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.

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Jamshedpur:

A 30-year-old school van driver has been arrested for allegedly raping a nursery student in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district, a senior police officer said on Sunday.

The incident happened in the city’s Mango area on Friday. A special police team arrested the accused Jaishree Tiwary, a resident of Daiguttu under the jurisdiction of the Mango police station, within three hours after an FIR was registered by the victim’s mother on Saturday, the Superintendent of Police (City & Rural) Rishava Gard said in a press conference here.

The SP said a medical checkup of the three-and-a-half-year-old victim was carried out, and the accused driver was forwarded to judicial custody on Sunday.

After coming back home from school on Friday, the minor victim complained of stomach pain and narrated how her school driver committed the heinous crime.

On receiving the information yesterday, Senior Superintendent Kishore Kaushal formed a special police team and directed them to apprehend the culprit as per the provisions of the Pocso Act, the SP said.

A lady police officer was sent to the victim’s house to gather details of the incident before the driver was caught.

The school van has been impounded, the SP said, adding that the police have taken the incident seriously and assured the victim’s family to file the chargesheet within a week.

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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.

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Latehar:

At least 20 students fell ill after drinking water from a tank in their school in Jharkhand’s Latehar district on Saturday, an official said.

When they were taken to a local health centre, doctors said the condition of the children was stable.

The incident happened at Upgraded Primary School at Duru, around 80 km from the state capital Ranchi.

After having their meal, the children went to drink water from the tank in the school. After some time, several students started vomiting and complained of uneasiness, a teacher of the school said.

Some students said there was a foul smell in the water.

The students were brought to the local community health centre where they were examined.

Doctors said their condition was stable.

The Chandwa Block Development Officer Chandan Kumar said the water sample had been taken for examination.

Kumar also visited the community health centre to enquire about the health conditions of the students.

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Ranchi:

A “record” seizure of cash, liquor and drugs worth over Rs 110 crore was made from Jharkhand in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in the state, an official said on Tuesday.

The recovery includes a cash haul of around Rs 35 crore made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday during raids at several locations, including the premises of a domestic help of a secretary of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam, he said.

“A staggering Rs 110.36 crore in cash, drugs, liquor and other items were seized in Jharkhand since the announcement of the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha polls,” Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), K Ravi Kumar, told PTI.

“This is the highest seizure amount so far in Jharkhand. In 2019, the cash recovery was only Rs 5 crore,” he said.

The general elections will be held in four phases in Jharkhand, beginning May 13.

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Jamshedpur:

Two persons were killed and four others suffered injuries on Tuesday when a truck fell on the people who were in a procession for immersion of the idol of goddess Durga in Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur city on Tuesday evening, Health Minister Banna Gupta said.

The incident occurred at Bodhanwala ghat under Bistupur police station when the truck was negotiating a slope.

Two persons died in Tata Main Hospital where four other injured are under treatment, the health minister said in a statement issued after visiting the healthcare facility.

The condition of two of the injured is stated to be serious.

All the victims were members of the Kitadih Puja Committee in Bagbera area here, police said adding that they were in the immersion procession.

Gupta asked East Singhbhum District Civil Surgeon Dr Jujhar Majhi and the hospital authorities to ensure proper treatment of the injured.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren condoled the death of the two persons during the immersion of the idols.

“May God grant peace to the departed souls and give strength to the bereaved family members to bear this grief. The district administration is providing medical aid to the injured people. I wish speedy recovery to all the injured.” The district administration appealed to the devotees to take care of their safety on a priority basis during the immersion.

A huge crowd thronged the roads of Steel City here to witness immersion processions taken out by over 200 community Durga puja committees.

Immersion of idols is underway in different ghats amid tight security. While divers were engaged in ghats as a precautionary measure, the police are using drones to keep a vigil on miscreants. 

Seraikela:

Over eight quintals of ganja were seized and two persons were arrested in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharswan district, police said on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off, a vehicle-checking drive was launched in Ichagarh police station area on Friday night when a speeding trailer was intercepted, they said.

As the trailer was stopped, two persons in it tried to escape but were caught following a chase, police said.

During the search of the vehicle, 27 sacks stuffed with the drug were found, Superintendent of Police Bimal Kumar said Both the persons were arrested and the vehicle impounded, he said.

Each sack contained 30 kg of ganja, totaling 810 kg, the SP said, adding that the value was being evaluated.

Those arrested were identified as Wahid Khan and Karan Gupta, police said.

The trailer was being followed by an SUV, and it managed to escape, they said.

Bimal Kumar said an investigation is underway, and it is suspected that more people are involved in the racket.

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