NEW DELHI, India

The grandson of late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi has come under fire for allegedly inciting violence against Muslims in comments highlighting the country’s religious tensions. Varun Gandhi reportedly told a rally that his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party would “cut the head of Muslims.” According to footage aired by the NDTV news channel, Varun Gandhi also told a rally that Muslims “have scary names like Karimullah, Mazullah” and that “if you meet them at night you will be scared.”

JALANDHAR, India

A game of cards under the shadow of a water tank in this Punjab city proved fatal for three factory workers when a part of the tank collapsed and fell on them. The accident took place in Santokhpura locality of the city. A part of the 30-year-old water tank of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation fell as the five people were playing cards, a police official said.

KABUL, Afghanistan

A Kabul-based Afghan TV channel blurred Pakistan founder Mohamed Ali Jinnah’s face during the telecast of a Pashto drama, hurting the sentiments of Pakistani and Afghan viewers. Shamshad TV telecast the Pakistani drama. In one of the scenes, the picture of Jinnah, revered as Quaid-e-Azam, was shown on a wall with the face blurred. “It was a great insult to the founder of Pakistan,” Mohamed Ismail said.

JHARKHAND, India

Angry villagers in eastern India burned eight robbers and beat four others to death, police said. About 20 robbers raided a remote village in Jharkhand state, but were surrounded by hundreds of villagers, who began chasing them, the police said. “Four were beaten to death, while eight took shelter in a house, which was set on fire by the villagers,” Mohamed Nehal, a senior police officer, said. Armed villagers stood guard to ensure none of the robbers escaped.

NEW DELHI, India

An 18th-century carpet commissioned by an Indian maharajah has become the world’s most expensive rug after selling at auction in Qatar for $5.8 million. Sotheby’s says the price fetched by the famed Pearl Carpet of Baroda broke a record of $5.4 million set last year for a silk Isfahan carpet, The Peninsula, Qatar’s English-language daily, reported. The rug was created using an estimated 2 million natural seed pearls.

LUCKNOW, India

A notorious criminal wanted for the last 15 years by the Uttar Pradesh police has surrendered, an official said. “Tribhuwan Singh, who carried a reward of Rs.500,000 ($12,000) surrendered at the Special Task Force (STF) office in Mahanagar,” STF Senior Superintendent of Police Amitabh Yash told reporters. “Singh, a native of Ghazipur district in the state, was wanted in nearly 20 criminal cases of murder, contract killing, loot and dacoity,” Yash added. According to officials, Singh also operated from Nepal, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

NEW DELHI, India

A British court sentenced three teenagers to six-and-a-half years each in custody for killing an Indian sailor in a racist attack. Two other boys were sentenced to detention for 12 months and 18 months. Gregory Fernandes, 32, of Goa, was attacked in October 2007 in the coastal port city of Southampton. The three boys, now aged 16 to 18, admitted manslaughter and inflicting grievous bodily harm on another sailor, Fernandes’ shipmate Vinod Pitchilnaviram.

MADRAS, India

A court has sentenced the founder of a leading chain of hotels to life imprisonment for murdering his employee eight years ago. Judges P.K. Mishra and R. Banumathi of the Madras High Court convicted the Saravana Bhavan hotel founder, P. Rajagopal, and six others for the 2001 murder. Rajagopal, 59, who founded the chain of hotels in 1981, was found guilty of murdering Prince Shantakumar.

MUMBAI, India

Amir Ajmal Kasab, allegedly the only survivor among the terrorists who struck Mumbai in November, should receive a death sentence, police said. Maharashtra Home Minster Jayant Patil called the charges against Kasab “the rarest of rare cases,” the Press Trust of India reported. At least 173 people were killed in the attack.

BHOPAL, India

Disturbed by his inability to pay back his loans, a farmer in Meharghatti village of Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone district committed suicide by drinking pesticide. Dashrath Kushwah, 58, was found lying in a field. He had consumed a poisonous substance, police said. More than 200,000 farmers have committed suicide in India since 1997. Nearly two-thirds of the suicides have occurred in five states — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh.

CHENNAI, India

He married at least three women and was planning to marry many more, but was caught when his newest “wife” picked up a call from another wife and the two women realized he had cheated on them. T. Kumar, 31, has been arrested on charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating and other charges, police said. He has been remanded in custody. “Kumar has admitted to an ambition to marry at least 25 women in the next decade.,” an official told IANS.