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During interrogation, the accused revealed that they were transporting the ganja from Odisha to Surat on behalf of an unidentified person. Kazipet police and Task Force police arrested two accused, Titu Palai and Renu Samal, with 40 kg of ganja worth Rs. 10 lakh on Sunday. The accused were caught carrying the ganja in two bags near Kazipet railway station. During interrogation, the accused revealed that they were transporting the ganja from Odisha to Surat on behalf of an unidentified person. The accused had gotten off at Kazipet to change trains and were on their way to eat when they were caught by the police. The police also seized two mobile phones from the accused.

Outraged relatives of Gadhe Kavitha (35), killed in an accident on Thursday, staged a protest at Fathima Junction here on Friday. Outraged relatives of Gadhe Kavitha (35), killed in an accident on Thursday, staged a protest at Fathima Junction here on Friday. They alleged that the Kazipet police were showing negligence in handling the case. Kavitha, who was coming out of the St. Gabriel school’s polling station after voting, was about to get on her husband Joseph’s motorcycle when a car hit her dragging her several metres. Despite Joseph’s efforts to rush her to MGM Hospital, Kavitha succumbed to her injuries on the way. The family members accused the police of shielding the accused, citing bias in the investigation. In response, authorities asserted that a case was filed against the accused.

BRS leader Vinod Kumar recalled that the BRS for the last ten years was fighting for a strategic railway line that would facilitate the establishment of the steel plant as promised in Kothagudem district. Former MP and senior BRS leader Vinod Kumar on Saturday said the recently announced 173 km railway line from Pandurangapuram in Bhadradri Kothagudem district (via Bhadrachalam temple town) with Malkangiri in Odisha would help translate into reality the proposed Telangana Steel Plant at Bayyaram. Addressing a news conference at Telangana Bhavan, he recalled that the BRS for the last ten years was fighting for a strategic railway line that would facilitate the establishment of the steel plant as promised in Kothagudem district. The NMDC had agreed in principle to set up a steel plant either at Bayyaram or any other place in the vicinity provided a rail line was built connecting the region with Bailadilla in Chhattisgarh. He stated that such a rail project would help in procuring iron ore from Chhattisgarh and Odisha. The Bayyaram steel plant project was not implemented so far on the ground that it lacked the sufficient raw materials, particularly iron ore available locally. It was claimed that the iron ore available in the region was of low grade and insufficient in quantity. The local iron ore deposits are estimated to be around five million tonnes, whereas the requirement for a steel plant is approximately 200 million tonnes. The new railway line which would be opening up south Chhattisgarh and South western Odisha would emerge as a vital communication link connecting four States including East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh making iron ore and other raw material available abundantly for the Bayyaram steel plant. Now the responsibility of ensuing the implementation of Bayaram steel plant would rest mainly on the BJP MPs elected from Telangana. The BJP government at the Centre should undo the injustice meted out to the State. The Centre did not spend even Rs.10 during the last 10 years on the proposed Steel plant. It did not implement even the railway coach factory at Kazipet. The BRS leader feared that the new rail line could also be used for depriving the region of the mineral wealth especially the iron ore deposits it was endowed with for the benefit of Gujarat or steel units elsewhere. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ensure that the rail project would help benefit Telangana and the proposed Bayyaram steel plant. He should help foil any moves intended to deprive Telangana of its rich mineral deposits, Vinod Kumar added.

As a large number of crowd gathered at the spot, a police constable slowly held the body by its hand, as it was floating near the edge of the waterbody and gingerly began pulling it ashore. That was when the twist in the story came. Monday morning for the people residing near the Reddypuram Kovelakuntla here began with the quite disturbing sight of a body of a man floating in the waterbody. The residents immediately alerted the police and the 108 ambulance service. As a large number of crowd gathered at the spot, a police constable slowly held the body by its hand, as it was floating near the edge of the waterbody and gingerly began pulling it ashore. That was when the twist in the story came. The ‘body’ suddenly woke up, and the man looked up at the constable to see who was pulling him out of the water. It gradually turned out that the man, identified as a resident of Kavali area of the Nellore District, was ‘tired’ and had decided to cool off with a nap in the water! The man, who works as a labourer in a granite factory in Kazipet, told the police personnel that he had stepped into the water to “relax”. “I work 12 hours a day. I was very tired. I wanted to relax for sometime and so decided to lie in the water for some time,” he said. It was then that the police personnel told him that people around had thought that he was dead and had asked the police to retrieve the “body”. The man claimed that he was not drunk and interestingly, even requested the police personnel to lend him Rs.50 to reach his house in Kazipet.

“We hoped that Telugu daughter-in-law, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, would allocate significant funds to Telangana. But what we got is nothing,” he stated. BRS working president KT Rama Rao expressed strong disappointment over the Union Budget, stating that despite high expectations, Telangana was once again neglected. “We hoped that Telugu daughter-in-law, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, would allocate significant funds to Telangana. But what we got is nothing,” he stated in his response to the Union Budget for 2024-25. He highlighted that despite the Central budget exceeding Rs 48 lakh crore, only a few States received major benefits, with Telangana not being mentioned at all The BRS working president recalled how former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao made numerous requests to the Union government to support the young State of Telangana and fulfill 35 promises made under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. However, there has been no response in the last 10 years. He pointed out that there were no additional funds for the proposed Tribal University at Mulugu, the promised steel plant at Bayyaram or the railway coach factory at Kazipet. National status for irrigation projects like Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme was also denied, and requests for central institutes like IIM were ignored. Further, appeals for industrial corridors and new handloom and power loom clusters received no response. Rama Rao criticised the lack of support even when the Congress leaders from Telangana visited Delhi. He urged the people of Telangana to reflect on the lack of representation of regional forces at the Centre and compare the allocations to States like Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, which gifted more parliamentary seats to the regional parties. “BJP and Congress MPs did not speak a word for Telangana. If BRS had MPs in Parliament, they would have strongly opposed the Central government’s stance,” he asserted. He warned that Telangana’s people will teach the BJP a lesson for neglecting their State despite having eight MPs. While expressing goodwill towards Andhra Pradesh, Rama Rao lamented that the Union government did not even mention Telangana when discussing the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. “We are happy with the significant funds given to Andhra Pradesh, but it is truly disappointing to see only Andhra Pradesh and Bihar receiving majority funds while the other States are overlooked,” he added.

According to reports, the seven youths, apart from attacking the cab driver at Kazipet bus stand, also broke the vehicle’s windshield and glasses Seven youths created ruckus and attacked a cab driver at the Kazipet bus stand in the wee hours of Tuesday. According to reports, a youth was urinating at the bus stand and when a cab driver objected to it, he along with six others attacked him causing head injuries. They even broke his car’s windshield and glasses. The youths even damaged another car parked at the bus stand.  The cab driver lodged a complaint with the Kazipet police station and when they were taken to the police station there too they had a fight with the police personnel. They claimed that their family members were working in the police force. Son of an SI working in Siddipet commissionerate and a constable was present when the incident took place at the bus stand. The cab driver was rushed to MGM Hospital for treatment.  The police registered a case and investigation is underway.

The MGM Hospital in the Warangal city is witnessing a daily out-patient (OP) count of 500 to 800, of which 30 to 40 percent complain of viral fever The spike in the incidence of prolonged viral fevers and dengue across the Greater Warangal areas over the last few weeks has become a cause of worry for the authorities. The number of patients with viral fever symptoms like cold, cough, throat pain, body pain and high fever has increased at both the government and private hospitals. The MGM Hospital in the Warangal city is witnessing a daily out-patient (OP) count of 500 to 800, of which 30 to 40 percent complain of viral fever. According to health officials, 128 cases of dengue and one case of malaria had been reported in Greater Warangal. Sources say it is estimated that cases of dengue have crossed 300 in the city as many go unreported. A case of malaria has been reported from Desaipet area in the city. In MGM hospital, more than 250 children are coming with complaints of seasonal fever every day, and of them, more than 50 are being hospitalized and receiving treatment. More than 60 children have been diagnosed with dengue in this month alone in the city, sources said. The hospital has 150 beds for children and since the number of children being admitted is more, two children are put on a single bed causing inconvenience to them. Rush to get tests done for dengue and other vector borne diseases has resulted in long queues at the OPDs and pathology sections of the government hospitals across the city. A large number of people are queuing up in front of private labs for tests in the city. The MGM hospital and other government hospitals in the city are full. Even most of the private hospitals are full with patients. Elderly persons, children and women are more affected by fever. According to officials, dengue cases are high in Kashibugga, Desaipet, Kothawada, Rangampet, Kirtinagar, Labor Colony, Mandibazaru, Shivanagar, Rangashaipet, Khilawarangal Kota, Gorrekunta, Dharmaram, Enumamula, Sundaraiah Nagar, Paidipalli, and Mamunur areas. whereas viral and other seasonal fevers are more prevalent in Peddamma Gadda, Newsayampet, Deenadayalnagar, Vaddepalli Teachers Colony, Sammayyanagar, Kazipet Dargah, Bhutupalli, Kadipikonda, Madikonda and other areas. Meanwhile, the district administration along with the officials of medical, health and municipal departments are on high alert and are taking all kinds of preventive measures to contain the dengue outbreak.

A BRS delegation led by Rajya Sabha MP Vaddiraju Ravichandra and former chief whip Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar, met Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday, and submitted a representation in this regard. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi has called for the establishment of a railway coach factory at Kazipet and to upgrade the Kazipet Junction to a railway division among other development projects in Telangana. A BRS delegation led by Rajya Sabha MP Vaddiraju Ravichandra and former chief whip Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar, met Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday, and submitted a representation in this regard. During the meeting, Vinay Bhaskar explained that a coach factory in Kazipet was a 60-year-old aspiration of the people of Warangal region, rooted in the Telangana movement. He noted that the demand was highlighted during the Statehood agitation and included in the AP Reorganisation Act. Despite the State government allocating land for the project during the BRS regime, the proposal had not materialised. The delegation urged the Railway Minister to upgrade Kazipet railway junction to division status, increase platforms, and allocate a larger budget for development. They also requested enhanced local employment opportunities, including 60 per cent job reservations for locals and apprenticeships for ITI students. Other demands included developing the Warangal railway stadium, constructing vending zones for small traders, and expediting the Fatima Bridge and Bodagutta foot-over-bridge projects. Earlier on Monday, BRS leaders staged a dharna at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to highlight the delayed projects. Separately, BRS MPs KR Suresh Reddy, Vaddiraju Ravichandra and Divakonda Damodar Rao submitted another representation to Ashwini Vaishnaw seeking restoration of trains from Bhadrachalam Road Station (Kothagudem) to Hyderabad, which were cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic. They sought operation of new trains including special train services to Tirupati, provide stoppage at Khammam for trains connected to Jaipur and Bihar and also modernisation of railway stations at Gandhipuram, Karepalli and others.

Though it is a year since the gruesome murder, the police have not been able to find any clue or motive that could lead to the killer. The mysterious murder of a 68-year-old woman Kona Vijaya from Rahmat Nagar in Kazipet area has become a challenge for the police. Though it is a year since the gruesome murder, the police have not been able to find any clue or motive that could lead to the killer. Vijaya left her house on December 14 last year in the morning and was found dead in a side alley after midnight. Vijaya’s body was not properly dressed and her gold jewelry was missing. Earlier in the day, Vijaya’s son filed a missing complaint with the police with the help of locals. The police investigated the matter but could not find her whereabouts. In the meantime, the killer is suspected to have kidnapped Vijaya, beaten her to death and cleaned the body with soap before dumping it in the alley next to her house at midnight. It is believed that the killer cleaned the body to destroy the evidence. After receiving information about the murder of Vijaya, members of the CLUES team and dog squad personnel reached the scene and intensified their efforts to find evidence. Initially, the police thought that the case could be solved easily, but as days passed, it turned out into quite a tough mystery for them. The police team questioned over 100 people, but could not find any lead or even motive behind the murder. The original team, which investigated the murder has been transferred, and a new team is now investigating the case. Warangal Commissioner of Police Amber Kishor Jha has been exerting pressure on the investigating team to resolve the issue, but so far they have not been able to find any clue on the killer. In fact, the Police Commissioner asks about the status of Vijaya murder case in every crime review meeting, but with not much coming from the investigating team. The police officials are expecting the new team to get some breakthrough in the case in the coming days.

Train services on the Kazipet–Balharshah route resumed after a five-hour halt due to damage to an under-construction rail overbridge near Peddapalli. Authorities halted trains at multiple stations and carried out emergency repairs to restore movement   Train services on the Kazipet–Balharshah route were restored on Friday after a five-hour disruption caused by damage to a component of an under-construction rail overbridge (ROB) near Peddapalli railway station. Railway officials halted trains at various stations along the route to prevent any untoward incidents while repair works were carried out. After sustained efforts, the repairs were completed, and train operations resumed.