Six arrested for stone-pelting during sugarcane farmers’ protest on Pune-Bengaluru Highway
Belagavi (PTI): Six people were arrested in connection with a stone-pelting incident during a farmers’ protest demanding a higher support price for sugarcane, police said on Thursday.
The incident occurred near the Hattargi toll plaza on the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway on November 7, when farmers staged a protest seeking a support price of Rs 3,500 per tonne of sugarcane. The demonstration briefly disrupted traffic on the highway.
During the protest, a group allegedly resorted to stone-pelting, injuring 12 police personnel and damaging two police vehicles, officials said.
District Superintendent of Police Bhimashankar Guled identified the arrested accused as Channagouda Sasalatti (40), Prashant Mugali (28), Vinayak Kotiwali (25), Mallappa Ghatagi (46), Shivanand Vani (59), and Somanath Hiremath (46).
“The individuals involved in the violence were not farmers. They had infiltrated the protest under the guise of farmers with the intent to create disorder,” the SP said, adding that video footage and other evidence were used to trace and identify the six accused.
The police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and other applicable provisions of the law. Further investigation is underway to identify additional suspects, he added.
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Woman software employee murdered by ex-husband in Hyderabad
Hyderabad (PTI): A 29-year-old woman software employee was allegedly killed by her former husband at her house here on Wednesday, police said.
The victim's husband in a complaint stated that his wife was three months pregnant. However, police said it was not confirmed so far as the post-mortem report is awaited.
The accused, in his 30s, who worked as a software employee in Canada earlier, barged into the victim's residence and after noticing her in a room locked it from inside and allegedly stabbed her multiple times on her head with a knife resulting in her instant death.
The woman's mother-in-law was in the verandah of the house at the time of the incident.
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After being informed by her family members and neighbours, police reached the spot and found that the accused had poured petrol in the room, which he brought with him in a can, and had locked himself in the washroom.
He threatened to set off fire in the room with a lighter he was carrying and after being convinced by the police officials he came out of the washroom and was taken into custody, a police official said.
The couple got married in 2022 and mutually divorced in 2024. She had a second marriage in April 2025, police said.
Based on preliminary investigation, police said the accused bore grudge against his ex-wife as she filed domestic violence case against him.
Police said after their marriage in India, the accused went to Canada, and the deceased later joined him there.
"Some differences arose between the couple and after staying with him for five days she later returned to India and subsequently filed domestic violence case against him in Maharashtra," they said.
The accused came to India from Canada in March 2025 following the death of his mother, a police official said.
A Look-out Circular was issued against him because of the case and his passport was suspended and he was unable to go back to Canada since then and was presently residing in his native place in Peddapalli district of Telangana, without any work.
The accused felt that he and his family faced mental suffering due to the case. He also felt that his mother's death was due to the mental agony caused by the estranged wife, police said.
The accused developed a grudge against her and decided to eliminate her, police said. He managed to locate her residential address through her social media account and came to Hyderabad two months ago and stayed in a hostel.
He also "recceed" the victim’s apartment recently.
As per his plan, he came to the apartment on Wednesday with a bag containing two knives, a drilling machine, a can containing five-liter petrol among other items.
CCTV footage broadcast by local TV channels showed the man carrying a bag and walking in the corridor of the apartment.
