Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu): In a shocking incident, a woman teacher was fatally stabbed on government school premises in Mallipattinam in the district by a youth, leading to some tense moments in the educational institution, police said on Wednesday.

The youth, who was later detained, repeatedly stabbed the teacher in full view of her colleagues at the school’s staff room, they said.

The incident evoked the spontaneous ire of the locals and Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi strongly condemned the attack on the teacher Ramani, of Mallipattanam Government Higher Secondary School, Thanjavur district.

“Violence against teachers cannot be tolerated. Strict legal action will be taken against the attacker. We express our deepest condolences to the bereaved family, students and fellow teachers of teacher Ramani,” the minister said on the social media platform ‘X’, shortly after the incident occurred.

The police claimed personal reason to be the motive behind the murderous attack.

The teacher was rushed to the government hospital here, but was declared brought dead by the doctors.

Describing her death as a “huge loss” for the teaching community, Poyyamozhi told reporters in Chennai that the man responsible for her murder has been arrested.

Chief Minister M K Stalin has asked him to visit Thanjavur and console the bereaved family, the minister said.

“I have asked the district collector to declare a holiday for the school today and take steps to provide counselling to the students,” Poyyamozhi said.

Meanwhile, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami condemned the murder and said the incident had exposed that government teachers and doctors lacked safety and security at their workplaces.

“The DMK government has failed to maintain law and order. Murders and other crimes have become very common in Tamil Nadu. At least now the Chief Minister should devote his attention to maintaining law and order in the state,” Palaniswami said in a post on social media platform ‘X’.

Assuring stringent action as per law on the assailant, Chief Minister M K Stalin said the death of M Ramani, 26, who devoted herself to education in rural areas, was “an irreparable loss to the school education department, her colleagues and students.”

Expressing his deepest condolences and sympathies to the bereaved family, the chief minister said in a release that he had directed the officials to provide a solatium of Rs 5 lakh to the affected family from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund.

Bhubaneswar: A 20-year-old tribal woman was allegedly assaulted and human faeces were forced into her mouth in Odisha’s Bolangir district, police said on Wednesday.

The incident happened in Jurabandha village in Bangamunda police station area on November 16, they said.The accused, a non-tribal man, was operating a tractor on the woman’s agricultural land, causing damage to crops, to which she protested. The accused then assaulted her, and forced human faeces into her mouth, according to the FIR.

When her aunt went to rescue her, she was also assaulted by the accused, it alleged.

Addressing a press conference in Bhubaneswar, BJD MP Niranjan Bisi alleged that the police have not taken any action against the accused, which has angered the tribals.

He said if the law and order situation in Bangamunda deteriorates, the state government would be responsible.

Bolangir’s Superintendent of Police Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo said that the accused has been on the run since the incident.

“We have formed two special teams to nab him. Even police teams have been sent to neighbouring states in search of him,” the SP said.

He said he was optimistic that the accused would be arrested soon.

Another police officer said that a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered.

Jaipur: A four-year-old boy died after falling into an open borewell in Rajasthan’s Barmer district on Wednesday evening, police said.

The incident occurred in Arjun ki Dhani in Gudhamalani area where Naresh fell into the borewell while playing. A rescue operation was immediately launched after getting information from his family.

The boy was stuck at a depth of nearly 100 feet, the police said.

The rescue team pulled the boy out after nearly three hours but he had died by then, they said.

Mumbai : The ED and the CBI on Wednesday ramped up their investigations against Bitcoin Ponzi ‘scam’ suspect Gaurav Mehta, a day after the BJP made public voice notes to allege that Congress and NCP (SP) leaders were trying to encash cryptocurrency to influence Maharashtra assembly polls.

The allegations were refuted by NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and Congress leader Nana Patole who termed the voice notes released by the BJP on the eve of polling as fake.

Gaurav Mehta, an audit company employee, was at the centre of the action taken by the two federal probe agencies on Wednesday with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carrying out searches at his Raipur residence while the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) issued summons to him seeking his presence before the investigating officer as soon as possible.

The CBI has registered three cases related to Gain Bitcoin Ponzi scheme case last month on the orders of the Supreme Court issued in December, 2023.

The ED questioned Mehta and recorded his statement during the searches. It also seized some computers and digital devices.

ED officials said the agency has widened its ongoing money laundering probe into a crypto (Bitcoin) assets ponzi scam and is investigating the “links” of Mehta and some others with politicians, politically exposed persons and bureaucrats.

The agency attached assets worth Rs 98 crore of actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra in April as part of this crypto-ponzi probe. The couple challenged the ED action and got relief from the Bombay High Court.

It was alleged by the ED that the bitcoins were to be utilised for mining and investors were supposed to get huge returns in crypto assets but the promoters “cheated” the investors and have been concealing the “ill-gotten” bitcoins in obscure online wallets.

Kundra, the ED alleged, received 285 bitcoins from the “mastermind” and promoter of Gain Bitcoin Ponzi “scam” Amit Bhardwaj for “setting up” a bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine.

These bitcoins were sourced from the “proceeds of crime” collected by Amit Bhardwaj from gullible investors, it said.

The agency arrested three people — Simpy Bhardwaj, Nitin Gaur and Nikhil Mahajan — in the case last year.

Main accused Ajay Bhardwaj and Mahendra Bhardwaj are absconding, the ED said, adding that it attached properties worth Rs 69 crore in the case earlier.

Two chargesheets have been filed in the case till now — the first in June 2019 and the second in February this year.

The BJP on Tuesday played purported voice notes of Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress chief Patole alleging attempts were being made to encash bitcoins to influence the elections.

Sharing the audio clips, in which voices and signal chats purportedly of Sule and Patole allegedly indicate that bitcoins were used for funding the poll campaign, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had said it is clear that the MVA has seen the writing on the wall that it will be defeated in the polls.

The allegations were strongly refuted by both leaders who said that the voice recordings were not theirs.

Sule said she has filed a complaint with the Election Commission and the cybercrime department of the state against the false allegations. She told reporters on Wednesday that she “did not know Gaurav Mehta”.

Patole also dismissed the BJP’s allegations and said, “The voice in the clip being circulated is not mine. Even (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi recognises my voice.” Voting in Maharashtra elections took place on Wednesday for 288 Assembly seats where BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is facing a challenge from NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UT) and Congress alliance known as Maha Vikas Agadi.

A former IPS officer Ravindranath Patil, who was arrested in a 2018 cryptocurrency “fraud” case being probed by Pune Police, has also claimed that Mehta had provided him 10 voice notes on the Signal app which had purported audio clips of Sule, Patole, and IPS officers Amitabh Gupta (ex-Pune Police commissioner) and Bhagyashree Navtake, who was the DCP (cyber) in Pune when he was arrested.

He had also sent a complaint to the Election Commission alleging three voice notes were sent by Sule to Mehta in which she is purportedly heard asking the latter to encash the Bitcoins as funds were needed for elections and assuring him that he need not worry about inquiries as once they come to power, they would handle them.

In his complaint sent to the EC via email, Patil stated that according to the chats that he claims to be in possession of, it appears that hundreds of bitcoins worth billions of rupees may have been pumped in the assembly polls and the previous Lok Sabha elections.

It also appears that Mehta is currently having custody of the misappropriated bitcoins, amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees, Patil said in the complaint.

The ED’s money laundering probe in the crypto-ponzi case stems from FIRs of Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police against a company named Variable Tech Pvt Ltd and individuals named (late) Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj and Mahender Bhardwaj, among others.

A number of multi-level marketing agents are alleged to have collected huge amounts of funds in the form of bitcoins (worth Rs 6,600 crore in 2017) from the public with the “false promise” of 10 per cent per month return in the form of Bitcoins.

The Supreme Court handed over cases registered against Variable Tech Pte Ltd across the country to the CBI in December last year.

Hazaribag (Jharkhand): At least seven people were killed and several others injured on Thursday after a Patna-bound bus with passengers on board overturned in Jharkhand’s Hazaribag district, police said.

The accident occurred near Gorhar Police Station area, around 50 km away from district headquarters, when the bus overturned while it was taking a turn, a senior officer said.

“Seven deaths have been confirmed so far. Some more people may be trapped in the bus,” Hazaribag SP Arvind Kumar

There were about 50 passengers in the bus which was going to Patna from Kolkata when the accident took place.

Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman and wife Saira Banu are separating after 29 years of marriage, their lawyer said on Tuesday.

In a statement on behalf of the couple, prominent divorce lawyer Vandana Shah said they took the decision to separate after “significant emotional strain in their relationship”.

“After many years of marriage, Saira and her husband A R. Rahman have made the difficult decision to separate from each other. This decision comes after significant emotional strain in their relationship.

“Despite their deep love for each other, the couple has found that the tensions and difficulties have created an insurmountable gap between them, one that neither party feels able to bridge at this time,” read the joint statement, issued to media by Shah.

Banu and Rahman, 57, tied the knot in 1995 and are parents to three children — daughters Khatija, Raheema, and son Ameen.

In his Instagram Stories, Ameen wrote, “We kindly request everyone to respect our privacy during this time. Thank you for your understanding.”

In the statement, Banu and Rahman said the decision to separate comes out of “pain and agony”, and requested “privacy and understanding from the public” as they navigate this “difficult chapter” in their life.

Banu was first announce the separation in a statement, which was followed by a joint statement. Rahman is yet to publicly comment on the news.