In an unusual case of cracking a murder mystery, Agra police were able to get breakthrough in the case only after a parrot named the killer.
Vijay Sharma’s wife Neelam and her pet dog were murdered earlier this month; however, the police had failed to get any leads in the case till Monday.
Being an animal lover, she had kept two pets – a parrot and a dog, who was very close to her, the family said.

The parrot stopped eating after Neelam’s death. Whenever Vijay’s nephew Ashu would come to the house, the parrot would get inside the cage looking scared and sit there for hours, unlike other days when it used to roam around freely in the house.

Two days ago, when Vijay returned home, he talked to the parrot but it did not respond to him. Seeing unusual behaviour of the parrot, Vijay sensed it was upset and might be able to give hints about the killers. He started taking name of suspects and asked the parrot to name his wife’s killer. The parrot listened to the names and finally, responded on Vijay’s nephew Ashu’s name saying ‘Usne mara, Usne mara’ (Ashu killed, Ashu killed), the report said.

Police had earlier also suspected Ashu of murdering Neelam. However, the family had confronted the police. After Vijay got the hint from the parrot, he informed police to take Ashu in custody and question him.

In the preliminary investigation, it was revealed that it was in fact Ashu who entered the house with his accomplices. As he was about to attack Neelam, the dog jumped on them and, even bit Ashu’s finger. They killed both Neelam and the pet dog, the police told.

A local court dismissed an application against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu’s son Narayan Sai charging him with hurting the sentiments of Sikh community by donning a turban to evade arrest in a sexual assault case.
President of local outfit ‘Yuva Sikh Morcha’, Gagandeep Singh Bhatia, had filed an application in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Manoj Kumar Ladia contending that by sporting a turban while he was absconding from Surat police searching for him, Sai had hurt the sentiments of Sikh community.
Gagandeep’s lawyer Indrajeet Singh Bhatia told reporters in Indore on Tuesday that the court, while dismissing the plea yesterday, ruled that there is no legal basis in the complaint for trial of the case against Narayan Sai as Indian constitution permits each and every Indian citizen to wear a dress of his/her choice.
The court also observed Sai’s wearing a turban does not prove that this has hurt the sentiments of Sikh community, he said.
Bhatia also said his client had mentioned in his complaint that in a bid to save himself from being arrested in a rape case, Sai had worn a turban thereby disguising himself as a Sikh, which hurt the religious sentiments of the community and this sent a wrong message among public about Sikhs.
Following a complaint of alleged rape against Sai by a Surat-based woman, Sai had been on the run and on December 4 was apprehended by police from Haryana-Delhi border. Police had caught 40-year-old Sai reportedly in the garb of a Sikh man sporting a red turban after evading arrest for 58 days.
The father-son duo are facing cases of sexual assault.

Farmer Devilal Meena’s dream came true on Tuesday when his son got his bride home in a helicopter.
A farmer in Hargaondhakhurd village of Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, Devilal Meena always wanted his elder son’s marriage to be a lavish affair. He decided he wanted that her eldest daughter-in-law should be brought to her new house in a helicopter.
His son Dharmendra Singh Meena got married to Sharbat in Sawai Madhopur on Monday. On Tuesday, they boarded a private helicopter at 12:30 pm from Sawai Madhopur and crossed the 55-km distance to Sheopur in half an hour.
As they landed in Sheopur, huge crowd gathered near the helipad to witness the historic sight of one among them getting her bride in a helicopter.