Washington (PTI): Former US president Donald Trump raised over USD 4 million in 24 hours after a grand jury in Manhattan voted to indict him for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, his office has said.

Significantly, over 25 per cent of donations came from first-time donors to the Trump Campaign, further solidifying his status as the clear frontrunner in the Republican primary, a media release said on Friday.

"This incredible surge of grassroots contributions confirms that the American people see the indictment of President Trump as a disgraceful weaponisation of our justice system by a Soros-funded prosecutor," said the campaign.

With an average contribution of only USD 34, Trump's 2024 campaign is funded by an unmatched coalition of hardworking patriots who are fed up with special interest donors like Soros spending billions of dollars to influence our elections, it said.

"Americans from across all 50 states donated to President Trump's campaign within the first five hours of the sham indictment," the release said.

The White House has refused to comment on the indictment of the former president.

"I have no comment on that," President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday.

Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters in Zambia, "I am not going to comment on an ongoing criminal case as it relates to the former president.".

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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.