Indian-American, Lover Plot Murder of ex-Wife, Get Caught as 'Hitman' Turns Out to Be Undercover Agent

Agencies
February 7, 2019

Washington, Feb 7: Indian American Narsan Lingala and his girlfriend Sandya Reddy have been charged with trying to hire a hitman to kill the former's estranged wife.

Lingala, 55, who has been charged by criminal complaint with one count of murder-for-hire was produced before US Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer in Newark federal court and was held without bail.

His ex-girlfriend, Reddy, 52, appeared in the court on the same charge and was also detained. According to the complaint, in May 2018, Lingala was in a holding cell at the Middlesex County Superior Courthouse as he awaited a court hearing.

While there, he asked another inmate if he knew anyone who could kill his estranged wife. The inmate responded that he knew such a person.

In June 2018, at the direction of law enforcement, the inmate introduced Lingala to an undercover agent posing as a hitman. Over subsequent weeks, Lingala and the undercover cop spoke on the phone and planned to meet in person the next time that Lingala travelled from Indiana to New Jersey.

On August 18, 2018, Lingala and the undercover police officer agreed to meet outside a New Jersey shopping mall. Later that day, Lingala and his then-girlfriend, Reddy, arrived outside the mall and approached the cop.

Lingala introduced Reddy and stated that she understood what was going on. The trio then entered the undercover cop's car.

They proceeded to have a conversation that was video recorded. The cop asked Lingala to confirm what he wanted him to do and the accused said, "I want that woman to be out of my life... totally. Never again. She never comes back."

During the conversation, the undercover cop asked, "You want me to take care of her?" to which Lingala responded, "Yeah." The undercover cop stated, "She's done, I'm going to kill her. End of story." Lingala responded, "Yeah. End of story."

During the conversation, Lingala gave the cop information about the intended victim including his ex-wife's full name, home address, age, and home phone number. He also described the entrances to and layout of her home; the name of the company where she worked; and the timing and details of her work commute.

Lingala showed the undercover officer photos of the exterior and interior of his ex-wife's home. Reddy also provided the him information about the intended victim. The trio also discussed the price and the undercover cop demanded between USD 5,000 and USD 10,000, depending on the job's complexity.

Lingala agreed and asked if he could pay after the job was done. The cop, however, said he would need a down payment. The couple discussed the issue and then Lingala asked the cop, "Can I give you a thousand down payment?" to which the undercover cop agreed.

Lingala later stated, "I want that money to go into your pocket." Lingala informed the undercover officer that making the down payment would take about two weeks. After the meeting, authorities arrested Lingala and Reddy. The murder-for-hire charge is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine.

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News Network
June 11,2020

Muzaffarnagar, Jun 11: Three persons have been arrested for allegedly using plastic scrap to make jaggery at Bhokaheri village under Bhopa police station here, as official said on Thursday.

 Police raided a jaggery manufacturing unite (kolhu) and arrested three persons on Wednesday, SHO, Bhopa police station Sanjive Kumar said.

Police have registered a case against five persons including the trio that was arrested while two of them managed to escape, he said, adding that two loaded tractor trollies of plastic scrap have been seized.

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Agencies
January 8,2020

Muzaffarpur, Jan 8: There is no evidence of murder of children in Bihar's Muzaffarpur shelter home, the CBI on Wednesday told the Supreme Court.

The probe agency told the apex court that two skeletons were recovered from the home's premises which were later, in forensic investigation, found to be of a woman and a man.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde accepted the status report of the CBI and allowed two officers to be relieved from the investigation team.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the probe agency, said investigation was done on allegations of rape and sexual assault of children and charge sheets have been filed before the courts concerned.

Venugopal said the children, who were alleged to have been murdered, were later traced and found to be alive.

He said the CBI has investigated cases of 17 shelter homes in Bihar and charge sheets have been filed in 13 of them, while in four cases the preliminary inquiry was conducted and later closed as no evidence of any wrongdoing was found.

The probe agency, in its status report filed on Monday, said no incriminating evidence proving commission of any criminal offence could be gathered in four preliminary enquiries and as such no FIR has been registered.

The CBI had also said the Bihar government has been requested to take departmental action and action of cancellation of registration and blacklisting of concerned NGOs by providing them the result of investigation, i.e., the CBI report.

Several girls were allegedly sexually and physically assaulted at a shelter home run by an NGO in Bihar's Muzaffarpur. The issue had come to light following a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

Following the report, a petition was filed in the apex court seeking lodging of an FIR and court-monitored probe by an independent agency into the allegations.

The plea filed by journalist Nivedita Jha through advocate Fauzia Shakil has sought "registration of FIR and independent investigations or court monitored probe into the affairs of these 14 (other) shelter homes in Bihar mentioned in the TISS report".

The apex court had directed the CBI to probe the offences under the Information Technology Act regarding the video recordings of the alleged assault on girls at the shelter home.

It had also directed the agency to investigate the role of "outsiders who were involved and facilitated the sexual assaults on the inmates", after administering them intoxicants and also against those who allegedly indulged in trafficking of girls from the shelter home.

The apex court had earlier directed the CBI to complete its probe into the alleged murder of 11 girls at the shelter home and asked it to file a status report.

The SC had transferred the case from Bihar to a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Saket District Court complex in Delhi.

Earlier, the top court had directed the CBI to conduct a probe into allegations of physical and sexual abuse of inmates in 16 other shelter homes in Bihar which were flagged in the TISS report.

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Agencies
January 6,2020

New Delhi, Jan 6: A blind student who is pursuing research in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was also attacked by the mob that perpetrated violence in the University yesterday.

"I thought that the mob which came yesterday would disperse after raising a few slogans but they indulged in violence. They were targeting ABVP students. They beat me with sticks and rods. When I went to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, I came to know that there are many other injured students there," Surya Prakash, the blind student pursuing research in the University told ANI.

"I talked to my family members. They are really worried about the situation here. I qualified in the National Eligibility Test (NET) last year but I want to study and hence I am continuing research in JNU. How can we do anything in this atmosphere of fear? I am receiving calls from anonymous numbers threatening me not to come in front of the media. They are saying that as I am blind, I would become the face of this case," he added.

Another PhD student, Santosh Bhagat recounted his experience.

"In the evening at around 7 pm, many masked men entered the hostel. They had rods and sticks in their hands. We tried to go out but the attackers had entered the premises by then. I locked my room from inside but the attackers broke the door and entered my room and attacked me. They pushed me from the first floor and I fell down and sustained an injury. Later, I took shelter at one of the Professor's flat. Later, I was taken to the AIIMS Trauma Cantre," Bhagat said.

On Sunday evening, more than 30 students of the university, including JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, were injured and were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the JNU and attacked them and professors with sticks and rods.

The JNU administration and political leaders, cutting across political lines, condemned the attack on students and urged the police to take action against the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, the situation remained tense but peaceful outside JNU on Monday morning as the university guards maintained a strict vigil at the gate, checking I-cards of all those entering the university.

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