Tumakuru (Karnataka) (PTI): At least two people have died after drinking contaminated water at Chinnenahalli village in Madhugiri taluk of the district, Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Thursday.

According to officials, the deceased - Chikkadasappa (76) and Peddanna (72) - who died at a hospital here on Wednesday, were among the nearly hundred people, who fell ill on June 10, after drinking water supplied from an overhead tank and a drinking water unit during the village fair.

Parameshwara, who is also the district in-charge Minister, today visited the hospital and enquired about the health condition of those undergoing treatment.

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"A temple fair was organised at Chinnenahalli, and there are reports that due to consumption of contaminated water, over hundred people suffered from vomiting and loose motion. Some of them admitted themselves to private hospitals in Madhugiri, Koratagere and Tumakuru, and the district administration also shifted those affected to Tumakuru hospital," he told reporters.

He said two people have died at the hospital here.

On reports that more people, including a three-year-old girl, have died at a private hospital, he sought to know the details from officials and said: "we will gather information about deaths in the private hospital and try to find out about overall deaths due to this incident."

The Minister said the village PDO (Panchayat Development Officer) and waterman have been suspended, as they did not take the precautionary measures.

"As per the inquiry done, water connection work was on, and due to damages in the water pipes caused by a JCB (construction equipment), contaminated water got mixed. Some test reports have come, a few more are awaited, from which we will get more information," he said.

More people are still undergoing treatment at the hospital, including children, Parameshwara said.

Taking this as a "lesson", he said he has called a meeting of senior officers and will review the water supply system in the district.

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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.

The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.

Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.

“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.

"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.

The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.