Crime and Accident

Moga, August 18: A local court today acquitted a 19-year-old boy in a rape and kidnapping case due to lack of evidence.

After recording the statements of four prosecution and two defence witnesses, Additional Session Judge S K Aggarwal cleared Jaswant Singh of rape, kidnapping and intimidation charges.

The court found that the prosecution failed to establish its case against the accused, who hails from Badhni Kalan village of the district.

The decision came within six-day of the framing of the charges against the accused. The case was registered on January 16, 2009.

—Agencies

Samastipur, August 18: Two persons, including a woman, were killed in separate accidents in the district late last night.

Police today said one Chandrakala Devi, wife of a businessman Chandeshwar Sah, died on the spot when she was hit by a truck near a government high school under Sarairanjan police station.

In a separate incident, a 22-year-old youth Mukesh Kumar was killed when the tractor in which he was travelling overturned near Madhopur village under Warisnagar police station. The deceased was a resident of Rahula village under Warisnagar police station, police added.

Jaunpur, August 18: Five people accused of printing fake currency have been awarded 10 years of imprisonment, besides a fine of Rs 10,000 each.

According to the prosecution, police had nabbed six people for their involvement in making counterfiet currency after a raid in Kotwali area on July 22, 1989.

Fake currency having face value of Rs one lakh, half manufactured notes, besides equipments used were seized.

Fast Track Court (FTC) Judge Manoj Kumar Shukla yesterday awarded 10 years of jail term to five guilty — Pyare Lal, Ramsurat, Munnu Ram, Rajaram and Ramdhani.

Srinagar, August 18: A woman was killed and three others, including a constable of state police, were injured in overnight accidents in the Kashmir Valley, official sources said here today.

They said two women were injured after they were hit by a vehicle at Patwav in the central Kashmir district of Badgam.

The injured were admitted to hospital where one of the injured, Sakina succumbed to her injuries.

A constable, Ghulam Hassan, was injured after a police vehicle collided with another vehicle at Badgam. He was later hospitalised.

Kanpur, August 18: An 11-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself after she was scolded by her mother, police said here today. According to police, Rekha, a student of class five, committed suicide yesterday by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in her house.

Rekha was scolded and slapped by her mother yesterday for not going to school after which the girl did not eat anything. The body of the girl has been sent for post mortem, police added.

—-PTI–

Patna, August 18: At least five persons were injured when they resisted armed robbers who looted passengers travelling in the Patna-Pune Express near Ara railway station in Bihar, officials said today.

Twelve people armed with pistols and sharp-edged weapons boarded the coach at Ara and went on a looting spree when the train resumed its onward journey to Buxar late last night.

They snatched several cellphones, watches and cash worth about Rs 2.5 lakh, and beat up the passengers who resisted, besides the train ticket examiner Dinesh Paswan.

New Delhi, August 18: The alcohol market in India might be a bastion of wines and beers, but the lesser known alcoholic beverage ‘liqueur’ is slowly carving a niche among consumers with its unique aroma and lower alcoholic content.

The word ‘liqueur,’ derived from the Latin word ‘liquefacere’ means ‘to disolve or melt’. Often synonymous with cordials, liquers are available in different flavours and sweetened through distillation with a base of alcohol.

Washington, August 18: Prosecutors in the United States said yesterday that they had filed charges against three men for hacking into the computer systems of major American retail and financial organisations and stealing data from 130 million credit and debit cards in the biggest such case of electronic identify theft ever seen.

Moscow, August 17: In the deadliest terror attack in years, at least 20 people were killed and over 100 injured when a suicide bomber today rammed an explosives-laden truck into the gates of a police station in a southern Russian city in the restive Ingushetia region, neighbouring Chechnya.

The suicide attack in Nazran, the Caucasian Republic of Ingushetia’s largest city, took place when policemen, who bore the brunt of the attack, were lining up in the courtyard at the start of the morning shift.

New Delhi, August 17: The Delhi High Court today asked the Centre to pay Rs 23.75 lakh to the family of a chef who was killed in a road accident with an Indian Air Force (IAF) vehicle 11 years ago, after noting that he had served several dignitaries including the King and Queen of Spain.

“The deceased was a very highly qualified chef. The executive chef is one of the highest paid officials in five star hotels, it can be presumed that he had the capacity to earn at least Rs 20,000 per month,” Justice J R Midha said.

New Delhi, August 17: A meat supplier was today robbed of Rs 20 lakh at gunpoint in the national capital by three unknown men who fled from the scene after forcibly taking away a motorcycle from its rider.

The incident took place near Vijaya Bank branch in IP Extension area of east Delhi at around 3.10 pm. It was in the same locality that some motorcycle-borne robbers shot dead a security guard and robbed a businessman of Rs 18 lakh in May.

New Delhi, August 17: With the arrest of one person, police today claimed to have solved a murder case in which a 22-year-old man was stabbed by unidentified persons on February 24 in Karolbagh.

“Praveen alias Cheeni, 22, was arrested Friday last when he and his accomplice Gyaneshwar alias Jojo were extorting money from a jeweller near Haryana Dairy,” a senior police official said.

Saharsa, August 17: Abductors have demanded Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh respectively to release two boys, Abdullah (10) and Md Mujahidul Islam (15), kidnapped from Bihar’s Begusarai and Saharsa district on August 13, police said today.

Abductors of Abdullah, son of Md. Salauddin of Saidpur village of Begusarai district left a leaflet outside his residence yesterday, demanding a ransom of Rs 10 lakh.

Following this, Superintendent of Police Vinay Kumar visited Abdullah’s house and inquired about the case.

Uttarkashi, August 17: Two persons were killed and 25 others injured when a bus carrying them fell into a gorge in the district today, police said. The private bus, carrying a total of 27 passengers, was going to Kedarnath from Gangotri when the vehicle skidded off the road and fell into the 200-metre gorge at Sada village, eight km from Uttarkashi, Superintendent of Police Mukhtar Mohsin said.

While one pilgrim died on the spot, another succumbed to injuries in hospital, he said. The condition of the injured is stated to be stable, he said.

New Delhi, August 17: A notorious gangster involved in more than 40 cases was arrested in the national capital for allegedly kidnapping and killing a lawyer 10-day ago along with his associates, police said today. The arrested person was identified as Raj Kumar, a resident of Meerut involved in more than 40 cases of murder, attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity and kidnapping.

New Delhi, August 17: A Delhi court on Monday convicted four members of prestigious President’s Bodyguards (PBG) in the six-year-old Buddha Jayanti Park gang rape case.

Harpreet Singh and Satyender Singh have been found guilty of raping a 17-year-old student of a Delhi University college while two others — Kuldeep Singh and Manish Kumar — were convicted for helping them in commission of the offence.

Additional Sessions judge SK Saravaria posted the matter for hearing on August 22 on the quantum of sentence against the accused.

Bhopal, August 17: Two people were burnt alive when their car caught fire after hitting a tree in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh, police said Monday.

The car going from Khargone to Khandwa caught fire when it hit a tree in Bhikangaon locality while negotiating a turn. The passengers could not get down from the vehicle as they could not open the doors and were burnt alive, said a police official.

The victims were yet to be identified. Khargone is 350 km from here.

—-Agencies

Chennai, August 17: Seven people, including four members of a family and a five-month-old child, were crushed to death and four injured in two different gruesome road accidents in a city suburb and neighbouring Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu at the wee hours of today.

The tragedy had it that in both the accidents, the victims were returning after offering worship at Amman Temples, visited by people in large numbers during this Tamil month of “Aadi”, considered auspicious for seeking the blessings of different Amman Goddesses.

Surat, August 17: In a shocking incident, a 16-year-old girl was raped by two youngsters at Dungri village in Valsad district on Saturday. The two then left the girl in a farm and fled away with her cell phone and vehicle keys. The police have been trying to trace the culprits but are still clueless.

According to information, the victim was a student of class XII and a resident of Ghanori village of Valsad district. She was going to Dungri village for her tuitions.

Lucknow, August 17: Three postal officials, including a chief postmaster, in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district have been booked for allegedly molesting a woman colleague, provoking her to attempt suicide, police said Monday.

‘V. Ram, the chief postmaster, and two others working at the Postmaster General’s Office in Gorakhpur face multiple criminal cases that were registered against them on Sunday evening on a complaint filed by the 32-year-old employee,’ police inspector Vijay Singh told IANS over phone.

Cuttack, August 17: A minor staying at an orphanage in Cuttack has alleged that she was raped by one of its employees.

According to police, the 15-year-old orphanage inmate was spotted loitering near a railway track at Kandarpur by a lady teacher on Friday evening who took her to Chauliaganj police station.

Udhampur, August 17: A top Hizbul Mujahideen militant was shot dead by security forces during an encounter in Reasi district on Monday.

On a tip-off, army and police launched a joint cordon and search operation in Larad area of Mahore tehsil, 107 km from here, this morning, police said.

Militants opened fire on security forces who retaliated. In the subsequent encounter, the self-styled district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen identified as Altaf Hussein was killed.

The encounter was still continuing.

-Agencies

New Delhi, August 16:Two school dropout boys were arrested Sunday and 25 stolen bicycles were recovered from them in the capital, police said.

Acting on a complaint of Manmohan Singh about his son’s bicycle theft, the city Police arrested the two dropouts from Saket area Sunday morning.

“In the recent past, many bicycle thefts, particularly of costly geared cycles, were reported. A strict vigil was kept. Today morning, two juveniles were found roaming in the Saket area with a bicycle,” a police officer said.

Bihar, August 16: A woman allegedly poisoned her minor daughter and one-year-old son today before attempting to commit suicide in Bihar’s Aurangabad district.

The incident took place at Gahana village in Haspura police station of the district.

The police said Rekha Devi poisoned her son Indrajit Kumar and three-year-old daughter Vinu Kumari before drinking poison.

The kids died on the spot and the woman was battling for life at Sadar Hospital, the police said.

Family feud seems to be the reason behind the woman taking such extreme step, the police said.

—Agencies

Jammu, August 16: A 21-year-old woman was today allegedly raped and critically injured by a youth in Dayalachak area of Kathua district, police said.

The victim was allegedly raped by Amit Kumar when she was alone in her house, police said, adding when the woman tried to raise an alarm, the youth hit on her head with a sharp edged weapon and escaped.

She was later admitted to nearby hospital by her family members.

A case of rape and attempt to murder has been registered against the accused and efforts are on to nab him.

—Agencies