Page 1703 - Law Crime
Another child raped in Balasore
An 8-year-old girl was raped allegedly by a married man at Soro area in Balasore district, a day after a similar incident rocked Nilagiri area of the district, police said today. The girl was returning home from a community function at Kherana village on Saturday when a 48-year-old man allegedly dragged her to a lonely place and committed rape, police said. On the basis of an FIR lodged by the girl's family yesterday, the accused was arrested, they said adding further investigation is in progress. The accused was beaten up by villagers and he was admitted to hospital, police said. The incident came close on the heels of a 4-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth in Nilagiri area of the district on April 13. The issue of the two rapes was raised in the state Assembly by the opposition parties today.
Two held with leopard skin in Thane
Two persons from Madhya Pradesh were arrested here on Sunday with leopard skin worth around Rs 10 lakh, a senior officer said today. A case was registered earlier against accused Kismatlal Marabi (30) and Korcha Marabi (25) under the Wildlife Protection Act in Rabodi police station in the city. DCP (Crime) Abhishek Trimukhi told reporters that local crime branch sleuths had laid a trap near Saket temple in the city on a tip-off that the accused duo were arriving at the spot last afternoon. Police spotted the Marabis near the temple with a bag which contained a leopard skin and nails. Police are investigation the intended beneficiary of the consignment, said senior crime branch officer Nitin Thakre.
CPI flays NIA over acquittals in Mecca Masjid blast case
The CPI today strongly criticised the anti-terror probe agency NIA for not being able to provide "credible evidence" in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, which resulted in acquittal of all five accused in the case. Lashing out at the NIA probe into the Mecca Masjid blast which had left nine persons dead and 58 others injured, the Left party questioned the agency for its "failure" to establish the truth behind the blast. "The NIA court has acquitted all the accused for lack of credible evidence. But who are the people who did it? Who are the forces behind the blast? That should be found out," CPI leader D Raja told PTI. "The fact remains that there was an attack. People should know who were behind such attacks. Lets see what the government does or the investigating agency does.. NIA completely failed to establish the truth behind the blast," Raja said. A special anti-terror court in Hyderabad acquitted right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand and four others today in the 2007 Mecca Masjid .
7 inmates dead, 17 injured in South Carolina prison fighting
Seven inmates have been killed and at least 17 others seriously injured amid fighting between prisoners inside a maximum security prison in South Carolina. Prisons spokesman Jeff Taillon announced the grim outcome after State Law Enforcement Division agents helped secure Lee Correctional Institution around 3 AM today. Taillon said no officers were wounded after multiple inmate fights broke out at 7:15 PM Sunday. He said 17 of the injured required medical attention outside the prison. The South Carolina Department of Corrections tweeted that it involved multiple inmate-on-inmate altercations in three housing units. Lee County Fire/Rescue said ambulances from multiple jurisdictions lined up outside to tend to the wounded. The local coroner's office also responded. The maximum-security facility in Bishopville houses about 1,500 inmates, some of South Carolina's most violent and longest-serving offenders. Two officers were stabbed in a 2015 fight. One inmate killed another in February.
Justice delayed and denied: Mecca Masjid blast witness
Expressing disappointment over the acquittal of all accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, a witness on Monday said that justice was both delayed and denied.Mohammad Irfan had spotted the second bomb and handed it to the bomb squad on the fateful day at the mosque.Speaking to ANI, Irfan said, "Today, the judgement that came reminds us of the popular English saying- though justice is delayed but justice isn't denied, but today justice was both delayed and denied."Terming the verdict a "matter of shame" for the country, Irfan added, "I still have faith in our judiciary. Higher courts will deal with the case, and if the investigative agencies work harder, the real culprits will soon be caught."The blast, which took place on May 18, 2007 at the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad during Friday prayers, had killed eight people and left 58 injured. It was allegedly carried out by a group of right-wing terrorists.Recounting the day, Irfan said that he had spotted another live bomb amid the ...
People losing faith in NIA: Azad on Mecca Masjid blast case acquittals
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad today raised questions on the functioning of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after a court acquitted right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand and four others in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case investigated by the central agency. "It (acquittal) is happening in each case since the government was formed four years ago...people are losing faith in the agencies," he told news channels. A special anti-terror court today acquitted the five men in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove charges against them. A massive blast had ripped through the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad on May 18, 2007, during Friday prayers, killing nine people and wounding 58. When asked about the verdict, former Union home minister and Congress leader Shivraj Patil said, "I find it very difficult to say whether this is wrong or correct". He said he was not aware of the nature of charge-sheet filed by the probe agency, statements made by .
Physically-challenged woman raped in AP
A 24-year-old physically challenged Dalit woman was raped by a man and an alert passerby came to her rescue when two associates of the attacker too tried to sexually assault her in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh, police said today. The woman hired an autorickshaw to visit a relative's house near Kota late last evening but was gagged and taken to an isolated place by the driver and two of his friends present in the vehicle. She was raped by one of the three, a police official said. As she raised an alarm, a person passing by the area on a motorbike came to her rescue. The culprits fled the scene, Vizianagaram Sub-Divisional police officer Ramana said. On being alerted by the man, police arrived at the site and shifted the woman to a government hospital in Vizianagaram for medical examination. Her condition was now stable, he said. Based on her statement, a rape case had been registered against the three and a manhunt launched for the culprits, the official said. A ...
SC orders security to Kathua rape victim's family, others
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered adequate security to the Kathua rape victim's family, their lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat and others and sought the Jammu and Kashmir government's response to a plea for transfer of the case trial to Chandigarh.
DMK bats for adding SC/ST Act to 9th Schedule of Constitution
The DMK today said the Centre should take steps to include the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, which is beyond judicial review, in the wake of the recent apex court order 'diluting' some of the provisions of the Act In remarks that came days after Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan mooted a similar proposal, DMK Working President MK Stalin said the 'dilution' of the legislation by the Supreme court has caused anguish to the oppressed. Though the laws placed in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution cannot be challenged in court, the Supreme Court had held years ago that judicial review was a basic feature of the Constitution. The apex court had said that even laws under the Ninth Schedule would be open to scrutiny if they violated fundamental rights or the basic structure of the Constitution. A Tamil Nadu law that provides 69 per cent of reservation in the state is among the legislations that are covered under the Ninth Schedule ..
Jammu lawyers suspend agitation, resume work
The Jammu High Court Bar Association (JHCBA) today resumed work after staying away from courts for 12 days in support of their various demands including handing over the Kathua rape and murder case to CBI and deportation of illegally settled Rohingyas. The decision to resume work was taken at a general house meeting of the JHCBA held under the chairmanship of its president B S Slathia here. The general house decided to temporarily suspend the agitation, responding to the appeal of Bar Council of India (BCI), and the Supreme Court taking cognizance of the issue (Kathua rape and murder case), Slathia told PTI. The JHCBA went on a four-day strike initially on April 4 in support of four demands, which included clarity from the government on tribal affairs and district status to Nowshehra sub-division in Rajouri district. It later extended the strike till April 17. The JHCBA also sponsored a general strike in Jammu on April 11 but faced severe criticism from various quarters. Slathia, ...
Delhi HC issues notice to NIA over Hizbul chief's son plea
The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to the National Investigative Agency (NIA) on a plea filed by Syed Shahid, son of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, challenging a trial court's order which increased his custody.Shahid has challenged a trial court order which has rejected his statutory bail and extended the period of investigation.He has moved the application under the provisions of Section 167 (2) of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).The court will further hear this matter on April 25.Shahid was arrested by the NIA in October last year after he was found receiving and collecting funds through international wire money transfer from Saudi Arabia-based Hizbul Mujahideen member Aijaz Ahmed Bhat.He was also suspended by the Jammu and Kashmir Government from his agriculture department job in the state.The NIA has already filed two charge sheets against six other accused in this case in 2011.Out of these accused, two are in custody and others, including Salahuddin, are ..
NGT notice to UP govt on encroachment in Agra park
Aggrieved by the alleged encroachment on a park, a housing society in Agra has moved the National Green Tribunal, prompting the green panel to seek responses from the state government and the local authorities. A bench headed by acting NGT Chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government, Agra Development Authority, Agra Municipal Corporation, District Magistrate and others while seeking their replies in two weeks. The tribunal's order came on the plea filed by the Jawahar Nagar Co-operative Society seeking removal of the encroachments and restoration of the park measuring 3,165 square yards. The petition, filed through advocates Gautam Singh and Snehil Sonam, alleged that the park was neither being maintained, nor properly regulated by the municipal body. It said that a suit was also filed against the encroachment and a local court had passed an injunction order and directed status-quo to be maintained till further orders. "The applicant being tired by .
Kathua rape: SC seeks J&K's response on transfer of trial
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Jammu and Kashmir government's response on a plea for transfering the trail of the Kathua rape and murder case to Chandigarh.
Russian investigative journalist dies after balcony fall
A Russian journalist who wrote on Moscow's "shadow army" in Syria has died after falling from the balcony of his fifth-floor flat, but investigators said today they were not treating the death as suspicious. Maksim Borodin fell from his apartment in Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals, last week and died from his injuries in hospital on Sunday, news agencies reported. He worked for the news service Noviy Den (New Day) and recently wrote on the deaths of employees of the so-called "Wagner Group", the private army Moscow is using in Syria. "There are no grounds for launching a case," the local investigative committee told the TASS news agency today. "Several versions are being considered, including that this was an unfortunate accident, but there is no sign a crime has been committed," it said. The local committee told AFP it would not comment on the incident to foreign media. But Harlem Desir, the representative for freedom of the media at the Organization for Security and ...
Karti granted interim protection till May 2
A special court here on Monday granted interim protection to Karti Chidambaram from arrest till May 2 in the Aircel-Maxis deal case.
No justice in Mecca Masjid blast case: Owaisi
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi today alleged that the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case in which all the five accused facing trial were acquitted, had not been pursued properly by anti-terror investigative agency NIA. Hyderabad Lok Sabha member Owaisi alleged on a micro-blogging site that most of the witnesses in the Mecca Masjid blast case had turned hostile after June 2014 and the NIA either didn't pursue the case as was expected from it or was not allowed by its political masters to do so. Asserting that "justice hasn't been done in the case," Owassi said "questions would be raised over the criminal justice system (of the country) if such biased prosecutions continue." The firebrand MP alleged that the Modi government did not even appeal against the bail given to the accused earlier. "Justice has not been done, the NIA & the Modi govt didn't even appeal against the bail that was given to the accused within 90 days. This was a complete biased investigation which will weaken our ...
Kathua case: SC asks J-K govt to protect victim's kin, lawyer
The Supreme Court today directed the Jammu and Kashmir government to provide security to the family of the eight-year-old Kathua gangrape and murder victim, the lawyer and a family friend assisting them in pursuing the case. The apex court also took note of a plea of the victim's father seeking transfer of the trial of the case from Kathua, preferably to Chandigarh and sought response of the state government. During the hearing, the victim's father expressed satisfaction with the probe so far, conducted by Jammu and Kashmir Police and opposed the plea for CBI investigation demanded by others. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud asked the state police to provide adequate security at the observation home where a juvenile accused has been kept and fixed the next date of hearing on April 27. The bench said those policemen providing security to the victim's family and others will be in plain clothes.
2014 Danish woman rape case: HC upholds life to 5
The Delhi High Court on Monday upheld a trial court judgement which had awarded life imprisonment to five men in the 2014 Danish woman gang rape case.
SC/ST Act: DMK, other opposition parties hold protest
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and other opposition parties on Monday held a protest against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.DMK's working president MK Stalin and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko also participated in the demonstration, demanding a recall of the Surpeme Court's March 20 ruling on the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.On March 20, the apex court introduced the provision of anticipatory bail in the act while directing that there would be no automatic arrest on any complaint filed under the law.The Centre, on April 3, the filed a review petition against the ruling which went in vain as the top court refused to stay its order and asked all parties including the Centre to submit detailed replies.
HC to hear Raj police's plea to announce Asaram case verdict from jail court
The Jodhpur High Court will tomorrow hear a plea by the Rajasthan Police to pronounce the judgement in a rape case against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu in a jail court to avoid any law and order situation in the city. The judgement in the case is scheduled for April 25. Police commissioner Ashok Rathore said the forces have requested the judiciary not to pronounce the judgement in the case from the court as it may lead to clashes between the security forces and the godman's followers in the court premises. He also refuted reports that the police had urged the court to shift the pronouncement date in the case from April 25 to April 17. "We have moved an application requesting the pronouncement of judgement in the case in the jail's court in view of the threat to law and order situation in the city," Additional Advocate General S K Vyas said. In its application, the police have stated that there would be a huge presence of Asaram's followers in the city on the judgment day, and that ..