Actor Nargis Fakhri's sister charged with murder of boyfriend, another woman
NEW YORK: A sister of actor Nargis Fakhri has been charged with the murder of her boyfriend and another woman after she set a building they were in on fire, and faces a potential maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Aliya Fakhri, 43, has been charged with the murder of her boyfriend Edward Jacobs, 35, and Anastasia Ettienne, 33.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said Fakhri deliberately set a deadly fire in a detached garage of a home in Jamaica, Queens here, trapping the two inside with no exit.
Katz said Fakhri maliciously ended the lives of two people by setting a fire that trapped a man and woman in a raging inferno.
The victims tragically died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.
Fakhri, a resident of Parsons Boulevard in Queens, was indicted by a grand jury for four counts of murder in the first degree, four counts of murder in the second degree and one count each of arson in the first degree and arson in the second degree, according to a recent statement.
Fakhri was arraigned by Supreme Court Justice John Zoll and remanded.
She faces a potential maximum of life in prison if convicted of the top charge.
She is scheduled to return to court on December 9.
According to the charges and investigation, on November 2, Fakhri arrived at the front door of a two-story detached garage in the Jamaica neighbourhood in Queens at around 6:20 am and yelled upstairs to Jacobs, "You're all going to die today."
Soon after, a witness who was inside the property came downstairs and discovered that the building was on fire.
Ettienne was alerted to the fire and went downstairs briefly.
The woman then returned upstairs in an attempt to save Jacobs, who was sleeping.
The building became engulfed with flames and neither Jacobs nor Ettienne could escape.
Both Jacobs and Ettienne later died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.
Actor Nargis Fakhri, 45, was born in Queens, New York and has acted in several Indian movies.
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41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
