Page 480 - Law Crime
Brazil arrests eight Vale employees in alleged cover-up in dam disaster
SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian police arrested eight employees of mining firm Vale SA on Friday, accused by state prosecutors of covering up weaknesses at a dam that collapsed and likely killed more than 300 people.
28-yr-old held in attempt to murder case
A 28-year-old man wanted in an attempt to murder case has been arrested from east Delhi area, Crime Branch of Delhi police said on Friday. The accused, Shakti Sharma, was previously involved in five cases of murder, extortion and robbery, police said. Sharma was arrested on Thursday night. According to police, the attempt to murder case was lodged on a complaint by an Azad Nagar-based shopkeeper which alleged Sharma, along his associates, shot at him with a pistol on the night of January 19. One of Sharma's associates was earlier arrested by the local police, while he and the other accused were evading arrest. A case under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC and various sections of Arms Act was registered against Sharma, police said. They said a country-made pistol and seven live cartridges were recovered from Sharma's possession. His first crime was a murder in the year 2007 in Krishna Nagar when he was 18 years old, police said.
2 more held in TMC MLA murder case
Two more persons were arrested separately from Nadia district in connection with the murder of Trinamool Congress MLA Satyajit Biswas, taking the total number of arrests to four, police said Friday. Kalipada Mondal, an accused named in the FIR, and Nirmal Ghosh were picked up from Hanskhali and Chakdaha areas respectively on Thursday night, Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar said. Abhijit Pundari, the prime accused, is still at large. The Krishnaganj MLA was shot from a point blank range by unidentified assailants in the evening of February 9 inside a Saraswati puja marquee at Phoolbari village in Nadia district, about 15 km from the Bangladesh border. Earlier, the police arrested Sujit Mondal and Kartik Mondal on the night of the murder. Police sources said Nirmal Ghosh was arrested following interrogation of Kartik and Sujit. BJP leader Mukul Roy was among four people booked on Sunday in connection with the killing of the MLA. The Calcutta High Court Wednesday ...
BSP functionary, woman arrested for attempt to 'honey-trap' ex-UP minister
A local BSP functionary and a woman were arrested in Greater Noida on Friday for allegedly trying to "honey-trap" a former Uttar Pradesh minister in the Mayawati government and malign his image, police said on Friday. A complaint was lodged on January 26 by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Kartar Nagar, alleging that an unknown woman was insisting on meeting him and threatening to malign his image if he did not meet her, the police said. "The woman would repeatedly use WhatsApp to call and text him. She wanted to meet him so that she could get their pictures clicked together and extort money from him," a police official said. A case was lodged at the Badalpur police station and the phone number was tracked down to Usha (name changed). It emerged that she was working on instructions of Updesh Nagar, a local BSP functionary, the official said. "Usha and Updesh Nagar were arrested on Friday from the Bisrakh mod chowki under the Badalpur police station ...
Local news channel owner, 3 others booked for honey-trapping; 1 arrested
The owner of a local television news channel and three of his employees were booked and one of them was held for allegedly blackmailing a head clerk of the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC), police said on Friday. The scribes were allegedly blackmailing the head clerk with video clippings, in which he was purportedly seen in a compromising position with a woman, they added. Superintendent of Police (SP), City, Shlok Kumar told reporters that the GMC employee had lodged a complaint at the Kavi Nagar police station against two persons, alleging that they had recorded his video with a woman. The complainant alleged that the duo had arranged his meeting with the woman, a job-seeker, at a hotel here, the officer added. While the meeting was on, the accused took photos and recorded a video of the woman and the complainant and subsequently, started blackmailing the latter, saying they would make the clippings viral on the social media if he did not pay Rs 15 lakh to them, the complaint ..
Official who printed fake newspaper to rig tender gets 4 years
A court in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district has awarded four years' rigorous imprisonment to an executive engineer of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department for manipulating a tender process. The court also sentenced a contractor to two years' RI in the case. Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act) Geeta Neware convicted executive engineer Karan Singh Karsoliya and contractor Sudhir Patel, and awarded them RI for four years and two years, respectively. In the order Thursday evening, she also imposed a fine of Rs 1.10 lakh on Karsoliya and Rs 10,000 on Patel, said Additional Public Prosecutor A K Shrivastav. A tender was floated in July 2014 for water purification work worth Rs 21.31 lakh under Jal Praday Yojna of the PHE department in Raigarh district, he said. Karsoliya hatched a conspiracy with Patel to ensure that the latter got the contract. For government records, he got printed an entire newspaper in which the tender advertisement was placed. The ...
U.S. fines Cognizant, charges two ex-officials in India bribery case
(Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Friday announced criminal charges against two former Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp officials for their roles in a bribery scheme in India, and said the company will pay $25 million to settle a related civil case.
Sixty-year-old man held for raping runaway girl
A sixty-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping a girl who had run away from home, the city police said Friday. The victim, who is 16 years old and lives in Sewree area in south Mumbai, was scolded and slapped by her sister for returning home late at night on Wednesday, the police said. In a fit of anger, the victim left the house and took a train to Panvel. Ganesh Krishna Shetty (60), the accused, approached her when she was sitting on a bench on a platform at Panvel railway station all alone early Thursday morning. The victim told him that she was an orphan and looking for work and shelter. Shetty promised to get a job for her at a medical clinic, and took her to a lodge where he allegedly raped her, the police said. He later brought her back to the station, and asked her to stay there till he got food for her. A railway police personnel saw the girl crying and asked her the reason. The girl narrated her ordeal to him. After Shetty returned to the station, ..
20-year-old shot dead in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri
A 20-year-old man has been shot dead by unidentified men in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri area, police said Friday. Kailash, the deceased, hailed from Uttar Pradesh and was a resident of Bhalswa here, they added. "At 10.30 pm on Thursday, unidentified men opened fire at Kailash. He was rushed to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital where he was declared brought dead by the doctors. Kailash had sustained serious head wounds," police said. A case was registered and the matter is being probed, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest) Vijayanta Arya said. The police suspect the role of local youths in the incident and have begun questioning accordingly, she said. CCTV footages in the nearby areas are being examined to identify the accused and establish sequence of events, Arya said. Police are probing all angles including that of personal enmity, however robbery bid has been ruled out, the officer said. Further investigation is underway and efforts are on to nab the accused, police said.
Two Telangana officials taken in court custody for contempt
The Telangana High Court on Friday directed its judicial registrar to take into custody state Legislative Assembly Secretary V. Narasimhacharyulu and Law Department Secretary Niranjan Rao in a contempt of court case.
Kidnapped boy rescued in 24 hours, one arrested
A three-year-old boy was rescued by the Thane district police Friday in less than twenty-four hours after he was kidnapped. The police also arrested the alleged kidnapper, identified as Surajsingh Darasingh (20), a resident of Surat. The boy was kidnapped from near his house in Sahyadri Nagar locality of Ulhasnagar town around 5 pm Thursday, the police said. The Crime Branch of Ulhasnagar police suspected that Surajsingh, who knew the boy's aunt and who had visited the boy's house to meet her in the morning, could be involved in the crime. The accused evaded arrest initially, leading the police on a chase, but eventually the police could contact him through the boy's aunt, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Deepak Deoraj. Surajsingh allegedly said he would release the boy only if the boy's aunt came alone to collect him at a spot near the Thane railway station around 4 pm Friday. The police kept a watch and pounced on Surajsingh after he arrived at the spot, and rescued .
Bikaner land case: ED attaches assets worth Rs 4.62 cr of Vadra company
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has attached assets worth Rs 4.62 crore of a firm linked to Robert Vadra, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law, in connection with the Bikaner land scam money laundering case. "The attached assets include movable assets amounting to Rs 18,59,500 pertaining to four individuals and one immovable property situated at 268, Sukhdev Vihar in New Delhi to the extent of Rs 4,43,36,550 owned by Robert Vadra's company Ms Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltd (now LLP)," the agency said. The ED issued a provisional order for attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It had grilled Vadra in this case in Jaipur twice last week. His mother Maureen was also asked to depose but was allowed to go after completion of brief legal procedures. The ED had registered a criminal case in connection with the deal in 2015, taking cognisance of a clutch of FIRs and charge sheets filed by Rajasthan Police after the tehsildar of Bikaner ..
SC directs Unitech to cooperate with forensic auditors
The Supreme Court on Friday pulled up beleagured real estate major Unitech for not providing data to forensic auditors examining alleged financial irregularities.The apex court said that data of even former employees must be given to the auditors within two weeks.However, the Supreme Court allowed Unitech to sell the 24-acre land parcel in Hyderabad for Rs 24 crore and also released Rs 40 crore for the completion of pending projects.On January 19, the Supreme Court had directed a forensic audit of Unitech and its subsidiary companies to probe alleged financial irregularities and diversion of home-buyers' funds by its promoters and directors.Unitech Group is involved in the construction of 74 housing projects and around 17,000 home-buyers have invested in its projects.Due to the financial crisis, the Group has not been able to complete the projects, leaving buyers in the lurch.Its managing director Sanjay Chandra and his brother Ajay Chandra have been in jail since April last year ...
3 held for cheating shopkeepers in Old Lajpat Rai Market
Three persons, including a 35-year-old law graduate, have been arrested for allegedly cheating shopkeepers in Old Lajpat Rai Market of around 700 smart LED television sets, police said Friday. The accused, identified as Vikas (35), Harender (33) and Praveen (33), were arrested on Thursday from Sonepat and 510 smart TV's worth Rs 60 lakh were recovered from a godown under their hold, they added. In a complaint, Shasikant Gupta, a shopkeeper alleged that 120 LED TV's were misappropriated, police said. After police got a tip-off that the accused were hiding in Sonepat with the cheated goods, the officials raided a godown at Gohana Road there, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajiv Ranjan said. The TVs were recovered from the godown, subsequently the accused were arrested, he said. During interrogation, Vikas, a law graduate, told the police that he incurred heavy debt betting on cricket matches, which totalled to around Rs 40 lakh. In dire need of money, Vikas planned to cheat ..
Vatican envoy to France in sexual assault probe: Judicial source
The Vatican's envoy to France is under investigation for sexual assault after being accused of molesting an official at the Paris mayor's office, a judicial source told AFP. The envoy, 74-year-old Luigi Ventura, has been based in Paris since 2009 and serves as a diplomat for Pope Francis and is covered by diplomatic immunity. He was accused of molesting a man at the Paris townhall on January 17 when mayor Anne Hidalgo gave a New Year's address to diplomats, religious leaders and civil society figures. "During the ceremony, a city employee was repeatedly groped on the backside, in three instances, once in front of a witness," a townhall source told AFP. "It was quickly decided to report the matter to the public prosecutor," said Patrick Klugman, deputy mayor responsible for international relations. The complaint was filed by the townhall on January 24 which led to an investigation being opened the day after, the judicial source said. The victim, a man in his 30s, also works in the ...
Bikaner land deal: ED attaches properties worth crores involving Vadra's company
In a major blow to Congress President Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra, who was questioned twice by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case involving the Bikaner land deal, the agency on Friday attached the properties related to his company Skylight Hospitality in Delhi.
SC stays death warrant against teacher convicted for raping 4-year-old girl
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the execution of death penalty against a school teacher, who was convicted for raping a four-year-old girl in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh in June last year. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices L Nageswara Rao and Sanjiv Khanna stayed the execution of the death sentence of convict Mahendra Singh Gond, which was scheduled for March 2 in a Jabalpur jail. "There shall be stay of execution of the death sentence of the petitioner," the bench said. According to the prosecution, the girl was so brutally assaulted that she had to spend months in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi to get her intestines realigned. After raping her, the convict had dumped her in a jungle, thinking she was dead, and her family members had found her in the wee hours when she was barely alive, the prosecution had said. The Madhya Pradesh High Court had, on January 25, confirmed the death sentence awarded to the convict by the ...
Railway employee held for raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans
A railway employee was Friday arrested for allegedly raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans at Lonavala in the district, where some local residents had gathered to pay homage to the CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama terror attack, a police official said. The man, Upendra Kumar Bahadur Singh (39), a junior ticket checker with the railways, was arrested under IPC section 153 (B) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), police said. "On Friday morning, some local residents had gathered at Shivaji Chowk in Lonavala to pay homage to the CRPF jawans martyred in the Pulwama attack," B R Patil, senior inspector of Lonavala police station, said. "When people were paying homage, Singh reached the venue andstarted raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans. People present there got angry and tried to beat him up. But since police personnel were deployed there, he was immediately detained," he said. According to Patil, Singh was produced in the court, which remanded him in .
LoU fraud: CBI opposes plea seeking to make PNB accused
Punjab National Bank (PNB) was a victim of the alleged fraud committed by fugitive jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi and not a beneficiary, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has told a court here. The Central agency's reply came in response to an application filed by Nitin Shahi, a former assistant finance manager with Choksi's Gitanjali Group, who is one of the accused. In his plea, Shahi, who is out on bail, contended that PNB too should be made an accused in the case. The nationalised bank had earned commission from the alleged fraudulent transactions and it can not play the victim card and feign ignorance now, Shahi said. Top-level officials of Gitanjali Group as well as PNB have been made accused, but not the bank itself, which is "strange and discriminatory", the plea said. The CBI refuted the argument in a reply filed before special judge J C Jagdale here earlier this week. It said the bank had suffered a loss of whopping Rs 7,080 crore in the ...
Bikaner land scam case: ED attaches Vadra's assets worth Rs 4.62 cr
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday said it has attached assets worth Rs 4.62 crore of a firm linked to Robert Vadra, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law, in connection with the Bikaner land scam case. "The attached assets include movable assets amounting to Rs 18,59,500 pertaining to four individuals and one immovable property situated at 268, Sukhdev Vihar in New Delhi to the extent of Rs 4,43,36,550 owned by Robert Vadra's company Ms Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltd (now LLP)," the agency said. The ED had registered a criminal case in connection with the deal in 2015, taking cognisance of a clutch of FIRs and charge sheets filed by Rajasthan Police after the tehsildar of Bikaner complained about alleged forgery in the allotment of land in the area, considered sensitive due to its proximity to the Indo-Pak border. On Tuesday, Vadra and his mother Maureen had appeared before the ED in Jaipur. Congress general secretary and Vadra's wife Priyanka Gandhi had accompanied ...