Red Sanders Smuggler Gets 5-Yr Jail, Rs 6 Lakh Fine

Tirupati:A red sanders smuggler from Tamil Nadu has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment and fined Rs 6 lakh by the Red Sanders Special Additional District and Sessions Court in a case investigated by Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF).

Judge Narasimham Murthy found Chinna Swami of Tiruvannamalai district guilty of the charges. He was earlier arrested in the Chamala Range under Nagapatla East Beat in Tirupati district while smuggling red sander logs.

The RSASTF, led by L. Subba Rayudu and supervised by SP P. Srinivas, filed a charge sheet. After reviewing evidence and seized material, the court convicted the accused and ordered that the convict be transferred to Nellore Central Jail.

SP Srinivas said that such punishments are intended to deter future smuggling attempts.

SI caught red-handed while accepting bribe

Visakhapatnam:Anakapalle town's sub-inspector, Dasari Eswara Rao, was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) while accepting a bribe of ₹50,000 from a complainant. The arrest took place at his home in Anakapalle on Thursday. He will be produced before the special court for ACB cases in Visakhapatnam.

The incident stemmed from a complaint by gold merchant SRJ Appa Rao. After Appa Rao rented out a vacant shop, the tenant attempted to rob the neighboring store by creating a hole in the wall. Appa Rao locked the shop and gave the keys to the police. The sub-inspector demanded a ₹50,000 bribe from Appa Rao to return the shop keys and avoid implicating him in the case. Unwilling to pay, Appa Rao filed a complaint with the ACB. After verifying the claim, ACB officials set up a sting operation and caught the sub-inspector. He was then brought to Visakhapatnam and will be presented before the special ACB court on Friday.

Man accused of 51 thefts arrested

Kakinada:Chatrayi police arrested a person Pathan Salar Khan alias Basha (56) of Eluru Town on the charge of stealing cash and valuables from hundis in temples.

Nuzvid Rural circle inspector K. Ramakrishna said the accused operated in Chintalapudi and Chatrayi mandals and observed temples and prayer houses.

During night times, he broke locks of temple doors and hundis and stole valuables therein, including cash.

The CI said Salar Khan committed 51 thefts, including 25 in Eluru, 23 in Nellore and three in NTR district. Police recovered ₹5,900 in cash and valuables worth ₹35,000 from him.

Nuzvid DSP K.V.V.N.V Prasad appreciated the Nuzvid Rural CI and Chatrayi sub-inspector D. Ramakrishna for their efforts in nabbing the accused.

Man smothered to death by wife, paramour

Visakhapatnam:A 35-year-old man was smothered to death by his wife, her paramour and an accomplice at Pathapatnam in Srikakulam district.

According to Patapatnam DSP Lakshamana Rao, the deceased, Nalli Raju, had been married to Mounika of Pathapatnam eight years ago and they have two sons.

Recently, Mounika developed an illicit relationship with her neighbour Gundu Uday Kumar, who was already married. Raju came to know about it and warned Mounika to end the affair, but she continued the relationship with Uday. However, the police said, the duo plotted to kill Raju so they could marry after Uday divorced his wife. As a part of their plan, Uday, posing as a woman, tried to lure Raju to an isolated place to kill him, but failed. In their second attempt, Mounika mixed sleeping pills in his food for two days. On August 20, when Raju was in deep sleep, she called Uday, who arrived with his friend Mallikarjuna. While Mounika and Mallikarjuna pinned Raju's legs, Uday smothered him to death with a pillow.

After confirming Rajue was dead, the two men dumped the body on the street before leaving the spot.

In next morning, pretending innocence, Mounika told her mother-in-law that Raju was missing and also filed a complaint with the police. As the post-mortem report revealed that it was a murder, the police started investigation and questioned Mounka, who eventually confessed to the crime. All three accused surrendered before the local revenue officer.