1. Balaji Temple Head Priest Shot Dead in Chitrakoot
Head priest of the famous Balaji temple in Chitrakoot was shot dead late on the evening of 16 January. His driver was also injured in the shootout. Sources told Hindustan Times that property dispute could be the reason for the killing.
Mahant Arjun Dass, 45, was shot twice on the head from close range and his driver Arvind was shot in the chest, said the police.
The two assailants, the police said, were hiding close to the temple. As the mahant came down with driver to visit the akhara, they began firing at them.
The assailants were last seen entering the Shamshan Ghat on a motorcycle.
Both of them were rushed to the district hospital where the mahant was declared dead.
SP, Chitrakoot, Ankit Mittal said an alert had been sounded and all exit points of the city sealed and vehicles were being checked.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. UP: Civic Board Chief, His Two Brothers Held for Rs 1.27 Crore Bank Fraud
Chairman of Bhinga municipal board and his two brothers were arrested by a Shrawasti Crime Branch team in connection to an FIR registered against them in 2018 for allegedly siphoning off Rs 1.27 crore from the bank account of a man by forging his signature.
While chairman Ajay Arya and his brother Ashish Arya were arrested from Lucknow on Wednesday, the third brother Vijay was arrested from Shrawasti.
The arrests were made after the court issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Ajay, Ashish and Vijay.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Delhi: Four Months After Woman Shot Dead in Car, 1 Held
Months after a 59-year-old woman was shot dead inside her car in East Delhi’s Madhu Vihar during a robbery bid, police arrested the prime accused in the case, Md Mazhar, from New Seelampur.
Police said Mazhar was arrested along with another man, Kamrul, in connection with over 12 cases of snatching and robbery Thursday, 16 January. While they were checking their criminal backgrounds, police found that Mazhar was wanted for the murder.
A senior police officer from the East district told The Indian Express that Mazhar had been identified as the main accused in the murder by one of his associates, who was caught in a robbery case in Pandav Nagar two months ago. “In that case, Mazhar had managed to flee but we caught his associate who told us that Mazhar was involved in the murder,” he said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Mumbai: Casting Director Arrested for Running Sex Racket
Mumbai Police arrested a casting director in Versova late on Tuesday, 14 January, for allegedly pushing aspiring actors into prostitution.
The Social Service Branch of the Crime Branch contacted the accused, identified as Navin Premlal Arya (32), through a decoy customer after receiving information that he was operating a sex racket and arranged to meet him outside a popular cafe.
Officers said two women, aged 18 and 24, were rescued. They are natives of West Bengal.
According to the police, Arya had sold them into the flesh trade for Rs 60,000 each.
Inspector Sandesh Revale said Arya was running the sex racket for at least four years. He was booked under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Mason Held for Raping 16-Year-Old Daughter, Impregnating Her
The father of a 16-year-old girl was arrested on Thursday, 16 January, for repeatedly raping her for six months and impregnating her.
The accused, aged 35, is a mason by profession, police said.
The crime came to fore when the girl realised she was pregnant and contacted the Childline helpline. After the helpline counsellors got the victim medically examined, she was found four months pregnant.
Soon after, the accused brought the 16-year-old girl back home, and forced her to fast on Karva Chauth, saying he will marry her. This was followed by a slew of rapes, Bedi added.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Suspecting Infidelity, Bijnor Man Murders Wife, Ends Life in Panchkula
Piqued by his wife’s infidelity, a 21-year-old man strangled her to death at their house and later ended his life by jumping in front of a train on Thursday, 16 January.
The deceased were identified as Shaba Khair, 20, a native of Meerut, and Faizan, a native of Bijnour, Uttar Pradesh, who was a daily wager. The couple lived in Rajiv Colony, Sector 17, Panchkula.
Police said Faizan strangled his wife using a mobile phone charger’s cord around 10 am and left home. Around 12.30 pm, a neighbour visited the couple’s house and was shocked to find Shaba lying dead on the bed with a wire wrapped around her neck.
The neighbours alerted the police, following which a team from the Sector 16 police post reached the spot, and moved the body to the civil hospital in Sector 6, Panchkula.
Around noon, the Chandigarh Government Railway Police (GRP) were informed of a suicide on a railway track at Vikas Nagar, Mauli Jagran.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Teen Held for Raping Seven-Year-Old in Greater Noida
A 16-year-old boy has been detained for allegedly raping a seven-year-old girl in a Jarcha village on Wednesday, 16 January. The alleged assault came to light after the girl opened up to her parents. She told her parents that the accused, who lives in the neighbourhood, took her to a room on the pretext of accompanying her to a nearby market and then raped her.
According to the complaint filed by her family, the girl was on her way to the market when the youth persuaded her to a room in a dark alley. After a few minutes, the girl came crying to her mother and narrated the incident.
Anil Kumar Singh, the station house officer of Jarcha police station, said that they received information about the alleged rape around 11 pm. The girl’s father had returned from his office in Bulandshahr and called up the police.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Ludhiana: Cop Opens Fire On Woman at Her Residence, Booked; SIT Constituted
An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Ludhiana police allegedly opened fire at a woman at her residence in sector-32 on Chandigarh road in Ludhiana Tuesday, 14 January, following an argument over a monetary dispute and also threatened her daughter to keep mum.
Later, he himself rushed the woman to the hospital in his vehicle and then fled from the spot. The scared daughter of the injured woman told her father about the incident Tuesday late when he was still at work.
Police registered an FIR for an attempt to murder against the ASI on the statement of the injured woman.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Man Surrenders After Killing Wife By Hitting Her With Iron Pestle: Cops
A man allegedly killed his wife by smashing her forehead with an iron pestle after an argument over some domestic issue in Wadi area in Nagpur, police said.
The incident occurred on Wednesday, 15 January afternoon and the accused, Siddharth Sonpipale (35), surrendered before police hours later, following which he was arrested, police said.
"The man then tried to destroy the evidence by washing his dead wife's blood-soaked clothes. He left his home after cleaning the floor and covering the body in a blanket," he added.
The accused then consumed liquor somewhere outside and changed his mind.
"He surrendered before the police and told them about the crime he had committed,." Borate said.
An offence under murder and causing disappearance of evidence has been registered against him, police said.
(Source: NDTV)
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