Noida:

A married woman and her partner were arrested on Sunday for the brutal murder of her husband, carried out with a pair of scissors a week ago in Greater Noida, police officials said.

The couple were arrested near the ATS roundabout in Greater Noida, they said.

The murder weapon, a pair of scissors, was recovered from their possession, according to a police spokesperson.

“Pooja and Prahlad, both from the same village, had been involved in an extramarital relationship even before Pooja moved with her husband Mahesh to Bironda village for work,” the spokesperson said.

Mahesh, in search of employment, had relocated his family to Bironda in Greater Noida and found work as a sanitation worker. During this time, Pooja called Prahlad to Greater Noida under the pretext of helping him find a job. Prahlad secured a position as a security guard at NFL Society and began visiting Pooja frequently, the official said.

On the night of July 1, Prahlad visited Pooja at her home in Mahesh’s absence. However, Mahesh unexpectedly returned home and discovered his wife with Prahlad in a compromising situation, the official said.

“A violent confrontation ensued, during which Pooja and Prahlad attacked Mahesh with a pair of scissors, ultimately killing him. They then attempted to hide the body by throwing it onto the roof of a toilet before fleeing the scene,” the police spokesperson said.

The accused have been booked for murder under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the FIR has been lodged at the local Beta 2 police station in Greater Noida, the police said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Noida:

The Gautam Buddh Nagar Police have suspended all police personnel stationed at the Chipiyana ‘chowki’ in Greater Noida West over the death of a youth under mysterious circumstances while being in police custody.

The youth reportedly hanged him inside the chowki, however, his family and relatives have accused the policemen of pressurizing him to take the extreme step.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Additional CP (Law and Order) and DCP Central rushed to the Chipiyana chowki in the Bisrakh police station area.

After the officials got a first-hand account of the suspicious death, Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh announced the suspension of the entire staff of the police chowki. Further, a complaint is also lodged, taking into account the series of events leading to the youth’s death.

According to DCP, Central Noida, the victim has been identified as Yogesh Kumar, a resident of Aligarh. He worked at a local workshop in Chipiyana area. Kumar on Wednesday night was brought to the chowki for questioning after allegations were made against him by a colleague

On Thursday morning at around 10 a.m., he reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself inside the police barrack. Though the exact reason for the suicide is yet to be ascertained, Kumar’s family have levelled serious allegations against the policemen.

Talking to media persons, the family claimed that Rs 5 lakh was sought for Kumar’s release. “I gave them Rs 50,000 and also Rs 1,000 for buying liquor. I was there at the chowki in the night. I told them that I would give the remaining Rs 4.5 lakh by morning. The policemen told me that they will release my brother after receiving money,” Kumar’s brother said, adding that the next morning, “my brother was killed by policemen”.

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Noida:

The administration of a private college in Greater Noida and its canteen operator were served notice by the Food Safety Department for alleged poor food quality and unhygienic conditions on Saturday, officials said.

Purported pictures also surfaced on social media, showing mosquitoes and insects in certain food items.

The inspection was carried out over complaints by some students who expressed dissatisfaction about cleanliness and standards of the food quality served to them by the canteen, a senior official said.

Assistant Food Commissioner (II) Archana Dheeran said the inspection was carried out at the canteen of Aryan Residency of Lloyd College in the Knowledge Park area of Greater Noida.

“The inspection was carried out under the leadership of Chief Food Safety Officer Akshay Goyal and items were inspected by Food Safety Officer RP Gupta. During the inspection, cleanliness arrangements and other standard compliances were not found satisfactory for which notice was given to the college administration and the canteen operator,” Archana Dheeran said.

During the visit, the officials also had a discussion with the students living in the hostel about their concerns, in which most of the students expressed dissatisfaction regarding the cleanliness and quality of food, she said.

“In this regard, a suggestion was made by the college administration after talking to the warden and canteen operator, that a committee of students would be formed for weekly feedback on the food quality,” Archana Dheeran said.

The college administration also assured that very soon they will take necessary steps given this complaint, the assistant commissioner said.

“Samples of the biryani being served to the students (on Saturday) have been collected and sent to the government laboratory for testing of quality,” Archana Dheeran said.

Further action will be taken upon receiving the investigation report, she added.

On March 9, around 80 students living in the same hostel were hospitalised with food poisoning after they consumed ‘puris’ made of ‘kuttu ka atta’ (buckwheat flour) on account of Mahashivratri, according to police.

After lab tests, the quality of buckwheat flour was found not to be of standard quality, a food safety official said.

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Noida:

In the last one year, police have busted three meth labs that were set up by foreigners inside rented accommodations in Greater Noida and seized more than 100 kg of drugs worth hundreds of crores.

The latest such raid was carried out on April 17 in which four Nigerian nationals were held and 26.67 kg of methylenedioxyphenethylamine, or MDMA, worth Rs 100 crore was seized.

Police recovered over 75 kg of MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, in two separate but linked raids on May 16 and May 30 last year, arresting around a dozen foreigners from residential houses where proper labs were set up for cooking meth.

The cooked meth in these two episodes was collectively valued at over Rs 350 crore, according to police.

According to police, these recoveries could be just the “tip of the iceberg” of an international drug syndicate.

In all these incidents, they found that meth in “pure form” was cooked by foreigners who worked in the lower rung of the syndicate.

This meth was sent to their contact person in Delhi and from there to Europe through channels that are yet to be investigated, an officer involved in the investigation told PTI.

“Using the raw material which was provided to them by their contacts in Delhi, the accused in Greater Noida cooked the meth. It was dried inside the houses and then given the form of a solid brick of six inch by one inch before being parcelled out to their networks in Delhi who met them on need-to-know basis,” the officer said.

At least three of the several police personnel that PTI spoke to, concurred that Greater Noida, because of its less-dense residential facilities and easy connectivity to Delhi, served as an ideal place for manufacturing the drug.

“In all three cases, the houses rented by the foreigners were in isolated locations and had open area on at least three-sides so that the pungent smell emanating due to meth cooking does not catch attention of people living close by,” an officer said.

What also made Greater Noida a perfect place for the activity was availability of some raw materials, which are difficult to procure abroad.

For instance, the availability of Ephedrine, a medication and stimulant which is prohibited under the NDPS Act and whose sale is also banned by the government.

Ephedrine, although available for pharmaceutical purposes, comes with a lot of regulation.

A police officer said the drug costs Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000 per kg but is sold in black market for Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per kg. It is be difficult to procure in Europe and even when it is up for sale, it would cost Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per kg.

“The profit margin by operating here is more than double. Also, the meth is second most expensive to cocaine and what they cooked here in Greater Noida was not meant for local supply but was to be exported,” the officer added.

Police are now investigating how the foreigners procured Ephedrine locally.

During their latest raid, police also found that the drug suppliers were using some less-known shopping apps to parcel the cooked meth. Their associates, whether in India or abroad, simply placed order for a product and gave a foreign location as delivery address.

“Once the meth reached Delhi, it was concealed in the sole of shoes, or creatively concealed inside hair extensions, or neatly ticked inside bales of textile clothes that are exported in bulk. It’s difficult to detect the drugs, though agencies have thwarted many such attempts with the use of intelligence and insider network,” he said.

According to police, all persons arrested in the three cases are currently in jail.

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Noida:

A 17-year-old girl, working as a domestic help, died allegedly after falling from the 19th floor of a group housing society in Greater Noida West on Tuesday morning, police said.

The incident, which took place around 9 am at the VVIP Homes Society in Greater Noida West under the Bisrakh police station area, triggered a protest by several domestic workers.

The protesters blocked a road alleging the girl was molested and pushed by a resident from the eighth floor.

However, the police said they have analyzed the CCTV footage of the eighth floor of the society and it showed the domestic help was talking on her mobile phone when she took a lift to go to the 19th floor.

The 19th floor is not covered by CCTV cameras, so it could not be ascertained if she herself jumped from there, they said.

“Around 9 am, the local police station received information about a suicide by a girl in the VVIP Homes society. She worked as a domestic help. A police team reached the spot and the CCTV footage of the area was analyzed,” Additional DCP (Central Noida) Hirdesh Katheriya said.

“Primary investigations suggested that the girl had entered the society at 8.13 am along with her mother, who also works as a domestic help. Around 9 am, she was seen talking to someone on the phone. At 9.14 am, she took the lift and went to the 19th floor after which the incident took place,” Hirdesh Katheriya said.

The police are investigating the matter and enquiring the owners of the flats where she worked to find out how she fell off the building, the officer said.

He said the police are awaiting a complaint from her family to lodge an FIR in the case.

Meanwhile, the girl’s mother and other domestic help gathered outside the group housing complex and blocked the road in protest, demanding that the resident of the flat where she last worked be arrested.

“The girl’s clothes appeared torn when her body was found on the ground,” a protester told reporters, alleging she was molested and thrown from the high-rise tower.

The protest prompted heavy security deployment at the society and the road was later opened for traffic, the officials said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)