A teacher working at a private inter-college was arrested for marrying a 17-year-old girl student in Gangavaram Mandal area of Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district, official said.

A senior police official said, the accused, identified as 33-year-old Chalapathy, tricked the Class 12 student into marrying him at a temple in Tirupati.

Giving details, Sub-Inspector Sudhakar Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh Police said that Chalapathy—who is already married and has a daughter—took the girl to Tirupati on Wednesday after her final school exams concluded and swayed her with sweet talk, asking the minor to trust him and that he’s honest and will always take care of her.

The officer said the accused married the minor in Tirupati but later, sensing a change in Chalapathy’s behavior, the girl contacted her parents and narrated the entire incident to her parents, who then filed a complaint against the accused at the Gangavaram police station on Thursday night.

Following the complaint by the minor girl’s parents’, an FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, was registered against the accused Chalapathy, the officer said, adding that the accused was arrested and produced before a court.

Further investigation of the case is ongoing, he said.

In a related incident, earlier this month, a primary school teacher in Maharashtra’s Gondia district was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing minor girl students in his class and showing them obscene videos on his mobile phone.

According to an official statement, a complaint filed against the 52-year-old assistant teacher posted at a Zilla Parishad school in Dangorli accused him of inappropriately touching eight Class 5 students and showing them obscene videos in February.

Based on the complaint, the teacher was arrested and a case under section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered against him.

A senior police official said that the accused teacher was arrested on March 11 (Saturday), after an inquiry into the incident by the Block Education Officer (BEO).

A BJP leader was gunned down by unidentified gunmen on a highway at Shaktigarh in Purba Bardhaman district of West Bengal on Saturday evening, reports said.

According to the police, unidentified attackers opened fire on the car in which Businessman-politician Raju Jha was travelling in along with three other people.

Giving details, a senior official said Raju Jha and some colleagues were on their way to Kolkata when the car they were travelling in was fired upon by the assailants outside a confectionery shop in Shaktigarh. He said that Jha and his three colleagues sustained bullet injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared the BJP leader dead on arrival, while his injured colleagues are receiving treatment and their condition is stated to be stable.

Superintendent of Police, Bardhaman, Kamnashish Sen said a case has been registered in this regard, however, the motive behind the assassination of Jha is yet to be ascertained, adding that further investigation is ongoing.

As per local media reports, Jha and his friends stopped at Shaktigar enroute Kolkata and parked the car off the highway when the attacker pulled up in another car, showered a volley of bullets on the saffron party leader and his associates, and then fled the scene.

SP Sen said nearby security camera footage is being scanned and the driver’s statement is also being recorded by the police.

Reports quoting sources said that local vendors are being questioned by the police in a bid to trace the car used in the assassination

Raju Jha, a prominent Durgapur-based businessman, who was accused of running an illegal coal business in Silpanchal during the Left Front regime in West Bengal and also has several cases lodged against him under the current Trinamool Congress rule in the state, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ahead of last assembly polls in December 2021.

Following the celebrations of Ram Navami in Bihar, tensions gripped the state as reports of clashes came to light in Rohtas and Nalanda districts yesterday. It was reported that the violence led to a death in the state.

As per the reports, one person was killed whereas several others were injured due to the clash that broke out between two groups on Saturday night in Nalanda’s Biharsharif. Whereas Rohtas’s Sasaram Town also witness a similar predicament, six people were injured due to a blast that happened at a house.

Following the blast at the house in Sasaramm, the police have told the media that they have seized two vehicles from the site. The police have also told the media that the injured are undergoing treatment at a Sasaram hospital and the probe by the police is underway.

Following clashes in Nalanda, the police have imposed prohibitory orders including the imposition of section 144. The police actions come in a bid to take control of the law and order situation in the district.

It was reported that the police have also arrested over 80 people in Nalanda. The District Magistrate of Nalanda, Shashank Shubhankar, held meetings with community leaders in an effort to maintain peace and order in the area.
The police force has also been increased in Nalanda and Rohtas and senior officials are visiting the affected areas. The authorities have also told the media that the authorities are keeping an eye out on social media to monitor if any provocative and false news is not being spread.

The clashes in Bihar’s Nalanda and Rohtas districts come after tensions prevailed in parts of the state from Thursday over taking out Ram Navami processions. The tensions further escalated into clashes on Friday and now spilled over to Saturday as well.

Addressing the situation in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that communal tensions during Ram Navami festivities at Sasaram and Bihar Sharif are disturbing and also added that such incidents happened are unprecedented in the area. He said the clashes are not natural.

Bihar CM also said that the police are trying to trace the perpetrators and affirmed that strict actions will be taken against them.