A leopard suspected to be seven-year-old was hit by an unidentified vehicle on Saturday night when it was crossing the Salem-Coimbatore National Highways at Kaliyanur junction.

The animal died on the spot and Forest Department officials sent the carcass for autopsy by a team from the Kurumbapatti Zoological Park. The animal was buried later.

The villagers of Devannagoundanur near Sankari claimed 10 months ago that they saw a leopard near the forest in the locality. The Forest Department installed CCTV cameras in the locality, but the leopard was not recorded in the cameras.

Life convict escapes from Salem GH

A 36-year-old life convict escaped from the Salem Government Hospital on Saturday night. Mohammed Hussein of Adirampattinam in the Thanjavur district, who was serving life imprisonment at the Tiruchi Central Prison for a murder case, was shifted to Salem Central Prison last month. He was admitted to the Salem GH on April 24 as he reportedly fell ill. On Saturday around 9 p.m., he went to the toilet and did not return. The prison staff broke the toilet door and found that he had escaped through the windows in the toilet room. The police were alerted and while checking the CCTV footage, they found the convict coming out of the hospital around 10.15 p.m. The Government Hospital police registered a case and are on the lookout for the convict.

Woman falls from running train, dies

Kalpana Chowdry (36), a native of Nepal, who was travelling in an unreserved compartment in the Pune - Kanyakumari Express on Saturday night, fell from the train and died.

She was reportedly near the door of the compartment and fell down when the train passed Bommidi in Dharmapuri district. Her family saw her falling and stopped the train. The police registered a case and are investigating.

Three arrested for murder in Namakkal

Sridhar (65), a farmer of Kattuvelampalayam near Molasi, had a land dispute with Velusamy of the same locality. On Saturday, a quarrel erupted between him and Velusamy, his wife Kannaki, and son Kesavaraj. During the quarrel, Kesavaraj allegedly attacked Sridhar with a sickle. He sustained injuries and died on the way to the hospital. The Molasi police registered a case and arrested the trio.

Heavy rain lashes Salem district

In the 24 hours that ended at 8 a.m. on Sunday, Salem district received 189.10 mm of rainfall. Puludikkuttai received the highest amount of 48 mm rainfall, followed by 35 mm in Yethapur, 22 mm each at Danishpet and Veeraganoor, 20.2 mm in Yercaud, 12 mm in Edappadi, 10 mm in Thammampatti, 7 mm in Kariyakovil, 3.4 mm in Attur, 3 mm each at Nathakarai and Vazhapadi, 2 mm in Collectorate and 1.5 mm in Omalur.