Thiruvananthapuram: The cabinet meeting approved the report of the official level committee on the increase in bus and auto-taxi fares in the state. The decision to increase the charge was taken earlier but is being approved by the Cabinet today. The hike will take effect on May 1.

As per the revised rates, the minimum bus fare has been increased from Rs 8 to Rs 10. The kilometer rate will be one rupee. The minimum fare for autos has been increased from Rs 25 to Rs 30. The revised fares for taxis above 1500cc have been increased from Rs 200 to Rs 225.

Kochi: The court rejected the plea of Dileep to quash the FIR. The judgment was passed by a single bench of the High Court. Justice Siyad Rahman dismissed the petition. With this, the crime branch can continue the investigation against Dileep in the conspiracy case. Dileep and his relatives are accused of conspiring to endanger the investigating officers in the case of the attack on the actress.
Dileep, who is currently out on anticipatory bail, will face a fateful crisis. The probe team can now proceed to take Dileep into custody and interrogate him.

Palakkad: ADGP Vijay Sakhare says all the three arrested in Zubair’s murder are RSS activists. Ramesh, Arumughan, and Saravanan were arrested. He said they were being questioned.

ADGP Vijay Sakhare said the killing was in retaliation for Sanjith’s murder. Attempts were made to execute on the 8th and 9th but did not take place. He said that before Sanjit’s death, Zubair was responsible for anything that happened to him and told Ramesh to pay it back. ADGP Vijay Sakhare added that the conspiracy was also being investigated.

Mangalore: Five fishermen died after inhaling poisonous gas in Mangalore, Karnataka. Workers at a fish processing plant in Bajpe have died in a gas leak. Police said the accident happened late Sunday night. The deceased were identified as Samiullah Islam, Umar Farooq, Nizamuddin Syed, Mirzul Islam, and Sarafat Ali, all from West Bengal.
Ajan Ali, Karibullah, and Aftal Malik were admitted to Mangalore AJ Hospital with serious injuries.
Sameer inhaled the poisonous gas while trying to clean the debris in the tank and collapsed. Others were in danger while trying to rescue him. DCP Hariram Shankar said the factory did not meet safety standards. Four people were arrested in the incident, including manager Ruby Joseph.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Central Meteorological Department has warned of isolated thunderstorms and rains in the state till Friday. The Central Meteorological Department has forecast strong winds of 30 to 40 kmph today and tomorrow.
The chance of thunderstorms is highest between 2 pm and 10 pm. The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) has directed the state government to be extra vigilant at this time.

Alappuzha: Arinzi Ifenna (34), a Nigerian national, was arrested in Alappuzha for allegedly swindling Rs 10 lakh from an Alappuzha resident whom she met through an online dating app. He was arrested on Saturday from Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh. The woman from Alappuzha met the accused through the dating app Quack Quack.

He was convinced that he was a pilot in the United States and wanted to marry an Indian woman. Established friendships by constantly chatting through WhatsApp. He had on several occasions extorted around Rs 10 lakh from the girl, convincing her that he had finally arrived in India and that he needed the Indian rupee to exchange the US dollars he had brought and for other things. The bank officials were suspicious and informed the police when they came to send Rs 11 lakh for some other needs.

Later, the district police chief G Jaidev formed a special investigation team led by cyber CIMK Rajesh. The investigation had retained the chat with him. When the phone location was checked, it was found that he was in Noida. The probe team then stayed in Noida and reached the accused. Upon learning of the police presence, the accused jumped out of his flat and tried to flee for eight kilometers along the eight-lane road in Noida, but was chased and apprehended by the police. The interrogation of the arrested accused revealed that crores of rupees were swindled in various states of India. Police are conducting further investigations.