Child crushed to death as mother tries to board busA five-year-old boy was crushed to death in front of his mother as she was trying to board a bus with his small brother in Chennai. Sabina had lifted her elder son into the crowded bus and was trying to enter with five-year-old Arif, when the driver accelerated without warning. The impact threw Arif under the wheels and he was crushed to death. Eyewitnesses said even the police behaved rudely when an illiterate Sabina was unable to file a written report. In a separate incident, a mother, her three-year-son and another three-year-old girl sustained multiple fractures when a speeding car hit them near a housing complex at Choolai area in Chennai. The car driver, Rahul Dhoka, 26, reportedly accelerated instead of pressing the brake and hit the victims who were having snacks. Angry passersby stopped the car and thrashed Dhoka before handing him to police. Doctors claimed the three victims may have to undergo amputation. Rs1mn stolen from ATM at UthamapalayamPolice are on the lookout for suspects who stole Rs1mn from an automatic teller machine (ATM) at Uthamapalayam in Theni district, about 60km from the temple city of Madurai, last week. Police suspect bank staff may have helped the robbers as they did not break the ATM but removed cash from the dispensing box that could be opened only with a special encrypted password. The robbers had masked their faces and taped surveillance cameras before the operation. In a similar case in Chennai, four employees of a private security agency were arrested for periodically swindling a total of Rs10.62mn from several ATMs of the Punjab National Bank. The fraud came to light during a recent audit conducted by the bank and the security agency. Police have recovered part of the cash but search is on for other accomplices in the crime.Nephew held for murder of psychologistPolice have arrested a nephew of leading psychologist Emma Gonsalvez, who was found strangled to death on June13 at her Chennai apartment. Immanuel Fernandez, 52, was arrested after he submitted a forged will and asked police to speed up investigations. The will declared him as chief beneficiary instead of his relative Birdie Fernandez who was close to Emma, 82. However police found that the bond document was prepared in 2007 but its ink was fresh and Emma’s signature was forged. Police became more suspicious because of an earlier case filed by Immanuel’s Australia-based brother Don that alleged foul play in the death of their father in Frankfurt four years ago. Don accused Immanuel of arranging a hasty funeral and escaping to Chennai to avoid police enquiry. Immanuel owns a beach hotel at Neelangarai in suburban Chennai. Two killed in firecracker blastA 74-year-old woman and her grandson were killed when firecrackers stored in their house at Narayanapuram caught fire in Sivakasi town in southern Virudhunagar district last week. The explosion also damaged adjacent houses, injured many and blocked traffic in the area. Fire fighters had a hard time extinguishing the flames and clearing the debris. In a separate incident, two people were injured when country bombs were hurled during a group clash at Kooththenkuli near Koodankulam in Tirunelveli district last week. Protests against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant has increased in the past six months. Rival groups had hidden country bombs all over the village that were unearthed by police.