Girl was reportedly under pressure to excel in academics

Komal Ramchandra Davne (15), a Juinagar resident, committed suicide on Thursday at around 5.30 pm. A resident of Bharat Co-operative Housing Society in sector 25, Davne was an average student and is said to have taken the extreme step following some pressure, one of her neighbours said.

Davne consumed rat poison and committed suicide and was declared dead after being rushed to the hospital, an official from Nerul Police Station said. "She was the only daughter of her mother who is completely shattered after the incident," the neighbour said. "We have registered the case and investigations are on," Nerul police officials said.

16-year-old was missing from his house since Feb 8

Decomposed body of Pravin Chaburao Nagre (16), a milkman based in Kalamboli, who went missing on February 8, was found in Kamothe creek.

Nagre left his home in sector 3E on the fateful day saying that he is going to collect bills from his customers, but never returned. Worried over the same, his parents lodged a missing complaint. However, his body was found in a creek near Manasarovar Railway Station behind Shivsrushti Society, in a decomposed state.

Nine persons, allegedly belonging to the Ravi Pujari gang, were arrested for making phone calls to extort money from prominent city-based builders, police said on Friday.

A Central Crime Branch (CCB) team of the city police had investigated the case, following complaints registered at various police stations, including those in Cubbon Park and Ulsoor.

Police identified the accused persons as Kaviraj (32), Mohan (27), Shiva (33), Ibrahim (37), Mahesh (26), Santosh (31), Pradeep (28), Azad (32) and Udaya Kumara Hegde (45). While Santhosh hailed from Mangalore, Azad was from Uttar Pradesh.

The ATS officials on Thursday nabbed a person found possessing charas (narcotic drug) worth Rs63,000. Acting on a tip off, the ATS officials raided a spot near Galaxy Cinema in Naroda. They caught hold of Ishrul alias Khoda, who was passing from the area and on checking they recovered a bag containing charas.

After interrogating Khoda the police learnt that a police constable, Gambhir Sinh Khot, posted at Naroda had given the charas to him. Police later interrogated Khot, who alleged that the charas was provided to him by police personnel, Vinod Khot, posted with Sabarkantha police.

The ATS have arrested all the three accused in the case under various sections of Narcotics Act, and have sent them to police remand till March 3.

The caller may have been mentally disturbed, say police

The crime branch officials have nabbed a youth who allegedly called up a private news channel on Thursday claiming that bombs had been planted in six Bhuj-bound trains and they would explode anytime. The call had the police rushing to sanitise Kalupur railway station premises.

Officials from crime branch and railway police hurriedly conducted a search operation at every nook and corner of the railway station, but the call turned out to be a hoax.

One of the arrested is an engineering student; 250-year-old statue recovered

The police on Friday arrested three people including an engineering student for their alleged involvement in a theft of a 250-year-old antique idol of lord Krishna from Charbhuja Temple in Muhana Police station area on January 12, said SP East Beeju George Joseph.

The stolen idol was also recovered from Muhana village, on revelation of the arrested people, he said.

Joseph said, the accused wanted to sell the antique in Rs20 crore and they had found the customers for that but they did not know that they were dealing with the police team in disguise.