Teenage domestic help commits suicide

Neighbor S Mangamma, who stays beside the deceased home, showing the hut where Manga, a 16-year-old minor maid Manga comitted suicide hanging herself at Alkapuri Colony in New Nagole in Hyderabad. it is reported that Police taken at least Rs 2 lakh bribe to close the case 

Locals allege her elderly employers had been harassing the girl with accusations of stealing sarees

A teenage maid servant committed suicide due to alleged harassment by her employers, who accused her of stealing sarees.

16-year-old D Manga was working as a maid servant in the house of a retired FCI officer Haridarshan and his wife Sashirekha. After her mother's death, Manga was forced to take up work to support her family, which consisted of her father and brother. She had reportedly discontinued her studies and joined as a domestic help in the elderly couple's house, a couple of years back for a salary of Rs 800.
Manga and her parents had migrated to the city for livelihood from Choutapur village in Kurkancharla mandal of Rangareddy district. They lived in a temporary hut at Alkapuri Colony near Nagole. Her father, Chandraiah was a daily wage worker in the sanitation wing of the GHMC. But it is learnt he was irregular in his work.
"Manga had impressed the retired couple with her work. They had promised to increase her salary in the near future and also assured to lend a helping hand in her marriage by giving gold ornaments," S Mangamma, a relative of Manga told Expresso.
Locals allege that police did not take any action against the elderly couple. Mangamma alleged the couple had paid a bribe of Rs 2 lakh for not taking action against them. In their preliminary investigation, police have found that Manga was only being suspected for theft of valuables but the couple did not lodge a formal complaint.
"The girl might have hanged herself as she was afraid of the couple threatening to lodge a case,'' said Md Maqbool Jani, sub-inspector of LB Nagar police. He dismissed allegations of police being bribed. Jani said they had arrested the accused Haridarshan but his wife was absconding. Police have registered a case of abetment to suicide under Section 306 of IPC against the couple.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

‘My child may be alive but hungry’

Clad in a burqa, a 27-year-old unidentified woman approached Uppu Chinnu two days back claiming her baby was also admitted in the Niloufer Hospitalnd befriended her. She convinced Chinnu she was an attendant for a baby and even took care of the latter’s 11-month grandson, Bandaru Ajay by singing a lullaby. However, Chinnu was in for a shock as the woman turned out be an abductor in disguise who vanished with Ajay in the wee hours of Tuesday.In yet another case of abduction of an infant from the hospital, the burqa-clad woman fled with Ajay, hoodwinking the boy’s parents and the security staff. She made a safe exit as the boy’s grandmother was fast asleep around 2 a.m. To ensure the security did not get wind of her plans, she also strolled in the premises with the boy, pretending to be a close relative. On bed number 111 of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Ajay’s mother, Sunita was inconsolable. As Expresso approached her and the boy’s grandmother, they asked, “Saaru, can my son be traced? Did you get any information about my missing boy? He is habitated to bottled milk. He might not have got anything to eat till now. Please help us in tracing my boy.” Ajay is the son of Bandaru Venkat and Sunita who hail from Armoor in Nizamabad district.They were at the Niloufer hospital as their elder son, Rakesh (2) was admitted in the ESR ward on Sunday for his kidney related ailment. “She could not speak Telugu and spoke in Urdu. She came and said she also had got her son admitted in the second floor. She convinced us by her sweet talk and even sang a lullaby to make Ajay sleep. We all believed her and had gone to sleep at the waiting room attached to the ward. Around 2 a.m, she escaped along with the boy,’’ 65-year-old Uppu Chinnu said with tearful eyes. Sunita, the boy’s mother said the woman gave an impression to security guards that she was a relative of the boy. “I left my son with my mother after feeding him around 11 p.m on Monday and went to the PICU, where my elder son was undergoing treatment. Suddenly, my mother started screaming when she found the child missing,’’ she added. An attendant of a patient at PICU said she saw the burqa-clad lady actively involved in talking with the old woman and her daughter Sunita. She also strolled around holding the baby. “I thought she was a close relative of the family. I came to know this morning that she has kidnapped the boy,’’ she said. This was the third incident of a baby going missing from the Niloufer Hospital. One baby girl and two baby boys had gone missing till date this year. Of them, one boy was traced by the Nampally police. Meanwhile, Nampally police registered a kidnap case based on a complaint lodged by Venkat. Police inspector Ch Sridhar told Expresso they were examining the CCTV footage in which the abductor was captured. But it may not be of much help as she was burqa-clad, sources said. Police are preparing a sketch of the woman based on the descriptions given by those who had seen her.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

Beware of the honey trap

Most of the criminals are youngsters between the age of thirteen and twenty-five. A group of young women in the city are out to make rich guys fall head over heels into their trap

Next time you come across a woman trying to engage you in sweet talk, don't fall for her. Cyberabad police say that some women, who they consider as most-wanted criminals, are trying to lure youngsters into the honey trap and scooting with their belongings.

Police suspect that these women are targeting youngsters from rich families with their sweet talk and are indulging in property offences. "They target persons belonging to high class societies and families with their sweet talk and decamp with their belongings," a senior police official said. The police believe these women are experts in snatching and picking pockets of those who take their bait.

Cyberabad police suspect that there are nine women indulging in such acts and have intensified their vigil to nab these most wanted criminals who they consider dangerous. These women are among the 162 most wanted criminals with a strong criminal past. These offenders are allegedly involved in various offences such as murder for gain, burglary, robberies, chain snatching, attention diversions, automobile thefts, pick-pocketing, ordinary theft, house break-in (HB) by day and HB by the night cases. Most of these criminals are youngsters between the age of 13 years to 25 years.

While 23-year-old Gaddam Lakshmi, resident of Kishanbagh is a most wanted criminal for notorious crimes, others  like Bonthala Pochamma, resident of Habeebnagar, Mallepally, Guthi Vanamma, resident of Adinarayanapuram of Prakasam district, Kancherla Parvathamma, native of Guntur, Kommuru Ramulamma, resident of Vadderabasthi, M Sridevi, resident of Shaikpet, S Maheswari, resident of Champapet, V Yadamma, resident of Mallepally and Yata Yadamma, resident of Puranapool are wanted in attention diversion cases and other offences.

The Cyberabad police admit that the list of most wanted criminals have been increasing in the  commissionerate limits. When contacted, Cyberabad Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Crimes, D Ramakrishnaiah refused to speak on this but said they would verify the existing list of criminals and prepare a comprehensive data shortly.

List of most wanted criminals:

Notorious Criminals:            7
Murder for gain offenders:     1
Dacoity offenders:               26
Robbery offenders:             17
Chain snatching:                  12
Automobile theft:                 16
Diverting attention:                9
Ordinary thefts:                   17
Pick-pocketing:                    2
HB by day offenders           19
HB by night offenders         36

Total:                               162


Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

JeepThrills Challenge

Jeep (4X4) thrills challenge, off road of driving game held at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. 

Excuse me, babe, are you old enough to be here?

Enjoy going to pubs? Great! But sorry if you are not yet twenty-one.College-goers and teens in the city who are eager to enjoy a drink and tap their feet on the dance floors of city pubs will have to wait until they are 21 years of age. Officials of the excise and prohibition department have warned the employees and management of pubs and other lounges in the city that strict action will be taken against them under section 36 of the Andhra Pradesh Excise Act if they allow youngsters below 21 years into the pubs or serve liquor to them.The officials have decided to implement the rule strictly after they cracked the whip on drug peddlers who allegedly operated their illegal business near select pubs and lounges and supplied drug samples to pub-goers. Excise and enforcement officials told Expresso that they have started raiding various pubs and lounges located at Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills and Begumpet. They have also arrested two staff members of well known pubs for allowing youth below twenty-one years inside. “We issued notices to all pub and lounge management asking them not to allow anyone below 21 years into pubs. Each pub management should take care to find out the age of a person through visible signs and if necessary, also verify it through the driving licence or other identity cards of the customer. The managements of the bars and pubs should properly display the age limit restriction at their entrances. If we catch minors inside any pub, we will intimate their respective parents and also conduct counselling for them,’’ the officials said. Meanwhile, a few prominent Page-3 party web portals like p3party.com based in New Delhi,  are encouraging minors to hit the pubs. Once you log into the portal, it asks if you are above 18 years of age. On clicking yes, it provides you with options of pubs in various cities including Hyderabad. When Expresso contacted Aayush Bansal, one of the directors of p3party.com, he said he was not aware of the recent ban on youth below 21 years at the pubs in the state . “We recently prepared the online data inviting pub-goers from Hyderabad. We will modify our portal information and invite only those who are 21 years and above,’’ he added. Varun, manager of Bottles and Chimneys, located at Begumpet said have not allowed minors into the pub or served them liquor after the excise and enforcement officials have imposed the ban. “We also regularly check the age of our customers before allowing them inside,” he told. 

By Mouli Mareedu 

Now, digital auto meter makers under the scanner

After cracking the whip on autowallahs tampering meters to collect extra fare from unsuspecting customers, Legal Metrology officials will now take to task digital auto meter manufactures, who have failed to supply tamper-proof meters as per guidelines. This comes in the wake of findings in the lab testing centre that most digital meters were manufactured with poor installed software which could be easily tampered by auto drivers using television remote controls. “It was revealed in the testing centre that most auto drivers tampered their digital meters using a TV remote. Even after stamping various sensitive locations of digital meters as per the Legal Metrology Act, auto drivers were involved in illegally tampering them. We started investigating into the manufacturing quality of digital meters and found most had poorly installed software. We are going to initiate necessary action against manufacturers,” said PSRNT Swamy, assistant controller, Legal Metrology department. He said they had registered as many as 895 cases against auto drivers involved in duping customers and collecting extra fare. Nine manufacturing companies, Right, which supplies at least 22,000 digital meters, Gold Tech- 15,000 meters, Perfect- 5,000, Standard- 5,000, Super- 7,000, Sansui- 8,000, Dolphin- 500, Smart- 800 and Digifare- 900 meters, supply all digital meters in the city. “In the testing centre it was revealed that most digital meters manufactured by Right and Gold Tech companies were tampered mechanically and could be controlled by a remote,” Swamy said. The Legal Metrology department has therefore decided to initiate action against the manufacturers as per suggestions finalised in a meeting between the department and manufacturers on 15 conditions of supplying tamper-proof meters. The conditions had been signed by manufacturers in presence of Ch Moulali, director, Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSL), Bangalore and the then controller of Legal Metrology, RP Meena in 2006. 

By Mouli Mareedu

Watch out before you buy that gold necklace!

Are you planning to purchase gold ornaments attracted by impressive ‘offers’ advertised by jewellery shops during the festival season? Then, watch before you buy that expensive gold necklace. It has come to light that most jewellery shops giving special offers are deceiving customers using unstamped weighing machines and charging excess prices. The fact was revealed by the Legal Metrology officials who found that more than 50 per cent of jewellery shops were using weighing machines without clearance and infringing rules and regulations. SA Huda, additional director general of police, controller of Legal Metrology told Express that the festival season was not only an auspicious time for customers to purchase gold ornaments but also prime time for jewellery stores to rob customers by using faulty weighing machines. For instance, Kalpana, a homemaker purchased necklace paying Rs 95,000 at a jewellery shop in Basheerbagh a few months back. After it was polished twice and tested at a hallmark centre, it was found the shop had duped her by giving less weight and using fake gold. “Legal Metrology officials have booked 676 cases in various festival seasons till September 2010. As many as 33 jewellery shops in Hyderabad were found violating the Weights and Measures Act while at least 46 cases were registered in Ranga Reddy,” he added.  He said jewellery shop managements dupe customers by collecting additional VAT, making extra charges and counting weight of gold ornaments along with studded stones. “We will take action against fraudulent jewellery shops if a customer files a complaint,” Huda added. “Before purchasing gold ornaments, customers should observe clearly the assaying centre logo, purity of gold, Bureau of Indian Standards logo, keeping house logo and year of manufacture. During the festival season, we receive a number of complaints from customers of being duped by jewellery shops. Customers can lodge complaints in consumer courts if they have bills issued by jewellery shops,” said Rajam Ganeshan, consumer activist and secretary of the Consumer Care Centre. The department registered 775 cases in 2009-10, 1,222 in 2008-09 and 1,234 in 2007-08.

By Mouli Mareedu

10% corporators have criminal past

Perhaps for first time in Hyderabad’s history, at least 10 per cent of corporators with criminal records are ruling the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). As many as 15 candidates, who are allegedly involved in various criminal offences, have been elected by the Hyderabad voters. Most of the criminal candidates who are elected are from the Majlis Ittehadul-e-Muslameen (MIM).

The efforts put in by social and voluntary organisations to dissuade voters from pressing the button to elect candidates with a criminal history seem to have gone unnoticed. Six candidates with criminal records are from the MIM, while four are from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), three are from the Congress and one candidate each from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Majlis-Bachao-Tehreek (MBT).

Before the GHMC elections, the Forum for Good Governance, an independent organisation, revealed that 46 candidates who were contesting had a criminal past. M Vedakumar, State Convener, Ennikala Nigha Vedika (ENV) said that even as the ENV conducted various awareness camps during the GHMC polls on the right to vote and elect good candidates for good governance, voters had failed to respond.

“The political parties are also preferring candidates with criminal background to contest in the elections,” he observed. One candidate with a criminal past, Samad-Bin-Aabad, was elected from Uppuguda on an MIM ticket. He was allegedly involved in a attack on the government officials on duty. Yousuf Nabandhi (MIM), elected from Lalithabaug attacked a police official in the Old City and organised a public meeting without permission. Khajabilal Ahmed elected from Rein Bazar (MIM) was allegedly involved in a attack on TDP MP Zahed Ali Khan. Murthuza Ali Khan (Chawni, MIM) allegedly attacked Gujarat police officials in front of the DGP’s office when they came to Hyderabad. Police filed a case against him of attempt to murder and destroying public property.

According to police records, he is still absconding. Meerj Alfakr Ali elected from Hussian (MIM) is key accused in the Charminar Bank scam and the case is under the CID investigation. Mohammed Ghouse elected from Shah Ali Banda (MIM), has eight cases against him for attacking people and threatening them. On the TDP front, Singireddy Srinivas Reddy elected from Saidabad is an accused in a cheating case of Vasavi Co-Operative Bank. Chinnaboyina Rajender who is elected from Aliabad is a history-sheeter and three criminal cases are filed against him. Raju Singh, elected from Manghalhat, is involved in five cases.

Gowreesh, elected from Jeedimetla is also facing some cases. From the Congress, S Shareef, elected from Khairatabad was allegedly involved in an attack on government officials but was acquitted. Raju Yadav, elected from Panjagutta is a former history-sheeter. He allegedly grabbed land at Survey No. 1007 and the case is pending in the court. V Jagadeeswara Rao, elected from Hafeezpet, is accused in two cases. Sahadev Yadav, elected from BJP from Kurmaguda is guilty of organising a public meeting without permission while Amjadullah Khan from MBT elected from Azampur ward attacked an on-duty Police Commissioner and Joint Commissioner.

M Padmanabha Reddy, retired IFS officer said that a number of candidates, who have eligibility were defeated by criminals because caste, money and liquor played a key role in the GHMC elections. “It is unfortunate that at least 10 per cent of corporators, who have a criminal past, are going to rule Hyderabad,” he added.

By Mouli Mareedu

Now, Facebook, Orkut used for drug peddling

It seems that drug peddlers have found a high-tech way to reach their clients and mange their business. The latest development in drug-peddling is the use of social networking sites to enhance their network. By the click of a mouse, customers are getting narcotic substances delivered at their door step. Police investigation revealed the use of social networking to expand the drug trade in the city. The matter came to light when police busted a drug racket two days back. Police found customers were placing orders and depositing money through networking portals like FaceBook, Orkut and Twitter. After learning that the drug trade has gone hi-tech, police are now keeping tabs on these social networking sites. “The entire transaction is done by creating various user-IDs on FaceBook, Orkut and Twitter,’’ sources said. “There is no scope of doubt. Social networking portals are helping drug sellers and drug addicts run their activities, by using multiple IDs. We suspect that the drug trade is running online utilising these networking sites. Drug addicts were forming a chain system and spreading the network by creating different user-IDs,’’ said Banjara Hills police inspector M Sudarshan said. City police caught five persons, including a Kenyan and two Nigerians on Tuesday for allegedly selling narcotic substances in separate cases. Sudarshan said they would start tracking selected user-IDs activities in connection of drug offering and purchasing. Police officials have taken initiative to track down users on social networking sites to obtain more evidence in the drug trade. “We can not come to a conclusion on drug-peddling based on the telephone caller list. Even after obtaining a detailed callers list from the accused mobiles and laptops, we cannot confirm the caller’s involvement. But, we are trying to find out more evidence based on the accused’s confession,’’ said Central Crime Station (CCS) inspector Ram Das Teja.  “We are investigating into various aspects to find out evidence. But I cannot reveal what we obtained from the accused. We are suspecting that social networking sites are helping the illegal drug trade to continue discreetly the buying and selling of drugs,’’ said R Ravinder Reddy, assistant commissioner of police, Banjara Hills said.

By Mouli Mareedu,
moulimareedu@gmail.com

Dasara tragedy for 60-year-old woman

Sixty-year-old Parvathamma was looking forward to celebrating the Batukamma festival with her daughter and two grandchildren. They were to arrive at Parvathamma’s place, Atmakur in Mahabubnagar district, for the Dasara holidays. Parvathamma bought new clothes for them and had been waiting for their arrival. But her hopes went up in flames after her daughter set herself on fire along with the two children. They all died.“I purchased new clothes and wanted to gift them to my granddaughters for Dasara. They were to come after their school declared holidays,” an incosolable Parvathamma said. Parvathamma’s daughter, Satyamma (30) set her two children afire before immolating herself three days ago. The incident took place at Karmikanagar in Alwal under the Cyberabad police commissionerate limits. The reason: her husband Narsing drank too much and used to harass her for money. Satyamma and her elder daughter Bujji (7) died while undergoing treatment with 90 per cent burns soon after the incident while younger daughter Vinitha (5) died in the burns ward of the Gandhi General Hospital (GGH) today. Sitting next to Vinitha’s charred body in the burns ward, Parvathamma said her daughter had complained about her husband’s harassment. “I invited the family to Atmakur for the festival so that I could counsel my son-in-law,” she said.She said when Bujji and Vinita returned from school on Tuesday evening, Satyamma was in a disturbed state of mind.In a similar incident a few days ago at Balanagar, a marital dispute drove a woman to attempt suicide along with her children. The woman, Sankaramma, was vexed with her husband Venkatiah’s addiction to alcohol and set herself and her three children -- Raja (15), Sai Kumari (10) and Sailu (5) -- ablaze. They, however, escaped from the jaws of death.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com 

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Hi-tech autowallahs hack digital meters!

The digital meters were supposed to be tamper-proof. However, it has come to light that they can be cleverly tampered by auto wallahs. This means you always end up paying more than what you should according to the meter charge. It came to light after Legal Metrology department officials revealed they have booked 923 cases in 2010-11 against errant auto drivers using tampered meters. They had booked 681 cases last year.Recently, the department along with city traffic police decided to crack the whip on auto-drivers. In a special drive, they booked a total of 7,865 cases. Out of them, 335 cases were registered for extra fare demand and 250 for refusal to carry passengers. It is no secret that a road corner mechanic or motor spare parts store worker can tamper with the meter, whether it is digital or mechanical, at a charge of just Rs 200 to 250. When Expresso approached a mechanic near Balanagar crossroads, he explained how meters can be tampered with.  He charged Rs 250 for doing the smart but simple job. “Tampering of a meter is very simple which auto drivers can even do on their own. The gear-box housing just requires a replacement to show double meter-reading. It costs about Rs 150 and gears inside it can be manipulated to show twice the distance travelled,’’ he explained. A number of mechanics situated in Khairatabad, Koti, Punjagutta, a few places in Secunderabad and Balanagar are reportedly well-versed with the process. Controller of Legal Metrology, SA Huda said auto drivers can tamper with the meters easily. “No one shows interest in complaining about meter tampering. If we receive a compliant, we will be ready to check and book cases, if it can be proved. One can send their complaint directly to SA Huda on his mobile 9848032375 or send an online complaint at sahuda1@rediffmail.com. 

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com