Five arrested for NRI murder

Ahmedabad: Police claim to have arrested the killers of NRI businessman Pankaj Trivedi, who was found dead in a car outside the elite Ellisbridge Gymkhana in Ahmedabad three weeks ago, reports our correspondent.

All the five arrested ? two from the city and three from Saurashtra ? are members of the controversial socio-religious sect Swadhyay Parivar. Trivedi had been a member of the sect headed by Jayshree Talwalkar alias Didi, but was expelled for campaigning against alleged corruption at the top.

Additional police commissioner P.K. Jha said the conspiracy to kill Trivedi, 54, was hatched six months ago in Ahmedabad. The decision to eliminate the US-based “trouble-maker” was taken by a core member of the parivar and the five Swadhyayis selected to execute the task.

Police identified the killers as Mansinh Vader, 31, of Junagadh, Chandrasinh Jadeja, 47, of Rajkot, Bhupatsinh Jadeja, 35, of Jamnagar, Hitesh Chudasma, 29, of Ahmedabad and Dakshesh Shah, 31, also from the city.

Shrine ‘pollution’ notice

Kochi (PTI): Kerala High Court has admitted a petition seeking a directive to the state government to conduct an inquiry into Kannada actress Jayamala’s alleged visit to the Sabarimala hill temple.

The court has issued notices to the government and the Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the temple. It, however, did not issue notices to Jayamala and Vedic astrologer Unnikrishnan Panickker.

The actress claimed in a letter to Panickker that she had visited the shrine ? which welcomes people from all faiths, unless they are women aged between 10 and 50 ? when she was 27 and touched the idol. To the orthodox, this amounts to defilement.

Howrah blast

Howrah: A father and his only married daughter, who had come to visit him, were charred to death when a cooking gas cylinder exploded in their two-storey house on Ramrajatala Road at Jagachha in Howrah on Tuesday.

Bholanath Ghosh, a retired Howrah Improvement Trust official, stayed alone.

Arms suppliers

New Delhi (PTI): Two persons, who allegedly supplied arms to Naxalites, have been arrested at the New Delhi railway station. Alladin and Nizamuddin were carrying seven pistols each and 28 magazines.

Goa textbook row

Panaji (PTI): The Goa government has decided to refer the Marigold English textbook for Class I to the state education board. The text sparked a controversy after the BJP objected and guardians complained that its standard was too high for students.

Around 40 kg of polythene bags have been seized from shopkeepers in Gulmarg. Polythene bags have been banned at tourist spots in Jammu and Kashmir.