India has sought a review of the US court judgment that dropped criminal charges against a Seattle police officer who killed 23-year-old Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula. The prosecutor said she could not pursue criminal charges against the officer due to “lack of sufficient evidence”.

Ms Kandula, a Master’s student from Andhra Pradesh, was hit by Seattle police officer Kevin Dave’s speeding car on January 23 last year while he was responding to a drug overdose call. The 23-year-old was flung 100 feet after the police vehicle hit her at nearly 120 kmph.

Bodycam footage showed Officer Dave‘s colleague Daniel Auderer laughing about the deadly crash, assuring him that he won’t be prosecuted for the death as Ms Kandula was “26 anyway” and “had limited value”.

The Indian embassy said its working to ensure justice to her family and is now waiting for Seattle police to complete its investigation.

On the recently released investigation report of the King County Prosecution Attorney on the unfortunate death of Jaahnavi Kandula, Consulate has been in regular touch with the designated family representatives and will continue to extend all possible support in ensuring justice…

— India In Seattle (@IndiainSeattle) February 23, 2024

“On the recently released investigation report of the King County Prosecution Attorney on the unfortunate death of Jaahnavi Kandula, Consulate has been in regular touch with the designated family representatives and will continue to extend all possible support in ensuring justice for Jaahnavi and her family. We have also raised the matter strongly with local authorities, including Seattle Police for appropriate redress. The case has now been referred to Seattle City Attorney’s office for review. We await completion of Seattle Police’s administrative investigation and will continue to monitor progress on the case,” the embassy said in a statement.

On Friday, the King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion, while expressing concern about Officer Auderer’s “appalling and deeply troubling” comments, said they do not alter the legal analysis of Officer Dave’s conduct. Prosecutors said that they did not have “sufficient evidence” to prove Officer Dave showed a “conscious disregard for others’ safety.”

A Hyderabad-based video jockey was kidnapped by a businesswoman, who was determined to marry him after she came across an impersonator using his photo on a matrimonial website. The woman used a tracking device on his car to keep a watch on him and hired kidnappers to carry out the job, said police. She was arrested after the video jockey filed a complaint.

The woman, 31, ran a digital marketing business while the man worked as an anchor at a music channel.

Two years ago, she came across a profile on Bharat Matrimony that used the VJ’s photos and started chatting with him. On realizing it was not a genuine account, she reached out to the VJ separately via an instant messaging app.

He told her it was a fake account that someone had created using his photo and that he had lodged a police complaint. She, however, continued messaging him, which led him to block her number, police said.

The saga could have ended her, but the woman was determined to marry the video jockey.

Believing she could sort it out, she planned to kidnap him and hired four men for this job, police said. She also fitted an AirTag to his car to monitor his movements.

The VJ was kidnapped on February 11. They thrashed him and took him to the woman’s office. She let him go only after he agreed to respond to her calls, police said.

Once freed, he went straight to the Uppal police station and filed a complaint, leading to the arrest of the woman and the four kidnappers.

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have agreed to a 4:3 seat-sharing formula for Delhi to put up a joint fight in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. They have also reached a deal for Gujarat, Haryana, Goa, and Chandigarh.

In Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party will contest four out of the seven seats – West Delhi, South Delhi, East Delhi, and New Delhi. The remaining three – North East Delhi, North West Delhi, and Chandni Chowk – will go to the grand old party.

In the 2019 election, the BJP won all seven seats.

The seat-sharing announcement was made during a joint press conference of the AAP and the Congress, weeks after the opposition’s INDIA bloc delivered their first electoral win in the Chandigarh mayoral poll.

AAP will contest from two seats in Gujarat – Bharuch and Bhavnagar – and one in Haryana – Kurukshetra. Both seats in Goa and the sole constituency in Chandigarh will be contested by the Congress. The AAP had declared a candidate for South Goa last week and will withdraw it to make way for its ally.

Read | Trinamool Says It Will Contest All 42 Bengal Seats, Dashes Congress Hopes

Seat-sharing has been one of the major headaches for the INDIA bloc with the aspirations of the regional parties dragging the negotiations. The Congress’s recent electoral setbacks in three heartland states have emboldened the regional powers to seek a bigger share of seats.

The Congress has already struck a deal with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. The party will contest from 17 seats in Uttar Pradesh, which sends the most number of MPs to the Lok Sabha. A deadlock remains in Maharashtra with Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) yet to decide on eight seats.

Read | “Even With Binoculars…”: Trinamool Sources On Congress’ 5-Seat Demand

West Bengal too remains a challenge for the Congress with Trinamool asserting yesterday they will contest all 42 seats. Sources said Trinamool isn’t ready to offer more than two seats to the Congress, which has been seeking at least five in the eastern state.

The INDIA bloc, which was set up last year to take on the BJP, has already lost two key members – Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United and Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtra Lok Dal. Both have aligned with the BJP.