Cuttack: A 22-year-old man was tied to a two-wheeler and made to run for about two kilometres on a busy road in Odisha’s Cuttack city allegedly by two others as he failed to repay Rs 1500 to them on time, police said on Monday.

The two were arrested during the day after the matter was reported to the police.

“The accused were charged with wrongful confinement, kidnapping and attempt to murder,” Cuttack city Deputy Commissioner of Police Pinak Mishra said here.

The hands of Jagannath Behera were tied with a 12 feet long rope, the other end of which was attached to the two-wheeler. He was forced to run behind it from Stuartpatna Square to Sutahat Square, a distance of more than two kilometres, for around 20 minutes on Sunday.

A video of the incident went viral on social media.

Some locals intervened at Sutahat Square and rescued the 22-year-old who had borrowed Rs 1500 from one of the two accused last month for performing his grandfather’s last rites, police sources said.

Behera promised to repay the money in 30 days but failed, leading to this ‘punishment’.

After Behera reported the matter to the police on Monday, the two accused were arrested. Police have also seized the two-wheeler and the rope used by the two.

The police are also questioning traffic constables on duty between the two-kilometre stretch on why they did not intervene to stop them.

New Delhi,: After his questioning by the CBI in the Delhi excise scam case, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday claimed that he was pressured to leave Aam Aadmi Party and was offered Delhi CM’s post.

Sisodia was quizzed by the CBI for over nine hours in connection with the case.

“BJP says there is a Rs 10,000 crore excise scam. I found at CBI office that there is no scam and the case is fake. The fake case against me is a conspiracy to make BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ a success in Delhi,” Sisodia told reporters after the questioning.

He alleged that he was pressurised to quit AAP.

“Pressure was put on me to quit AAP. I was offered Delhi CM’s post or face jail term,” he said.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah

Jammu,: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday lashed out at BJP over its claims of normalcy post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and said the killings will never stop until “justice” is served.

Abdullah, who is a Member of Parliament from Srinagar, said had the situation been improved on the ground, another innocent Kashmiri pandit would not have been killed.

“It (killings) will never stop as long as there is be no justice,” he told reporters in a brief interaction when asked about his reaction to the latest target killing of a Kashmiri pandit by militants in Shopian.

Puran Krishan Bhat was gunned down by militants on Saturday outside his ancestral house in the Chowdhary Gund area of the south Kashmir’s district, where he had gone to look after his orchards.

Abdullah did not elaborate what “justice” he was talking about, but he was apparently referring to the restoration of Article 370 abrogated by the Centre.

The National Conference chief had gone to Reasi to express condolences with his party colleague and former minister Jagjeevan Lal on the demise of his sister, and the family of former bureaucrat Babu Lal who had recently passed away.

“They were making noises that this (terrorism) was the result of Article 370. Today, there is no Article 370 but why such killings are then taking place and who is responsible?” Abdullah, a former J-K chief minister, said.

The BJP-led government at the centre abrogated Article 370, providing special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union Territories on August 5, 2019.

The National Conference, along with four other parties including the PDP, are fighting for the restoration of the special status under the banner of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD).

“If the situation had improved (as claimed by the BJP), this innocent pandit would not have been killed. Where is the improved situation as I don’t see it,” he said.

Vaishali Thakkar |

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Police have registered a case of abetting suicide against a couple after noted TV actor Vaishali Thakkar allegedly killed herself at her house in Indore even as the preliminary investigation suggested she was depressed due to some “unknown” reason.

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Monday said the case was registered against Thakkar’s neighbour Rahul Navlani and his wife Disha.

The accused couple lives in the neighbourhood of the actor (29), known for her role in serials like ‘Sasural Simar Ka’. She was found hanging from a ceiling fan with a stole in her house in Saibag Colony on Sunday, police said.

Prima facie, Thakkar had been under depression for the last few months for unknown reasons, a police official said citing the diary of the late actor.

“A case was registered under Indian Penal Code Section 306 (abetment of suicide) against Thakkar’s neighbour Rahul Navlani and his wife Disha and further investigation is underway,” Mishra told reporters in Bhopal.

A five-page suicide note was found at the spot in which Vaishali Thakkar named Rahul Navlani for harassing her, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Moti-ur-Rehman told PTI in Indore.

He said the actor’s family members alleged Rahul Navlani was troubling her since he came to know about her plans to get married.

The accused couple was not found at their Indore home. They have gone away somewhere after locking their house, the ACP said.

Thakkar and Navlani’s fathers are business partners and they have known each other for a long time, he said.

A case of abetment and instigation to commit suicide was registered against the couple, he said.

Indore commissioner of police Harinarayan Chari Mishra said the probe team has collected all personal belongings of Vaishali Thakkar, including her diary, laptop, IPad, IPhone and one other mobile phone.

Police officer RD Kanwa said Thakkar’s diary revealed that she was under “a state of depression for the last few months”.

“More information on the reason for her depression could be received only after the statements of her family members and close friends are recorded. This will be done in a day or two,” Kanwa added.

Thakkar’s friend on the condition of anonymity told PTI that she was engaged to a Kenya-based businessman last year.

“She posted about her engagement on her social media handle and a month later posted that she had broken ties with him,” the friend claimed.

A social media post of hers recently also dropped ominous hints with a reel of a revolving ceiling fan that had the comment ‘what do you do on Sundays?”

Thakkar started her career with the TV serial ‘Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai’. She became a star while acting in ‘Sasural Simar Ka’ and went on to work in more than a dozen serials.

The actor was a native of Mahidpur town in the Ujjain district. She had been living in Indore for the last three years.

Lucknow/Sultanpur: The four people who died in a BMW car crash on Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh last week appeared to be aiming at a speed of 300 kilometres per hour and were on Facebook Live as they reached 230 kmph.

In the chilling video that surfaced on social media, one of them is heard saying, “Charon marenge (All four of us will die).” The man at the wheel asks the fellow passenger to keep quiet so that he can drive.

The BMW hit a container-truck coming from the opposite side in the collision near Sultanpur on Friday. The four men were hurled out of the smashed car, which is now kept at Haliapur police station, an official said.

“Hit 300, we are going live. At least, it should be 290. The speed should be 300,” one of the men is heard saying in the video clip.

As the driver slowed down after reaching the speed of 230 kmph, an occupant asked in Hindi, “Why are you applying the brakes. Don’t slow down. If we slow down, we will not be able to pick up again.”

District Magistrate Ravish Kumar and police officials, including Superintendent of Police Somen Burma, soon reached the spot.

Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) officials too arrived there.

Three of the victims were identified as Anand Prakash (35), resident of Dehri in Bihar, Akhilesh Singh (35) and Deepak Kumar (37), both from Aurangabad, Bihar. The authorities are trying to identify the fourth man, the DM said.

Officer-in-charge of Haliapur police station Ram Vishal Toman said a case has been registered against the container truck driver and search is on for him.

The expressway connecting Lucknow to Ghazipur district in eastern Uttar Pradesh was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021, ahead of the Assembly elections in February-March.

The speed limit on the expressway is 100 kmph, a UPEIDA official said.

“Advanced Time Management System (ATMS), which is aimed at detecting speeding violations, is being installed on Purvanchal Expressway. The system is operational on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway,” the official added.

The ATMS sends a challan, seeking payment of a fine, to the vehicle owner if speeding is detected.

Ex-servicemen are also deployed to run patrol vehicles on the expressway to be on the lookout for speeding vehicles, he said.

Former JNU student Umar Khalid

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will on Tuesday pronounce its verdict on a bail plea by former JNU student Umar Khalid, who was arrested over two years, in a UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in the city.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar had on September 9 reserved its order on the plea.

Khalid has argued that neither did he have a “criminal role” in the violence in North-east Delhi nor any “conspiratorial connect” with the other accused in the case.

He has submitted that there is no material to support the case of the prosecution against him and his Amravati speech in February 2020 which forms the basis of the allegations against him not only had a categorical call for non-violence but also did not lead to violence anywhere.

The Delhi Police opposed the bail plea by Khalid, saying the speech delivered by him was a “very calculated” and brought up issues like Babri Masjid, triple talaq, Kashmir, the alleged suppression of Muslims and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The agency has argued that riots happened in two phases, first in 2019 and then in February 2020, and that misinformation was spread during the riots apart from blockade of roads, attack on police personnel and paramilitary forces, violence in non-Muslim areas, etc.

It has contended that the speeches delivered by various accused in the case have one common factor that “the essence was to create a sense of fear in the Muslim population”.

Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and several others have been booked under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

The violence had erupted during the protests against CAA and NRC.

The high court had issued notice to the Delhi Police on Khalid’s bail plea in April.

Khalid was arrested by Delhi Police in September 2020.

Besides Khalid, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the case.

New Delhi,: The government on Monday suspended with immediate effect senior IAS officer and former chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Jitendra Narain, accused of raping a woman in Port Blair.

The suspension came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed immediate strict action against Narain, who is presently posted as the chairman and managing director of the Delhi Financial Corporation, according to a Union home ministry statement.

The ministry said the government is committed to ensuring zero-tolerance towards the acts of indiscipline by its officials irrespective of their rank and status, especially regarding incidents involving women’s dignity.

The ministry received a report on Sunday from the Andaman and Nicobar Police regarding the alleged sexual assault of the 21-year-old woman by Narain, when he was serving as chief secretary of the archipelago, and others.

As the report indicated the possibility of grave misconduct and misuse of the official position on the part of Narain, an IAS of the AGMUT cadre of the 1990 batch, Shah directed immediate strict action against the officer concerned as per the law.

Accordingly, Narain has been placed under suspension with immediate effect and disciplinary proceedings have been ordered against him, the statement said.

An FIR has been registered and action in the criminal case is being taken separately by the Special Investigation Team of the Andaman and Nicobar Police.

As per the allegation of the woman, she was gang-raped by two officials, including the former chief secretary, in Andaman and Nicobar Islands at his official residence.

Following the allegation, a Special Investigation Team has been constituted, headed by a Senior Superintendent of Police, for investigation and a case has been registered at the Aberdeen police station.

The woman alleged that the other officer who was involved in the rape was Labour commissioner R L Rishi and they indulged in the alleged crime on two occasions.

When contacted, Narain told PTI last week that he cannot comment on the issue as “the matter is sub judice”.

The woman lodged the complaint with the police on August 21 in which she gave a detailed account of the alleged sexual attack on her twice – in April and May – and requested for preserving the CCTV footage of the then chief secretary’s residence for evidence.

She has also requested a Test Identification Parade (TIP) of the employees present at the residence of the official.

The complainant has also recorded her statement under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before the chief metropolitan magistrate detailing the allegation.

Anyone giving a statement under this clause of the CrPC will face perjury charges in case it turns out to be false.

The woman claimed that she was in search of a job and was introduced to Rishi through a hotel owner who allegedly took her to the residence of Narain.

At Narain’s residence, the woman claimed, she was offered liquor which she refused. She claimed that they assured her of a government job but, subsequently, she was brutally sexually abused by the two men.

The woman also alleged that two weeks later she was called to the chief secretary’s residence again and the assault was repeated.

She said that instead of giving the promised government job, she was threatened with dire consequences if she revealed the matter to anyone.

Officials said that she has also filed a separate complaint with the police against a local journalist, who allegedly gave hints about her identity, and a police officer for leaking information about the case.

According to sources, Narain joined as chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Island in March 2021.

Justice D Y Chandrachud.

New Delhi: Justice D Y Chandrachud was on Monday appointed the 50th Chief Justice of India, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said.

He will take oath on November 9, a day after incumbent CJI Justice Uday Umesh Lalit demits office on attaining the age of 65.

While Justice Lalit has a brief tenure of 74 days, Justice Chandrachud will serve as the CJI for two years.

“In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, Hon’ble President appoints Dr. Justice DY Chandrachud, Judge, Supreme Court as the Chief Justice of India with effect from 9th November, 22,” Rijiju tweeted.

Justice Chandrachud will demit office on November 10, 2024.

Bengaluru: A man who killed his drunken wife for not preparing food did not commit murder but culpable homicide, the Karnataka High Court has held and passed an order for his release from jail.

The High Court modified a lower court order by saying, “The prosecution is not able to explain the intention of the accused to commit the murder.”

However, there was provocation which enraged the accused to club his wife to death.

“As found from the prosecution evidence, the woman did not prepare the food, that prompted and enraged the accused to take such a drastic step all of a sudden and removed a club from the house and inflicted injuries as part of punishment and there was no intention on his part to cause death,” said the High Court.

Therefore, the court held that “the alleged act of the accused comes within the purview of exception-1 to Section 300 of IPC where the death of the woman was ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder.’

Suresha from Mudigere in Chikkamagaluru district approached the High Court with the appeal in 2017.

A Division Bench of Justice K Somashekar and Justice T G Shivashankare Gowda heard the appeal.

The trial court convicted Suresha of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment in November 2017. Suresha was living separately from his first wife Meenakshi. Another woman Radha, too, had separated from her husband Nanjaiah. Subsequently, Suresha and Radha ended up getting married and had two children.

In 2016, Suresha came back from work on a festival day to find she had not celebrated at that time. She had not cooked food either. She was addicted to drinks and was sleeping. Angry over this, Suresha fatally hit her with a club.

Modifying the conviction and order of sentence of the trial court, the High Court convicted him under section part-II of IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) instead of section 302 of IPC (murder).

The period of six years, 22 days undergone by the accused in incarceration is sufficient for the offence punishable under section 304 part-I of IPC, the High Court said and directed the jail authorities to “set him at liberty forthwith, if he is not required in any other case.”

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pulled out its nominee from the Andheri (East) Assembly bypoll fray realising that he would lose against the candidate of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, party MP Sanjay Raut said on Monday.

Raut, an accused in the Patra chawl redevelopment case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate, spoke to some reporters and his supporters on the premises of the special court.

The Shiv Sena MP was produced before special judge M G Deshpande on the expiry of his judicial custody which was extended till Tuesday.

After attending his bail hearing, Raut met with his supporters and family members on the court premises.

Initially, he was reluctant to talk to reporters saying he was not allowed to speak as he is in judicial custody.

“The BJP had conducted a survey which predicted that their candidate (Murji Patel) would lose the bypoll by at least 45,000 votes. This is the reason they decided to withdraw,” claimed Raut when asked about the BJP’s decision.

Queried on Maharashtra Navirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray writing a letter to Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday asking him not to field the candidate, Raut replied “this is all scripted.”

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said his party has decided not to contest the Andheri East bypoll.

“The BJP had previously also not contested some of the bypolls,” he said while asserting that Murji Patel would have won.

Patel, who withdrew his nomination papers on Monday, was pitted against Rutuja Latke, the wife of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke whose death in May this year necessitated the bypoll, scheduled on November 3.