Indian police are hunting a conman who hypnotised a Mumbai jewellery store worker before stealing $160,000 worth of diamond necklaces and bracelets.
Katrina Sunil Purswami, who works at the Seres store in the upmarket Bandra West suburb, was told by the man on Saturday that he wanted to give the gems as a present and persuaded her to bring them to a nearby hotel.
"When the employee went to the hotel, the accused acted like he was the owner," senior police inspector Prakash George was quoted as saying by the Daily News and Analysis newspaper yesterday.
"As Purswami was showing him the sets, he asked her to write the details of the sets for him. He then hypnotised her and decamped with the ornaments. Purswami was left confused and could not understand what was going on."
The officer said the jeweller's store was newly opened and the owner allowed the employee to visit the hotel with the diamonds because he thought he was in line for a large sale. (AFP)
'Love guru' seeks to win votes
A professor dubbed "the love guru" is contesting India's elections on an unusual platform - more freedom for lovers and standing up to vigilante groups who frown on public displays of affection.
Matuk Nath Choudhary, who is standing in the Bihar state capital of Patna, is promising that, if he wins, lovers of all ages will be encouraged to give free rein to their emotions wherever and whenever they please.
The softly-spoken Hindi professor, who gained notoriety thanks to a very public extra-marital affair with a student three years ago, is running as an independent against many well-established political names.
But the man who made headlines for defying social norms in strictly conservative India to stay with his lover, despite his wife's humiliating the duo in front of TV cameras, appears undaunted by the challenge. (AFP)
Arrested for throwing money away from cars
Taiwan police have arrested a 55-year-old man for lobbing bank notes worth about T$1 million (€22,200) from vehicles, causing disorder in the streets, an officer said yesterday.
The man tossed the bills from a taxi in a crowded part of Taichung city on Sunday as people stopped to pick up the cash, Changhua police official Lin Shih-ming said.
"He might have had a nervous condition, as his state of mind wasn't normal," Mr Lin said.
He is believed to have thrown heaps more money on an earlier road trip starting in the capital Taipei. The man also burned about T$400,000 and had two more sacks of cash, apparently the proceeds of a property sale, Mr Lin said.
The taxi driver turned the man in to police in Changhua county, just south of Taichung.
The suspect would be charged with public endangerment and destruction of currency, Mr Lin said. (Reuters)
Fathered child while bishop
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo admitted yesterday he is the father of a child conceived when he was still a Roman Catholic bishop, as a paternity suit threatened to weaken him politically.
"I assume all responsibilities having to do with the fact that I had a relationship with (the mother of the child), and I recognise paternity," President Lugo, who took office in August, said in a surprise announcement on television.
Lawyers for the 26-year-old mother of the baby filed a paternity suit against President Lugo last week and a judge was proceeding with an investigation.
In July last year, Pope Benedict granted an unprecedented waiver to allow Mr Lugo to serve as President without violating Church rules. He had served as a bishop for 10 years in the impoverished region of San Pedro and shed his cassock in late 2006 to launch his political career despite Church opposition.
The Vatican had rejected his petition for layman's status, suspending him from priestly duties but saying he was still a bishop since his ordination was a lifelong sacrament. It changed its position after he won the election. (Reuters)
High-speed sex couple nabbed
A Norwegian man faces a heavy fine and a driving ban after police caught him having sex with his girlfriend while speeding on the motorway, police said yesterday.
The unnamed couple, a 28-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman, were caught in the act late on Easter Sunday by traffic police on the E18 highway, some 40 kilometres west of Oslo.
Officers who clocked the couple's silver Mazda 323 racing at 133 kilometres per hour in a 100 zone realised they were doing more than just breaking the speed limit.
"It was veering from one side to the other because the woman was sitting on the man's lap while he was driving and doing the act, shall we say," said Tor Stein Hagen, a superintendent with Soendre Buskerund district police. "He couldn't see much because her back was in the way," he added.
After following the couple for nearly a kilometre, officers pulled the car over at a service station.
Prosecutors will decide within the next week what his punishment will be, with police having filmed the incident to use as evidence against the driver. Superintendent Hagen said he expected the man to face a fine of "several thousand Norwegian crowns" and a lengthy driving ban. (AFP)