Aussie police get shoot-to-kill power for marauding drivers
Sydney: Police in part of Australia were given shoot-to-kill powers on Monday, to stop drivers who deliberately plough into pedestrians. Eight people have been killed and more than 45 injured in three such attacks in Melbourne, Victoria's state capital and Australia's second-biggest city, since 2017.
Victoria Police said officers will be required to take "decisive action" in response to vehicle attacks -- including ramming cars involved or shooting the driver. Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said officers had wide powers to stop an attack -- or even the threat of one.
"Any tactical option that currently exists, they can use, but additionally the policy says they can use lethal force," he told reporters in Melbourne. Though Patton said these were "extreme things to include in a policy", he said giving police clarity on exactly what actions they could take was "very important".
"We don't want to wait until a car ploughs into a group of people, we want them to stop it before it occurs," he said. The announcement comes ahead of an inquiry into the deaths of six people killed when a driver mowed down shoppers in the heart of Melbourne in January 2017.
It will examine whether police should have prevented the man from getting into the city centre for the attack, which left 27 others injured. James Gargasoulas was jailed for life for the murders, which police determined were not terror-related. The new hostile vehicle policy, which comes into force immediately, is the first of its kind in Australia.
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Thane (PTI): A 23-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly molesting and extorting Rs 50,000 from a 15-year-old schoolgirl over six months in Thane city, police said on Wednesday.
Accused Prathamesh Desai, a resident of Lokmanya Nagar, was taken into custody following a complaint by the girl’s parents on March 1.
A police official from the Vartak Nagar police station said Desai targeted the teenager between September 2025 and February 2026. “On multiple occasions, he took her to isolated locations and molested her,” the official said, citing the FIR.
The accused threatened to inform the girl’s parents about their purported “relationship” and extracted a total of Rs 50,000 from her, he said.
“Unable to bear the persistent threats and financial demands, the girl finally confided in her parents, who approached the police,” the official said.
Desai has been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said, adding that further investigation was underway.
