Crime file: Two teens charged for assault on Indian student in Australia; child sacrifice suspected in Chhattisgarh, and more

Two teens charged for assault on Indian student in Australia

Melbourne: Two teenagers were on Tuesday charged with brutally attacking and robbing a 20-year-old Indian student in Australia who suffered serious head injuries in the incident. 

Manrajwinder Singh from Reservoir remained in an induced coma in a hospital here after being bashed up by thugs early on Sunday. 

Singh, in Australia to study accounts, was sitting with two other friends near the footpath east of Princess Bridge when they were approached by eight men, according to a police statement. 

The offenders, perceived to be of African appearance, assaulted Singh by kicking him on the head and hitting him with a stick. 

A 17-year-old Sydenham boy has been charged with intentionally causing serious injury, robbery and theft, the Victoria police said in a statement. He faced an out of sessions court hearing today and has been remanded in custody to appear at a children's court on January 2. 

Earlier, a 16 year-old St Albans boy was charged with serious assault and remanded in custody. The teen was recognised by Protective Services Officers (PSO) from media coverage of the incident, the statement said, adding the PSOs arrested the boy just before midnight at Sunshine Railway Station. 

The third arrest in the case, a 15-year-old Ascot Vale boy has been released and is expected to be charged on summons. A search is on for five others believed to be involved in the incident. 

The police have appealed to the public for any information to contact them. The incident was described as a cowardly attack by Detective Senior Constable Adam Foley. 

"It was just an opportunistic target from the offenders, they've just seen them there and approached them and done what they've done," Foley said. Singh's brother Yadwinder Singh, meanwhile, pleaded for justice. 

"They hit him on the head and he is in coma. I couldn't just believe it. My brother should get justice because he is fighting for his life," he said. 

Next: Child sacrifice suspected after missing boy's body found

Child sacrifice suspected after missing boy's body found 

Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh): A 10-year-old boy, who was allegedly abducted, was found killed, with his body chopped into parts in Ratanpur, a religious town of Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district, the police said here on Tuesday. 

While villagers strongly suspect it to be a case of human sacrifice, the police believe that it is a case of some wild animal attacking the boy.

The dead body of Harishankar, who went missing since Saturday, was found on the hills of the Lakhan Devi temple, with his head, hands and legs chopped off, Bilaspur Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) J R Thakur told PTI.

According to the officer, on Sunday, Gulaba Bai, a native of Ratanpur, lodged a complaint that her son Harishankar had gone missing since Saturday afternoon, after which a kidnapping complaint was registered by the police.

During investigation, the priest of the Lakhan Devi temple informed that the victim had visited the hill temple on Saturday and left the place after sometime. Later, an intense search launched in the forest about 100 metres from the temple yielded the victim's bloodstained clothes, he said.

The body of the boy, whose head, hands and legs were found severed from the torso were found deeper in the forest, besides corpses of two domestic goats and red bangles, he said. A post mortem of the body revealed some wild animal's bite marks, indicating an animal attack on the boy, he said, although, a further investigation is likely to reveal more clues.

However, villagers rejected the claims of the police and said that Harishankar's death was the result of some rituals or black magic. There is a possibility that wild animals might have eaten the child's body parts after they were thrown into the jungle, the villagers said. 

Next - Jammu: Youth gets death for rape, murder of minor

Youth gets death for rape, murder of minor 

Jammu: A fast-track court today awarded death penalty to a youth for raping and killing an 8-year-old girl more than three years ago.

Shanker, aged 22, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, was found guilty of raping and killing the minor in April, 2010. Pronouncing the judgement, Additional District and Sessions Judge Sanjiv Gupta said the offences committed by the convict falls in the "rarest of the rare category".

The judge held him guilty under section 302 RPC (murder) and 376 RPC (rape). The court directed the state government to pay a compensation of Rs two lakh to the victim's family within a month. 

Job seeker gets ‘spoofed’ by con

Hyderabad: A graduate from Tamil Nadu cheated a job aspirant using a spoofing website. (Spoofing websites are used to make a desired number appear on a receiver.)

He called the victim by taking her details from a job website and pretended to be from IBM.

The victim checked the number from which the call came and found it to be from IBM. The accused ‘interviewed’ her and sent her an offer letter from a fake email id. Later, he took Rs 80,000 as admission fee.

Nagamani Sri from Alwyn Colony, Kukatpally, realised that she was cheated when she  approached IBM with the ‘offer letter’.

Cyber crime cops arrested Rajendran Parthasarathy, 24, from Krishnagiri town of TN and recovered Rs 25,000 and a laptop. He cheated a woman job aspirant by promising her job in IBM.

The crook picked victim’s contact details from job searching website, called her up using a spoofing website, and ‘interviewed’ her.

Later, he sent her the offer letter from a fake email ID, and took Rs. 80,000 as admission charge.

Cyber Crime cops arrested the accused Rajendran Parthasarathy, 24, from Krishnagiri town of Tamil Nadu. His friend Radha Krishna alias Aravind, from Dhone of Kurnool, who was part of the fraud, is absconding.

“Spoofing’ means making appear false number on receivers phone. There are few websites used for spoofing. In this case, the accused used a website and called the victim, and the victim saw the land line number from IBM company. She got convinced and gave the interview, and later transferred the money when he asked,” said Additional DCP crime Janaki Sharmila.

Investigation officials said that the victim Nagamani Sri, a resident of Alwyn Colony, Kukatpally, later realised that she was cheated.

“When she approached IBM officials with the offer letter she got through mail, they informed her that it was fake one, and IBM and does not provide jobs in this way,” said a police official.

After the woman, lodged a complaint with Cyber Crime police registered a case.

Inspector K. Sudarshan Reddy, and his team tracked the accused and arrested him from Tamil Nadu. Cops recovered Rs. 25,000 and a laptop from him. The accused is a graduation student in a private college in his native place.

Next: Attempt to steal Rs 10 lakh fails

Attempt to steal Rs 10 lakh fails

Chennai: Four unidentified persons stormed into a small logistics and packaging unit on Ramasamy Street in Mannadi in broad daylight, attacked three persons and fled with Rs10 lakh on Monday afternoon.

As the public gave chase, they abandoned their vehicles and escaped.

Around 12.30 pm, four persons wielding weapons, stormed into the unit in the densely populated stretch and attacked Liaquat Ali, 38, and his father Satthar, 60, and fled with Rs10 lakh cash in a satchel.

Liaquat Ali, in the business of packaging services for air mail, suffered cut injuries on his hand while his father suffered injuries on his head, the police said.

Satthar was a member of Indian Union of Muslim League, police said. 

The robbers also attacked their neighbour Khaja Sharif and fled in two motorcycles.

People on the busy stretch, sensing something amiss, gave chase and after a while, the four persons abandoned their motorcycles and the cash bag near Broadway junction and fled on foot.

The Muthialpet police, on information, reached the area and primary investigations revealed that the four culprits were in their early 20s and that it could be an insider job.

“There is also CCTV footage of a few seconds from a nearby shop showing one of the suspects running. But nothing is conclusive,” a police officer said.

The police have seized the abandoned two-wheelers and recovered the stolen cash. The three injured were admitted to the government Stanley hospital and are stated to be out of danger.

Residents of the perennially busy stretch which thrives on small businesses, were shocked by the daylight daredevilry. Nagaraj, a resident, said, “Mannadi is always busy with people and we were shocked at such an act in our area.”

The Muthialpet police ha­ve registered a case and sp­ecial teams have been form­ed to track the offenders.

Next: Policeman suffers injuries while ‘escaping’

Policeman suffers injuries while ‘escaping’

Chennai: A police constable attached to city police was left red faced after he broke his legs when he glided down the pipe from the third floor in an attempt to escape attention while fleeing from his lover’s house in the early hours of Monday.

According to sources, constable Perumal, 30, attached to Law College outpost, had fallen in love with a woman constable he acquainted there.

Perumal, who was already married to another woman constable, visited his lover at her quarters near Mint.

His lover was staying with two other constables at the quarters and they were on leave for Christmas holidays, sources added.

The constable stayed over on Sunday and on Monday morning, they were woken up to loud thuds on the door, to find the woman’s roommates waiting there.

Alarmed, Perumal tried to climb down through the pipe adjoining the balcony, which led to his slipping and falling.

Since he landed to the ground on his foot, he broke his leg and hearing his screams, neighbours rescued him and admitted him to the government Stanley hospital, where he is being treated for injuries.

Next: Woman found dead

Woman found dead

Bangalore:  A 25-year-old woman was found dead under mysterious circumstances in her house in Rajendranagar in Adugodi on Sunday night.

The parents of the deceased have alleged that she was murdered by her husband. 

The deceased, Suneetha, was married to Vijaykumar, a car driver, about eight years ago and the couple has two children.

The police said that Suneetha was found dead in her house on Sunday night.

Vijaykumar, in his statement to the police, said that during dinner on Sunday, his children did not complete their meal as it was very spicy.

He scolded Suneetha and left the house. When he returned home after a while, he found her lying on the bed.

He tried to wake her up but she did not move. Immediately, he rushed her to a nearby hospital where she was declared brought dead.

“Suneetha’s father Raja, however, has complained that Vijaykumar was harassing Suneetha and he had murdered her by feeding poison. Based on his complaint, a suspicious death case is registered. Meanwhile, no injury marks were found on her body. The exact cause of death will be known after the postmortem,” the police said.

The couple were in love and married after the consent of both their parents around eight years ago. Earlier, they were staying at Koramangala and had shifted to Rajendra Nagar three years ago, the police said. Koramangala police have registered a case and are investigating.

Next: ATM theft attempt: Search on to trace second accused

ATM theft attempt: Search on to trace second accused

Bangalore: In the theft attempt case in an ATM kiosk in Madiwala, the police are on the lookout for the other accused who managed to escape in the dark.

The police said the accused, Sandeep, who was attacked by the security guard with a machete, has been hospitalised. “Sandeep, a native of Jammu, is admitted to Nimhans, and he is recovering.

Once he recovers completely, he will be arrested.

He will be questioned about his associate who fled from the scene on hearing the bike sound of policemen,” the police said.

On Sunday, Sandeep and his aide had tried to commit theft at State Bank of India’s ATM kiosk in Hongasandra on Begur Main Road in Madivala.

They had assaulted security guard Saaduddin and had tied his hands.

A few minutes later, the guard attacked Sandeep with a machete they had brought, when the policemen came near the ATM kiosk.

Next: Man falls to death while boarding moving train

Man falls to death while boarding moving train

Thrissur: A 30-year-old man hailing from Tamil Nadu was killed  when he slipped and fell while trying to board a moving train at Thrissur railway station on Monday evening.

The deceased, identified as Subhash Chandra Bose, son of Chelladurai, heading for Tirunelveli in the Hapa-Tirunelveli Express, had alighted on  platform No. 1 to buy a cup of tea.

By the time he bought the tea, the train started moving and  he slipped and fell on the track while attempting to board it. He was declared brought dead at the  Thrissur district hospital.

Subhash was travelling from Mumbai to Tirunelveli along with his sister Kavitha. The body is kept at the district hospital and the relatives have been informed about the incident, said railway police.