PRAYAGRAJ, May 1 -- In a joint operation, police from Mutthiganj station in Prayagraj and the Surveillance Team busted a major theft racket involving 33 KV power cables, arresting two accused and recovering stolen material worth lakhs of rupees. Based on information provided by the arrested men, police recovered two cable drums weighing nearly 13 tonnes, valued between Rs 35 lakh and Rs 40 lakh. DCP (City) Manish Shandilya and ACP (Atarsuiya) Nikita Srivastava said the case came to light after a contractor associated with the electricity department and a resident of Allapur filed a complaint at the Mutthiganj police station. The contractor stated that his firm had been assigned the work of laying 33 KV power cables between the Bairahana Power House and the Gaughat Power House. Acting on inputs, police arrested two accused-Mohammad Asif Malik, a resident of Shamli, and Savi Khan, a resident of Baghpat-near the Parade Ground on Thursday. During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they were working at the behest of Vashishth Pandey, a contractor linked to the electricity department, who allegedly masterminded the theft. They also confessed to stealing another cable drum from the Boat Club area under the Kydganj police station limits. Police on Thursday arrested the third absconding accused in a rape and murder case after an encounter near Karenti crossing under the Manikpur police station limits of Pratapgarh. The accused, who was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000, sustained gunshot injuries and was referred to a medical college after initial treatment at a Community Health Centre (CHC). According to the police, the accused, identified as Shubham Sonkar, was wanted in connection with the rape and murder of a young woman whose body was later found hanging from a mango tree in an apparent attempt to project the crime as a suicide. Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of Manikpur police and the SWAT unit laid a cordon near the Karenti crossing. A country-made .32 calibre pistol, a magazine, and three live cartridges were recovered from his possession. The case relates to an incident that occurred on the night of April 25-26, when a teenage boy, along with two accomplices, allegedly raped a young woman from a village under the Manikpur police station area in Pratapgarh. When the victim resisted, she was brutally assaulted and killed, following which the accused allegedly hanged her body from a mango tree to mislead investigators. Additional Superintendent of Police (West) Brijnandan Rai said Sonkar was accompanied by another associate at the time of the encounter, who managed to flee by taking advantage of the situation. A severe storm lashed parts of Sonahi Gram Sabha under the Baba Belkharnath development block in Pratapgarh, causing widespread damage and leaving a woman critically injured after a wall collapsed on her. Kamlesh Devi, 53, a resident of Laxmanpur, sustained serious injuries when the wall gave way amid strong winds. She suffered fractures in both legs, a severe spinal injury, and deep head wounds. Family members and villagers shifted her to Pratapgarh District Hospital, where her condition was reported as critical. Livestock tied near the wall were also caught in the collapse, resulting in one cow dying on the spot and two others sustaining serious injuries....