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