Page 2196 - Law Crime

Two PLFI activists arrested with arms

The police arrested two activists, including a woman, of the ultra outfit People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), during a search operation in a forest in the Maoist-affected Khunti district early today. Following a tip-off, a police team raided the area and arrested the PLFI ultras yesterday night, Superintendent of Police Ashwini Kumar Sinha said, adding, other ultras managed to escape. The SP said that the prime accused in the killing of a BJP leader, Bhaiyaram Munda, managed to escape. Munda was killed early this month, he added. Three rifles, four cartridges, one walkie talkie with charger and some PLFI documents were recovered, the SP said. One of the three rifles recovered is believed to have been used in the killing of Munda, he said.

Four minors killed as overcrowded van falls into ditch

Four minor girls were killed and 33 others injured when a van they were traveling in fell off a bridge into a ditch in Chhattisgarhs Bemetara district today, police said. The incident took place in the afternoon near Pattharri village under Parpodi police station limits, Bemetara Superintendent of Police DK Garg told PTI, adding that the van was overcrowded. "Four minor girls were killed in the accident while 33 others are injured. The driver of the van lost control when he reached a bridge at Pattharri and the overcorwded van fell into a ditch," Garg said. Police said that the van had as many as 37 people, all relatives, and was proceeding to a family function from Kamkawada village to Bharatbathera village. "Of the 33 injured, 23 have been shifted to the Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial Hospital in Raipur," Garg said. He said that a case had been registered and investigations were underway.

2 held for smuggling gold worth Rs 57 lakh

Two men have been arrested by customs officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold worth about Rs 57 lakh. The accused were intercepted after their arrival from Dubai. They had come via different flights in the past two days. "On detailed examination of their baggage, two gold bars weighing two kgs were found. They were concealed in the transformer of a microwave oven carried by them," a press release issued today by the customs said. The gold bars, valued at Rs 56.69 lakh, have been seized, it said.

UP STF claims to have nabbed man accused of killing tigress

An alleged wild life smuggler wanted in Madhya Pradesh was arrested today by the Uttar Pradesh police Special Task Force (STF) in Hapur district, officials said. Suraj, wanted for killing a tigress and its cub in the Umariya forest in Madhya Pradesh, was arrested by the STF on a tip off, STF officials said. "During interrogation he confessed to the crime and told the STF that to evade arrest he was hiding in Hapur," an official claimed. The accused was later handed over to a team of MP forest department, he added.

Man wanted in a number of case held after encounter: police

A wanted criminal carrying a reward of Rs ten thousand was arrested today by the police after an encounter in Bareilly district, police said here. Identified as Anty, the man was wanted in a number of cases and was arrested after an encounter near Sethan road in Nawabganj area, they said. A coutry-made pistol and cartridges were recovered from his possession, police officials claimed. In the encounter, the accused and a constable were injured, they added. Both were rushed to a hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable, the officials said.

Jharkhand Police arrests Kobad Ghandy

CPI (Maoist) leader Kobad Ghandy was arrested by Jharkhand Police from Hyderabad in connection with two Maoist violence cases, a senior police officer said here today. Ghandy wanted by the Bokaro Police in two pending cases was brought here last night. He was arrested two days back in Hyderabad, police said. "We have arrested Kobad Ghandy, a Politburo Member of the naxal outfit, from Hyderabad in connection with two pending cases against him," said Bokaro, Superintendent of Police, Karthik S. One of the cases was registered at Bokaro Thermal Power station (BTPS) Police station and the other at Nawadih police station in mid 2000, Karthik said. Ghandy was the alleged mastermind in both the cases, the SP said adding that in one of the case six jawans were killed in an attack launched by the Maoists on a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) camp in Bokaro under BTPS police station. Ghandy held a meeting with the naxals in Bokaro district ahead of the attack on CISF ...

Leaders at NDA meet seek all India judicial service

Some leaders of the BJP-led NDA have pitched for an all India judicial service on the lines of the civil services and sought a discussion on the matter in Parliament. The issue, which involves the demand for reservation in the judiciary for Dalits and backward classes, was raised in the meeting of top NDA leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, on Friday, the first day of the Winter Session, highly-placed sources said. A senior BJP leader told PTI that the matter was raised in the meeting by some members, who sought a discussion on the issue in Parliament. They said there should be all India judicial service like the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Police Service, he said on the condition of anonymity. The sources, however, declined to name the leaders who raised the issue at the meeting. A large section of politicians, especially those drawn from disadvantaged classes, has been vocal over the issue, citing minuscule presence .

HC rejects bail plea of driver in bus accident that killed 37

The Bombay High Court has rejected the bail plea of the driver of a luxury bus that plunged into a river off the Mumbai-Goa highway four years ago, killing 37 passengers and injuring 15 others. The driver, Santaji Kirdat, was convicted on charges of rash driving, negligence, and culpable homicide not amounting to murder and given 10 years in jail by a trial court earlier this year. Kirdat had filed a plea in the HC challenging his conviction and demanding that his sentence be suspended and he be released on bail till the appeal was decided. Justice AM Badar, who heard the bail plea rejected it on Friday, observing that Kirdat had been speeding on a narrow stretch of a bridge at the time of the accident, and had knowingly put the lives of the passengers at risk. The incident occurred around 3 am on March 19, 2013. The luxury bus carrying 52 people, including Kirdat and a conductor, plunged into the Jagbudi river. 37 people including the conductor were killed in the ...

CBI books drug peddler, HP police officials

The CBI has booked an alleged drug peddler and three Himachal Pradesh Police officials for allegedly framing a youth on fake charges of narcotic smuggling. The FIR has been registered against alleged drug peddler Manjeet, Sub-inspector Jai Lal, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ram Lal, Constable Pradeep Kumar and a private person Jagsir Singh on the directions of Himachal Pradesh High Court. The High Court had observed that there was merit in the allegations of a youth from Haryana that he was falsely implicated in a case by two police officials and a drug peddler, and directed the CBI to register a regular case against them. The CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry in October after a complaint was lodged by the victim, Ravi Kumar, and his father. The PE had concluded that the victim was called to Mandi in Himachal Pradesh where he was allegedly detained for 2-3 days by ASI Ram Lal and Constable Pradeep Kumar and implicated in a case under the NDPS Act. He had alleged that ..

Hyderabad firm booked for cheating SBI

The CBI has booked a Hyderabad- based retail company for allegedly cheating the State Bank of India to the tune of nearly Rs 134 crore by availing various credit facilities on the basis of forged documents between 2007 and 2014, officials said here today. In its FIR, the agency has alleged that PCH Retail represented by its directors Balvinder Singh and Baljit Kaur had availed credit facilities to the tune of Rs 133.95 crore during the seven year period using false financial statements and documents. The directors of PCH retail entered in criminal conspiracy with chartered accountant Bhavesh R Vithlani, a chartered accountant and Taran Jyot Singh, Director Versant Home Appliances Pvt Ltd (both named in the FIR as accused) and unidentified bank officials of the SBI and cheated the bank, the FIR alleged. The CBI has alleged that the accused diverted the credit facilities availed by them to fictitious companies floated by them and others and siphoned off bank's funds. "It .

Law panel to suggest law to compensate victims of wrongful

Should those wrongfully incarcerated be compensated and should India have a law in this regard? The Law Commission will examine the issue in the coming days following a reference from the Delhi High Court. Delivering its order in November, the high court had expressed concern over the lack of legal remedies for victims of "wrongful incarceration and malicious prosecution". Referring to a report of G S Bajpai, a professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Registrar at the National Law University, the court had pointed out that 32 states in the US have enacted laws that provide monetary and non- monetary compensation to people wrongfully incarcerated. There are specific schemes in the UK and New Zealand in this regard. Bajpai was appointed as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the case. India has no exclusive legislation on the issue. But the Supreme Court in several cases has held that compensation can be awarded by constitutional courts for violation of ...

Pained by undertrials languishing in jail despite bail: HC

The Delhi High Court has said it is "pained" by undertrials languishing in Tihar Jail despite getting bail as they could not furnish a bond or surety due to poverty and issued a slew of directions to be followed by trial courts to ensure that such people get relief. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said several Supreme Court verdicts have held that fundamental rights of even a prisoner accused of serious offences cannot be overlooked under any circumstance. The high court further said that even the Law Commission had recommended that risk assessments be carried out of undertrial prisoners, who languish in jail as they cannot fulfil bail conditions, so that they can be released. The directions of the court came on a PIL filed by advocate Ajay Verma who contended that hundreds of people were languishing in Tihar Jail here, despite grant of bail. "We are extremely pained that despite clear law laid down on the subject by the Supreme ...

HC stays CIC order asking CBI to provide info to its officer

The Delhi High Court has stayed an order of the transparency panel CIC directing the CBI to provide one of its officers the status of his disciplinary proceedings and related information. Justice Vibhu Bakhru in an interim order put on hold the Central Information Commission's (CIC) June 9 decision in which the panel had said that the CBI officer had the "right to know about his own case". The court also issued notice to the officer and sought his reply before the next date of hearing on January 22, 2018. It noted that the information sought by the officer from the CBI did not pertain to allegations of corruption or human rights violation in the agency. Under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, security and intelligence agencies are exempted from the purview of the transparency law, except where information is sought regarding allegations of corruption or human rights violations. The order came on the CBI's appeal, filed through advocate C K Bhatt, against the CIC ...

Fugitive US citizen denied bail by Delhi court

A fugitive US citizen, arrested in Bengaluru following a Red Corner Notice for allegedly causing death of a person in Indonesia due to medical negligence last year, has been denied bail by a Delhi court. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur, who presides over the Special Extradition Court of India, dismissed the bail application of 57-year-old Randall John Cafferty, arrested from Bengaluru airport on September 29 following the notice. The court noted the submissions made by advocate N K Matta, appearing for the Ministry of External Affairs, that a formal extradition request from Indonesia against Cafferty, currently in judicial custody, has been received by the central government. Cafferty was held on a request of Indonesia for his provisional arrest as he was wanted there to face trial. He is accused of committing various offences in Indonesia, including practising as a health worker without having an appropriate licence and causing medical negligence

Children in Venezuela stopped from flying to Peru

A group of at least 120 children in Venezuela who were expecting to fly to Peru to reunite with relatives have been grounded in Caracas after officials say they presented fraudulent travel documents. Venezuelan chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab said yesterday the children were returned to family members following the incident on Friday in Venezuela's capital. A leader with the Venezuelan Union in Peru who helped organise the trip to Lima said the group met all the legal requirements and that the children have become pawns in an ongoing political dispute. Oscar Perez said the children were travelling to Lima to reunite with parents now living and working in Peru. Many of the children's parents waited for hours at Lima's airport on Friday evening anxiously expecting their children to arrive.

1 killed, two injured in cylinder blast

A 40-year-old man was killed and two others injured after an oxygen cylinder exploded in outer Delhi's Aman Vihar, the police said today. The incident was reported yesterday. It is suspected that the cylinder was leaking and it caught fire and exploded as one of the victims was smoking near it, they said. Ramdev Kushwaha was killed while his brother-in-law Lakhan and a passerby Wahid were injured. Kushwaha, who had recently started supplying oxygen cylinders to nearby nursing homes and clinics, yesterday was taking out a cylinder out of his shop when Lakhan noticed a leak, the police said. He tried to take the cylinder to an isolated place, but it exploded injuring him, his brother-in-law and a passerby, identified as Wahid, they said. They were rushed to a hospital where Kushwaha was declared brought dead. Lakhan and Wahid are undergoing treatment. The police is yet to take their statement. It is suspected that one of them was smoking. It is also being probed whether ...

Uber engaged in 'illegal' spying on rivals, says ex-employee

Uber is facing at least five separate federal investigations

3 drug peddlers arrested in J-K, 100 kg of poppy straw seized

Three people were arrested on charges of drug peddling from Jammu and Kashmir's Samba, Kishtwar and Udhampur districts and over 100 kg of poppy straw and heroin was seized, the police said. The police intercepted a truck carrying apples near Nud in Samba district and searched it. They found 100 kg of poppy straw kept in the tool box, the spokesman said. The truck's driver Bashir Ahmad, a resident of south Kashmir's Kulgam district, was arrested and booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The vehicle was coming from Kashmir, he said. In Kishtwar, Aijaz Keen, a resident of Panazi village, was arrested with 800 grams of heroin at Bojwah, the spokesman said. His accomplice Lal Hussain managed escape. Keen has been booked under the NDPS Act, he said, adding that Balwan Singh was arrested with one kilogram of poppy straw at Kambal Danga in Udhampur.

Two BJP states contemplate death penalty for rape; face opposition

The Bill - Dand Vidhi (Madhya Pradesh Sanshodhan) Vidheyak, 2017 - is awaiting the President's assent

Court reserves order on The Wire's plea against gag order

An Ahmedabad court today concluded the hearing on a petition filed by news portal The Wire against a gag order in connection with a civil defamation suit filed by Jay Shah, son of BJP chief Amit Shah. Additional Senior Civil Judge B K Dasondi said the order may be passed on December 23. Earlier, the Gujarat High Court had rejected the news portal's petition challenging the gag order, and asked it to approach the court which had passed the order. The high court also asked the lower court to decide The Wire's plea before December 26. The lower court had issued an injunction while hearing the Rs 100-crore civil defamation suit filed by Jay Shah against seven respondents over an article published by the news portal. It prohibited The Wire from publishing, broadcasting or printing anything on the basis of the article in question till the suit was disposed of. Meanwhile, in a criminal defamation suit filed by Jay Shah over the same article, a magistrate's court allowed ...