Raju was allegedly assaulted on August 9 by S. Laxmi and her sons S. Manikanta and S. Sumanth, who accused him of stealing flowers from their shop, according to reports. They allegedly tied him to a pole and beat him, causing severe injuries. He was admitted to KGH for treatment but died on Sunday morning.

Raju’s family members and relatives protested at the market in Kancharapalem and attacked the flower shop of the accused’s family, demanding stringent action against them.

Kancharapalem inspector K. Rama Rao said all three accused had been arrested and remanded in judicial custody.

Woman Held For Assaulting Elderly Man, Stealing Gold And Cash

A 53-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 76-year-old man and stealing his gold ornaments and cash at Ponnur in Guntur district.

The accused, Minigala Suvarnna alias Sooramma of Pachala Tadiparru, was acquainted with victim Gaddam Rattaiah as she had earlier worked on his farm. Police said she knew that he lived alone and where his valuables were kept.

On August 21 afternoon, Suvarnna allegedly entered Rattaiah’s house carrying chilli powder and a stone. Claiming she was looking for a rented house for an acquaintance, she asked for drinking water. After confirming that nobody else was nearby, she gagged and assaulted him before stealing the valuables from a bedroom cupboard.

The stolen property comprised four gold bangles, two pairs of gold earrings, two gold rings and `5,500 cash.

Ponnur Town CI R.S. Kishore Kumar, under the supervision of Tenali DSP B. Janardhan Rao and on the directions of Guntur SP Vakul Jindal, led the investigation. Police arrested the accused and recovered all the stolen property.

9-year-old girl traced within 2 hours of going missing

Police traced a nine-year-old girl who went missing from her house at Srinivasa Nagar within two hours of receiving a complaint from her mother on Sunday.

According to police, the girl had been reprimanded by her mother for not attending school on August 22. She left the house around 8 pm that day and could not be traced. The mother approached Proddatur II Town police around 10 am on Sunday and lodged a complaint. Inspector P. Vamsinath and SI R. Raghavendra Reddy formed special team to search for her. The girl was traced within two hours and subsequently handed over to her mother, police said.

LIC officer collapses at gym, dies

A 45-year-old man collapsed and died while working out at a gym in Kadiri in Sri Sathya Sai district on Sunday.

Shajahan, a development officer with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in the Kadiri area, collapsed suddenly during his workout in a local gym on Sunday morning.

Fellow gym-goers and organisers rushed to his aid and shifted him to the Government Hospital in Kadiri, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Sources said Shajahan had earlier suffered cardiac problems and undergone treatment for a heart blockage, with stents implanted a few months ago.

Kadiri police registered a case based on a complaint from his family and handed over the body to them after an autopsy.

Police jeep overturns, constable killed

A constable was killed and three others injured when their police vehicle overturned following an alleged brake failure at Gajularega hill in Vizianagaram district on Sunday. The team was on its way for a crime investigation when the accident occurred.

The deceased was identified as constable S. Venkata Ramana. The injured were sub-inspector V. Ashok Kumar, head constable G. Nagendra Prasad and constable-cum-driver K. Rajababu.

The injured were being treated at a corporate hospital in Vizianagaram. Doctors said Rajababu required surgery for a waist injury, Ashok Kumar suffered a fracture to his left leg and Nagendra Prasad sustained a fracture to his left arm.

According to officials, the vehicle’s brakes reportedly failed on the Gajularega hill stretch. The driver’s alertness helped prevent a bigger tragedy, they said.

MSME minister Kondapalli Srinivas visited the hospital and enquired about the condition of the injured personnel and consoled their family members. He also spoke to Vizianagaram SP Damodar about the accident and informed Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and home minister Vangalapudi Anitha.

2 workers hurt as slab collapses

Two construction workers were injured after the concrete slab of an under-construction water tank collapsed at Bodhigalam in Nakkapalli mandal of Anakapalli district on Sunday.

The incident occurred while construction work on the water tank was in progress. The slab suddenly gave way, trapping the two workers under the debris. One sustained minor injuries, while the other suffered serious injuries.

Local residents managed to pull them out after nearly two hours. Both were shifted to a hospital for treatment. The injured workers were reportedly from Seethampeta village in Tuni mandal of Kakinada district.

20 farm labourers injured as auto overturns

At least 20 agriculture labourers from Uddehal in Bommanahal mandal were injured after the auto-rickshaw they were travelling in overturned near Imarapuram on the Karnataka border in Ballari district on Sunday.

The labourers had been engaged from Uddehal for chilli plantation work in the Imarapuram area. The overcrowded auto-rickshaw met with the accident after one of its tyres burst and the driver lost control, sources said.

The injured were shifted to RIMS Hospital in Ballari.

Police to seek custody of 4 honey trap accused for more info

Rajamahendravaram One Town police will seek custody of four women arrested in connection with a honey trap gang to ascertain whether they were involved in other cases and whether more people were behind the gang, said SHO N. Murali Krishna on Sunday.

Police recently busted the gang, which allegedly targeted men by befriending them and later extorting money. The four women were arrested and remanded in judicial custody.

Murali Krishna said the accused allegedly moved around busy areas of the city, befriended men who were alone and obtained their phone numbers. They later allegedly lured the men to their homes through friendly conversations, secretly photographed them and used the pictures to blackmail them.

When the victims resisted, the gang allegedly threatened them with false rape cases and pressured them into settlements by threatening legal trouble and damage to their reputation.

Preliminary estimates suggest that the gang collected up to ₹`10 lakh from victims. Three cases were registered within a month, police said.

Tension eased among nursing students after clash over mobile phone

Tension between nursing students from Andhra Pradesh and the northeastern states eased after district collector M.N. Harindhera Prasad and superintendent of police G. Bindu Madhav intervened and interacted with the students.

The collector and SP visited the respective hostels and reassured the students that they would not face any further trouble. The collector advised them to concentrate on their studies and asked them to bring any issues to the notice of the authorities immediately. The SP also assured them that police would promptly address any complaints.

As a precautionary measure, officials arranged separate hostels for students from Andhra Pradesh and the northeastern states.

The tension followed a clash between the students over a mobile phone issue on Friday night. Students had approached Sarpavaram police, who traced the phones and handed them over to them. A physical altercation later broke out at the hostel, police said.

State Nursing registrar Dr Suseela also visited the hostels and interacted with the students. She assured them that their studies would not be affected and also found some lapses at the nursing institute.

2 youths go missing in Kakinada Beach

Two youths, Padala Yuva Kishore, 20, of Vidhyutnagar in Kakinada and Anasuri Veerababu, 21, of Indrapalem, went missing in Kakinada Beach on Sunday after they were caught in the waves while bathing.

They had gone to the beach with fellow students Anasuri Ganesh Sairam and Kada Aditya Venkata Sandeep Kumar. Sairam and Sandeep Kumar managed to escape, while Kishore and Veerababu went missing.

Thimmapuram police launched a search for the two youths.