How a staged suicide attempt went horribly wrong, killing man and his wife

medium nocaption118530234It's tragic case of a marital dispute that went horribly wrong. In an attempt to scare his wife during a heated argument, a 48-year-old physically challenged man threatened suicide, only to actually get killed after being hit by a local train recently.The incident occurred in West Bengal’s Habra, some 45km from Kolkata, when Trinath Saha lay down on the tracks. He was, however, unable to move away in time on seeing the approaching train. His wife Sunanda rushed to save him but she, too, was killed.Sources said Saha, a resident of Habra's Jaygachi who lost his left leg in an accident four years ago, ran a small shop while his wife worked as a domestic help. They often quarrelled, primarily due to Saha's drinking habits."On Friday (February 22), an argument between the couple escalated, following which Saha lay on the tracks to scare his wife by threatening to end his life. In a desperate effort to save him, Sunanda rushed to the tracks. Tragically, a local train hit them both, killing them instantly," said Sushmita Dey, a neighbour. medium nocaption118529902The accident took place near Jaygachi No. 30 railway gate level crossing in Habra, leaving the Sahas' two young children orphaned."The accident happened so suddenly that no one could intervene to save them," said Saibal Roy, a local trader.Railway police have sent the bodies for postmortem.He stole lakhs in ATM fraud. Only to spend it all on his friend and her husbandThe man swindled at least 16 people, possibly many more, of lakhs of rupees. But what he did with the stolen money was more unusual. Mysuru resident Rajiv Pralhad Kulkarni, arrested recently for multiple card swap frauds targeting senior citizens at ATMs in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad cities of Maharashtra, used the money to fund his woman friend's treatment for back ailment, as well as her husband's heart operation. Not just that, he also gifted the woman a car and a scooter.The police arrested Kulkarni (52) on February 5 from Navi Peth, located in central Pune, after studying footage from several CCTV cameras while investigating an elderly man's complaint. The victim told the police he had been cheated of Rs 22,000 in a card swap at an ATM kiosk on Pune’s Lal Bahadur Shastri Road on the evening of February 2.Vishrambaug police's senior inspector Vijaymala Pawar, who visited Mysuru with inspector Arun Ghodke as part of the probe, said, "Kulkarni has been involved with card swap frauds at ATMs in Pune since 2022. He has lived in the city in the past and knows it well. He chose to strike in Pune rather than locations in Karnataka, other locations in Maharashtra, or elsewhere." medium nocaption118529827Pawar said Kulkarni adopted a simple modus operandi. “He would wait in front of ATM kiosks. Anytime he saw an elderly person walk in, he would follow and stand behind them. He would offer to help his victims withdraw cash and glib talk them into sharing their PIN number, which he would note down, Pawar said. "He would divert the victim's attention, swap the original card with an old blocked debit card and leave the place. Later, he would use the stolen card and PIN to withdraw money."Deputy commissioner of police (zone I) Sandeep Singh Gill said, "Investigations detected 16 card swap frauds in areas under Vishrambaug, Sahakarnagar, Bibvewadi, Sinhagad Road, Kothrud, Vishrantwadi, Alandi, Bhosari, Cantonment, Bharati Vidyapeeth and Shivajinagar police jurisdictions. The total amount involved in the 16 cases is Rs 17.9 lakh."Gill said considering that 166 ATM cards were recovered from Kulkarni's possession, police were not ruling out the possibility of the accused having cheated over 100 people at different ATM kiosks. "We hope more people will come forward in the days ahead," Gill said.Pawar said Kulkarni was not married. "He has been staying in Mysuru with his female friend and her husband for some time now. He bought a car and a scooter for the woman and also funded her back treatment. He also paid for her husband's heart operation using the money raised through his crimes."A city court had ordered Kulkarni's remand in police custody following which he was remanded in judicial custody and subsequently sent to Yerawada jail.Number blocked, marriage offer junked, so man shoots woman deadA 24-year-old security guard was shot in the head by her estranged friend earlier in February near a park in Gurgaon’s Sector 37 while she was on her way to work. Radha lived with her husband and two daughters in Kishanpur village in UP's Auraiya district. Upender Kumar (23) who is from the same village, was a colleague – both were teachers at a tuition centre in the area. medium nocaption118529851Radha’s husband grew suspicious of their friendship, and as the conflicts between husband and wife escalated, she subsequently shifted to Gurgaon with her father and her daughters two years ago. She also stopped all communication with Upender, but he followed her to the city and kept pressuring her to marry him.Radha kept dodging his calls and eventually blocked his number. On her way to work some days ago, Upender confronted her near a park in Sector 37 and threatened her yet again if she refused to marry him. When she refused and tried to move away, he pulled out a gun and shot her in the head before fleeing.Several commuters who witnessed the incident called the police and took her to a government hospital in Gurgaon’s Sector 10. She was later referred to Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. A case was registered under sections 101 (murder), 61 (criminal conspiracy) of BNS and sections of the Arms Act at the Sector 10 police station. Upender was arrested the same day from Gurgaon, inspector Rambir Singh said.Illustrations: Varun Vashishtha/AI