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Crime

Telangana woman murdered on suspicion of performing black magic

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Suspicion of performing black magic claimed life of a woman in Telangana, police said.

The incident occurred in Kutoda village of Asifabad rural mandal in Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district on Wednesday.

According to police, a man, whose 12-year-old son had died a few days ago because of ill-health, attacked the woman and killed her as he suspected that the black magic performed by her led to the death of his son.

Kante Bheembai (65) died when Atram Katti hit her on her head with a stick when she was sitting near a bonfire to beat the winter chill. The woman’s family members shifted her to Asifabad hospital but she succumbed on the way.

A police officer said that on the complaint lodged by Bheembai’s son, the accused was arrested and sent to judicial custody.

Katti’s son Shyam Rao (12) had died of ill-health a few days ago and he had suspicion that the sorcery being allegedly practiced by the woman which led to his death and he was waiting to take revenge.

The incident occurred one-and-half months after three men were hacked to death on suspicion of practicing black magic.

A man and his two sons were brutally hacked to death by a group of people during a meeting of Yerukala community at Tarakram Nagar in Jagtial district on December 20.

During a heated argument, some participants in the meeting attacked Nageshwar Rao and his three sons with knives and other sharp-edged weapons and killed them in presence of 40-50 people.

A woman in Yerukala Wada died a week ago and Rao’s rivals suspected him to be responsible for her death.

Superstitious beliefs are deep-rooted in parts of Telangana. The region has seen a spate of incidents in the past in which people suspected to be practicing ‘Bhanamati'(a form of black magic) were burnt alive or hacked to death. In most of the cases, the victims were women. They were either murdered, paraded naked or physically abused.

The awareness campaign conducted by police over the last two decades led to a drop in the number of such cases but has not totally eliminated the menace.

Police still use cultural troupes called ‘kalabrundam’ in rural areas to create awareness among people against black magic.

Through the cultural programmes, police try to drive home the message that people should shed superstitious beliefs and don’t fall into the trap of tantriks. People are also urged not to suspect black magic for health, financial or other problems.

Not just remote villages and towns but even cities are witnessing such incidents. Hyderabad also saw a murder over black magic in November last year. A man was murdered by his sister’s husband after he demanded Rs 2 lakh for treatment of his girl friend as he was suspected them to have performed black magic on her. Four persons including a home guard were arrested for the murder.

In November 2020, a Hyderabad techie was burnt alive by his in-laws’ family in Jagtial district. The 40-year-old techie, who was blamed for the death of his wife’s brother through black magic, was doused with petrol and burnt alive in an ashram run by his in-laws at Balwantpur village. Police said the techie’s wife was also present in the ashram and did nothing to stop the murder. The family was so convinced about the man practicing black magic that they felt if he was not killed, he would kill them.

Crime

Delhi: AGS arrests accused wanted in attempt-to-murder case in Timarpur

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New Delhi, Nov 22: A team of the Anti-Gangster Squad (AGS), led by Inspector Krishan Kumar on Saturday arrested 32-year-old accused Rajeev alias Raj in Timarpur. He was wanted in a sensational attempt-to-murder case registered under FIR No. 529/2025 on October 25, under Sections 109(1)/3(5) of the BNS. The accused had been absconding since the incident.

According to a statement issued by the AGS, on October 24 at around 7 p.m., an altercation took place between Rajeev and Vishal near the Sulabh Shauchalaya in Sanjay Basti, Timarpur. Acting as a responsible citizen, Rahul, the complainant, made a PCR call to report the quarrel. When the accused learned that Rahul had informed the police, both Rajeev and Vishal became enraged and attacked him with a knife, inflicting multiple injuries.

After the attack, both accused fled the scene. A case was subsequently registered under FIR No. 529/2025 at Timarpur Police Station. Both men remained absconding until Rajeev’s arrest.

With Rajeev’s arrest, the sensational attempt-to-murder case has been partially solved. Vishal, however, is still on the run.

In response to rising incidents of street crime, armed assaults, and gang-related activities in the national Capital, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has intensified efforts to trace and apprehend active and absconding criminals. The AGS has been specifically tasked with developing Intelligence networks and conducting surveillance on such offenders across Delhi and neighbouring states.

A dedicated AGS team led by Inspector Krishan Kumar and comprising SI Agam Prasad, SI Braj Lal, ASI Gobind, ASI Surender, ASI Mintu, HC Vinod, HC Dharmraj, and HC Deepak was formed under the close supervision of Bhagwati Prasad, ACP/AGS, and the direction of Harsh Indora, IPS, DCP/Crime Branch, to trace the accused.

The team conducted persistent manual Intelligence gathering along with technical surveillance on Rajeev’s movements. On November 20, the team received credible secret information regarding his location. Acting swiftly, the AGS laid surveillance and successfully apprehended Rajeev from Dwarka Mor, Delhi.

During sustained interrogation, the accused admitted to his involvement in the attempt-to-murder case and revealed several past involvements in criminal activities.

Rajeev, a resident of Sanjay Basti, Timarpur, lives with his mother, younger brother Vishal, sister Babita, wife Simran, and four-year-old son. He is uneducated and works as a caretaker at a Sulabh toilet in Timarpur.

Due to drug addiction and association with criminal elements, he has been involved in unlawful activities since childhood and has been imprisoned multiple times. He is a declared Bad Character (BC) of PS Timarpur and a previous convict in FIR No. 190/2009, registered under Sections 395/397/34 of the IPC at PS Dwarka Sector-23, Delhi.

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Crime

BLO dies in West Bengal; suicide note cites SIR ‘workload’

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Kolkata, Nov 22: Another Booth Level Officer (BLO) died in West Bengal on Saturday, allegedly due to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) related work pressure, said the police on Saturday.

The incident comes three days after a female BLO in the Mal Bazar area of Jalpaiguri district in Bengal died, allegedly over the same reason.

This time, a female BLO hanged herself in the Shasthitala area of Krishnanagar in Nadia district.

The deceased has been identified as Rinku Tarafdar (51). According to the police, a suicide note has been recovered from her room.

The police said the woman wrote in that suicide letter that administrative pressure would come to her if she did not complete the work of a BLO.

“I can’t handle the pressure,” the female BLO allegedly wrote in the suicide letter, according to the police.

She has also blamed the Election Commission for her death.

Police said Rinku Tarafdar was a part-time teacher at Swami Vivekananda Vidya Mandir in Nadia district’s Chapra police station area. She was working as a BLO in the Bangaljhi area.

At the same time, Rinku wrote that no one in her family was responsible for her death.

Blaming the Election Commission for her death, the BLO also wrote, “The Election Commission is responsible for my fate. I do not support any political party. I am a very ordinary person. But I cannot bear the pressure of this inhuman work. I am a part-time teacher. The salary is very low compared to the hard work. But, they did not spare me.”

A senior officer of Krishnanagar Police District said, “The body of a female BLO was found hanging. A suicide note has been recovered. She blamed the Election Commission for her death as she could not bear the pressure related to SIR work. A case of unnatural death has been registered. The body has been recovered and sent for autopsy.”

On Wednesday, a female BLO identified as Shanti Muni Ekka died by “suicide” due to alleged work pressure during the SIR exercise in the state. The incident took place in the Mal Bazar area in Jalpaiguri. The family of the woman alleged that she decided to end her life as she could not bear the pressure of SIR work.

Following the incident, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lambasted the Election Commission of India over the “suicide” of a female BLO.

Using her social media handles, CM Banerjee claimed that about 28 people have died in the state since the Election Commission began the SIR of Bengal’s electoral rolls.

The West Bengal Chief Minister also asked the ECI to halt this “unplanned drive” to save lives in the state.

On the same day, another female BLO named Tapati Biswas suffered a cerebral attack in the middle of SIR-related work in Hooghly district’s Konnagar area. The day after, she was relieved of her election duty following her cerebral attack.

On Friday, the West Bengal government announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the family of deceased BLO Shanti Muni Ekka in Jalpaiguri and Rs 1 lakh for BLO Tapati Biswas in Hooghly.

Meanwhile, a compensation of Rs 2 lakh was also announced for the family of BLO Lalit Adhikari, who died in a road accident on Thursday. He was a resident of the Baradham Chatragram area in the Cooch Behar district. The compensations were handed over to the families by district officials.

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Crime

Mumbai: Court Convicts Chand Shaikh For Culpable Homicide, Sentences Him To 10 Years For Fatal Stabbing During Scuffle

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Mumbai: A sessions court has convicted Guljar alias Chand Shaikh, a resident of Antop Hill, for culpable homicide not amounting to murder after he stabbed Imtiaz alias Raju, who was trying to intervene and resolve a scuffle. The victim succumbed to multiple stab injuries.

The court held that since there was no intention to kill, charges of murder cannot be invoked. It observed, “the act of the accused does not fall under section 302 IPC, as the intention to cause death is not established beyond reasonable doubt. However, the accused had the knowledge that their act was likely to cause death.”

Shaikh has been sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment, while his siblings Fatima, Sadam, Arif and their mother Sabira have been awarded three years’ rigorous imprisonment each for the same offence.

The case, registered with Ghatkopar police in 2015 by the deceased’s brother Abdul Khan, stemmed from an extramarital affair between Jafar Kadar Ali Sayyad and Fatima. On March 12, 2015, a quarrel erupted; Fatima’s brothers assaulted Jafar, Fatima threw chilli powder, and when Imtiaz tried to pacify the situation, Chand stabbed him. Days earlier, on March 8, 2015, Chand had threatened Jafar and Imtiaz.

Relying on eyewitness testimonies, the court convicted the family but ruled out murder charges.

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