It was a typical Tuesday morning for trickster Uma, alias Durgi, who set out to the temple in Banashankari in Bengaluru where she usually carried out her theft plans. However, thanks to the work of six women constables from the Kumaraswamy Layout police station, she was caught and arrested.

Uma would frequent the temple in the locality and target elderly women and young children and steal their gold chains or other jewellery. She would frequent the temple on Tuesdays and Fridays as she believed those were her ‘lucky’ days. She would befriend elderly women and act really friendly to young children. After she gained their trust, she’d spend time with them in the temple and unsuspectingly steal a piece of jewellery from them.

Police officials estimate that she has stolen at least 35 chains from unsuspecting victims till date.

An increase in the number of thefts over the last few months, particularly during festival times, resulted in the temple authorities alerting the police. The cops then installed six plainclothes policewomen, including two of whom were pregnant, in the temple on Tuesday morning. The policewomen kept a watch on the temple premises and looked for any suspicious persons, when they spotted Uma and caught her in the act.

Uma was arrested and booked under Section 379 (punishment for theft).

Speaking to TNM, Bengaluru DCP South, Annamalai SP, said, “In the past, we have we have heard stories of a gang of robbers attacking lorry drivers on NICE road and have sent out plainclothes policemen to capture them, but this is the first time that we’ve undertaken such an operation with a group of women officers.”

As per the DCP, many temple authorities and victims of theft had given complaints over several months, which the cops then backtracked and looked through CCTV footage and set about capturing the culprit.

“We took note of what was in the CCTV footage, then over the past few weeks we sent our women constables in disguise to the temple to take note of any suspicious looking persons. They monitored the visitors to the temple very carefully and noticed the suspect, whom they eventually nabbed on Tuesday,” said Inspector Guruprasad of the Kumaraswamy Layout police station.

The DCP also asked the public to be alert when going to crowded places, saying, “Particularly during festival times, temples can get very crowded. People should be cautious when visiting these places and take care to ensure that they do not become victims of theft.”

PTI

 An Indo-Canadian female dermatologist, found guilty of forging and using a fake diploma as well as other documents to practice medicine in Dubai, has lost her appeal against a six-month jail term.

Public prosecution records showed that the 38-year-old woman managed to have the licence to work as a dermatologist issued for her after filling in her application form with false information, the Khaleej Times reported on Wednesday night.

She used a forged general medicine degree and diploma in specialisation when applying for the permit.

The defendant also threatened a company, specialising in verifying data and information, to hasten the process of verifying her documents and told the firm that in case the result was not positive it would be closed, according to the records.

A trial court had earlier convicted her on charges of practicing medicine with a licence she had wrongfully obtained and committing forgery.

It sentenced her to a six-month jail term, to be followed by deportation.

She was also ordered to pay a 200,000 dirham fine.

IANS

A woman constable in Uttar Pradesh was hacked to death by her husband in Kanpur on Tuesday, police said.

The husband suspected her of having an illicit affair. He attacked his wife in the morning with a butcher knife and killed her at their Khadepur Nayi Basti house in Naubasta.

The assailant, Virendra, fled the crime scene but was arrested by the police in the afternoon. The weapon has also been recovered from him.

The victim, Sharda Bhadauria was rushed to a medical facility by her son Shiv and nephew Kapil but was declared dead on arrival.

The assailant confessed his crime and said his wife had a bad character and was having an affair with a neighbour, due to which he killed her.

A special investigation team (SIT) of the Punjab Police, which is investigating the incidents of sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib and the subsequent firing on protesters in 2015, is likely to question Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar here on Wednesday in connection with an alleged deal mediated by the actor between controversial godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

The Punjab Police sources said that Kumar had moved a request that he be allowed to meet the SIT officials in Chandigarh instead of Amritsar, where he had been originally summoned.

Kumar will be questioned regarding his alleged role in brokering a deal between the controversial godman, who was later convicted of rape and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment and Sukhbir Badal in Mumbai in 2015 just days before the release of a film of the godman.

Kumar has denied that he arranged any such meeting or had any role in brokering the deal.

On his part, Badal said on Tuesday that he had never met Akshay Kumar outside Punjab. “I have never met Akshay Kumar outside Punjab,” Badal said.

Sukhbir Badal was questioned by the SIT here at the Punjab Police headquarters on Monday. He termed the questioning as a sham and alleged that the Congress government in Punjab led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was indulging in political vendetta.

Former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was on November 16 questioned by the SIT headed by additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Pramod Kumar and Inspector General Kunwar Vijay Pratap.

The senior Badal said that he told the SIT that he had not ordered firing on Sikh protesters agitating against the sacrilege incidents in October 2015.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said earlier that his government had no role in the summoning of the Badals and actor Akshay Kumar by the SIT.

The SIT was set up by the Amarinder government in September this year to probe cases of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and the firing ordered on those protesting against the sacrilege cases in October 2015 when the Akali Dal-BJP alliance government headed by Parkash Singh Badal was in power in the state.

Two persons were killed in the police firing in Behbal Kalan village near Kotkapura town in Faridkot district.

 Six persons died in a blast at the Wardha ammunition depot of the army here in Maharashtra on Tuesday, officials said.

The toll shot up to six from the earlier three, with another 10 injured, including four seriously.

The explosion occurred at the Pulgaon Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) around 7.15 a.m. when discarded ammunition intended for destruction was being unloaded at the sprawling demolition ground. The depot is some 110 km from here.

The demolition work was being carried out by the Ordinance Factory (OF), Khamaria, Jabalpur, with the help of an authorised contractor.

The personnel were helping dig up pits and place sand bags over the explosives, according to a defence spokesperson here.

The fatalities included one Khamaria ordinance factory staffer and three casual workers employed by the contractor, besides two others.

The intensity of the blast was so severe that the victims were thrown several metres away and their bodies were badly mangled and burnt.

Top police, army, Khamaria OF and civil officials have rushed to the site.

The identity of the dead and injured, who were rushed to nearby hospitals, was being ascertained.

A 27-year-old woman home guard was allegedly raped by a police constable hours after she complained to his superior officer about his attempts to molest her. The accused, identified as 36-year-old Chandrashekhar, was arrested on Monday.

The incident took place on Saturday night when the accused barged into the victim’s home, a few hours after she lodged a complaint with his senior official.

The woman was posted as a security officer at the Bangalore University campus, while the accused is a constable deployed at the Jnanabharathi police station in Bengaluru.

Chandrashekhar allegedly used to pass crude remarks about the victim and continuously harass her. He had earlier approached the woman and taken her number and would call her constantly. Last week, he had even dropped her home against her will. On Saturday, he approached her at the university and allegedly touched her inappropriately, following which she complained to his superior officer.

A report says the victim approached Inspector GY Giriraj at the Jnanabharathi police station and complained about Chandrashekhar to him. Following this, the inspector had summoned Chandrashekhar and warned him of an inquiry and possible suspension if he continued the harassment. Angered by this, Chandrashekhar forced himself into the victim’s home and raped her.

Police also said that Chandrashekhar threw a bucket of water on the victim, in an attempt to “destroy” the evidence and fled the spot. When her husband returned home later in the night, the victim told him about the incident, following which the couple approached the police station to lodge a complaint.

DCP (North) Chetan Singh Rathore confirmed that Chandrashekhar was arrested on Monday after an investigation. A case of rape, criminal intimidation and trespassing has been filed against the accused, who has been remanded to judicial custody. Police are also inspecting CCTV footage from the university and a medical report is awaited.A 27-year-old woman home guard was allegedly raped by a police constable hours after she complained to his superior officer about his attempts to molest her. The accused, identified as 36-year-old Chandrashekhar, was arrested on Monday.

PTI

 A tutor in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district was caught on CCTV camera brutally beating up a seven-year-old boy, police said on Monday.

In the CCTV footage, the teacher named Kamal is seen hitting the boy with shoes.

The assault came to light after the boy’s parents noticed bruises on his body, the police said.

The parents informed the district police chief of the incident and showed the CCTV footage after which a case was registered.

The teacher, who had been teaching the boy for the past six months, is absconding.

IANS

Speakers at the AVAR 2018 international cyber security conference will discuss advanced persistent targeted attacks on governments and industries to security for smart cars in the Internet of Things (IoT), said a city-based cyber security major.

India’s K7 Computing will host and organise the three-day conference in association with CERT-In (India’s Computer Emergency Response Team), the company said in a statement issued here on Friday.

It said the 21st Association of the anti-Virus Asia Researchers International Conference, popularly known as AVAR, will be held between November 28 to 30 in Goa.

The theme this year will be “The Dynamic Security Ecosystem”.

AVAR 2018 will provide a platform for 67 speakers from 25 different international security companies to present 41 cutting-edge cybersecurity topics.

“We strongly believe in spreading awareness on the need for wide adoption of cybersecurity solutions to protect data and devices,” J. Kesavardhanan, MD and CEO, K7 Computing, said in the statement.

“AVAR gives us a great opportunity to drive our cybersecurity mandate, bringing the industry together to discuss and develop an advanced roadmap to curb cyber threats.”

Sanjay Bahl, Director General, CERT-In, said: “AVAR is an important technical platform to bring the global cybersecurity industry together to discuss and brainstorm on the technical way forward to deal with the evolving threat landscape.”

IANS

 CBI Director Alok Verma was on Friday asked by the Supreme Court to respond to the Central Vigilance Commission’s (CVC) inquiry report on allegations of corruption brought against him.

The allegations were levelled by his deputy, Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Krishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph said certain areas of the report were complimentary to Verma, while some were not so

The bench added that there were some areas which needed to be further probed.

Chief Justice Gogoi said that the CVC report would be given to senior counsel Fali Nariman in a sealed cover and the response to the report too would come in a sealed cover — to be submitted before the next hearing on November 20.

Nariman who appeared for Verma said they would like to file the response as early as possible, indicating a response by Monday.

IANS