Ranchi, July 13: A horrifying case has come to light from Jharkhand’s Gumla district, where officials on Monday said a three-year-old girl was raped, following which a village panchayat attempted to stifle the case by imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the accused instead of reporting the crime to police.

The incident took place in Palma village of the Gumla district.

According to the officials, the accused, identified as Sunil Lohra, was directed by the panchayat to pay Rs 20,000 — which was later to be used by those present to organise a feast involving meat and liquor — while the remaining Rs 80,000 was ordered to be paid within a week.

However, the police were tipped off, and subsequently the officials intervened before the matter could be buried. An FIR was registered, and the accused was arrested.

The police received a tip-off that the village panchayat was trying to settle the rape of the minor through a small fine to prevent the case from reaching the authorities, according to the investigators.

The officials said that due to pressure from villagers, the family of the victim did not report the matter to the police. However, after receiving information, the police reached the village and recorded the victim’s mother’s statement. Subsequently, an FIR was registered, and the accused was arrested.

The incident occurred around 4 p.m. on Saturday when Lohra visited the victim’s home. According to the officials, the victim’s mother was at home with her when the accused offered to look after the child so that she could finish her household chores.

According to the police, accused Lohra then took the child into a room and sexually assaulted her. When the mother heard the child crying, she rushed inside the room to find her bleeding.

However, the matter was taken to the panchayat instead of reporting the crime to the police.

The victim’s family alleged that some of the members of the panchayat took the child to a private doctor and then convened a public meeting on Sunday, when it was decided to impose a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the accused to settle the issue inside the village. Rs 20,000 was paid by the accused on the spot.

According to the officials, the feast, funded with the Rs 20,000 given by the accused, was underway when police arrived.

Further proceedings are underway, and details are awaited.

Hyderabad, July 12: A speeding Ferrari car crashed into the gate of an apartment building in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills area in the early hours of Sunday. There were no casualties, said officials.

The incident occurred on Road Number 5 in the upscale Jubilee Hills under the Film Nagar Police Station limits.

The occupants abandoned the heavily damaged Ferrari Roma, said to be worth more than Rs 3.50 crore, and fled before police arrived at the scene.

The gate of Fort View Apartments was completely damaged in the collision. The front portion of the luxury car was badly mangled.

The man driving the vehicle escaped after the accident. Police suspect that the person at the wheel was under the influence of alcohol and driving the vehicle at a high speed and in a rash manner.

Police registered a case and launched an investigation into the person who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. Police were examining the CCTV footage to ascertain if there were other persons in the vehicle.

Police shifted the damaged Ferrari to the police station with the help of a towing vehicle.

This is the second such incident in Jubilee Hills in less than a week. An SUV had crashed into Tollywood actor Dharma’s residence on the night of July 9.

A man who was under the influence of alcohol had rammed the SUV into the residence of Dharma on Road Number 10. The compound wall of the actor’s house was damaged in the incident.

The accused was identified as Karthik Kumar, who drove the SUV in a rash and negligent manner before losing control and ramming into Dharma’s house. Luckily, there were no casualties.

The actor alerted the police, who rushed to the spot and arrested the accused. A breathalyser test confirmed that the accused was drunk while driving the SUV.

Police registered a criminal case against Kartik Kumar and launched further investigation.

Thoothukudi, July 11: In a major anti-smuggling operation, the Tamil Nadu Q Branch police seized beedi leaves worth an estimated Rs 17 lakh that were allegedly being smuggled to Sri Lanka from the Thoothukudi coast in the early hours on Saturday.

The consignment was recovered from a forested stretch near Inigo Nagar Beach, while the suspected smugglers managed to flee after spotting the police.

The operation was launched following a specific intelligence input received by Q Branch Inspector Vijaya Anitha, who was informed that a large quantity of beedi leaves was being stockpiled in the Inigo Nagar coastal area for clandestine transportation to Sri Lanka by boat.

Acting on the tip-off, a special police team led by Sub-Inspector Ramachandran, along with Special Sub-Inspector Ramar, Inspectors Irudayaraj Kumar and Isakkimuthu, and First Grade Constables Palani, Balamurugan and Pechiraj, conducted a late-night patrol in the South Police Station limits of Thoothukudi City Sub-Division.

During the search operation, the team reached a forested area south of Inigo Nagar Beach, where they discovered a cache of beedi leaves concealed and kept ready for loading onto a boat bound for Sri Lanka. Police recovered 18 bundles of beedi leaves, each weighing approximately 30 kg, indicating that the consignment had been carefully packed for sea transport.

However, the suspected smugglers, who were reportedly present in the vicinity, escaped into the darkness after noticing the approaching police personnel. In addition to the contraband, the police also seized a cargo vehicle believed to have been used for transporting the beedi leaves to the coastal loading point.

Officials said the seized consignment has an estimated international market value of around Rs 17 lakh. The recovered beedi leaves and the cargo vehicle are being handed over to the Customs Department for further investigation and legal proceedings.

Police have launched an investigation to identify and apprehend those involved in the smuggling network.

Investigators are examining the ownership of the seized vehicle and gathering intelligence to trace the larger syndicate suspected of operating along the Thoothukudi coast.

The seizure is part of the intensified surveillance being carried out by the Q Branch and other enforcement agencies to curb cross-border smuggling activities between the Tamil Nadu coast and Sri Lanka.

Authorities said further investigations are under way to determine the intended recipients of the consignment and whether the operation is linked to an organised smuggling network operating in the region.