A Delhi court on Wednesday sentenced former Coal Secretary H.C. Gupta and two other former government officials to three years in jail in a coal block allocation case.

CBI Special Judge Bharat Parashar also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on Gupta and former officials K.S. Kropha and K.C. Samria.

He also sentenced Vikash Metal and Power Ltd (VMPL) Managing Director Vikash Patni and authorised signatory Anand Mallick to four years in jail.

Last week the court convicted all five of conspiring to get the Moira-Madhujore coal block of West Bengal in favour of VMPL.

It was the sixth judgment by the Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court that is exclusively dealing with the coal block allocation cases.

Over 20 other cases probed by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate were still pending.

 Absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in a Rs 9,000 crore bank loan default case, on Wednesday offered to pay back “100 per cent of the principal amount” as speculations over his extradition were raised after AgustaWestland middleman Christian Michel was brought here for interrogation.

His move came a day after the British national and middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal was extradited to India from Dubai and handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) late on Tuesday.

Lashing out at the quick media narrative about his extradition to India, Mallya said: “I see the quick media narrative about my extradition decision. That is separate and will take its own legal course.

“The most important point is public money and I am offering to pay 100 per cent back. I humbly request the banks and government to take it. If payback refused, Why?” he said.

Late in 2017, India filed extradition proceedings against him which he has contested and pending the final verdict in the case, he is currently on bail in London. The court is set to pronounce its verdict on December 10.

“Airlines struggling financially partly because of high ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) prices. Kingfisher was a fab(ulous) airline that faced the highest ever crude prices of $140/barrel. Losses mounted and that’s where banks money went.

“I have offered to repay 100 per cent of the principal amount to them. Please take it,” Mallya tweeted.

Kingfisher began defaulting on loans beginning 2009-10.

Hitting out at the political parties and media for accusing him of running away with the money, the head of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines said that all of the accusation was false.

“Politicians and media are constantly talking loudly about my being a defaulter who has run away with PSU (public sector undertaking) banks’ money.

“All this is false. Why don’t I get fair treatment and the same loud noise about my comprehensive settlement offer before the Karnataka High Court. Sad,” he said.

On September 12, during the hearing of his case in London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Mallya told reporters that he left India after meeting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in 2016, which the minister called “factually false”.

“I had a scheduled meeting in Geneva. I met the Finance Minister before I left… repeated my offer to settle with the banks. That is the truth.”

Mallya had said he had also told Jaitley that he was leaving for London.

Mallya, who left India on March 2, 2016, also claimed that he had made a comprehensive settlement offer before the Karnataka High Court.

The liquor barron also pointed out that for three decades by running India’s largest alcoholic beverage group, he contributed thousands of crores to the state exchequers.

“Kingfisher Airlines also contributed handsomely to the states. Sad loss of the finest Airline but still I offer to pay banks so no loss. Please take it,” he said in another tweet.

Mallya is wanted for committing alleged bank frauds of Rs 9,000 crore, and is currently holed up in the UK, fighting several cases.

On June 22, the Enforcement Directorate had moved the Special PMLA Court to declare Mallya a ‘fugitive economic offender’ and confiscate all his properties, estimated at more Rs 12,000 crore, making it the first such case of its kind under the new FEOA (Fugitive Economic Offender Act) law.

IANS

 Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was killed in a mob violence in Bulandshahr district of western Uttar Pradesh on Monday, was on Tuesday cremated in his ancestral village Jaithra in Etah district, police said.

Amid a sea of emotions, senior police officials played the pallbearers, before the body of Singh wrapped in a tri-colour was put on the funeral pyre.

The cremation was got delayed since the relatives and family members of the slain officer demanded that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath come and meet them and that the village be declared a martyr’s village.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of the region, including Farrukhabad MP Mukesh Rajput and Aliganj legislator Satyapal Singh Rathore, pacified the heart-broken family members and assured them that their demands will be met.

The family also alleged that the Inspector was shot dead in a planned manner and under a deep-rooted conspiracy. Lawmakers told the family that a probe is underway and that all angles are being investigated. They also said that justice will be done to them.

Meanwhile, Sumit, the youth who was also killed by a bullet in Monday’s violence in Bulandshahr, was also cremated in his village. His family has alleged that he was innocent and had gone to drop a friend to the bus stop and he was shot on his way back.

The family also alleged that slain Inspector Singh had shot him.

IANS

Australian police have arrested the husband of a Sydney woman whose disappearance in 1982 has become the subject of a popular crime podcast.

Chris Dawson, 70, is to be charged with murdering Lynette Dawson, New South Wales (NSW) authorities said. He was arrested in Queensland and would be brought to New South Wales.

Dawson has denied killing his wife, with whom he has two children. He has said that she abandoned the family for a religious group, the BBC reported.

A search of the family’s former home in Sydney earlier in 2018 failed to turn up new evidence. However, police on Wednesday said the arrest followed three years of renewed investigations.

“We are confident with the case,” Superintendent Scott Cook told reporters. “We won’t give up on trying to identify the whereabouts of Lynette Dawson, but, from our perspective, it is not crucial to finalising the matter.”

Two separate inquests have recommended for murder charges to be laid against a “known person”.

However, prosecutors have previously said there was insufficient evidence to lay charges. No trace of Lynette Dawson has ever been found.

An inquest in 2003 found that Chris Dawson, a former high school teacher and rugby league star, had engaged in sexual relationships with teenage students during his marriage.

One 16-year-old girl moved in to the family home within days of his wife’s disappearance. The pair later married, but have since separated.

A podcast “The Teacher’s Pet” brought global attention to the case in 2018.

Since May, more than 27 million people have listened to the podcast, which is produced by The Australian newspaper.

It has highlighted the bungled handling of the Dawson case by police in the early years after her disappearance, prompting an apology so many years later from the state’s police commissioner.

The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday voiced its unhappiness over the manner in which Telangana Police arrested state Congress working President Revanth Reddy from his house in the dead of night.

The court asked the state government what was the need for taking the Congress leader into custody. It heard thrice the habeas corpus petition filed by Congress leader V. Narender Reddy and in the evening summoned Advocate General to record his statement.

Advocate General B.S. Prasad sought time till Wednesday to submit evidence to justify Revanth’s arrest.

Earlier, the police submitted to the court that they took him into custody as his call for a shutdown in Kodangal to protest Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s visit could have created law and order problems.

The court observed that there was nothing wrong in Revanth calling for a shutdown and asked police to provide evidence to justify its action.

Revanth was arrested from his residence at 3 a.m ahead of KCR’s election rally at Kosgi in Kodangal constituency, which was represented by the Congress leader in the dissolved Assembly.

After KCR’s rally in the evening, police released Revanth Reddy. The Congress leader alleged that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had hatched a plan to create disturbances in Kodangal in the next 48 hours. He claimed that KCR was using police to suppress the opposition and using money to influence the voters.

Revanth had called for a shutdown in Kodangal to protest against police raids at his house last week.

The Election Commission had also issued a notice to Reddy over his threat. A police officer said a case was booked against Revanth Reddy on a complaint by the Electoral Officer.

The Congress party strongly condemned the arrest of its leader and lodged a complaint with the Election Commission. It said with just a day for the campaigning to come to an end, their leader was denied an opportunity to campaign.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted that Revanth’s arrest is a proof of KCR’s autocratic rule. In the comments in Telugu on his Twitter handle, the Congress leader said the arrest cannot stop the Congress’ march. He further wrote that the time has come for the end of anti-people rule of TRS.

Senior Congress leader S. Jaipal Reddy condemned the manner in which police arrested Revanth. He said the fear of election defeat has gripped KCR.

State’s Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar, however, denied the allegations that they are biased. He said they treat all political parties equally.

Elections to the 119-member Telangana Assembly are scheduled for December 7.

IANS

A 14-year-old girl set herself on fire after being sexually harassed by two persons at Rathnapura village of Vijayapura.

Though the incident took place on Saturday, December 1 it came to light only after her parents registered a complaint at the Tikota Police Station on Monday, December 3.

It is gathered that Mohan and Shankar had been harassing the victim since a week when she was returning from her school. She finally discussed the issue with her parents, who had promised to tackle the problem by discussing it with the village head. They also promised her to that they would drop her to school and pick her up after the classes. On Saturday, December 1 when the parents returned home, they were shocked to see their daughter with critical burn injuries and though they immediately took her to the hospital she died on the way.

Following victims parents complaint the police arrested the duo on Monday, December 3 and booked them under IPC Section 306 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

PTI

Three leaders from the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and BJP have been named in the FIR lodged by police in the violence that rocked Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh killing a police officer and a young man, authorities said on Tuesday.

VHP activist Upendra Raghav, BJP city youth wing President Shikhar Agarwal and Bajrang Dal district coordinator Yogesh Raj have been named in the First Information Report in the wake of the violence on Monday.

The police have also arrested two others – said to be villagers – while five persons have been detained in connection with the violence that broke out after the recovery of some animal carcasses that the right-wing groups claimed were of cows.

When Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh tried to reason with the demonstrators and persuade them to clear the traffic jam they had caused, he was attacked both with blunt objects and also fired at, killing him instantly.

A young man was also killed in violence but the circumstances leading to his death are not clear.

The police have registered a case against 88 persons, of whom 25 have been named.

Five police teams have been formed and 22 places have been raided to track down those involved in the violence.

The raids follow details emerging from eyewitness accounts, interrogation of those detained and video footage shot by people present at the time, a police official told IANS.

The police focus is on Chingrawathi and Mahav villages, located close to the crime scene. The police believe the mob came from these two places.

The body of the slain police officer was taken to his village in Etah district where family members broke down at seeing his mortal remains.

Singh is survived by his wife and two sons. His widow Sunita told relatives that her husband had sought leave but it was not granted. She rued that had the leave been granted, he would not have died.

The officer’s elder son Shreya is studying MBA while his younger son Abhishek is a student of engineering.

IANS