Get all the latest incidents, crimes, diseases, and weather reports of today.
Man commits suicide amid marital strife
A man going through marital strife allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan of his house in North Delhi’s Lahori Gate area, said an official on Tuesday.
The deceased has been identified as Ashif Mumtaj (40), a resident of Farashkhana near Lahori Gate area.
According to Sagar Singh Kalsi, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (north), on Monday an information was received regarding a man hanging from a fan following which a police team reached the spot.
“On reaching the spot, the police found a man hanging from a ceiling fan with the help of a white cloth. The caller was Wasim, the brother of Ashif who was passing through a marital discord,” said the official.
“Ashif had got married about eight years ago and had two children. He runs a footwear shop at Wazirabad. On Monday, a family meeting was held which decided that the couple would live separately,” said the official.
“A crime team is carrying on an inspection while legal proceedings under section 174 code of criminal procedure (CrPC) are underway,” he said.
Kodanad heist & murder case: Police question kin of dead computer operator
In a new turn to the infamous Kodanad estate murder and heist case, the CB- CID team of Tamil Nadu Police visited the residence of Dhinesh Kumar, computer operator of the estate office, who committed suicide on July 3, 2017.
A seven-member team of CB-CID officers questioned Dhinesh Kumar’s parents and other relatives and friends. The police team visited the residence of Dinesh Kumar where he was found dead under suspicious circumstances.
The DMK had in its election manifesto had stated that it would conduct a reinvestigation into the Kodanad murder cum heist case if it was voted back to power.
Kodanad estate is jointly owned by former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Late J. Jayalalithaa and her close aide and former interim general secretary of AIADMK, V.K. Sasikala.
After the death of Jayalalitha on December 5, 2016 and the arrest of Sasikala in February, 2017 in a disproportionate asset case, there was a major heist in Kodanad estate on April 23 and 24, 2017 in which the guard of the estate Om Bahadur died.
Another watchman, Krishna Thapa was found grievously injured in an attack and he told the police that a group of 10 men had arrived at the estate and attacked them.
The first accused in the case was Kanakarajan, former driver of Jayalalithaa. In a twist of events, Kanakarajan died in a road accident when he was hit by a speeding truck on the Salem- Chennai highway five days after the Kodanad heist. On the same day, the second accused, Sayan, and his family met with an accident at Walayar in Palakkad district in which his wife and daughter died and Sayan escaped.
Dinesh Kumar, the computer operator of the Kodanad estate was found hanging in his house under mysterious circumstances on July 3, 2017.
The DMK government has constituted a special team of CB-CID sleuths of Tamil Nadu Police to conduct a re-investigation into the case.
Dense fog envelopes Delhi, reduces visibility
Dense fog enveloped Delhi and parts of northern India on Tuesday, lowering visibility to 25 metres in the national capital and affecting traffic movement.
“The lowest visibility reported at 5:30 hours IST Dated 20.12.2022: Bhatinda: 00; Amritsar: 25; Ganganagar: 25; Patiala: 25; Delhi (Palam): 25; Lucknow: 25; Delhi (SFD): 50; Purnea: 50; Ambala: 200; Agra: 200; Gorakhpur: 300; Bareilly: 500; Patna: 500; Gaya: 500; Kolkata: 500,” the India Meteorological Department (IMD) tweeted.
The IMD has also issued a ‘cold wave’ alert in many other states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
As per the Department, the minimum temperature in Delhi on Tuesday was 6 degrees Celsius, and the maximum temperature is expected to be 22 degrees.
“Following the light winds at lower tropospheric levels over the Indo-Gangetic plains and moisture, dense to very dense fog in is very likely to be in some pockets over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh during the next three days in the night and morning hours and dense fog in isolated pockets for subsequent two days,” an IMD official said on Tuesday.
The Department also said that some parts of Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim may also experience dense fog during the next two days.
Minimum temperatures are in the range of 2-4 degrees Celsius over Punjab, Haryana and north Rajasthan.
“Due to dry north/northwesterly winds from the Himalayas, cold wave conditions are likely to continue in isolated pockets over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and north Rajasthan during the next 4-5 days,” it said.
The IMD said that there will be no significant change in minimum temperature over the next 4-5 days.
Couple in UP booked for forced conversion to Christianity
A couple, visiting Sitapur along with tourists from Brazil, has been booked under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act for allegedly forcing people to convert to Christianity.
The main accused, David Ashthana, was arrested late on Monday night.
Naimish Gupta, a resident of Sehbajpur village, lodged an FIR alleging that a couple from Lucknow, David Asthana and Rohini Asthana, reached their village with Brazilian tourists, identified as Rivaldo Joses DaSilva, Magnolia Maro Laronzera, Gulheram Nasimento Edalgo and Alexander D’Silva.
“They met the villagers and tried to force them to convert,” Gupta said.
Circle Officer Mahmoodabad, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said, “A police team reached the village after getting information from Naimish Gupta. The Brazilians informed us that they were here on a tourist visa and were visiting Sitapur with the couple from Lucknow. Investigation is underway and the tourists will be questioned. We have registered a case against David and his wife. They were not able to explain why they took the tourists to a small village in Sitapur,” Prasad said.
He said that the statements of villagers would also be recorded before initiating further action.
Police said it is yet to be established how the tourists came in touch with the couple.
Girl dies of suffocation from gas geyser in UP
A 17-year-old girl died due to suffocation in the washroom in Kandla town of the district.
Ishika Goel, a Class 12 student, had gone to take a bath, but when she did not come out of the washroom for long, the family broke open the door and found her lying unconscious.
She was rushed to the hospital where doctors declared her dead.
The cause of death is stated to be the release of gas from a geyser and non-ventilation.
The deceased’s father Sanjay Goyal, who is a trader, said, “The family members are in shock.”
Shamli health department medical officer, Dr Anupam Saxena said, “Gas geysers are usually present in homes, but proper arrangements must be made for their ventilation.”
3 LeT terrorists killed in Kashmir’s Shopian
Three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir’s Shopian district, officials said on Tuesday.
“Among the three neutralised local terrorists, two identified as Lateef Lone of Shopian, involved in killing of a Kashmiri Pandit Purana Krishna Bhat; and Umer Nazir of Anantnag, involved in killing of Till Bahadur Thapa of Nepal. One AK-47 rifle and two pistols recovered,” the J&K Police quoting Additional Director General Police Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar said in a tweet.
The encounter started after a joint team of police and security forces received a tip-off about the presence of terrorists in that the Munjh Marg area.
After the area was cordoned off, terrorists started firing drawing retaliation by the security forces.
UP: BJP MP acquitted in 29-yr-old murder case
An MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district has absolved BJP MP from Kaiserganj , Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and two others of all charges in a 29-year-old case related with the attack on former Samajwadi Party Cabinet Minister Vinod Kumar Singh a.k.a. Pandit Singh in 1993.
Pandit Singh died due to Covid-19 on May 7, 2021.
Jitendra Gupta, Additional District Judge, MP/MLA court, acquitted Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Gyan Singh and Deep Narain Yadav Pehlwan of all charges due to lack of evidence.
Pandit Singh’s relative Yogendra Singh had lodged an FIR on December 24, 1993, at Nawabganj police station, Gonda, alleging that four car-borne miscreants attacked Pandit Singh when he was standing outside his house.
After firing several rounds, the miscreants fled presuming that Pandit Singh was dead.
Lawyers Srikant Srivastava, Bhupeshwar Upadhyay and Upendra Mishra, who represented the BJP MP in the court, said the prosecution was not able to prove the charges in the court.
At the time of attack, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was at his Delhi residence, the lawyers added.
5 held in Assam for performing bike stunts on national highway
A total of five persons were held in Assam’s Hailakandi district for performing risky bike stunts on the national highway, the police said on Monday.
A senior police officer said that five youths were doing bike stunts on the national highway that connects Hailakandi with another nearby district Karimganj.
Police arrested all of them, identified as Amin Laskar, Abdur Rahman Laskar, Fakrul Islam Laskar, Abdul Aziz, and Iqbal Hussain Majumdar.
The bike stunts of the group caught the attention of the police after one of them uploaded a video on social media.
Earlier, special DGP of Assam G.P. Singh had warned the bikers who try to perform dangerous stunts on the highway.
Singh wrote on Twitter: “People of Assam are requested to inform through Direct Message about any place or persons indulging in stunt biking on a regular basis. Such displays on social media platforms may also be brought to the notice of Assam Police.”
On Monday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also directed all district administration officials to ensure proper safety measures to bring down road accidents in Assam.
NIA arrests 9 Sri Lankans from TN camp in arms, drug supply case
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested nine Sri Lankans from a special camp in Tamil Nadu’s Trichy in a case relating to illegal drugs and arms trade in Sri Lanka and India.
The accused were identified as C. Gunashekharan alias Guna alias Prem Kumar, Pushparajah alias Pookutti Kanna, Mohammad Asmin, Alahapperumaga Sunil Ghamini Fonseca, Stanly Kennady Fernando, Ladiya, Dhanukka Roshan, Vella Suranka alias Gamage Suranga Pradeep, and Thilipan alias Dileepan.
The case pertains to activities of a Sri Lankan drug mafia controlled by Gunashekharan and Pushparajah, in association with Pakistan-based arms and drug supplier Haji Salim, operating in illegal drugs and arms for the revival of the LTTE in India and Sri Lanka, and to further its violent activities.
The case was registered suo moto by the NIA on July 8 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Further investigations in the matter are on.
Bengaluru man books maid service online, rapes and locks her up
A man in Bengaluru was arrested on Monday for allegedly raping a 21-year-old maid, whose services were booked online, and locking her up in his house, police said.
The accused was identified as private company employee Parashiva Murthy, 47, a resident of Kudlu under Parappana Agrahara police station in the outskirts of the city.
According to police, the accused booked the maid on the ‘Book My Bai’ app. He maintained that he needed maid service for home chores and to look after his aged parents.
Based on the request, the 21-year-old woman was sent to his home from the Wilson Garden office of the ‘Book My Bai’ app. Murthyhad raped her when she came to work and threatened to kill her that if she told anyone about this to anyone, he would kill her.
He further locked her up in his house and went out to work. The girl had informed about her situation over the phone to the office. The office staff have complained the matter to the Parappana Agrahara police station.
The police broke open the door of the house and rescued the victim. Later, they arrested the accused and took up further investigation.