Palghar: The Pelhar police in Palghar district have arrested a 24-year-old man from Vasai, Ismail Abdul Qayum Chaudhary, for allegedly murdering his wife, Khursheeda Khatoon Chaudhary, by strangling her with a dupatta and then attempting to obtain a death certificate declaring her death as natural. According to the police, after committing the crime, Ismail kept his wife’s body in a refrigerator for over 12 hours while he searched for local doctors willing to issue the death certificate.

Details On The Murder

Ismail confessed to the police that he killed his wife after suspecting her of infidelity, Married in June, the couple lived in Vasai’s Kaman locality. Ismail claimed that on the day of the murder, he returned home unannounced during his lunch break to confirm his suspicions. He knocked on the door repeatedly before Khursheeda eventually opened it.

Upon entering, he saw another man in the house, who quickly fled the scene. Ismail confronted Khursheeda about the man, but she allegedly tried to mislead him, which led to a heated argument. In a fit of rage, Ismail strangled her to death using her dupatta.

According to the report, after the murder, Ismail planned to bury Khursheeda, but he needed a death certificate to proceed. He visited several local doctors, but none agreed to issue the certificate. Desperate, he contacted his brother, who lived in the nearby Navjeevan locality, and informed him of the situation. Together, they placed Khursheeda’s body in a refrigerator while they continued searching for a doctor willing to provide the document.

However, local residents became suspicious of Ismail’s actions and alerted the Pelhar police. Officers arrived at Ismail’s residence, where they discovered Khursheeda’s body in the refrigerator. Ismail was immediately arrested and Khursheeda’s body was sent for a post-mortem examination.

Senior police inspector Jitendra Vankoti confirmed that Ismail’s confession had been recorded and that the investigation was ongoing to establish the full sequence of events leading to the murder. The police are now working to gather more evidence and clarify the details surrounding Khursheeda’s death.

Mumbai: A fabricator involved in the collapse of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at a fort in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district was reportedly arrested on Thursday. Parmeshwar Ramnaresh Yadav, who was taken into custody from Uttar Pradesh, used substandard materials while constructing the 35-foot-tall statue of the revered Maratha warrior king.

A technical investigation revealed that the statue had rusted in several places, confirming the use of low-quality materials. The police noted that Yadav not only used inferior material but also failed to properly weld the statue’s parts, contributing to its eventual collapse, as per a Times of India report.

Yadav Sent For 3-Day Remand

The statue, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot fort in Sindhudurg on December 4, 2023, fell on August 26, 2024, during strong winds. Yadav, a key figure in the statue’s construction, was identified as an accused after a thorough investigation and was later remanded in police custody for three days.

Before his arrest, other individuals involved in the project, including the statue’s sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte and consultant Chetan Patil, had already been taken into custody in connection with the incident.

The collapse of the statue, which was dedicated to the founder of the Maratha Empire, led to major embarrassment for both the state and central governments, given its symbolic importance and the timing of its unveiling by the Prime Minister just nine months earlier.

New Statue To Be Constructed By ‘Statue Of Unity’ Maker

In response to the incident, the Maharashtra state government awarded a new contract to Ram Sutar Art Creations, a firm known for its prestigious work on the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, which honours Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Led by Anil Ram Sutar, the company is now tasked with constructing a new statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji in Sindhudurg. This time, the statue will be 60 feet tall, nearly doubling the height of the previous one.

Taking extra precautions to avoid another collapse, the new contract includes a stipulation that the statue must last at least 100 years. Furthermore, the builder will be responsible for its maintenance for the first decade, ensuring that proper materials and techniques are used in its construction.

UP police on Thursday released a video showing the two accused Sarfaraz and Mohammad Talib, who allegedly killed Ram Gopal Mishra on October 13 in Bahraich, being taken to a police jeep after they were shot while trying to escape to Nepal. 

In the video, cops wearing bulletproof vests can be seen carrying both the accused who were writhing in pain after being shot in their legs. One of the accused can be heard telling the cops that they wanted to run away and that is why they fired at them. 

Amitabh Yash, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Special Task Force, Uttar Pradesh told news agency that five accused in the matter have also been arrested. 

“A total of five people who are the main accused in the case have been arrested. A short exchange of fire took place in which two people were injured. The injured are Sarfaraz and Mohammad Talib. There is no death and the injured have been taken to the hospital,” Amitabh Yash said.

Injured accused admitted to hospital for treatment

ADGP (Law and Order), STF Uttar Pradesh said that two people were injured in the encounter and were admitted to a hospital for treatment.

SP Bahraich, Vrinda Shukla said that “5 people have been arrested. Two of them have been injured in police firing. I am here to assess their condition. One of the injured is Md. Sarfaraz, the other other is Md. Talib.” Ramgopal Mishra was killed while several others were injured after a clash erupted between two communities during the Durga idol immersion procession in the Mahasi area in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

Earlier today, Bahraich Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Sanjay Kumar Sharma said that Ramgopal Mishra, who was killed in a clash that erupted between two communities during the Durga idol immersion procession in Bahraich, died due to “excessive bleeding”, officials said.

The CMO said, “The information that we have – that man died of excessive bleeding due to 25-30 pellets injuries. There are some injury marks above his left eye and on the toes. Some part of the nails of both the feet is also missing.” 

Appealing to not spread misinformation on social media, Superintendent of Police (SP) Rural, Pavitra Mohan Tripathi said, “To disturb the social harmony, misinformation is being spread on social media – there’s been a single death in the incident and the reason for death is also clear in the post-mortem report which is bullet injuries. I request people not to spread misinformation and also not to believe in any of such misinformation. The situation is peaceful in the district.” 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that providing justice to the family of the victim of the Bahraich violence is the government’s top priority, and the culprits will not be spared at any cost. He said this after meeting with family members of the deceased of the Bahraich incident in Lucknow.

The family has been provided Rs 10 lakh, a house under the PM Awas Yojana, and an Antyodaya card.

On October 16, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led state government also initiated action against police officials.

According to the police, the procession was passing by a Muslim area when the two groups argued over some issues.