Roads and buildings official swindled of ₹53 lakh in Google maps review scam
Hyderabad: A cyberfraudster cheated a senior official working with the roads and buildings department of ₹53 lakh under the pretext of a scheme to earn by giving reviews on Google Maps. The official, a resident of Kukatpally, lodged a complaint with the Cyberabad cybercrime police.
Police said the victim received a message with an offer to earn ₹250 per review on Google Maps. The fraudsters paid him initially but began levying various charges. He first paid ₹3,000 and went on to pay ₹53 lakh in three months. When the fraudsters asked for more money, he became suspicious and lodged a complaint with the police.
Police bust hookah parlour in Hyderabad allowing minors, arrest 16 in raid
Hyderabad: The central zone task force raided a hookah parlour, Dubai Sheesha Lounge, at Nampally and arrested 16 persons early on Tuesday — manager Mohd Sultan, supervisor Shaik Ezaz, employee Shaik Sajeed and 13 customers. Owner and prime accused Imran is absconding. The parlour was allowing minors to smoke hookah. Police seized ₹8,800 cash, 16 hookah pots, 72 boxes of coal, 31 chillums and 25 pipes, said task force DCP P. Radha Kishan Rao.
Special task force teams to take action against spurious seeds
Hyderabad: Rachakonda police commissioner D.S. Chauhan called for curbing the supply, purchase and sale of spurious seeds, at a special meeting with agriculture department officials. He said special task force teams had been formed for the purpose.
Chauhan said the focus must be on early detection of spurious seeds, fertilisers, sub-standard pesticides and on tracking their supply sources. He said officials were told to raid shops selling such counterfeit products and take legal action.
He urged people to approach the police if they came across suspect cases and told farmers to be vigilant when purchasing seeds. Farmers were advised to buy seeds from companies certified by the agriculture department and to retain the bills for their purchases.
Regional passport office working on Saturday to clear applications
Hyderabad: The special task force teams (RPO) said in a statement on Tuesday that it would function on Saturday to clear the rush of applications. It said that 700 normal appointments were being released on the passport seva website every Wednesday between 4 pm and 4.30 pm.
The RPO stated that quite often the office receives requests from applicants for advancing their appointments to suit their requirements. It was observed that the situations arises when the applicants do not check the validity of their passports and make their travel plans.
9-year-old girl gets trapped in car window at wedding procession, dies
Hyderabad: Nine-year-old Banoth Indraja died after getting caught in the window of a car in which she was travelling, in Bojjagudem Suryapet district, Anantagiri police said on Tuesday. The car was part of a wedding ‘barat’ and Indraja, sitting in the rear seat, had craned her neck out of the window to watch her relatives dance.
Police said the driver, Shekar, without noticing Indraja, pulled up the side window, leaving her trapped. It was only a few minutes later that people noticed her but she had become unconscious by then. They rushed her to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her dead.
Anantagiri station house officer M. Ailaiah said the newlyweds were seated in the front seat of the car. Apparently due to the noise, no one noticed Indraja, who was alone in the rear seat, struggling. Further investigation is underway, he added.
The victim’s family belongs to the Bojjagudem, and had gone to the wedding of a relative of Indraja’s father Venkateshwarlu. Her parents were in the crowd and did not notice Indraja getting trapped in the window.
