Crime and Accident

New Delhi, September 06: A man who duped a non-resident Indian (NRI) of Rs.1.4 million by posing as an agent of a private bank was arrested here on Saturday, police said.

The victim, Pritpal Singh Malhotra, resides in the US. He wanted to purchase a flat in Gurgaon and was looking for a good home loan scheme. He was approached by Davinder Singh Ratra who posed as the chief executive of a company that helped procure loans from private banks, police said.

Ratra arranged a home loan of Rs.5 million for Malhotra from ICICI Bank’s Janakpuri branch, police added.

New Delhi/Bangalore, September 05: Nine people, including six in Karnataka, died of swine flu in India Saturday, taking the country’s toll from the infectious influenza A (H1N1) virus to 125, health authorities said.

The death toll in Karnartaka has gone up to 41, second only to Maharashtra, which has seen 59 deaths.

Lucknow, September 05: Primary school teachers demanding a salary hike were baton charged by police here on Teachers Day.

As the teachers tried to enter the state assembly Saturday, police baton charged them.

“We resorted to force only when they (teachers) turned violent and tried to damage vehicles on the roads,” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Prem Prakash told reporters.

“They are not regular teachers…their main demand pertains to better pay scale. Negotiations are on to meet the demands of the shiksha mitras (temporary teachers),” he added.

New Delhi, September 05: A man from Karnataka was Saturday arrested here with four deer skins, Delhi Police said.

The special investigation team (SIT) arrested Vishal from Rohini in northwest Delhi.

Vishal is a resident of Hubli in Karnataka and works in an incense stick manufacturing factory there.

“Vishal along with his other associates, trapped and killed animals in the protected wildlife sanctuaries of Karnataka and he had come to the capital to sell the deer skins,” a police official alleged.

Skopje, September 05: At least 22 people died when a tourist boat sank Saturday in Ohrid Lake in southwest Macedonia, media reports said.
Initial reports said 12 people drowned and five were missing, but Macedonian A1 television later reported that 22 bodies had been recovered.

The television also reported that there were 74 people on board – 62 of them Bulgarian tourists on their way to the medieval monastery St. Naum. The vessel was licensed for only 43 people.

New Delhi, September 05: Delhi police today claimed to have foiled a robbery bid with the arrest of five persons, who were planning to loot a petrol pump owner here. Two pistols, a toy pistol and four vehicles were also recovered from the gang arrested yesterday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) H G S Dhaliwal said.

Lucknow, September 05: Nearly six part-time teachers were injured today in alleged police baton charge when they were demonstrating in front of Uttar Pradesh Assembly demanding regularisation of their service.

Scores of ‘shiksha mitras’ or part-time teachers were holding a protest demonstration on Teachers’ Day to press for regularisation of their service and hike in honorarium.

Moga (Punjab), September 05: A man and his daughter-in-law have been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering Balwinder Singh, son of the accused, for opposing their illicit relationship.

Santokh Singh, a resident of Bakarkhanwala village of Ferozepur district, and Karamjit Kaur were given life term by a local court yesterday.

The court of the Additional Sessions Judge Amarjot Bhatti also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of the accused and by default undergoing two years rigorous imprisonment.

Coimbatore, September 05: A class XII student, who was allegedly caught copying, died in hospital on Friday due to injuries she sustained after jumping off the terrace of her three-storey school building here.

Minutes before jumping off the roof on Thursday, Vandana Anburaj, a student of SBOA Matriculation School at Chokkampudur, wrote a note on her palm, possibly meant for her teachers, which said: “Sorry everybody. Give everyone a chance to change.”

Tiruchirapalli, September 05: Police arrested a 44-year-old passenger for possessing a fake passport at the airport here yesterday.

Police said during the routine checking by the immigration authorities at the airport, it was noticed that the accused Iyeppan, while producing his documents, had possessed fake passport.

Iyeppan, hails from Sillathur village in Pudukkottai District of Tamil Nadu.

He was remanded to judicial custody.

—-Agencies

Madurai, September 05: Properties worth Rs seven lakh have been destroyed in a fire that broke out in a settlement at the foothills of Palani temple near here, police said today.

A spark in one of the houses last evening ignited the thatched roof and the fire spread out fast, destroying about ten houses. Television sets and other articles in the houses were burnt to ashes, police said.

In another mishap, 57 houses destroyed in a fire that broke out in the slum areas at Azhvarpuram, Puliyanthoppu and Melakkratheru here yesterday evening.

Erode, September 05: Two persons were killed in a road accident near here, police said today.

A lorry had knocked down the two-wheeler they were riding last evening, they said.

—Agencies

Lucknow, September 05: Three aides of underworld don Chhota Rajan were arrested from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, police said Saturday.

Prateek Singh, Rahul Singh and Chandradhari, all in their early 20s, used to operate as shooters for the underworld don, the police alleged. They were nabbed Friday night from Georgetown locality of Allahabad, about 200 km from state capital Lucknow.

They were arrested by the Special Operation Group (SOG) and local police, SOG inspector Dhananjay Mishra told reporters.

Barrackpore, September 05: A 20-year-old youth was killed and his companion injured when a truck rammed into their bicycle near Rabindra Bhavan on B T road at Kharda in North 24 Parganas district this morning.

The accident happened when the truck rode on the divider while trying to save a child, police said.

The victim Bikash Sahu, a third year commerce student and a resident of Fakirchandghat road of Titagarh along with his friend Basir, were on their way to Khardah railway station.

The driver, however, managed to flee the spot, police further added.

Sant Ravidas Nagar, September 05: Some unknown criminals killed five members of a family, including a two-year-old girl in Chaurhata village under Unjh police station of this Uttar Pradesh district late last night.

The assailants barged into the house of a small time vendor Gama Gupta and killed him, his wife, two daugeters and a woman by slitting their necks with sharp-edged weapons. They fled away after committing the crime.

Senior officers had rushed to the spot and a manhunt was launched, the police said.

Ranchi, September 05: A man was beaten to death after he allegedly stole valuables from three houses in Gumla district of Jharkhand, police said Saturday.

Local residents killed Sosen Kujur at Joradand village of Gumla district, 145 km from state capital Ranchi, late Friday night.

“He (Kujur) was caught when he was trying to escape from the village. The villagers started beating him with sticks and iron rods and threw stones at him. Kujur died on the spot,” a police officer said.

New Delhi, September 05: In yet another sordid tale of ragging in the city, a 17-year-old boy who had struggled to get an education for himself was allegedly asked to strip and then hit on his private parts by his seniors all in the name of an “introduction”.

The boy, a student of Industrial Training Institute at Vivek Nagar in east Delhi, is recuperating at the GTB Hospital where he received three stitches on his genitals.

Panaji, September 04: The Goa Children’s Court has denied the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) permission to put the two accused in the slain UK teenager Scarlett Keeling’s case through a lie detector test.

In his order Friday, GCC president B.P. Deshpande rejected the CBI’s request to put Placido Carvalho and Samson D’Souza through three tests – the psychological evaluation test including polygraph, brain signature profiling and a narco analysis.

A similar request made by the Anjuna police was rejected by the GCC last year.

Lucknow, September 04: The Madhya Pradesh kho-kho secretary and coach M.S. Bhatt was found dead in his hotel room in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district late Thursday night. The police said he was suffering from diabetes and have ruled out foul play.

The Madhya Pradesh team is in Ballia to participate in the 43rd Senior National Kho-Kho Championship and is staying in the Ashoka Hotel owned by a Congress leader Bachcha Pathak.

Lucknow, September 04: The Madhya Pradesh kho-kho secretary and coach M.S. Bhatt was found dead in his hotel room in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district late Thursday night. The police said he was suffering from diabetes and have ruled out foul play.

The Madhya Pradesh team is in Ballia to participate in the 43rd Senior National Kho-Kho Championship and is staying in the Ashoka Hotel owned by a Congress leader Bachcha Pathak.

New Delhi, September 04: The body of an unidentified man, aged about 23 years, was found hanging at a basketball court in Chanakyapuri here Friday, police said.

“We received a call around 7 in the morning that a body has been found hanging at a basketball court near the Bangladesh embassy,” a senior police officer said.

Police suspect it to be a case of suicide.

Mumbai, September 04: At least 13 people have drowned in different parts of Maharashtra, including five in Mumbai, during the immersion of Ganesh idols, police said Friday.

In the worst incident, five volunteers of the Omkar Ganeshotsav Mandal, Goregaon, drowned during immersion at Versova Beach in northwest Mumbai Thursday – the 12th and final day of Ganesh Chaturthi festival – according to police.

Four of them have been identified as Anil Thakur, 40, Appa Sawle, 25, Deepak Kamble, 19, and Anil Kamble, 22, while the identity of the fifth victim is not yet known.

Srinagar, September 04: A self-styled commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba was killed in a gunbattle with security forces in Reasi district on Friday.

An operation was launched by security forces in Batoi forest area of Mahore, 120 km from Jammu, early Friday morning, official sources said.

An encounter soon broke out in which the self-styled commander of LeT identified as Abu Jindal alias Mohammad Avais code name Zuman of Pakistan was killed.

The operation was still on and two terrorists are believed to be there in the cordon.

—Agencies

Mumbai, September 04: At least 10 people were killed and 25 injured after a landslide triggered by heavy rains hit Saki-Naka area of northeastern Mumbai, authorities said Friday morning.

According to fire brigage officials, the landslide, which occurred around 11.30 p.m. Thursday at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Nagar slums, buried more than two dozen shanties in the area.

The officials with help from locals have so far managed to save two dozen people who were trapped under the debris. Several people are still feared trapped under the debris, the police said.

New Delhi, September 04: The body of a three-and-half-year-old girl, who had allegedly been sexually assaulted and strangled to death, was discovered from a house in Adarsh Nagar area of northwest Delhi Thursday, police said.

“The victim’s body was wrapped in a ‘durri’ (rug) and was found in a store of a house near her residence Thursday morning. The girl had gone to a park near her house with her two-year-old brother for playing. Her brother returned home after some time but she didn’t,” a senior police officer said.