1. Delhi Police Tracking ‘Godmen’ Based on Call Records to Solve Mysterious Deaths of Family of 11
More strange details emerged over what appears to be the ritualistic deaths of a family of 11 in Burari in North Delhi on Sunday, 1 July, even as police started investigating the role of godmen or occultists in the incident. The autopsies revealed that all 11 died from hanging.
A police officer said on condition of anonymity that investigators have come across four possible occultists or godmen in the phones of the dead, and were following these leads. The phones themselves were taped, in silent mode, and stored in a cupboard in the house. Interestingly, detailed notes recovered by the police asked people practising a ritual that promised “salvation” to not use mobile phones during the ritual.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. 42,000 Bottles of Illegal Cough Syrup Seized in Ahmedabad
In a joint operation, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) Gujarat seized a consignment of over 42,000 bottles of a cough syrup containing Codeine, “an alkaloid obtained from opium”. Three persons have been arrested in the case, officials said.
The seizures were made from three different places in the state over a period of two days. “This was the biggest seizure of the cough syrup which was stocked illegally,” said Hari Om Gandhi, zonal director, NCB-Ahmedabad.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Rape of 8-Year-Old Mandsaur Girl Was Committed ‘Spur of the Moment’: Accused Tell Police
The rape of an eight-year-old from Mandsaur was not planned ahead, but was a spur-of-the-moment decision, the two accused told police during interrogation.
The girl was abducted from her school by one of the accused and taken to Laxman Darwaza where the duo – Irfan and Asif – raped her, slit her throat and left her for dead. The girl suffered serious injuries to her neck, face and private parts. Both have been arrested and their remand has been extended for three more days till 5 July.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Bombay HC Reduces Life Sentence to 8 Years for Acid Attacker Who Married Victim
The Bombay high court set free a man sentenced to life imprisonment in an eight-year-old acid attack case in a college love affair gone awry after he said he has married his victim and intends to donate his skin for her plastic surgery.
The convict, Anil Patil, said the two had settled the matter “amicably’’ and wanted to lead a “peaceful life’’. He said he would also pay for her plastic surgery. A sessions court in Khed had, in December 2013, convicted Patil for having flung acid – an offence under Section 326 of the Indian Penal Code – and sentenced him to life in prison. He was also directed to pay a fine of Rs 25,000.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Senior Citizen Found Dead in Mumbai’s Cuffe Parade, Police Suspect Suicide
A 70-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at his Cuffe Parade residence. The incident came to light on Monday when the domestic help of the deceased had come for work.
The domestic help took the senior citizen to GT hospital, where he was declared dead, and had called the police control room about 12:30 pm. The police have identified the deceased as Vaid Prakash Garg from Daulat apartment in Cuffe Parade. Garg had retired as the general manager of a five-star hotel in south Mumbai, said an officer.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Class-VI Student 'Abducted' in Howrah
A Class-VI student was allegedly abducted on way to his coaching class at Howrah's Malipanchghara on Saturday. The Malipanchghara police have initiated a case of kidnapping.
According to the police, the boy had left for his coaching class around 11am on Saturday but never reached. Later, his father – who works in a beauty parlour –received a phone call where the caller allegedly said that the boy was kidnapped and also threatened him with dire consequences if he tried to contact police. However, no ransom demand was reportedly made.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Bengal Cops Hunt for Businessman Who Secretly Recorded Woman in Bathroom
Police in Bengal’s Malda district have launched a hunt for a businessman who allegedly shot a video of his neighbour taking a bath and shared it on Facebook and then threatened her family after she lodged a complaint.
The family of a 38-year-old woman in Malda was threatened with dire consequences after she refused to withdraw a police complaint against the businessman in Bakharpur village under Kaliachak police station in Malda district, about 400 km north of Kolkata.
The accused Imrul Sheikh is a prosperous cloth merchant and a neighbour of the victim. He is in his early thirties.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. One Arrested for Rape of Italian Woman by Mumbai Police
The Mumbai Police arrested a man on Monday who had claimed to be a tourist guide and allegedly raped a 37-year-old Italian woman inside a moving cab in Juhu last month. The accused was picked up from a residential area in Cuffe Parade Monday night, police said.
According to Juhu police, the accused has been identified as Rakesh Nandi Neelkanth. “We managed to find CCTV footage of the car the accused had hailed and taken the female tourist in. With the help of the cab driver, we managed to gather information on the accused,” a senior officer said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Constable Catches Culprits Who Targeted Older ATMs
A constable nabbed two men who adopted a novel modus operandi to steal money from older ATMs of banks across the city in the last several months. In older ATMs one does not have to swipe the card multiple times to do more than one transaction and the ‘time-out’ period is longer.
Police said the accused, Manoj Kumar, 26, and Munna Kumar, 26, would insert a small metal pin near number 0 on the keypad to disable it. When a customer enters the ATM kiosk they would remain inside on the pretext of helping him. They would figure out the PIN when the customer repeatedly tries to key it in after swiping the card. Once the customer leaves the kiosk, the two would remove the metal to release the keypad. If the transaction in the ATM had not been ‘timed out’ by then, they would key in the PIN and withdraw money from the customer’s account.
(Source: The Hindu)