Gold loan firm robbery: 2 kg gold, Rs 35 lakh seized
Jaipur: Around 2 kg gold and Rs 35 lakh in cash was seized from the residences of two alleged accomplices of a former army man arrested in connection with robbery at a gold loan firm here, police said on Wednesday. The refined gold weighing about 2 kg was recovered from Surendra’s house in Laxmangarh in Sikar district on Tuesday, while Rs 35 lakh was recovered from Sanjay’s house in Sikar district on Wednesday, police said, adding that the two are absconding. Eight accused in the case are at large even after the arrest of kingpin Brijesh, a former army man hailing from Nawalgarh of Jhunjhunu district. Brijesh was recently arrested in Delhi in connection with the robbery of jewellery worth Rs 9 crore from IIFL gold loan company here last November. Three pistols, 31 live cartridges and a luxury bike were seized from him. (PTI)
BJD distributing cash among voters in BMC poll: Odisha Cong leader
Bhubaneswar: Alleging extensive use of money by ruling BJD in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls being held on Wednesday, senior Congress leader and Union Minister Srikant Jena said distribution of cash for votes posed a serious threat to democracy. “The way money is being used to buy votes has posed a serious challenge and threat to the very fabric of democracy,” the union minister for chemicals and fertilisers told reporters here. “While BJD workers openly and blatantly distributed cash among the voters in different wards in the urban body area, the state election commission remained a helpless and mute spectator,” he alleged. Jena said that the use of money power by the ruling BJD has not only brought to the fore the role of black money in the election but also ruined the entire poll process. (PTI)
16-year-old girl kills baby after secretly giving birth
Nizamabad (AP): A 16-year-old girl student allegedly threw her newborn baby from the window of her school hostel in the district following which the infant died, police said here today. The girl, studying in class X at a state-run residential school for girls, had delivered a baby boy in the early hours at the school hostel on Tuesday. However, the panic-stricken girl threw the newborn from the window of the hostel toilet, police said, adding that the infant died while undergoing treatment. “During the preliminary investigation, it was found that the girl’s marriage was fixed with her aunt’s son. When she had gone to her house at Pitlam mandal during the vacations last year, they had physical relations which resulted in her pregnancy,” a senior police officer said. Police have registered a case under Section 315 of IPC (act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth) against the girl, who has been shifted to a hospital for treatment. A case of rape has been booked against the her aunt’s son and efforts were on to nab him, police added. (PTI)
Maharashtra State Govt employees to go on indefinite strike
Kolhapur: Before the upcoming general Lok Sabha election, about 20 lakh State Government employees including Gazetted officers, semi-government employees, and teachers will go on indefinite strike in the next month (February-2014) for their long pending demands. In a press conference here here this afternoon, Yogiraj Khonde, President of State Government Employees Central Organization (SGECO) said, ‘government employees are agitating from November 2011 but Chief Minister Prthviraj Chavan has not taken notice. The finalised date for the strike will decide in the State Working Committee meeting on January 19 in Nashik, he added. (PTI)
Summons issued to probe officer in Muzaffarnagar case
Muzaffarnagar: A local court has issued summons to the investigating officer to appear in court and explain the progress made in the Shahnawaz murder case. Chief Judicial Magistrate Narender Kumar on Tuesday asked the officer to appear before the court on January 14 to explain the progress in the case of killing of Shahnawaz in Kawal village in the district. On August 27, 26-year-old Kalwaurf Shahnawaz Kalwaurf was allegedly stabbed by two youths Gaurav and Sachin, who were later lynched by a mob in the village. The summons was issued after Shahnawaz’s father alleged that no progress has been made in his son’s murder case. He said charge sheet had been filed in Gaurav and Sachin murder case and five people have already been arrested in this connection. (PTI)