NRI jailed

London, Dec. 6 (PTI): An Indian-origin man, who dragged his wife across the floor by her hair and beat their 13-year-old son with a cricket bat, has been jailed for 18 months.

Soni, 54, was charged with punching his wife in the stomach and kicking her in the chest. He admitted to the offences, but wrote to the judge: “It’s because in India, I’ve been brought up that way.” Soni, who had a severe alcohol problem, was banned from contacting his wife in June. But he ignored it.

Cave-in death

Mathura (PTI): At least 15 people were feared killed and an equal number injured on Saturday when the roof of an ashram collapsed in a village near here. The accident occurred when sadhus were taking prasad.

Nano hearing

Ahmedabad (PTI): Gujarat High Court has decided to hear together two cases against the state government in connection with the allotment of 1,100 acres in Sanand to Tata Motors for the Nano car project. The next hearing will be on December 18.

Fliers held

Chennai (PTI): Two persons, including a Sri Lankan, were arrested on Saturday for swapping their boarding passes of a London-bound Air Lanka flight after immigration clearance, officials said. Chinnaiah Gangadharan, heading to Colombo, exchanged his pass with Sampath Kumar travelling to London. Both were carrying genuine travel documents, they said.

Visa arrest

Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): A Bangladeshi was arrested from a lodge near the airport on Saturday on charges of staying in India after his visa expired in September, police said. Abdul Sathar, 22, from Dhaka, had been living here for the last three months.

Jumbo IDs

Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The Kerala government will issue ID cards to mahouts and registration books containing details of elephants to enforce the captive elephants maintenance rules. An insurance scheme for elephants and mahouts with a coverage of Rs 2.5 lakh is also on the table.