Lover allegedly kills woman by stuffing 'chemical powder' into her mouth
Mysuru (PTI): In a horrific crime, a 20-year-old married woman was allegedly killed by a man, who was in a relationship with her, by stuffing some "chemical powder" into her mouth after a heated argument, police said on Monday.
The incident occurred on Saturday at a lodge in Bherya village of Saligrama taluk in this district, they said, adding the woman died following consumption of the chemical.
The accused Siddaraju was arrested, police said, adding he tried to portray the cause of her death as "due to mobile blast" to mislead the investigators. A case of murder was registered at the Saligrama police station in Karnataka.
According to police, the victim, Darshitha, a resident of Gerasanahalli village in Hunsur taluk, was married to a man from Kerala and was in a relationship with Siddaraju.
Meanwhile, Kerala police said Darshitha went missing on August 22 from her matrimonial home in Kannur district along with 30 sovereigns of gold ornaments and Rs 4 lakh in cash. Darshitha was the wife of Subhas A P, who works as a driver in Dubai. She married Subhas in 2022 and the couple has a two-year-old daughter.
Citing preliminary investigation, a senior Karnataka police officer said that the victim and the accused were in relationship for a long time. However, she started avoiding him recently and did not take any effort to stay in touch. This upset him leading to a quarrel.
During their stay at the lodge, a heated argument broke out between her and Siddaraju, following which he killed her. The accused allegedly tried to mislead the police by claiming that the death was caused by mobile phone blast.
After killing her, he shouted saying that the mobile phone had exploded. However, when the staff came, there was no mobile phone in the room. When the accused was asked about the alleged "exploded mobile phone," he claimed that he threw it out of the window, the senior police officer said.
The staff searched for the mobile phone but could not find it and they became suspicious and called the police, the officer said. Based on the investigation, the accused was arrested after he confessed to the crime.
Mysuru Superintendent of Police Vishnuvardhana N, said: "The victim was married to someone who is in Kerala, but she was in a relationship with the accused. We are further investigating the reason behind this murder. He used a chemical powder combination to kill her, which is currently being examined by the forensic experts."
Kerala police said that on Friday evening when Darshitha’s mother-in-law, Sumatha, and brother-in-law, Sooraj, returned home, they found the woman and her daughter missing, along with gold ornaments and cash. Sumatha tried to contact Darishitha, but she did not respond. Hence, Sumatha filed a complaint at Irrikur police station in Kannur district, where a case for theft was registered.
When police contacted Darshitha’s relatives in Karnataka, they said that she was on the way to Kannur after handing over the child to her parents. Her phone remained switched off.
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PM to lay stone of north India's first semiconductor unit, open Namo Bharat corridor in UP next week
Lucknow (PTI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of north India's first semiconductor manufacturing unit in Gautam Buddh Nagar and inaugurate the Namo Bharat rapid rail corridor along with the Meerut Metro next week, marking major milestones in the state's infrastructure push.
Speaking in the Legislative Council during the Budget Session on Monday, Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh today has "excellent connectivity by water, land and air", and highlighted the prime minister's upcoming engagements in the state.
He said the foundation stone of the semiconductor unit in Gautam Buddh Nagar would be laid on February 21, terming it a significant step towards making the state a hub for high-technology manufacturing.
On February 22, Modi will inaugurate the remaining stretches of the 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Namo Bharat corridor, connecting Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi with Modipuram in Meerut, he said.
Alongside, the 23-km Meerut Metro corridor with 13 stations will also be launched.
According to officials, the remaining sections include a 5-km stretch in Delhi between Sarai Kale Khan and New Ashok Nagar, and a 21-km stretch from Meerut South to Modipuram.
The 82-km corridor comprises key stations such as Sarai Kale Khan, Anand Vihar, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Muradnagar, Modinagar South, Modinagar North and Meerut South, forming the backbone of the regional rapid transit system connecting major residential, commercial and industrial clusters.
Recalling the pre-2017 situation, Adityanath said it earlier took around three hours to travel from Meerut to Delhi and even then security was not guaranteed.
"Today, the distance between Delhi and Meerut can be covered in about 45 minutes through the 12-lane highway, and with the rapid rail, it will be further streamlined," he said, adding that law and order had significantly improved.
Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh accounts for 55 per cent of the country's total expressway network and has the largest railway network in India. The state currently has a network of 22 expressways, of which seven are operational, five are under construction and work on 10 others is underway, he added.
He said metro services are running on six corridors in the state, and the Meerut corridor will be inaugurated by the prime minister on February 22.
Highlighting inland waterways, the chief minister said the Varanasi-Haldia waterway has been developed, with terminals at Ramnagar, Chandauli, Mirzapur and Ghazipur being upgraded.
He also said that when his government assumed office, only two airports were fully operational in the state and two were partially functional.
"Today, there are 16 airports in Uttar Pradesh, including four international airports, while the fifth international airport at Jewar is ready," he said, adding that efforts are on to take the project forward this month with the prime minister's participation.
The country's first Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hub is also being established at Jewar, he added, underlining the state's emergence as a major connectivity and logistics hub.
