THANE: One person was killed and two others were injured in Mumbra on Thursday when a 51-year-old man fired at them for allegedly harassing a woman he considered his sister.The firing took place at around 11:30 am near Sumatibai Chavan Hindi Primary School in Mumbra’s Kailas Nagar area, which is under the jurisdiction of Mumbra police station. Police arrested the accused, Jayen Shivanandan Nair. According to the police, a minor dispute had erupted over the cutting of a banana tree within the school premises, where the woman accused considers his sister works as a caretaker. The dispute led to a heated argument between the woman and three individuals, during which, the woman allegedly told the accused, she was harassed by the men, Anil Shinde, senior inspector of Mumbra police station said.In a fit of rage, the accused then allegedly opened fire, injuring the three persons. The victims were rushed to Kalsekar Hospital, where one of them, Akbar Abdul Sheikh, was declared dead during treatment. The two other injured persons are in a stable condition, police said.Police said the accused shares a close bond with the woman’s family. When he was nine years old, he had lost his parents in Kolkata. During that period, the mother of the woman took him in and raised him, making him feel particularly protective towards the family, the police said.Police have recovered the weapon, a country-made firearm, used in the crime. During questioning, the accused claimed that he had found the firearm during a trip near a secluded spot along the Gujarat border and had kept it.The incident has raised fresh concerns over gun-related violence in Mumbra as it comes days after another firing case involving Nadeem Khan alias Baba Khan, where the accused allegedly fired at the police while attempting to evade arrest. A separate case of firing was also reported last week in Thane’s Pachpakhadi area.With at least three firing incidents in Thane within a month, questions have been raised about law and order, policing and public safety.

HAZARIBAG: Police have arrested a 35-year-old mother, an occult practitioner, and a man in connection with the strangulation of a teenage girl during a sacrificial ritual in Kusumbha village, officials said on Wednesday.According to Hazaribag SP Anjani Anjan and DIG Anjani Jha announced the arrests during a late-night press briefing.The arrested include Reshmi Devi, the mother of the girl, 55-year-old Shanti Devi, an occultist, and 40-year-old Bhim Ram, all residents of the same village.Anjan said Reshmi Devi frequently visited a ‘tantrik’ in her village for the treatment of her youngest son, who suffers from physical and mental ailments.“The occult practitioner told the mother that they needed to sacrifice a virgin girl to cure the son of all ailments,” she said.The officer explained that on March 24, during the Ashtami night when the village was busy with Mangla Julus (Ram Navami procession) celebrations, the girl was strangled at Shanti Devi’s house, allegedly by her mother and Bhim Ram.Police claimed the tantrik inserted a wooden stick into the girl’s private parts, while Bhim Ram struck her head to collect blood for the ritual. The trio then buried her body in a garden.Anjan said the suspects tried to mislead investigators by claiming the girl had been raped, which was not confirmed by the postmortem or forensic report.Bhim Ram also faces allegations in the murder of his sister-in-law and another person, she added.

The Jharkhand High Court took suo motu notice of the alleged rape and murder on Monday and issued notices to the state administration and the police chief. A division bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay Prasad acted after reviewing media reports.Earlier, the girl’s mother had claimed her daughter was abducted. The body was later found on March 25 in a village field.In protest against the killing, the Opposition BJP staged a 12-hour bandh in Hazaribag on Monday.

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party has written to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat seeking the removal of Raghav Chadha from the post of deputy leader of the party in the Upper House, sources told news agency PTI.In its communication, the party also requested that Chadha should not be allotted speaking time from AAP’s quota in the Rajya Sabha, indicating a significant shift in its parliamentary strategy.