KATHMANDU, Nepal Nepal’s Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has alleged there was a link between the bloodbath in the royal palace in 2001 that wiped out the entire royal family, and a chopper crash five months later. Though an enquiry commission indicated the palace carnage was caused by a disgruntled Crown Prince Dipendra, who shot himself in the head, the majority of Nepalis scoffed at the report, believing it was part of a conspiracy. The chopper crash claimed the life of Prekshya, the youngest sister of the dead queen and the estranged wife of the king’s brother Dhirendra. CHENNAI, India An Indian, who set himself on fire to protest the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils, succumbed to his injuries after battling for life for over a month, police said. According to police, S. Shivanandam, 48, who had sustained burns to 70 per cent of his body, made a dying declaration that he had taken the extreme step to express solidarity with the suffering Tamils of Sri Lanka. HYDERABAD, India A die-hard fan of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi killed his father for not casting his vote for the superstar’s newly formed Praja Rajyam Party. The incident took place in Visakhapatnam district in coastal Andhra after the first phase of the ongoing Indian general elections. Rajubabu is said to be an ardent fan of superstar Chiranjeevi since his childhood, but his father was a supporter of legendary actor N.T. Rama Rao and the Telugu Desam Party he founded. In Andhra Pradesh, especially in the coastal region, popular Telugu actors enjoy the status of demi-gods. The fan following of superstars like the late N.T. Rama Rao and Chiranjeevi borders on madness. GHAZIABAD, India Four men wanted in over a dozen cases of armed robberies and murders, belonging to what the police described as the ‘knifer gang,’ have been arrested. The gang which operated in Vaishali, Vasundhara, Kaushambi and Indirapuram areas of Ghaziabad specialized in carrying out their crimes with knives, police said. In just 15 days, the suspects are said to have executed two murders and three robberies in Indirapuram. LUCKNOW, India Chandan Singh, 9, was an avid watcher of MTV’s reality show Roadies, never missing an episode. But last Saturday’s episode was his last. The boy hanged himself accidentally while imitating a stunt on the show. Chandan, a Class 3 student, watched the episode in which two female contestants were made to stand on a wooden stool with their hands tied. A rope was also placed around their neck. Another semi-finalist was then given three minutes to save one of them. NEW DELHI, India A 48-year-old man has been arrested for supplying poisonous moonshine that caused the death of over 30 people in the last two months in west Delhi. Mukesh, accused in 60 cases of excise violation and other offences, was arrested from the vicinity of Gagan Cinema in Nand Nagari. The police said in March several deaths were caused due to the contaminated hooch in Dabri area. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan A man killed his brother and nine other members of his family in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province over an inheritance dispute, police said. The incident took place in Sialkot district, about 150 km north of the provincial capital Lahore. The dead were identified as Javed Hussain, his wife and eight children, aged between six months and 10 years. A preliminary investigation revealed the two brothers developed serious differences over 16 hectares of land, which their father recently distributed equally among four of his sons. Dozens of people are killed across Pakistan every year in violent disagreements relating to inheritance issues. NEW DELHI, India Delhi Police are clueless about the whereabouts of a teacher whose corporal punishment allegedly led to the death an 11-year-old student. “For the past two days, our teams have failed to locate Manju (the accused teacher). Raids are being conducted at her native village of Sonepat in Haryana,” a police officer said. According to the allegation, the student slipped into a coma after Manju made her stand under the hot sun for more than an hour after beating her for not learning the English alphabets.