from the Muslim community, in the districts of Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj.

Over 200 women and girls from Ramachandrapur, Bont, Kazimohalla and Malatira villages in the district of Bhadrak complained of itching palms a few hours after they applied mehndi.

Bhopal, September 20: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has written to his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Mayawati for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the death of a state official in Agra, official sources said Sunday.

The body of Bhopal Development Authority chief executive officer M.G. Rusia was found near Agra railway station Sep 10.

Srinagar, September 20: Five smugglers were arrested along with banned crops while bhung cultivated over 20 kanals of land was destroyed in Kashmir valley, official sources said here today.

They said on a tip-off that a smuggler from Awantipora, Pulwama district, was carrying drugs, police conducted a raid at Lal Chowk in south Kashmir district of Anantnag.

The smuggler identified as Farooq Ahmad Sheikh was later arrested along with 25 kg of poppy straw, they said.

On similar information, police established a naka checking at Wathora Gunjoo road in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.

Begusarai, September 20: At least six people were killed and 15 injured, five of them critically, in a head-on collision between a jeep and a truck near Iniyarpur in Bihar”s Begusarai district today. Superintendent of police Vinay Kumar said the collision occured when the jeep carrying the six was on way to Khagaria from Barauni railway station when it hit a speeding truck coming from the opposite direction.

Chandigarh, September 20: She must have thought she had plotted the perfect murder.

What she didn’t bargain for is that the police can sometimes be masters at cracking the most difficult of cases.

Nineteen-year-old Sonam is now in police custody. Giving her company is her lover, Naveen. Her crime: She and Naveen, 20, conspired to kill seven members of her family as they were opposed to her affair with the boy.

The murders took place on Thursday at Kabulpura village, about 15 km from Rohtak.

Rohtak, September 20: Facing opposition to her relationship with a neighbourhood boy, a 19-year-old girl murdered seven of her family members, including her parents and brother, in connivance with him, police said Saturday. Both have been arrested.

Seven members of a retired teacher’s family including his son and two daughters-in-law were found murdered in their house in Kabulpura village near this Haryana town, some 70 km from New Delhi, Tuesday morning. The village is about 20 km from here.

The victims had strangulation marks on their necks.

Panaji, September 19: Goa Tourism Minister Francisco alias Mickky Pacheco was Saturday granted interim bail by a district court in Margao. He was booked two days ago for allegedly threatening and extorting money from a casino.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator was booked by the Crime Branch Thursday for allegedly extorting Rs.3.60 lakh from the management of Treasures casino, housed in the Majorda beach resort, a five star facility in South Goa.

Raipur, September 19: Police Saturday recovered the bodies of five policemen of elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (Cobra) in jungles where rebels and police battled throughout Friday.

With this, the death toll among securitymen in one of the biggest offensive in the Maoist bastion has gone up to six. Cobra assistant commandant Manoranjan Singh was killed Friday. Bodies of 10 ultras have also been found.

Mumbai, September 19: Unable to meet his favourite actress Katrina Kaif in Bhopal a 24-year old man allegedly committed suicide.

The man named Motilal was part of a large group that had gathered at the location of the shooting for Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti on September 5.

When he was denied permission to meet Katrina he jumped into a nearby lake and killed himself. No suicide note was found. But onlookers heard him shout Katrina’s name while taking the fatal plunge.

Hong Kong, September 18: A former Morgan Stanley executive was jailed Friday for seven years for what a judge called his “sheer greed” in Hong Kong’s biggest insider trading case.

Du Jun, 40, a former managing director of Morgan Stanley Asia, bought 11.22 million US dollars in shares in Citic Resources after getting inside information about an acquisition.

The deal in 2007 earned him a profit of nearly 3 million US dollars after he had borrowed millions of US dollars to allow him and his wife to snap up shares in the company.

Lahore, September 18: Pakistan police have registered case against Jammat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and one of his close aide Abu Jandal under Anti-Terrorism Act.

A senior police officer told news agency on Thursday, Sep 17 that three FIR- two against Saeed and one against Abu Jandal – were registered at police station in Faisalabad, for allegedly inciting people to wage ‘jehad’ (holy war) against “infidels”.

The cases were filed in connection with Saeed’s visit to Faisalabad on Aug 27 and 28.

Panaji, September 18: A six-year-old boy died of dengue in the popular tourist stretch of Calangute in Goa, an official said Friday.

Deepak Kababi, official in charge of the vector borne diseases cell in the state Directorate of Health Services (DHS), said this was the first dengue death of the year.

Raipur, September 18: A 27-year-old man has been arrested for throwing his newborn baby girl into a river in Durg district of Chhattisgarh, police said Friday.

“Premjeet Deshmukh confessed that he tossed his week-old girl into Shivnath river as he was expecting a baby boy. He was arrested late Thursday,” Superintendent of Police (Durg) Dipanshu Kabra told reporters.

Kabra said police recovered the body of the girl from the river Sep 6 and sent it to Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Government Hospital in Raipur for examination. The doctors confirmed that the child was killed.

Madanapalle, September 17: A 25-year-old woman, after administering poison to her two children, allegedly committed suicide in her house at Tekupalyam in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh today.

Police said the victims were identified as Subhashini (25) and her children, Gayatri (six) and Sivakumar (four). The woman, a daily wage worker, took the extreme step following a family quarrel with her husband, when he was away from the hosue. The bodies were sent to Madanapalle Government hospital for postmortem, police added.

—-Agencies

Mumbai, September 17: The police unwittingly spread panic on Wednesday afternoon when they simulated a terror attack at a Chembur mall.

More than 300 policemen carrying AK-47 rifles and wearing bullet-proof jackets cordoned off K Mall near Diamond Garden at 11.30 am and began firing dummy bullets. As the mall is located on the arterial Sion-Trombay link road, a crowd soon gathered to watch the drama unfold, starting rumours of a terrorist attack. The mock drill lasted 90 minutes but phone calls inquiring about the `terrorist attack’ came from as far as Delhi.

Mumbai, September 17: One person has been arrested at the international airport here for allegedly smuggling gold jewellery worth over Rs 10 lakh in to the country, Custom authorities said today. Kantilal Raghubhai Solanki, who arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport yesterday by a Jet Airways flight from London, was arrested following the recovery of 668 grams of gold jewellery, worth Rs 10.78 lakh, from his possession, Mumbai Customs department said in a press release.

The jewellery was concealed in his shoulder bag, it said.

—PTI—

Katni, September 17: Seven persons were killed and 15 others injured when a three-storey house collapsed here, officials said today. Twenty-two people were staying in the dilapidated building at Ishwarpura locality that collapsed last night.

Five of the injured, who were in a serious condition, were referred to a Jabalpur hospital, where one of them succumbed later, the officials said. The district administration has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5,000 each to next of kin of the deceased and Rs 2,000 each for the injured.

—-PTI–

Patna, September 17: Disappointed over the failure of the police to find their son, parents of Shresth Sanjay, who was kidnapped here at gunpoint three days ago, have resorted to prayers for his release.

Shresth’s parents have been unable to eat properly. No food has been cooked at their residence for three days. They have spent sleepless nights awaiting a call from abductors or any good news from the police, but have so far been disappointed.

Shimla, September 17: Five 17th century bronze idols have been stolen from a temple in Himachal Pradesh, police said Thursday.

The antique idols were found missing from the Miya Ka Mandir in Nahan, about 140 km from here, Wednesday noon. The head priest was not in the temple at the time.

“Initial investigations rule out the involvement of smugglers behind the theft. Five bronze idols were taken away from the total 11 idols,” said Assistant Superintendent of Police Rani Bindhu Sachdeva.

New Delhi, September 17: A fire gutted the first floor of a building in the Central Government Office (CGO) complex in New Delhi’s Lodi Estate early Thursday. There were no casualties.

The fire broke out in Electronics Building of the complex around 3.45 a.m., a fire brigade officer said.

“The fire completely gutted the first floor of the building. We rushed 23 fire tenders and the blaze has been brought under control,” the officer said.

–Agencies