Crime

Paris, March 19: A court on Thursday sentenced a French mother to 15 years in jail for smothering or strangling to death six of her newborn babies.

Celine Lesage, 38, risked a life jail sentence with no possibility of parole for 18 years for first degree murder. Prosecutors had demanded a 16-year-jail term.

Lesage, a petite brunette who has a teenaged son, on Monday admitted before the judge in the Channel town of Coutances to killing the six infants between 1999 and 2007.

Kochi, March 19: National Investigating Agency (NIA), probing various terror related cases in Kerala, on Friday arrested Shammy Firoz, a key accused in the Kozhikode twin blast case, at the International Airport near Nedumbassery.

Firoz (28) of Parappanangadi of Kozhikode district was returning to Kochi by an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi, when the NIA personnel nabbed him and took him in custody, police said.

Panaji, March 19: Five policemen, including a senior police inspector, have been arrested in Goa on Thursday for links with an Israeli drug dealer who was detained by the police a week ago. The policemen have been booked for corruption and conspiracy.

Atala alias Yaniv Benahim, an Israeli drug operator who was living illegally in Goa for years, turned himself in last week after a video clip of him uploaded on Youtube showed him bragging about his connections with corrupt policemen in Goa’s Anti-Narcotics Cell.

Kolkata, March 19: Two students died in the southern suburb of the city on Thursday after they were allegedly fed food laced with poison by a schoolmate.

According to Laxmi Narayan Meena, Superintendent of Police, West Bengal’s South 24 Pargana district, DDV School students Jyoti Singh (13) and Payel Pandey (11) were admitted to the Bangur hospital in a critical condition by the school authorities.

Report awaited

New Delhi, March 19: Employees of the District Collector’s Office went on a flash strike on Thursday to protest against an attack on a peon at the office on Thrusday evening. Kaluram Vasudev Jadhav (50) of Kasewadi allegedly attacked Hiraman Sakharam Bibve (58), a peon at the revenue department of the district collectorate, with a sharp weapon, resident deputy collector Anil Pawar informed.

The reason for the attack was apparently personal enmity. The Bund Garden police have arrested Jadhav on charges of attempt to murder in the case.

New Delhi, March: An antique idol of Lord Mahaveer worth Rs.1 crore has been seized from a 25-year-old man who has been arrested, police said Thursday.

Vikas Rawat was taken into custody Sunday from south Delhi’s Kotla Mubarakpur area.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has confirmed that the idol is antique, said a police officer.

“He said the idol was given to him by a guard who works in Defence Colony. The idol is being sent to ASI to find out its age,” the officer added.

—Agencies

Punjab, March 18: A Pakistani national was killed in a gunbattle with security forces Thursday while trying to smuggle in 26 kg of heroin and fake currencies with a face value of Rs.18 lakh along the international border here.

According to the Border Security Force (BSF), four smugglers were intercepted while trying to sneak into India at border post S. Wala along the 553-km long fenced-border.

Bhubaneswar, March 18: One battalion BSF personnel arrived in Orissa’s Koraput district today ahead of the special joint operation against Maoists to be launched soon, official sources said.

Though the state government is yet to decide the date of launching the operation, a senior police official said it could begin next month after arrival of five battalions of central para-military forces required for the job.

Siddharth Nagar, March 18: One person was arrested and five precious antique idols allegedly stolen from Nepal were recovered from his possession, police said here today.

Vindhyachal was arrested from Dumariyaganj area and five precious statues of Lord Ram-Janki reportedly stolen from Kapilavastu district in Nepal were recovered from his possession, they said, adding that two of his accomplices however managed to escape.

Police claimed that the estimated cost of the statues in international market was worth several crore rupees.

–Agencies

New Delhi, March 18: An irod rod pierced into the thigh of an auto driver here today when his vehicle crashed into iron rods dangling from a truck, police said today.

The incident took place in southeast Delhi’s Kalkaji at around 4.30 am and the injured has been identified as Amrik Singh.

The truck applied brakes suddenly near Modi Mill Flyover and the auto-rickshaw crashed into it. An iron rod pierced the windshield and the auto driver’s thigh, police said.

The truck was transporting some iron rods from Chandigarh to Okhla Industrial Area.

Barasat (WB), March 18: RAF and armed policemen were today deployed at Kharda in North 24-Parganas district after a mob torched a police vehicle and an empty prison van following a road accident in which a 10-year-old boy was crushed to death under the wheels of a dumper.

The police said the mob also burnt down the dumper and prevented fire tenders from reaching the burning vehicle.

The mob fought a pitched battle with the police as it rushed to take the body away from the troubled spot.

Sibsagar, March 18: At least 30 persons besides six securitymen were injured, some of them seriously, in a mob violence after a youth was knocked down by a vehicle in which top ONGC officers were travelling in upper Assam’s Sibsagar district today.

The top officials, Executive Director P S V Rao, Human Resource director A K Balyan and Director (Onshore) Ajit Hazarika were returning after a programme when their vehicle collided head on with a motorcyclist who died on the spot at 2.30 pm.

Sunderbans (WB), March 18: A fisherman fought off a Royal Bengal Tiger for half an hour today after being attacked by the animal at Chulkathi in the Sunderbans forest.

However, Narugopal Das, who was fishing in a creek at the jungle, suffered serious injuries, officials said.

Narugopal along with four others was fishing in a creek at the jungle when suddenly a big tiger jumped on him, they said.

Midnapore (WB), March 18: Five girls, arrested from hotels across West Bengal’s East Midnapore district for their alleged involvement in prostitution, today fled from a state- run home for destitute where they were kept on a court order, police said.

According to police, 27 girls were arrested in the last seven days for allegedly involved in prostitution from hotels at Haldia, Sutahata and Mahisadal in the district recently.

They were kept at the state-run Vidyasagar Balika Home here following a Haldia court order.

New Delhi, March 18: A Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT) has awarded a compensation of Rs 6.07 lakh to man who became unable to produce a child due to injuries in his private parts after being hit by a speeding vehicle in a road accident.

Bijnor, March 18: Three pilgrims today died on the spot and 25 others were injured when a mini bus carrying about 40 pilgrims was hit by a lorry from behind near village Mandawali in the district, police said. The bus was going from Thakurdwara in Moradabad district to Kaliar Sharief near Roorkee when the accident occurred in the wee hours, they said adding the injured have been rushed to the district hospital.

Eleven of them were later sent to Meerut in a serious condition. The truck driver has been arrested.

—PTI–

Haridwar, March 18: Four persons were killed and another was injured when two trucks collided at Sisona village on Delhi-Dehra Dun highway, police today said. The driver and cleaner of one of the lorries were killed in the mishap last night.

The other casualties were two cyclists knocked down by the speeding vehicle. Another cyclist was injured, they added.

—-PTI—

Kanpur, March 18: A Head Constable, suspended along with three other policemen in connection with an alleged custodial death, has been arrested, officials said. Mukesh, a resident of the city, was allegedly picked up by police from Anandpuri area here on March 4 and detained for interrogation in a case related to narcotic smuggling.

His body was later found in a village of Kanpur (Dehat) district on March 10. A post mortem confirmed that Mukesh had been strangled to death.

Warangal, March 18: A Maoist couple, who were active in adjoining Maharashtra, handed over themselves to the police in Andhra Pradesh’s Warangal district on Thursday.

Mallesh alias Vinod and his wife Chaya alias Kavitha surrendered before District Superintendent of Police (SP) Shah Nawaz Qasim here.

They were operating in Gadchiroli, the worst Naxal-hit district in Maharashtra, Qasim told over phone.

Mumbai, March 18: The body of an unidentified man was found in the mangroves in Ekta Nagar slum at Kandivli on Tuesday afternoon. A local resident discovered the body when he went to the area at 3.15 pm to answer nature’s call.

He called the police. The police said the man’s neck had been slit and few of his fingers had been amputated.

The deceased seemed to be between 25 and 30 years old. “He was wearing a shirt and trousers, but no footwear,” said an officer from Kandivli police station requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Mumbai, March 18: A mobile shop owner, his mother and sister were arrested for abetting his wife’s suicide. The 27-year-old woman was found hanging in her Mumbai Central residence.

The accused, Sohail Sheikh (30), his mother Mumtaz (55) and his sister, Siddiqa (28) were arrested on Wednesday. The trio was booked on charges of harassment and abetment of suicide.

Raipur, March 18: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper was killed and two others were injured in a blast triggered by Maoists Thursday in a thickly forested area in Chhattisgarh.

“A CRPF head constable was killed and his two colleagues sustained injuries when Maoist militants attacked a CRPF contingent with an improvised explosives device (IED). They were on a road opening assignment,” Avinash Mohanty, Bijapur district superintendent of police, told reporters the phone.

Jamui (Bihar), March 18: At least 12 people were injured, four of them critically, in a bomb explosion in a jeep near Lakshmipur in Bihar’s Jamui district on Thursday.

As soon as the jeep carrying passengers from Sangrampur to Jamui reached a petrol pump near Lakshmipur, a crude bomb kept in the vehicle went off, police sources said.

Twelve people, including the driver and helper of the vehicle, were injured in the blast.

Mumbai, March 18: In a shocking incident, a 65-year-old man went on shooting spree in a housing society in Andheri on Thursday that left a 16-year-old girl dead and two policemen injured, before he was shot down by the police.

The elderly man identified as Harish Marodia is a retired custom officer and was reportedly mentally unstable.

As per preliminary reports, Marodia, a resident of Saujanya Apartment near Navrang Cinema hall had a long standing property dispute with the girl’s family also residing in the same building.

Patna, March 18: At least 10 people were injured in a blast in Bihar’s Jamui district early on Thursday morning, police said.

According to police sources, 10 people were injured in the incident near Lakhsmipur in Jamui, about 150 km from here. The injured were admitted to the government hospital, police said.

-IANS