Key Accused In Witness' Killing In UP MLA Murder Case Shot Dead In Encounter

The accused, Arbaz, was shot in the chest during the police encounter in Nehru Park at Dhoomangunj, say sources.

Prayagraj Police at the encounter site at Nehru park in Dhoomangunj

One of the key accused in the killing of a witness in the 2005 murder case of an MLA in Uttar Pradesh, was shot and killed by the state police in an encounter near Prayagraj.

The accused, Arbaz, was shot in the chest during the police encounter in Nehru Park at Dhoomangunj, say sources.

A constable was injured in the encounter while an inspector, Rajesh Maurya, was shot in the hand.

Arbaz was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.

On Friday, Umesh Pal, a key witness in the murder case of Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Raju Pal in 2005, was shot dead while he was getting out of the backseat of a Hyundai Creta SUV in Prayagraj.

Umesh Pal was taken to a local hospital, where he died during treatment, the police said.

"The incident happened right outside Umesh Pal's home. So far it has been confirmed that two bombs were thrown and he was fired at by a small firearm," Prayagraj police chief Ramit Sharma told reporters.

Woman falls prey to card activation fraud, loses Rs 3.7 lakh

As more people have started using smartphones, fraudsters have started adopting new tricks to siphon money from innocent people.

Representational Image.

KOCHI: As more people have started using smartphones, fraudsters have started adopting new tricks to siphon money from innocent people. The latest to fall in their snare is a Thrissur native woman who lost money from her bank account and credit card after being approached by an unknown person to activate her new credit card. Police have registered a case and started a probe into the incident.

It was on February 16 that the 43-year-old woman received a new SBI credit card. On the same day, she was contacted by a person claiming to be a bank official. He offered to help her activate her credit card.

“Unaware of such cheating, she revealed the credit card and bank account details to the person over the phone,” a police official said.

The accused later said that for completion of credit card activation and its usage, an application named QS Support has to be installed on the mobile phone. As directed, the victim too installed the app before she received messages that Rs 3.21 lakhs were debited from her bank account on seven transactions and Rs 48,000 taken from her credit card.

“The app which the complainant installed on her mobile phone was a remote access application. This allowed the fraudster to access the victim’s mobile phone. He obtained all the required passwords and OTPs to complete the transactions. Even though the victim approached the bank, they were helpless and advised her to lodge a police complaint,” the police official said.

However, the police are still puzzled about how the accused person learned that the victim had received a new credit card. Police suspect the victim might have searched for new credit cards on fake websites alerting fraudsters about a new prey. “The cyber fraudsters approaching people for credit card activation is a new method.

We suspect that no recent case of similar nature has been reported in Kerala in recent days. A probe is conducted based on the mobile phone from which the victim received the call and about bank accounts to which the amount was transferred from the victim’s account,” the police official said.

Iran official says schoolgirls poisoned in holy city

Since late November, hundreds of cases of respiratory poisoning have been reported among schoolgirls mainly in Qom, south of Tehran, with some needing hospital treatment.

For representational purposes

TEHRAN: An Iranian deputy minister on Sunday said "some people" were poisoning schoolgirls in the holy city of Qom with the aim of shutting down education for girls, state media reported.

Since late November, hundreds of cases of respiratory poisoning have been reported among schoolgirls mainly in Qom, south of Tehran, with some needing hospital treatment.

On Sunday the deputy health minister, Younes Panahi, implicitly confirmed the poisonings had been deliberate.

"After the poisoning of several students in Qom schools, it was found that some people wanted all schools, especially girls' schools, to be closed," the IRNA state news agency quoted Panahi as saying.

He did not elaborate. So far, there have been no arrests linked to the poisonings.

On February 14, parents of students who had been ill had gathered outside the city's governorate to "demand an explanation" from the authorities, IRNA reported.

The next day government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said the intelligence and education ministries were trying to find the cause of the poisonings.

Last week, Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri ordered a judicial probe into the incidents.

The poisonings come as Iran has been rocked by protests since the December 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini for an alleged violation of country's strict dress code for women.