Rape-murder accused on the run kills 7-year-old girl in Thane district
Thane (PTI): A powerloom worker, who had been on the run in a rape and murder case involving a six-year-old girl, allegedly sexually assaulted and killed another child in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Saturday.
The police have arrested the 33-year-old man in connection with the incident that occurred in Bhiwandi town on October 1, an official said.
The accused allegedly raped and strangled his seven-year-old neighbour and stuffed her body in a gunny sack before fleeing the scene on Wednesday, he said.
He was caught by the police while he was preparing to flee to Madhubani in Bihar on the same night, the official said.
According to the police, the victim had stepped out of her house to relieve herself but never returned. Her parents carried out a frantic search and found the small bucket that the girl had carried with her outside the accused's house, which was locked.
They broke down the door and found the child's body stuffed in a gunny sack, police said.
The official said the accused had similarly raped and murdered a six-year-old girl in 2023 and was arrested and lodged in Thane Central Jail.
He had fled police custody when he was brought to court for a hearing in August, and had returned to stay in the victim's neighbourhood a few days ago, he said.
The local police have registered a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the accused, the official said.
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J-K: Six held with drugs, assets worth Rs 73 lakh attached in Udhampur
Jammu (PTI): Six persons were taken into custody during an intensified anti-narcotics crackdown, with police recovering contraband substances and over Rs 23 lakh in Doda and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Monday.
In a parallel action, properties worth over Rs 73 lakh linked to drug peddlers were also attached in Udhampur district under relevant legal provisions, the police said.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Doda, Mohd Aslam said three persons, including a woman, were detained during a raid on a house at Dak Mohalla in the main town following recovery of 85 grams of suspected brown sugar and over Rs 23 lakh on Sunday evening.
He identified the woman as Zareena Begum, stating that she had been under police surveillance following inputs indicating her involvement in drug peddling.
Besides Zareena, officials said her daughter and son-in-law were also picked up by police during the raid.
“We have taken three individuals into custody. Their roles are being examined, and based on that, arrests will be made. We are continuing raids at other suspected locations,” Aslam said.
Three drug peddlers --Pardeep Singh of Hiranagar, Rahees Butt of Billawar and Ali Sen of Amritsar (Punjab) -- were arrested along with heroin at different places in Kathua district, a police spokesman said.
He said while 2.79 gm of heroin was seized from Singh, 2.66 gm were recovered Butt. Similarly, 303 gm of heroin was seized from Sen who was intercepted near Berrian-Pattan village while moving in a private car from Bhagthali to Maggar Khad on the Jammu-Pathankot highway.
All the three were booked under the NDPS Act and further investigations are on, the spokesman said.
In Udhampur, the spokesman said properties worth Rs 73 lakh were attached in two separate cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The attached properties included a newly constructed residential house, a car, a motorcycle and a mobile phone with a total value of Rs 65 Lakh, belonging to accused Saif Ali who was booked under the NDPS case in Majalta area early this year, he said.
In another action, movable property worth Rs 8 lakh comprising a car, belonging to accused Danish Butt of Doda has been attached under Section 68(F) NDPS Act in connection with an FIR registered at Rehambal police station, the spokesman said.
