Page 513 - Law Crime
HC sets aside en masse transfer of vigilance officials of Chennai Corporation
The Madras High Court has set aside a single judge order directing en masse transfer of all officials serving in the Vigilance cell of the Chennai Corporation, saying such a direction at best could be issued on a PIL. A division bench of Justices T S Sivagnanam and Bhavani Subbaroyan Wednesday partly allowed a writ appeal by the Chennai Corporation Commissioner against the order issued by Justice S M Subramaniam on August 30. The bench noted that en masse transfer order was passed on a petition which was filed by a third party and the direction was issued as if it was a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The bench, however, said necessary steps need to be taken for periodical transfer of officials in vigilance cell and the activities of the cell must be monitored by the Commissioner of Corporation. The Commissioner in his appeal submitted that the directions issued by the single judge traversed well beyond the scope of the writ petition. The judge ought not have directed en masse ...
Rs 38 lakh looted from ATM in Mathura
Around Rs 38 lakh has been stolen from an automated teller machine (ATM) of the ICICI Bank in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district, police said Thursday. The incident occurred in Chhata town on Tuesday night. The next day, a security guard found the locks of the ATM shutter broken, the police said. As much as Rs 37.91 lakh was stolen from the ATM by unidentified persons, a police officer said. There was no CCTV camera in the ATM and the guard for the ATM was deputed only during day time, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Satyarth Aniruddha Pankaj said. Five teams have been formed to probe the case, the SSP added. It is the second such incident in the past two months in the town. Last December, burglars had stolen more than 8 lakh from an ATM.
Contempt notice to Nageswara Rao, Bhasuran
The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on CBI Joint Director M. Nageswara Rao and prosecution in-charge S. Bhasuran for transferring an agency officer probing the Muzaffarpur shelter home case despite the court's embargo against the transfer of then Additional Director A.K. Sharma who was heading the investigation team.
Air passenger held for illegally carrying 10K USD
A Dubai-bound passenger was detained at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) Thursday for illegally carrying foreign currency, hiding it in his undergarment. The passenger identified as Abdul Hameed was to travel by an Air India Express flight to Dubai in the morning, airport sources said. During frisking of the passenger, security officials noticed that something was concealed inside his undergarments. He was taken to the special checking room for verification and the officials detected 10,000 US Dollars in two bundles kept hidden inside the undergarment. The passenger, along with the currency, was handed over to Customs for further action, the sources said.
ED claims corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar has links with fugitive Vijay Mallya
The Enforcement Directorate Thursday claimed before a Delhi court that corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar has links with fugitive Vijay Mallya in a money laundering case related to negotiations favouring foreign private airlines and causing loss to national carrier Air India. The agency made the submissions before Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann, who extended the custodial interrogation of Talwar till February 12 after the ED said he was to be confronted with his son Aditya Talwar. Aditya is currently abroad and has been summoned by the investigating agency for February 11, and Talwar's close aide Yasmin Kapoor. ED said it has to find out from Talwar the names of officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, National Aviation Company of India Ltd and Air India who favoured foreign airlines, including Qatar Airways, Emirates and Air Arabia, by making the national carrier give up its profit making routes and timings. "Investigation has revealed his links with fugitive Vijay Mallya, when ..
Shehbaz Sharif to be indicted in housing scam case on Feb 18
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif will be indicted in the multi-billion Ashiana Housing Scheme case on February 18, the media reported.
HSRP for vehicles: SC issues notice to Centre on contempt plea
The Supreme Court has sought the Centre's reply on an application seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against the government for allegedly violating the top court's earlier orders regarding affixation of high security registration plate (HSRP) on vehicles. A bench comprising Justices R Banumathi and R Subhash Reddy issued notice to the Centre on the application and posted the matter for hearing on March 8. The application, filed by Delhi-based Ajay Sharma, said that the government had issued a notification on December 4 last year regarding affixation of colour coded stickers on vehicles, which would indicate the nature of fuel being used by them. It alleged that the apex court judgement of December 8, 2011, in which it was directed that there would be only one manufacturer of HSRPs in a state to ensure safety and monitoring, was violated by the December 2018 notification. "This direction has been violated by the impugned notification by which it is provided that each and every .
Woman gang-raped in front of father in Bihar
A 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped by six men in front of her father at a village in Bihar's Kishanganj district, police said on Thursday. Superintendent of Police Kumar Ashish said the incident occurred in the Kodhiwadi police station area. The six men forcibly entered their house and took the woman and her father to a deserted place, around half a km from their residence. They tied the father up with a rope and raped the woman in front of him, according to an FIR registered on a complaint filed by the victim on Wednesday. The six threatened to kill the daughter-father duo if they told anyone about the incident. The SP said he had gone to the village and met the victim and her father, besides enquiring about the incident with the villagers. The victim has been sent for medical examination at Kishanganj Sadar hospital, the SP said. Apart from Kodhiwadi, adjoining police stations have also directed to arrest the six accused who are at large, Ashish said.
Kejriwal orders immediate appointment of prosecutor in journalist murder case
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday asked the Chief Secretary to ensure immediate appointment of a special public prosecutor for the murder trial of journalist Soumya Viswanathan.
2G case: HC orders individuals, firms to plant 16,000 trees for seeking time to file reply
Irked over firms and individuals, including Swan Telecom promoter Shahid (STPL) Usman Balwa, asking for more time to file responses on the ED and CBI appeals challenging their acquittals in 2G cases, the Delhi High Court directed them Thursday to plant over 16,000 trees as penalty. Justice Najmi Waziri said the plantation drive be carried out in Delhi's South Ridge forest area. Granting one last opportunity to file responses to Balwa, director of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Private Limited Rajiv Agarwal, and firms -- Dynamic Realty, D B Realty Limited and Nihar Constructions Private Limited -- in the ED's case, he asked them to plant 3,000 trees each here. It said three months have passed since the last order was passed in October 2018 but some of the parties have not yet filed their responses. Balwa, Agarwal and the three companies along with others including former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi were acquitted by the trial court in the ED's money laundering ...
Vishwanathan case: Delhi CM directs Chief Secy to issue show cause notice to public prosecutor
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Thursday directed the Delhi chief secretary to issue a show cause notice to the public prosecutor who "skipped" hearings in the journalist Soumya Vishwanathan case, while asserting the government will ensure appointment of a good lawyer in his place. A day after the bereaved parents of the television journalist, who was shot dead more than 10 years ago, knocked at the door of the chief minister, seeking speedy trial and justice, Kejriwal expressed shock that the public prosecutor was skipping the hearings and directed CS Vijay Kumar Dev to issue them show cause notice. The Delhi government in a statement said Kejriwal has taken a "strong exception" to the complaints of the journalist's parents about the public prosecutor's absence from the hearings in the Vishwanathan case. "The chief minister has noted that it is 'absolutely shocking' and directed the chief secretary to immediately issue a show cause notice to the public prosecutor who has skipped ...
Indian-American man and girlfriend arrested for plotting to kill estranged wife
An Indian-American man and his girlfriend have been arrested for hatching a conspiracy to hire a hitman to kill the former's estranged wife. Narsan Lingala, 55, and his 52-year-old girlfriend Sandya Reddy have been charged with one count of murder-for-hire and were produced before US Magistrate Judge Michael A Hammer in Newark federal court. Both of them were arrested without bail. According to a complaint filed in May 2018, Lingala was in a holding cell at the Middlesex County Superior Courthouse as he awaited a court hearing. While there, he asked another inmate if he knew anyone who could kill his estranged wife. The inmate responded in affirmative. In June 2018, at the direction of the law enforcement body, the inmate introduced Lingala to an undercover agent posing as a hitman. Over subsequent weeks, Lingala and the undercover police officer spoke over phone and planned to meet in person when Lingala travelled from Indiana to New Jersey. On August 18, 2018, Lingala and the ...
Murder accused Prabhjot Singh deported from the UAE
Prabhjot Singh who was wanted in alleged murder cases by the Punjab Police and has a red corner notice against him was deported from the UAE on Thursday, officials said here. Singh was wanted in two cases of murder and destruction of evidence by the Punjab Police, they said. A red corner notice was issued against him. He was spotted by the UAE authorities and arrested there. The CBI, which is the national central bureau of Interpol in India, informed the Punjab Police which sent a team to the UAE. Singh was deported to India Thursday. He landed in Amritsar, the officials said.
Man gets death sentence for raping and killing 75-yr-old woman
A special court in Madhya Pradesh has awarded death sentence to a 25-year-old man for raping and killing an elderly woman. Special judge Naurin Nigam pronounced the sentence to the accused, Akhbar Khan, on Wednesday and termed the crime heinous. Khan had raped the 75-year-old woman when she was alone at her home in Chhatarpur city on February 21, 2017. When she tried to resist his move, he inflicted injuries to her private parts following which she died on February 28, Madhya Pradesh Director General, Prosecution, Rajendra Kumar, said. The prosecution faced difficulty in proving the case as there was no eyewitness. But the accused was nailed on the basis of scientific evidences, like samples collected from the woman's body which matched with the samples of the clothes worn by the accused while committing the crime. "This is the first capital punishment awarded to a person in a rape and murder case in MP in 2019. The prosecution team in Chhatarpur did its job in a professional manner,"
GCF officer's death: Autopsy reveals head injuries, say police
The post-mortem of the officer of the city-based Gun Carriage Factory (GCF), whose body was found earlier this week, has revealed that he suffered injuries on his head, police said on Thursday. The autopsy report indicates that the victim, S C Khatua, was hit on the head with some sharp tool, the police said, adding that a case of murder has been registered. Khatua, who worked as a Junior Works Manager (JWM) of the defence unit at the GCF, had gone missing from January 17. His body was found on Tuesday in the bushes near the factory. According to the GCF sources, Khatua was facing a CBI probe in connection with the purchase of China-made roller bearing for Dhanush artillery guns. "Khatua's autopsy report has revealed that he suffered skull injuries. It indicates that he was hit on the head with some sharp-edged tool. Based on the findings of the report, a case of murder has been registered," Sanjay Singh, in-charge of Ghamapur police station, said. The mobile phone of the
8 of inter-state gang of car lifters held, 80 vehicles seized
Nine members of an inter-state gang of car lifters, who allegedly stole more than 100 vehicles from several states, have been arrested by Thane police, a senior official said on Thursday. As many as 80 cars valued at around Rs 3.4 crore were seized from Pune, Mumbai (in Maharashtra), and some places in Rajastan and Karnataka, Thane's Joint Commissioner of Police Madhukar Pandey told reporters here. The gang operated in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and the north-east region, he said. During the probe, the police got information about the gang's involvement in theft of around 170 vehicles, he said. The police first received a complaint in December 2018 of theft of a car from Thane city. During the investigation into it, they traced the vehicle to Pune and seized it. All the nine accused were subsequently nabbed in the last few days for their alleged involvement in various cases of car thefts, Pandey said. The modus operandi of the gang was to first steal the ..
CBI temporarily attaches 10 officials to Kolkata till Feb 20
Four days after a standoff with the Kolkata Police over the questioning of its chief Rajeev Kumar, CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla has posted 10 of its officials temporarily in Kolkata.
Ex-Petrofac executive pleads guilty to bribery, shares drop
LONDON (Reuters) - A former Petrofac executive has pleaded guilty to eleven counts of bribery in an ongoing investigation, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said on Thursday, triggering a 20 percent fall in the British oil and gas firm's shares.
Reporters tell trial alleged Brussels museum killer held them hostage
Two French journalists on Thursday told a terror trial in Brussels that Mehdi Nemmouche, the main defendant in the May 2014 Jewish museum murders, had imprisoned and tortured them in Syria. The journalists who were freed in April 2014 came to the Belgian capital to testify about the character of Nemmouche, a 33-year-old Frenchman who faces a life sentence if convicted of the murders. "I have absolutely no doubt about the fact that Mehdi Nemmouche who is present here was my jailer and torturer in Syria under the name of Abu Omar," former hostage Nicolas Henin told the trial. His colleague Didier Francois also said he "had no doubt" Nemmouche had held him hostage along with fellow Frenchmen Edouard Elias and Pierre Torres who were not present Thursday. Francois said Nemmouche hit him with "around 40 blows of a truncheon" among other abuses during the time the journalists were held by the Islamic State in the hospital turned prison. He added that the violence and "tortures" meted out by .
Contempt notice to Nageswara Rao, Subha Ram
The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on CBI Joint Director M. Nageswara Rao and prosecution in-charge S. Bhasuram Subha Ram for transferring a CBI officer probing the Muzaffarpur shelter home case despite the courts embargo against the transfer of investigating officials.