Fake election squad robs businessman
Police are on the lookout for three men who robbed a businessman of Rs120,000 at the Udayampalayam-Puliankulam road in suburban Coimbatore by posing as election officials last week.
The gang intercepted N Murugan’s car and confiscated the money though he showed valid receipts. They ordered him to return to office, promising to return the cash after verifying from his bank.
When they did not come, Murugan informed the police.
Meanwhile Chennai police are searching for Ishrath, 25, who duped Nikath, a Kerala-based software engineer working in Bengaluru of Rs40,000 through the bogus sale of a Harley Davidson bike.
Nikath reportedly contacted Ishrath through an online ad and came to Chennai. However Ishrath pretended to be inside the customs office of the Beach railway station and asked him to pay Rs40,000 as import duty for the bike. Nikath deposited the money in Ishrath’s friend Karthik’s account through Net banking.
Later he kept waiting for Ishrath, but became suspicious when he did not turn up and switched off his mobile phone.
Police arrested Karthik through the online bank account number. He confessed he was a former television news editor who took to crime for quick money.

Parents reunite with son missing for nine years
A 16-year-old boy was reunited with his parents at a child rescue centre in Chennai after he got lost at the Central railway station nine years ago.
Mohamed alias Faiz Hussein came to Chennai with his mother Shehnaz from the northern city of Jabalpur in 2007. She lost him while going outside the station to book a taxi. Afterwards she filed a police complaint with great difficulty as she did not know Tamil or English.
Meanwhile Childline, a children’s organisation, spotted Mohamed wandering alone and put him up at Don Bosco Anbu Illam, a home for orphaned boys. He was enrolled at St Joseph’s Boys school where he was a good student and a keen sportsman. He was also sent to foster homes, but the Chennai police managed to track him through his parents’ details.
Mohamed has forgotten his native Hindi but speaks Tamil fluently.

Memorial for Kalam in New Delhi
The central government has decided to build a memorial for late president A P J Abdul Kalam near Dilli Haat. Dilli Haat is a permanent trade fair showcasing the art and culture of all Indian.
Federal Culture minister Kapil Mishra said the memorial would also exhibit Kalam’s notes, books, clothes and other personal memorabilia. It will be open to the public from July 27.
Kalam, a rocket scientist-turned politician, was the 11th president of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born into a poor fisherman’s family at Rameshwaram town in Tamil Nadu. He died on July 27, 2015 while addressing a college meeting in Shillong.

Woman bus driver completes 27 years service
Vasanthakumari, 57, one of Asia’s first female bus drivers, completed 23 years of service in Chennai last week.
She came to Chennai from her native Kanyakumari after marriage. She learnt to drive heavy duty vehicles and applied for the job of a bus driver at the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation in 1993, which had no women drivers at that time.
She got the job and began with single shifts before working full time. Today she drives the Nagercoil-Tiruvananthapuram route. An active women’s rights activist and winner of Raindrops Women’s Achiever Award, Vasanthakumari will retire in 2017.