Garwah:

Three children who were sleeping together in fear of elephant attacks, died of snakebite in a village in Jharkhand’s Garwah district, police said on Friday.

The incident happened in Chapkali village, under the jurisdiction of Chinia police station of the district, a police officer said.

Scared of elephant attacks, around 8 to 10 children of a family were sleeping on the floor of their tile home when the reptile, reportedly a Krait, sneaked into the house, situated in Nawanagar Tola, and bit the three on Thursday night, the police officer said.

Following the incident, the victims were taken to a sorcerer at around 1 am, where two of them died. The family members then took the third victim to a quack but she died on the way, the police officer said.

The children were identified as Pannalal Korwa (15), Kanchan Kumari (8), and Baby Kumari (9), the Officer-in-Chaarge of Chinia police station Neeraj Kumar said.

Meanwhile, the villagers are being forced to sleep in safe places owing to the prevailing elephant menace.

The pachyderms enter the human habitat in search of food.

Some villagers were compelled to sleep on the roof of school buildings or in groups at one place in the village, the locals claimed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hazaribag:

Six persons, including the father of one of the victims, were arrested for allegedly killing a couple in Jharkhand’s Hazaribag district, a senior police officer said on Sunday.

Ishwar Mehta (59) and his younger son Bablu were among those arrested for the brutal murder of Ishwar’s elder son Rahul Kumar (30) and his wife Puja Yadav (28) on the night of June 15-16, SP Arvind Kumar Singh said.

According to police, Rahul had gone to Delhi a few years ago to prepare for civil services exam, where he met and fell in love with Puja from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, who was also preparing for UPSC exam. The couple lived together in Delhi before returning to Rahul’s native village, Korha, in Hazaribag about five years ago, where they ran a successful coaching centre, police said.

Ishwar, a money lender in Ichak, was furious upon seeing Rahul return with Puja, who belonged to a different caste. He demanded that Rahul kill Puja, threatening to kill them both if he refused. Six months ago, Ishwar conspired with contract killers, agreeing to pay Rs 6 lakh for the double murder, police added.

On the night of the crime, Ishwar, Bablu, and four accomplices went to the couple’s home. Ishwar fatally stabbed Puja with a sword while Bablu and the contract killers attacked Rahul, who succumbed to multiple stab wounds. The killers then wrapped the bodies in large towels, loaded them into their car, and transported them to Parashi burning ghat in Ichak, where Ishwar set them on funeral pyres, police said.

The next morning, students found the couple missing and staged protests. The local community, outraged by the crime, boycotted Ishwar and his family.

During police interrogation, Ishwar revealed that he was angry with Rahul for returning without completing his UPSC exams and for planning to marry Puja.

Police have recovered bones, steel bangles, blood-stained towels, the murder weapons, and the Bolero car used in the crime. The bones were sent for DNA testing to confirm the victims’ identities.

Among the arrested, Bobby Kumar had a criminal record, and Vicky Kumar was Ishwar’s driver. The contract killers had received Rs 2 lakh in advance. A case was registered under relevant sections of the IPC based on a statement from Puja’s father, Ramsurat Yadav, police said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)