Jailed JD-U legislator quits party
Patna: Jailed legislator Sunil Pandey on Saturday quit Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U), a party leader said. Pandey has sent his resignation to JD-U state unit president Vashisht Narain Singh, the leader said. Pandey, a bahubali legislator from Terari constituency, was arrested in July on the charge of helping a gangster escape from judicial custody. He was the second JD-U legislator to be arrested in a criminal case in middle of this year. In June, Anant Singh, a legislator from Mokamah, was arrested in connection with a kidnapping-cum-murder case. Both Anant Singh and Pandey belong to powerful upper caste Bhumihar, a community who plays influential role in Bihar’s politics. Early this month, Anant Singh known as “Chhote Sarkar” for his muscle and money power, resigned from the JD-U. Anant Singh was arrested under pressure from Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad. The cases against him include those of murder and kidnapping. (IANS)
Four arrested for duping man
Jammu: Four persons, including a woman, have been arrested for duping a man of over Rs 35 lakh by promising him a stone with ‘miraculous properties’ in Kishtwar district, police said here on Saturday. One of the accused, Jia Chowdhary, came in contact with one Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Akhnoor area and promised to sell him a stone having miraculous properties which was worth crores of Rupees in the national market, they said. “The accused assured the victim that she has a miraculous product known as Radiation Stone worth crores of rupees in the national market. Mukesh fell into the trap and transferred Rs 13 lakh as first instalment to the bank account of Jia Chowdhary,” a senior police official said. Last Thursday Mukesh went to Kishtwar and handed over the remaining amount of Rs 22 lakh to the accused. “Instead of delivering the product, Jia along with her accomplices identified as Naresh Kumar, Mubarak Bakhtoo and Abdul Qayoom tried to escape from the town,” he said. On a complaint by Mukesh Kumar, police arrested the accused and recovered Rs 35 lakh from them last Thursday, the official said, adding a case has been registered and investigation was underway. (PTI)
3 wardens, jailor attacked by prisoners
Chennai: Three wardens and a jailor of Chennai Central Prison at Puzhal here were injured in an attack on Saturday by a group of prisoners, including some fundamentalists, a top police official said. Warden Muthumani (26) was attacked this evening by a group of inmates of the high security block when he was carrying out his routine supervisory duty. The others suffered minor injuries when they rushed to prevent it, he said. Subsequently other prison officials intervened and the four were rescued, he said. “There was some shoving and pushing and a physical attack and a warden sustained mild injuries,” he told PTI. Muthumani was taken to a hospital where an x-ray and scan did not reveal any serious injuries, he said. On the identity of the prisoners who carried out the attack, he said “This was (done by) prisoners, including some fundamentalists and we are looking into it.” Asked if Muthumani had sustained stab injuries or if any weapon was used, he said, “It was not a stab injury…the injury was on the head and we are looking into as to how he sustained the wound (on head).” (PTI)
Chennai Customs website hacked
Chennai: The website of Chennai customs department has been hacked and is not accessible. A Google search for www.chennaicustoms.gov.in throws up the information that the site has been “struck by Faisal 1337”. The site’s cached image shows the Indian flag in flames (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?qcache:http://www.chennaicustoms.gov.in/&strip0&vwsrc0) and messages: “We are Team Pak Cyber Attacker”, “Security is just an illusion”, and www.Faisal1337.com. Officials of Chennai Customs were not available for comments. (IANS)
Mild tremors hit Odisha
Bhubaneswar: Tremors measuring 3.2 and 2.8 on the Richter scale were felt in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district on Saturday morning, the meteorological department said here. The first tremors, which lasted for two-three seconds were experienced at 8.18 a.m. and again at 11.21 a.m., said Sarat Chandra Sahu, director of the Regional Meteorological Centre here. Since it was a very low magnitude earthquake it only affected Dhenkanal and its surrounding areas, the official added. Though no casualties or damage were reported, the temblors created panic among residents who left their houses and came out in the open. (IANS)
