27-yr-old man killed in Bengaluru at his residence

Mumbai, May 28: Twenty four doctors and three others staying in a south Mumbai hotel were rescued after a major fire broke out in the five-storey building, officials said on Thursday.

The BMC has arranged temporary accommodation for emergency and essential service staffers, including doctors and nurses, in various hotels and lodges in the city due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This hotel is one such facility.

The fire broke out at Hotel Fortune near Metro Cinema late Wednesday night and was brought under control after nearly three hours early Thursday, fire brigade officials said.

“The fire spread from the first to the third floor of the hotel, a fire brigade official told PTI. It was a level-2 fire and eight fire engines were rushed to the spot, he added.

The fire was confined to the electric wiring and cables in the electrical duct, false ceiling in the lobby and the common passages on the first, second and third floors of the hotel, he said.

The 24 rescued were resident doctors at a local hospital who were provided temporary accommodation in the hotel, while the three others were guests of the hotel, he said.

The fire broke out at 11 am and wasbrought under control at 1.40 am, the official said. Cooling operation is underway at the hotel, he added.

Five doctors were rescued using fire brigade ladders and breathing apparatus sets, the official said.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known, the fire brigade official said.

On April 21, a major fire broke out in a lodging room of Hotel Ripon near Mumbai Central, which was being used as a quarantine facility by the civic body.

Hyderabad, May 25: Indicating foul play in the death of nine people, including six of a family, whose bodies were fished out from a well near Warangal, a forensic expert on Sunday virtually ruled out suicide theory, saying it appeared seven of them had been dragged and thrown into the water body.

Mystery shrouded the death of nine people, including six of a family, whose bodies were found in a well, five of them on Friday and four on Thursday, on the outskirts of Warangal in Telangana.

Police stepped up the probe and forensic analysis was also underway in the case.

The forensic expert, who visited the crime scene as part of the investigation citing preliminary tests, said that the seven of nine people had scratch injuries and appeared to have been "dragged" and "thrown" into the well.

Forensic reports are expected in 10 days, the forensic expert told media on Sunday adding after examining the crime scene it appears that the deaths were not suicides.

"We have preserved all organs and the same were sent to forensic science laboratory (FSL) for examination... some two or three persons might have been involved in the crime. There are scratch injuries on the bodies," he said.

"It appears that they were thrown into the water... There were no injuries on the child's body. We are awaiting the forensic report (to ascertain) whether they were poisoned. It didn't appear as if they committed suicide," the expert, who performed the post-mortem said.

Police sources said at least two people were picked up for questioning.

Bodies of the head of the family, wife, daughter and three-year old grandson were found floating and fished out on Thursday.

On Friday morning, some bodies were seen floating following which police pumped out the water from the well and found others.

The 48-year old man had migrated from West Bengal over 20 years ago and had settled down here. His family had been staying in two rooms on the premises of the unit, police had earlier said.

Jun 10: In a suspected case of honor killing in Telangana, a 20-year old woman was allegedly smothered to death by her parents for being in love with a man from another caste, becoming pregnant and refusing to undergo an abortion, police said on Tuesday.

The parents killed their daughter using a pillow while she was asleep in the early hours of June 7 in their house in Kalukuntla in Jogulamba-Gadwal district and sought to project it as natural death, claiming she died of a heart attack.

However, following specific information and suspicion raised by the village secretary over the death of the woman, a college student, a probe was launched and the couple arrested on charges of murder under Indian Penal Code section 302 after post-mortem, police said.

The parents decided to kill the woman, the youngest of their three daughters, a day after she was found pregnant and refused to undergo an abortion, police said.

The woman had fallen in love with the man while pursuing her degree course in Kurnool district in neighboring Andhra Pradesh and informed her parents about it after she was found pregnant during an examination by a doctor. Her parents feared that their daughter may elope with her lover and brought pressure on her to go for abortion.

Though initially, she agreed, later she declined, following which they killed her and told everyone that their daughter died of heart attack, the police official said. When a police team went to their house and insisted on a post-mortem after noticing some marks on her body indicating a struggle, the parents tried to stop it, saying there was no need.

Later, police shifted the body to a hospital where a post-mortem revealed the woman was "throttled to death". Her parents during interrogation confessed to killing their daughter, the official said, adding they were arrested.