Court acquits two men in Udupi canteen worker murder case
Udupi: In a significant legal development, the Second Additional District and Sessions Court in Udupi has acquitted two men charged with the murder of a 52-year-old canteen worker. The verdict, delivered on Friday, cited insufficient evidence against the accused, Vignesh Kutti and Naveen Kumar.
The incident, which took place on July 21, 2022, near Udupi railway station, saw Kumar, a canteen worker, fatally beaten during an altercation. Despite forensic evidence of fresh injuries and a police report detailing a violent assault with a wooden club, the court found the evidence inadequate.
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After the examination of 21 witnesses, the presiding judge, Dinesh Hegde, ruled in favour of the accused. Advocate Cherkady Akhil B Hegde, who represented the defense, successfully argued for their acquittal.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
