Ex-BSEB secretary held in Bihar toppers scam

Patna

Former Bihar School Examination Board Secretary Harihar Nath Jha was arrested in connection with the intermediate toppers scam on Monday. The Special Investigation Team arrested Jha on the basis of evidence of his "involvement" in the scam, police said. With Jha's arrest, the number of those behind bars in the case has gone up to 20. The scam rocked Bihar last month after Ruby Rai, earlier declared topper in arts, failed to reply to basic questions about her subjects and described political science as ‘prodigal science’. pti

Raipur

Naxals gun down villager, brand him police informer  

A person in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh was shot dead allegedly by Maoists after they suspected him of being a police informer, police said on Monday. The victim, Bablu Das, was shot dead by rebels at his house in Todhur village under Chhote Bethiya police station limits. Witnesses said about 10 Naxals stormed into his house, located around 300 km away from here, and pumped bullets into him leaving him dead on the spot. pti

Bulandshahr

Cop hacked to death over cricket match brawl  

A trainee police constable was allegedly hacked to death by seven persons following a dispute over a cricket match in Sarai village here, police said on Monday. Shivkumar (21) intervened in a dispute between two groups during the match held 10 days ago, SSP Vaibhav Krishna said. Enraged over the incident, the accused barged into Shivkumar's home last night and killed him with a spade, he said. pti

Jaisalmer 

BSF constable found dead  

A BSF constable was found dead in a ditch of his barrack in Jaisalmer's Ramgarh area in the wee hours of Monday. Deceased Gajpal (45) was suffering from diabetes and hypertension, and probably he fell down while walking in the morning in his barrack, a BSF official said. An investigation was on to ascertain the cause of his death, he said. tns