Page 1814 - Law Crime
PMLA case: Ex-HP CM Virbhadra Singh, wife get bail
A special court today granted bail to former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, his wife and three others in a Rs seven crore money laundering case. Special Judge Arvind Kumar granted the relief to Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh, who were present in the court in response to the summons issued against them on the last date of hearing. The court also granted bail to Universal Apple Associate owner Chunni Lal Chauhan, besides other accused Prem Raj and Lawan Kumar Roach. All the accused got the relief on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and one surety of the same amount each. During the proceedings, ED counsel Nitesh Rana opposed their bail plea, seeking judicial custody for them. The court, however, granted them bail considering they were not arrested by the ED during investigation. The court had on February 12 issued summons against the accused saying there was "prima facie" enough evidence against them. The Enforcement Directorate had chargesheeted 83-year-old
20-year-old Kashmiri youth dies in hospital
A 20-year-old youth tortured by unidentified gunmen earlier this month in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district, died on Thursday in a hospital here, police said.
Kanishk Gold directors questioned in loan fraud case
The CBI on Thursday said that it was questioning the directors of Kanishk Gold Pvt. Ltd. (KGPL) in connection with its ongoing probe into the alleged defrauding
Indian-origin physio jailed for molesting girl in Singapore
An Indian-origin physiotherapist was sentenced to 11 months' jail and three strokes of the cane for molesting a teenage girl patient during treatment. Luke Manimaran Degarajoo, 43, had touched the 18-year old inappropriately during a physiotherapy session massage at his clinic about a year ago. He was sentenced yesterday. The teen victim had turned up at the clinic on March 25 last year at 6.20pm (local time) seeking treatment for back and hip pain, according to a report by The Straits Times. Luke told her the session would last 15 minutes and directed her to a massage bed in a therapy room. Meanwhile, the victim's friend waited outside and the door to the room was left half shut. When the massage started, the teenager was fully clothed. But then Luke told her to remove her top and loosen her shorts. The victim complied as she thought it was part of the treatment. While massaging her, Luke molested her twice after rolling down her underwear and shorts. Deputy Public Prosecutor Gail ...
EC allows Mukhtar Ansari to vote in RS polls
The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday granted permission to jailed Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mukhtar Ansari to take part in the voting of the upcoming Rajya Sabha (RS) elections.BSP national general secretary, Rajya Sabha member and an eminent Supreme Court lawyer, Satish Chand Mishra had filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court for the release of two Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), Mukhtar Ansari of the BSP and Hariom Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP), so that they could participate in the voting on March 23.Ansari is the prime accused in the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Krishnanand Rai, among other crimes, and has pleaded not guilty.In September 2017, Ansari was acquitted in connection with contractor Manna Singh's murder case.In 2010, Ansari was also booked for the murder of Ram Singh Maurya, who was a witness to the murder of Manna Singh.The Rajya Sabha polls are scheduled for March 23.There will be 59 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha in ...
Jordi Sanchez renounces candidacy to lead Catalan parliament
Jordi Sanchez on Wednesday officially renounced his candidacy to be the next leader of Spain's Catalan region.
Point72 executive says sexism case belongs in U.S. court, not arbitration
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A female executive at Steven A. Cohen's Point72 Asset Management LP on Wednesday urged a federal judge to reject the billionaire's effort to move her claims of "pervasive" sexism at the hedge fund firm into arbitration.
France: Ex-president Sarkozy charged over campaign money
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was handed preliminary charges today over allegations he accepted millions of euros in illegal campaign funding from the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. A judicial official told The Associated Press that investigative judges overseeing the probe gave the ex-president charges of illegally funding his 2007 winning campaign, passive corruption and receiving money from Libyan embezzlement. The person was not authorised to speak publicly about the case. The charges came after Sarkozy was detained for two days of questioning by anti-corruption police at a station in Nanterre, northwest of the French capital. Sarkozy, 63, who was France's president from 2007-12, has repeatedly and vehemently denied any wrongdoing. An investigation involving funding for his winning 2007 presidential campaign first was launched in 2013. Investigators are examining claims that Gadhafi's regime secretly gave the politician 50 million euros overall for his campaign. The
Indian Technomac director held in Rs 6000 cr fraud case
CID sleuths today arrested a director of Paonta Sahib-based firm Indian Technomac Company Limited in a nearly Rs 6000 crore fraud case. The accused director, Vinay Kumar Sharma, son of IAS officer M L Sharma, a former Deputy Commissioner of Sirmour district, was produced in a local court at Paonta Sahib which remanded him in Police [CID] custody till March 24. The financial fraud, one of the biggest in the state as per records, was being investigated by the different departments of Himachal Pradesh for the past over four years. The company closed the manufacturing operations surreptitiously in March 2014 and its officials disappeared from Jagatpur village of Paonta Sahib, where the unit is situated, allegedly without paying the wages of its staff, EPF, Income Tax, Sales Tax and electricity charges amounting crores of rupees. The CID team is looking for main accused Rakesh Kumar Sharma, MD of the firm but is not sure whether he has fled the country. The scam surfaced at a time when ...
SC asks Centre, UP to take steps for extradition of fugitive businesswoman
The Supreme Court today directed the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government to take all necessary steps for the extradition of an absconding businesswoman, who is currently residing in London. The top court once again refused to grant relief to the mother in-law of Ritika Awasty, a promoter of the Bush Foods Overseas Pvt Ltd, whose residential property has been attached. A bench of justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit asked the counsels for the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government to take all possible steps to bring back the woman from London. "You all take whatever steps necessary for the extradition of the woman. Bring her back," the bench said. Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for Awasty's mother-in-law, said her client was 75-year-old and had no other place to go. "We have not dispossessed you from your properties. Ask her (Awasty) to come back and we will release your property. You cannot claim that she does not have share in the proprty," the bench said. On March 12, the ...
Convention demands ban on 'unlawful' cow vigilantes
A two-day convention of rights bodies and activists has sought the arrest of perpetrators in cases of alleged mob lynching in parts of the country besides a ban on all "unlawful organisations" indulging in cow vigilantism. The convention titled 'Agrarian Crisis, Assault on Cattle Economy and Lynching of Dalits and Minorities', which concluded here today, was organised by Bhumi Adhikar Andolan (BAA) and attended by Teesta Setalwad of Citizens for Justice and Peace, Ashok Chauduri of All India Union for Forest Working People, Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mujahid Nafees of Minority Coordination Committee, among others. Family members of victims of mob lynchings shared their plight and how they were awaiting justice, BAA said in a statement. A fact-finding report, prepared by senior advocates of Supreme Court, on the cases of mob lynching in Rajasthan and Haryana was released. It demanded the immediate arrest of the perpetrators, financial compensation to the victims' families and an ..
6 held for running trafficking racket: Police
Six persons, including three women, were arrested for their alleged involvement in a trafficking racket in southwest Delhi's Mahipalpur, police said today. On the intervening night of March 20 and 21, a raid was conducted at a hotel and six persons, including three men -- Dabbu Kumar, hotel manager Manish Kumar and owner Udaybhan Sehrawat -- were arrested, they added.
Wanted criminal on run for 13 years arrested by Delhi Police
A 53-year-old man wanted for his alleged involvement in several killings in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and on the run for over 13 years, has been arrested, police said today. Accused Hariom Singh Jat, carrying a reward of Rs one lakh on his head, was nabbed on a tip-off by the police at the Chaudhary Charan Singh Marg in east Delhi yesterday following a brief exchange of fire. While on the run, he had moved his base to Aligarh and Rajasthan and organised his criminal base there. The Special Cell of the Delhi Police intensified its efforts in Aligarh and Bhiwadi and conducted raids on several of his hideouts. It was revealed that Jat had reorganised his contacts, procured weapon and was planning to visit Delhi to commit crime, said P S Kushwah, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell). When the team of Special Cell which intercepted him yesterday tried to overpower him, he opened fire at the team but was subsequently apprehended, the officer said. A foreign-made pistol along with ...
HC directs TN govt to remove encroachments and hand over property to Rlys
The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to remove 97 encroachers from a land worth several crores of rupees and meant to be used for the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) at Velacherry here in a 25-year-old dispute. In his recent 100-page judgment, Justice S Vaidyanathan addressed them not as encroachers but as land-grabbers. The judge directed the government to remove the encroachments immediately and hand over the property to the Southern Railway to be used for MRTS. The judge delivered the judgment on a petition filed by the Annai Indira Gandhi Hut Dwellers' Welfare Association, which was formed by the 97 encroachers. Justice Vaidyanathan ordered restoration of possession to the railways. The matter dates back to 1992. With the Southern Railway requisitioning the land for the MRTS project, the government had, on December 29, 2003, passed an order, cancelling a 1992 government order for allotment of one cent each to the 97 persons and allotted the property to the
Gang posing as UGC, CBI officials target coaching centres
Eight persons, including three women, have been arrested for allegedly posing as officials from the University Grants Commission and Central Bureau of Investigation, and conducting raids at coaching institutes to extort money, police said today. On March 20, the police were informed that a group of people had entered a coaching institute in northwest Delhi's Subhash Place. Two of them were carrying UGC ID cards which turned out to be fake, police said, adding one of the women managed to flee the spot but was later arrested. The remaining seven persons were detained. During further interrogation, it was found that they had carried out such raids on previous occasions too, they said. "The mastermind of the gang Ajay Goel got the idea after reading about institutes awarding fake degree. He targeted such institutes in order to extort money from them. He retrieved the list of such institutes from 'Just Dial' and decided to target them randomly," police said.
School head mistress booked for caning student
A head-mistress of a school at Kalyan in the district has been booked for allegedly caning a Class VIII girl, police said today. The head-mistress, identified as Meghana Kulkarni, has been booked under section 23 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 by Bazarpeth police. According to the complaint by the 14-year-old student, the incident took place on Tuesday afternoon. The head mistress came to her class and asked those girls to stand aside, who did not have double-braid hairstyle and wore non-canvas shoes, the victim said in the complaint. As a punishment, the victim was caned, in which she suffered injuries, police said quoting the complaint.
Human trafficking racket busted in Bengal; 12 rescued
The West Bengal CID today rescued three minors and nine women from a hotel in Raichak in South 24 Parganas district after busting an alleged human trafficking racket, a senior officer of the agency said. Twenty persons, including eight customers, seven employees of the said hotel and a driver were arrested for their involvement in the racket, he said. Acting on a tip-off, state CID sleuths conducted a raid at a hotel at Raichak under Ramnagar police station in the district. These girls were about to be trafficked to some unknown destinations. We have registered a case in the matter. Initial probe revealed that the driver used to bring these girls. We are probing the roles of others, the officer added.
Rizwan Siddiqui refuses to speak on CDR case
Celebrity advocate Rizwan Siddiqui on Wednesday refused to speak anything related to the Call Data Records (CDR) case, saying that he would not disclose his client details.Talking to media, Rizwan said that he has no idea as what is happening with him, but expressed complete faith in the judiciary system."I have no information about what was happening with me from last five days. I have faith in the judiciary. The High Court order speaks for itself. You can identify from High Court order if proper procedure was followed in my arrest. I won't speak anything about CDR, won't disclose client details," Rizwan said.Earlier in the day, the Bombay High Court ordered the release of lawyer Rizwan, in connection with the said case.The court issued the order after the prosecution withdrew its objection to his release.Siddiqui was arrested by the crime branch of Thane police on March 16 and was remanded in police custody till March 23. He was accused of allegedly obtaining CDRs of Bollywood actor
Fmr MCD executive engineer convicted of graft by CBI court
A former Municipal Corporation of Delhi executive engineer was today convicted by a special CBI court here in a case of amassing disproportionate assets, officials said. The former engineer, Brij Pal Singh, was sentenced by the Tis Hazari court to undergo three years imprisonment with fine of Rs 10 Lakh. "The court has also confiscated the assets of the convict and his family members," a CBI Spokesperson said here. The official said the agency had registered the case on February 1, 2005 on allegations that Singh, who was then working as executive engineer, MCD North Zone, had amassed assets worth Rs 1.33 crore which were disproportionate to his known sources of income Rs 22.94 lakh. After investigation, a charge sheet was filed on March 3, 2007 in the court of special judge, CBI Cases, Tis Hazari Courts, he said.
Natarajan's mortal remains laid to rest
The body of M Natarajan, husband of jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala, was buried near here today after a large number of people paid their last respects. The body of 74-year-old Natarajan was taken in a procession from his house here before it was buried at Mullaivaikkal Muttram premises, a few km away. Those who attended the final rites included Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran and her brother Divakaran. The body was brought here last night from Chennai, where he died yesterday, three days after he was admitted to a hospital there with a severe chest infection. Natarajan had undergone liver-kidney transplant last year. Sasikala, who was granted parole for 15 days by the Bengaluru prison authorities to attend the funeral, also reached here last night. She is serving a four year jail term in the Parappana Agrahara prison in connection with the Rs 66.6 crore disproportionate assets case. Scores of political leaders paid homage to Natarajan in Chennai and here since ...