Regional

Panaji, Oct 14 (IANS) The Goa Police on Friday arrested one person for allegedly recording video of a girl while she was taking a bath in the Girls Hostel washroom.

Panaji Police inspector Nikhil Palekar told IANS that the accused person, identified as Cipson Gomes, 25, has been arrested.

Responding to a question, Palekar said that the accused person climbed the building using pipes and then recorded video while the complainant was taking a bath.

"The accused person has been arrested," he said.

Police are further investigating the case.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Oct 14 (IANS) The iconic cable-stayed cum suspension bridge approved by the Centre across the Krishna river will meet a long pending demand of the people of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The Somasila-Siddeswaram bridge will cut short the distance and significantly reduce the travel time between Telangana state and Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh.

The distance by road between Kollapur in Nagarkurnool district of Telangana and Atmakur in Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh is about 175 km.

Once the bridge is completed, those travelling from Hyderabad to Kadapa, Chittoor and Tirupati in the neighbouring state will not have to take a detour through Kurnool.

The bridge is expected to cut the distance between Hyderabad and Tirupati by 80 km. Currently, the distance between the two cities is 580 km.

The Centre early this year gave its approval to a new national highway that links the two Telugu states through a short route. The highway to be built at the cost of Rs.1,700 crore will link Kalwakurthy, Nagarkurnool and Kollapur in Telangana to Atmakur and Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh.

The new sanctioned iconic bridge will be part of this national highway. Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari took to Twitter to share details of the proposed bridge.

He announced that the iconic cable-stayed cum suspension bridge across Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has been approved at a total cost of Rs 1082.56 crore with the construction period of 30 months.

He wrote that this would be the first of its kind in India and the second in the world.

It would have several unique features like the longest glass pedestrian walkway across a river, gopuram-like pylons, signature lighting and a large navigational span.

The hybrid structural arrangement in the bridge will give a structural advantage to it & make it economical as well as aesthetically pleasing.

The bridge has beautiful surroundings with the sprawling Srisailam reservoir surrounded by Nallamala forests and high mountains with huge tourist potential and presents an attractive view of Lalitha Someswara Swamy temple on Telangana side and Sangameswaram temple on Andhra Pradesh side.

People on both sides of the Krishna river have long been demanding construction of the bridge. It picked up momentum after 61 people died in a boat capsize in the river on January 19, 2007. The tragedy occurred near Nehru Nagar in Kurnool district when they were on their way to take part in Singotam Jatara in Kollapur.

Chief minister of the then united Andha Pradesh Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy had promised to build the bridge and sanctioned Rs 50 crore.

However, the project did not take off due to 2009 elections, Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy's death in a helicopter crash and subsequent political developments, including Telangana agitation.

Following fresh demands from people on both sides of the river, Kiran Kumar Reddy, the last chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh, had sanctioned Rs 250 crore for the bridge. However, the project remained a non-starter.

After the division of Andhra Pradesh and formation of Telangana in 2014, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government approved the bridge plan and sanctioned Rs 190 crore. It urged the then Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government in Andhra Pradesh to release their portion of funds. The project, however, remained on paper.

In the 2019 elections, the bridge had become a poll issue. The BJP candidate in Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha constituency in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana had promised to get the bridge constructed.

Kollapur MLA B. Harshavardhan Reddy had claimed that the promise to build the bridge made him switch loyalties from to TRS in 2019, a few months after he won the election on Congress ticket.

--IANS
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Gir (Gujarat), Oct 14 (IANS) A Class 10 student had to be hospitalised after he was allegedly made to do 200 sit ups as punishment by a teacher here, sources said on Friday.

He is undergoing treatment at a Rajkot hospital, where doctors have diagnosed swelling in his kidneys.

District Education Officer Rajesh Dodiya has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
He told IANS that he learnt about the punishment given to class X student Karan in Saraswati school in Una taluka through social media. He has ordered the Education Inspector to inquire into the allegations.

School principal D.K. Vaja and the teacher have claimed that it is a 15-day-old incident, but denied that the student was made to do 200 sit ups. Yet, the department will inquire into allegations impartially, and if any substance is found in the allegations, a police complaint will be filed against the teacher.

Karan's father Maheshgiri told the media that about a week or ten days ago, upon returning from school, his son complained of muscle cramps on the legs and was constantly vomiting. He was rushed to a private hospital but the doctors referred him to a doctor in Rajkot, where the primary diagnoses revealed swelling in his kidneys.

He has demanded action against the teacher and school principal.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 14 (IANS) A Kerala man on Friday severed the hand of his wife and slashed the fingers of the other hand using a knife in a fit of rage over a domestic quarrel.

The incident occurred at Kanakary near Kottayam around 0930 a.m., said local village councillor.

For the past few days there has been a tiff between Pradeep and his wife Manju, locals said.

Pradeep is known for his alcoholic tendencies and there have been skirmishes between the couple in the past. After every fight, he used to apologise and promise to behave, but soon returned to his quarrelsome nature.

"As soon as I heard of the incident, I reached their home and saw Manju lying in a pool of blood. Manju was immediately rushed to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital. We are told that the surgery is going on with the doctors trying to attach the severed hand," said the councillor.

The couple has a 13-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl.

When Pradeep was attacking his wife, their daughter tried to intervene and suffered minor injuries.

Pradeep fled the scene on a two-wheeler and the police have launched a manhunt to nab him.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Oct 14 (IANS) The Income Tax (I-T) Department was conducting searches at multiple locations in Hyderabad on Friday.

As many as 25 I-T teams were conducting simultaneous searches at different premises of RS Brothers, a leading garment and jewellery retailer.

According to sources, the searches were being carried out at stores and offices of RS Brothers at Ameerpet, Kokatpally, Sanath Nagar, Secunderabad, Mehdipatnam and other places in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

The officials were also carrying out searches at the residences of the owners and offices of some real estate firms.

As the IT officials were conducting searches at the warehouse of RS Brothers at Sanath Nagar, employees were not allowed into the premises.

The officials were checking accounts and other records on computers with the help of employees of account departments.

The I-T sleuths were reportedly going through the transactions of the company as it is believed to have made investments into real estate business.

--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 14 (IANS) Father of the 20-year-old Sathyapriya, who was killed after a stalker pushed her before a moving train at St. Thomas Mount Railway station in Chennai, died of a heart attack.

Manickam (56) died at a private hospital in Chennai late on Thursday night. He was hospitalised after he collapsed on learning about the death of his daughter.

Early this morning, police arrested Satheesh (23), who pushed Sathyapriya before a moving train on Thursday. He was absconding after committing the heinous crime and though the onlookers had tried to catch hold of him, he had managed to escape.

The victim's mother is a head constable of police at Adambakkam police station, Chennai. Sathyapriya was a degree student at Jain College, Chennai, and was going to attend her classes when suddenly Satheesh reached the spot and the duo entered into a heated argument leading to the stalker pushing her before the moving train that was heading towards Tambaram from Egmore.

Police at St Thomas Mount police station told IANS that Satheesh who was an eighth standard drop out was the son of a retired police sub-inspector and was stalking Sathyapriya for the past couple of years. Last week, she filed a complaint against him at the local police station.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 14 (IANS) Actor Suresh Gopi, who was a nominated member by the BJP to the Rajya Sabha, on Friday appeared to have got an elevation, when he was included in the Core Committee of the Kerala unit of the party.

For the BJP, the Core Committee is the highest decision-making body of the party in the state and the generally accepted norms also were bent to accommodate the actor.

According to party conventions, the Core Committee consists of state party presidents, former presidents and general secretaries and Gopi never held any of these posts.

Though Gopi wished to get a second term in the Upper house, it did not happen and then he was promised that he would be considered for some top party post.

Gopi fought the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Thrissur constituency and also in the 2021 Thrissur Assembly constituency. Despite having no political experience, he put up a good fight which was appreciated by all.

Since then, his stock in the party and among the general populace had risen.

After his term in the Upper house ended in April this year, he put pedal to his hugely popular acting career, where he ranks third in the list of superstars after Mammootty and Mohanlal.

Being deeply faction-ridden, in the 2021 Assembly polls, the Kerala unit of the party lost the only seat it had won in the 2016 Assembly polls and also there was a drop in the vote share for the party.

Meanwhile, this elevation for Gopi is being seen as the launch pad for a bigger role in the party.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Oct 14 (IANS) A 78-year-old man and his son were brutally hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Uppal area of Hyderabad on Friday.

The assailants barged into Narasimha Murthy's house and murdered him and his son Srinivas (35) with sharp edged weapons.

The shocking incident occurred in Hanuman Sai Nagar under the limits of Uppal Police Station of Rachakonda Police Commissionerate.

The murder came to light around 6 a.m. when the help reached the house and found the bodies of the deceased. She informed Murthy's elder son who lives separately.

Srinivas, a software engineer, had recently come from Malaysia to stay with his father. He was living on the first floor while his father was on the ground floor.

Family members suspect that Srinivas was killed when he tried to save his father.

Property dispute is suspected to have led to the murders. Rachakonda police have formed teams to nab the culprits.

A case relating to property dispute was pending in the court. Murthy was attacked during Covid-19 lockdown but the family members had dismissed it as the handiwork of some petty thief.

--IANS
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Mysuru, Oct 14 (IANS) Two more minor victims have lodged a POCSO case against rape accused Lingayat seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru of the Chitradurga Murugha mutt, who is currently under judicial custody, police said on Friday.

According to police sources, an FIR has been booked in Nazarbad police station of Mysuru city following the direction by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

The two new victims, aged 12 and 14, had approached the CWC in Mysuru on Thursday and have submitted their complaint against the accused seer.

The arrested seer is presently in judicial custody till October 21.

The girls were staying at the Akkamahadevi hostel run by the Chitradurga mutt. They had approached the Odanaadi NGO and later the matter was brought before the CWC.

The Odanaadi NGO Mysuru was instrumental in lodging of case against accused seer by two minor victims of sexual assault earlier.

The local court had rejected the bail petition by the accused for five times and also denied any special treatment to him in the prision.

The arrested Lingayat seer is accused of sexually exploiting the minor girls studying at hostels run by the mutt over two decades.

--IANS
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Mysuru (Karnataka), Oct 14 (IANS) The Karnataka police have registered an FIR against 17 state forest Department officials in connection with the death of a tribal man in Mysuru district, police said.

The FIR had been booked against the Reserve Forest Conservator of Gundre Reserve Forest Amruthesh, Deputy Range Forest Officer (DRFO) Karthik Yadav, staffers Anand, Bahubali, Ramu, Shekaraiah, Sadashiva, Manju, Umesh, Sanjay, Raja Naik, Sushma, Mahadevi, Ayyappa, Somashekar, Tangamani and Siddique Pasha in the Antharasanthe police station.

The complaint had been booked in connection with the death of 41-year-old Kariyappa, a resident of Hisahalli Haadi near the Gundre Reserve forest.

According to police, the forest Department officials had taken Kariyappa and two others on Monday and kept them in illegal custody, alleging that they had killed a deer in the reserve forest.

The 41-year-old tribal man was allegedly assaulted by the forest Department officials in custody. When he became sick, he was admitted to K.R. Hospital in Mysuru, where he succumbed to injuries.

The local tribals alleged that Kariyappa's death was a murder and staged a protest before the forest Department.

The family members of the deceased have said that the forest Department officials came to their house and threatened that if they told anyone about the whereabouts of Kariyappa, they would shoot all of them and burn down their house.

The family members have also alleged that the forest Department officials hurled abuses in front of their women and dragged them.

Later, Kariyappa was taken into custody. The family had told police that they received a phone call from the DFRO Karthik Yadav to come and take Kariyappa home on Tuesday.

When the family members found that Kariyappa was serious after being assaulted in custody, they had refused to take him to home. Later, the forest Department officials had shifted him to the hospital.

H.D. Kote tehsildar, Ratnambika had visited a mortuary in Mysuru following the death of a tribal man and received information about it on Thursday.

She said that she was instructed by higher authorities to gather information on the incident and to pacify the family members of the deceased.

If post-mortem report confirms assault on the tribal man, action will be initiated against the forest department officials, she added.

--IANS
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