1. Serial Killer Who Murdered 10 People in 6 Months Held at Kumbh Mela
A 38-year-old man who has killed 10 people over the past six months , all in Allahabad and its environs, and who was planning to kill two seers at the Kumbh Mela, was arrested from the fair area itself on Friday, 25 January.
Three others who were attacked by the man are still fighting for their lives in hospital.
According to Special Superintendent of Police of Allahabad Nitin Tiwari, the accused, identified as Kaluwa aka Sai Baba alias Subhas, a resident of Basehara village under Lalapur police station of Allahabad district— attacked sleeping individuals with sharp-edged weapons. He said that footage from CCTV cameras finally helped capture the serial killer.
The motive for these killings wasn’t immediately clear.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. On Republic Day Eve, Militants Attack Forces with Grenades in Kashmir
Two grenade attacks by suspected militants were reported in Kashmir on Friday, 25 January, even as multi-tier security arrangements were put in place across the Valley ahead of Republic Day celebrations.
A police constable was wounded on his leg when suspected militants lobbed a grenade on a police party in the bus stand of Anantnag town late on Friday afternoon. He has been hospitalised, a police official said.
Another grenade was lobbed at a CRPF camp in Tahab area of Pulwama district which burst outside the camp with no loss of life or property.
A third blast happened near a CRPF bunker in north Kashmir Sopore town without any consequences. SP Sopore, Javid Iqbal said they are ascertaining the nature of the blast.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Gujarat Man Who Posed as Cop, Dropped Names in PMO, Held in Rape Case
A Vadodara-based conman, who would dupe people posing as a senior police officer with contacts in the PMO and with senior BJP functionaries, was arrested by the city crime branch in a rape case.
The complainant, the widow of a former serviceman, said that Bhupendra Vyas had raped her in a hotel in 2017 and reneged on his promise to marry her. Crime branch unit XI, led by inspectors Chimaji Adhav and Ghag, arrested Vyas from Vadodara and handed him over to the Malwani police.
The police said that Vyas would travel in an SUV to impress his targets.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. CBI Books Former Haryana CM Hooda in Fresh Case of Corruption
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday, 25 January, searched the residence of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda after registering a fresh case of corruption against him in connection with a land acquisition case in Gurgaon.
In an FIR registered on Wednesday, the CBI accused Hooda and Additional Chief Secretary with Haryana government Trilok Chandra Gupta for conspiring with as many as 14 builders to cheat land owners and Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) through fraudulent issue of licenses and release of acquired land to real estate developers.
The accused companies include DLF New Gurgaon Homes Developers, Emaar MGF, JMD Ltd, and Ansal Properties and Infrastructure.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Mumbai: Man Booked for Asking Driver to Dump Dead Puppy in Mangroves
A Malad resident was booked on Tuesday, 22 January, for allegedly instructing his driver to dump a dead puppy in the mangroves after he killed it while reversing a car. The driver has also been booked.
The incident took place on the premises of Girdhar Park housing society at Mith Chowki, Malad West, at 11:30 am when Rajukumar Yadav, who works as a driver for Nirmal Gupta, was reversing his Toyota Innova car to park it.
Police said Yadav drove over two puppies that were sleeping there, injuring them.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Punjab: Abductors Let Go Woman They Kidnapped Hours Before Wedding, CCTV Captures Horror
Abductors left at a bus stop a woman they had forcibly taken from outside a beauty parlour in Punjab’s Muktsar on Friday morning, 25 January, hours before her wedding, police said.
The abduction of the girl from Fazilka was caught on the CCTV camera installed at the adjoining shop.
“The kidnappers left the girl at Firozpur bus stand, the accused will be arrested soon” Ashok kumar SHO Muktsar said. The girl, who was to marry a youth from Muktsar, is under police protection at the moment.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Airline Employee Held with Gold Bars at Delhi's IGI Airport
A Jet Airways staffer is among two men arrested by the customs department in two separate cases of gold smuggling at Indira Gandhi International Airport, according to an official statement issued on Friday, 25 January.
Acting on an information, customs officials intercepted a Jet Airways technician on Wednesday. A detailed personal search resulted in recovery of four gold bars — weighing 1.3kg and worth Rs 43.4 lakh — from the pocket of his trouser, officials said.
He told officials that the gold belonged to a person named Rahees, who instructed him to hand over the gold bars to a person outside the Aerocity metro station. Later, Rahees was also caught.
Customs officials said further investigation is on.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Shakti Mills Gangrape: HC Pulls up Govt for Not Trying to Expedite Hearing on Confirmation of Death Sentence
The Bombay High Court on Friday, 25 January, pulled up the Maharashtra government for being insensitive and not making an effort for an expedited hearing on confirmation of death sentence awarded to the accused in the Shakti Mills gangrape case.
A division bench of Justice A S Oka and Justice A S Gadkari said: “In cases like these, if the state shows insensitiveness, then we can’t do anything.”
The bench made the observation after noticing that the state government had moved in June 2014, seeking confirmation on the death sentences awarded to the convicts and that it has been pending for over four years now.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Delhi: Neighbour Killed Woman to Get Rid of Rs 12 Lakh Debt
A month before she was to get married, a 32-year-old woman was murdered for demanding money she had lent a neighbour for their daughter’s wedding. Her body was found with the hands and feet tied near Desh Bandhu Gupta Road on Friday morning, 25 January.
Police have arrested the mastermind, Urmilla, who had lured the victim, Roshni, to her house on the pretext of settling the dues and got her sons to kill her.
DCP (central) Mandeep Singh Randhawa said Urmilla’s sons, Subham and Sumit, and their family friend Hemant have been arrested for the crime. A probe has revealed that they placed a stick on Roshni’s throat and stood on it to choke her to death.
(Source: The Times of India)
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