Posts Tagged ‘Uttar Pradesh’
Don’t piss off a snake charmer in Uttar Pradesh!
An angry snakecharmer in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has let loose dozens of snakes in a government office, sparking chaos and panic.
Hakkul, of Lara village in Basti district, dumped the snakes, including a number of cobras, at the land revenue office in Harraiya town on Tuesday…No-one was bitten or injured but the snakes are yet to be caught.
Mr Hakkul is usually called in whenever a snake is spotted in the area and he has saved many lives over the years, local journalist Mazhar Azad told the BBC. Mr Hakkul has petitioned various government offices over the years demanding a plot of land where he can “conserve” his snakes…
Mr Hakkul says his request has been cleared by senior authorities, but the local officials keep delaying it.
On Tuesday, Mr Hakkul went to the Tehsil [revenue] office with a group of supporters and emptied out his bags containing poisonous snakes.
“Snakes were climbing up the tables and chairs. The office was full, there were nearly 100 officials and clerks and many more visitors,” Mr Azad said. “There was total chaos for several hours. Some people started taking photos with their telephone cameras, others brought out sheets to try to cover the snakes…
Mr Hakkul and his men escaped in the confusion and are yet to be caught.
So are the snakes who are still hiding in the building.
Har!
Indian coppers nab gangbanger suspected of 165 murders
An alleged contract killer believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 150 people has been arrested in India following a manhunt lasting more than a decade.
Jaggu Pehelwan was detained by armed police in the city of Ghaziabad, in the poor and lawless northern state of Uttar Pradesh, on Monday night. Five shots were fired during his arrest but no one was hurt.
Pehelwan, the leader of one of the most notorious criminal gangs in the city, has been formally charged with 30 murders over a 15-year criminal career and police believe he is responsible for around 130 more. Victims have included his own gang members suspected of disloyalty, rival criminals and scores of others, whom Pehelwan is accused of killing for cash…
The case has revealed the deep problems of India’s law enforcement and justice system, where criminals routinely intimidate or bribe witnesses and judges. Kaparwan said that obtaining a conviction and getting his detainee imprisoned could be difficult.
“There are hardly any witnesses [prepared to testify] against him…”
Pehelwan charged between £12,500 and £32,500 to kill, officials said, and had recently done a deal for two dozen murders for £200,000. Targets included a telecoms operator, a building contractor and a local party activist…
Officials said those who had commissioned the killings would now be tracked down and brought to justice.
Pehelwan ranged over hundreds of miles in the north-west, but his base remained Ghaziabad. Like many wealthy criminals in India, he apparently hoped to use his riches to move into politics, a favoured means of laundering earnings, bolstering power and accessing lucrative contracts.
His wife was elected – unopposed – as head of his local council. Pehelwan himself was reported to have hoped to stand in local state elections next year.
Sounds like some of my old neighborhood families. Crime, politics and bureaucracy were always pretty much interchangeable in some of the Mafia-run communities I lived in Back in the Day.
Court in Uttar Pradesh sentences 10 to hang for “honour” killing
A court in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has sentenced 10 people to death for killing a young couple who married against their parents’ wishes.
Vijaya, 18, and her husband, Udai Pal Singh, were killed by her family after they found out about the marriage, the court in Etah district heard.
The groom’s brother was also killed.
India’s Supreme Court recently said so-called honour killers should face the death penalty. It is carried out only in the rarest of cases in India.
The BBC’s Ram Dutt Tripathi in Lucknow says hundreds of young Indians are killed every year for falling in love.
These murderers dishonour their family, their community and above all – their country.
Pious Indians bank on holy deposit slips
Flying Spaghetti Monster on toast
In a bank with no security gates, guards or locks, deposits from thousands of customers from across India are stacked on shelves, protected from theft by the grace of God.
In a cramped room in a small house in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Ram Ram Bank offers no interest or loans, but has around 5,000 customers who flock to deposit documents bearing God’s name…
“People feel better by writing God’s name as it becomes a medium to release their pent up frustrations and eventually the faith makes them work toward their goals.”
The bank’s customers scribble “Ram,” the protagonist in the Indian mythological epic Ramayana, on pieces of paper as many as 100,000 times and deposit them in the bank. Ram is also known as Rama…
The bank’s list of depositors includes bureaucrats, politics and members of the judiciary. Even the father of superstar cricketer Gautam Gambhir is a customer.
Religion is no barrier. Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims write the name of Ram in their native languages.
Every six months the stacks of “deposits” are sent to be displayed in a temple in Ayodhya, the birth place of Ram.
Two questions:
Do they accept pieces of paper through the mail?
What if I go to deposit the name of my favorite supernatural being – the Flying Spaghetti Monster?
Bank employees claim “termites ate the money!”
Police in India are investigating claims by bank staff that termites had ‘eaten’ more than £130,000 in rupee notes from a strong room in a State Bank of India branch.
Local officials initially sought to cover up the loss, but the disappearance of more than ten million rupees – known in India as a ‘crore’ – was discovered following the arrival of a new manager.
The notes had been kept in a ‘currency chest’ at the branch in Barabanki district, Uttar Pradesh, and officials were reported to be ‘horrified’ to have found most of them reduced to dust by termites when they inspected the contents.
Senior officials from the state headquarters and local detectives were called in to investigate the claims. Police officers, however, said they have not yet ruled out ‘foul play’ in the disappearance.
The amount missing could turn out to be significantly higher – each ‘currency chest’ usually contains up to 50 ‘Crores’ of rupees – more than £6 million.
Sunil Dwivedi, the branch manager, said the branch had been infested with termites…”I am not sure where the termites came from, but as you can see this building is quite old. Anti-termite treatment is now underway.”
Maybe lie detector testing, checks on sudden purchases of new cars by employees?
The dog-ate-my-homework-excuse hardly ever stands up.
