Archives for 2022

HAJIPUR:  At least 12 people, a third of them children, were killed and several others were injured when a speeding truck ploughed into a religious procession in Bihar’s Vaishali district on Sunday evening, officials said 

The accident took place in the Desri police station area of the north Bihar district, about 30 kms from the state capital, around 9 PM when the procession had gathered in front of a ‘peepal’ tree on the roadside to offer prayers to a local deity ‘Bhumiya baba’.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the accident and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to each injured person.

“The accident in Vaishali, Bihar is saddening. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF (Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund) would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000,” the PM said on Twitter.

RJD MLA Mukesh Roushan, under whose Mahua assembly constituency the site of the incident falls, rushed to the area and said “at least nine people have died on the spot. Many others have been taken to the Sadar hospital at Hajipur (the district headquarters), and three succumbed to injuries on the way. Those whose conditions are critical are being referred to hospitals in Patna”.

Vaishali Superintendent of Police Manish Kumar said “the procession was taken out as part of a custom associated with marriages. A wedding was scheduled in a few days at the house of a resident of Sultanpur village nearby. The driver of the truck speeding through the adjacent Mahnar-Hajipur highway lost control. He is stuck inside the mangled vehicle and we fear that he might have died”.

Locals claimed that the deceased included at least four children.

Chaos prevailed in the area as those who had lost their near and dear ones stood wailing beside the road while many others raised angry slogans alleging that the police reached after much delay.

The SP said, “We have summoned personnel from a number of adjoining police stations to speed up the rescue work and keep the law and order situation under control”.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the accident and directed the district administration to ensure proper treatment to those who have been injured and speedy disbursement of ex-gratia, as per norms, among the next of kin of each deceased.

NEW DELHI: In yet another revelation, Shraddha Walkar murder case accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala has now revealed that he burnt the victim’s face after killing her just to hide her identity. The accused first strangled Shraddha, sliced her in 35 pieces and then before disposing of her head, burnt her face so that her identity could not be revealed even if her skull was found. Sources privy to the probe said after killing his live-in partner, Aftab googled and read about the ways of disposing of a body.

To hide the crime, he first chopped the body in 35 pieces. He kept Shraddha’s body in the bathroom, under the shower, so that it decomposes a little bit and slicing it becomes easy.

“During the interrogation, it was revealed that he first disposed off the victim’s liver and intestines and the head at the last,” sources said. It took accused Poonawala 18 days, starting from May 18 when he killed his partner, to gradually dispose of all the body parts in the forest area of south Delhi.

The police have now started to scan old cases where Unidentified body parts have been found across the national capital in recent times. Interestingly, the police have come across a similar case when on June 5, just 17 days after the murder of Shraddha Walkar, the east district police had recovered severed body parts — two legs cut into four pieces, head and hands — of an unidentified person in a period of three days.

The body parts were found when the police personnel patrolling in the area noticed a foul smell coming from near the bushes in the Ramlila grounds, in front of 20 Block, Kalyanpuri in the area of Pandav Nagar police station. The police registered a murder case, however, till now, the body remains unidentified.

The south district police have now contacted the east district police sensing a possibility that the accused might have dumped the body parts there. Sources said the body parts found at Ramlila ground have been sent for DNA sampling and a report is pending. Meanwhile, a local court extended Aftab’s police custody by five more days and allowed the police application to seek permission for the Narco test. 

Kept body in bathroom
Sources said after killing, Aaftab googled ways of disposing of a body. To hide the crime, he first chopped the body into 35 pieces. He kept her body in the bathroom, under the shower for it to decompose faster.

How it all happened

• May 8: Aaftab Amin Poonawala and Shraddha Walkar reached Delhi and stayed in Paharganj for few days
• May 15: The couple shifted to a rented apartment in Mehrauli area of south Delhi
• May 18: Aaftab strangled Shraddha after an argument that turned violent
• May 19: Aaftab brought a new freezer and a knife to chop her body
• May 20: Aaftab paid a visit to a doctor who lives near his house with a superficial cut on his forearm and got 6 stiches
• May 21: He chopped her body into 35 pieces and began gradually disposing of them day by day in the nearby forest
• May 26: Aaftab operated the mobile banking app on Shraddha’s phone to transfer J54,000
• May 31: In a bid to prevent suspicions of Shraddha’s absence, he used her Instagram account and replied to someone
• November 8: Mumbai police contacted the Delhi Police regarding Shraddha’s disappearance
• November 9: Delhi police lodged a missing report of Walkar
• November 10: Delhi Police registered an FIR based on Shraddha Walkar’s father Vikas Madan Walkar’s complaint at Mehrauli police station
• November 13: The Delhi Police arrested the accused

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday refuted reports claiming regulatory approval for the manufacture of Covaxin, India’s first indigenously developed anti-Covid vaccine manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, was rushed due to “political pressure” as “misleading,” “fallacious” and “ill-informed.” 

The Union Health Ministry said the government and the national regulator – Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) – have followed a scientific approach and prescribed norms in approving Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use authorisation.

In a statement, the health ministry said that there had been media reports claiming that Bharat Biotech “had to skip certain processes” and “speed” up clinical trials due to political pressure. “The reports further claim that there were several irregularities in the three phases of the clinical trials conducted for the vaccine. These media reports are completely misleading, fallacious and ill-informed,” the statement said.

Bharat Biotech also issued a statement condemning the “targeted narrative” against Covaxin, whose supply to UN agencies was suspended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in April, citing deficiencies in good manufacturing practices.

BENGALURU: While the BJP is set to hold the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community’s ‘Navashakti Samavesha’ in Ballari on November 20, and one for Scheduled Castes later in Mysuru, in an apparent bid to claim credit for the hike in quota, the Congress leadership has planned a joint SC-ST convention in December, with a similar agenda, ahead of assembly elections. 

Following a suggestion by Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, who recently met former deputy chief minister Dr G Parameshwara and former minister Dr H C Mahadevappa, a preliminary meeting is scheduled for November 20 to chalk out a plan. The Basavaraj Bommai-led government, through an ordinance, hiked the SC quota from 15 to 17 per cent, and ST quota from 3 to 7 per cent, as per the recommendation of the Justice Nagmohandas Commission, as ST Nayaka religious head Sri Prasannananda Swamiji held a dharna to bring pressure. Now, the onus is on the Centre to include the decision in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution. 

BJP national president JP Nadda and the Union minister for tribal welfare are expected to take part in the ST samavesha, and make an announcement. “Over 5 lakh people from the community from across the state will take part,” informed Prabhakara Myasanayaka, a BJP ticket aspirant from Molakalmuru constituency.

Having got a clue that BJP will claim credit for a hike in quota, the Congress does not want to be left behind in the race for credit, as the commission that recommended the hike was set up during the Congress-JDS regime. 

“BJP cannot claim credit for the hike in quota as the commission was set up when I was social welfare minister,” claimed Chittapur MLA Priyank Kharge, adding that he has no qualms about BJP holding ST samavesha. As transport minister, B Sriramulu is the BJP’s ST community mascot, while the Congress is likely to project all its ST leaders including the working president Satish Jarkiholi, who had triggered a controversy over the origin of the word ‘Hindu’ recently.

JDS leaders claimed the ST Nayaka community cannot ignore the contribution of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, as the latter had managed to convince former prime minister Chandra Shekar to bring in an ordinance to give the Nayaka community of Karnataka the ST tag, by promulgating an ordinance in April 1991. “When P V Narasimha Rao was prime minister, Parliament passed a Bill to give it constitutional provision,” remarked Ugrappa.

NEW DELHI: Lawyers in Gujarat and Telangana were up in arms on Thursday amid buzz that the Supreme Court collegium has decided to transfer Gujarat High Court judge Nikhil S Kariel and his Telangana counterpart A Abhishek Reddy to the Patna High Court for “administrative reasons”. 

Both the Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association (GHCAA) and the Telangana High Court Bar Association resolved to abstain from work indefinitely to protest against the transfer. In its meeting on Wednesday, the collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud is also said to have decided to transfer Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice T Raja to the Rajasthan High Court, again for administrative reasons.

Justice Kariel is one of the finest, honest, upright and unbiased judges whose integrity is being vouched by the entire Bar in unison, the GHCAA said in a resolution. Though the collegium resolution confirming the proposed transfers is yet to be uploaded on the Supreme Court website, a large number of advocates gathered in the court of Gujarat Chief Justice Aravind Kumar in the afternoon at a time when proceedings were being live-streamed.

When the intrigued CJ sought to inquire about the sudden rush of the Bar in court, senior advocate Mihir Thakore said they were against the proposed transfer of Justice Kariel and wished to observe two minutes of silence in mourning. “We are here to mourn the death of independent judiciary,” Thakore added.

Another member of the Bar sought to blame it on Chief Justice Aravind Kumar, saying such transfers are done in consultation with the CJ. Later in the day, the GHCAA resolved to abstain from work indefinitely till the issue is resolved. 

A similar decision was taken by the  Telangana HC Bar Association in its extraordinary meeting on Thursday. The president of the association said the transfer of Justice Reddy is arbitrary and affects the independence of the judiciary.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday acquitted four Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including two Pakistani nationals, who were awarded capital punishment for waging war against the country, while sentencing them for other offences.

All the four were found guilty of “conspiracy” to wage war against the Government of India and sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.

Acquitting the four persons of the charge under Section 121 of IPC for waging war against Government of India, a division bench presided by Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed that the two Pakistani nationals – Md Younus and Md Abdullah, who have already served out the period of sentence, be pushed back to their country.

The court directed that of the two Indian nationals who were also found guilty of conspiracy to wage war against the country under Section 121A of IPC and have also served the sentence period, Muzaffar Ahamed Rather be released from the correctional home while Sk Nayeem is to be produced before Patiala House court in Delhi in connection with another case.

“In view of the acquittal under section 121 of IPC, death sentence and fine of Rs 50,000 each, imposed on the appellants on such score are set aside,” the division bench, also comprising Justice Ananya Badopadhyay, directed in its judgement on the appeals against a sessions court order that awarded the capital punishment.

The court said that since an offence under section 121A IPC deals with conspiracy to wage war or overawe the sovereign authority of a democratically elected government by show of criminal force, it is a grave one and “involves indoctrinated members of a terrorist organisation whose purpose is to strike terror and destabilise the nation.”

Holding that the appellants are not men who were in the higher echelons of the terrorist organisation, the court observed that they are foot soldiers who were recruited through allurement or coercion for the activities of the organisation.

The court said that mitigating circumstances show the appellants are not prominent players in the organisation and there is little possibility of their reverting to the path of terrorism.

“As Md Younus and Md Abdullah have served out their sentences, appropriate authorities are directed to push them to their country of origin, that is, Pakistan,” the court directed.

The two Pakistani nationals were also found guilty under the Foreigners’ Act and were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, which were concurrent.

A district court in North 24 Parganas had sentenced three LeT terrorists – Md Younus, Md Abdullah and Muzaffar Ahamed Rather to death in January 2017 and awarded the capital sentence to the fourth terror module Abdul Nayeem in December 2018 for “waging war against the country”.

The division bench was hearing the death reference of the four as a high court has to confirm a capital sentence awarded by a sessions court, apart from their appeals against conviction and sentence.

On April 3, 2007, BSF had apprehended the four persons on suspicion of being members of terror outfit LeT and handed them over to the local police.

The West Bengal CID, which took over the probe, had charged them with waging war against the country and procuring arms and explosives, apart from other charges.

Nayeem had escaped from custody in 2013 while being taken to Maharashtra for interrogation in connection with Mumbai train blasts case in 2006, but was apprehended by NIA sleuths again in October, 2018.

While Rather was taken to Pakistan for arms training by the LeT, Nayeem was assigned to meet the three in Bangladesh and help them enter India and then take them to Jammu and Kashmir.

The four LeT operatives illegally crossed the border at Petrapole in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal and were thereafter apprehended by the BSF following a hot pursuit.

Veteran Telugu actor Krishna

Hyderabad: Veteran Telugu actor Krishna died on Tuesday at a city-based private super-specialty hospital where he was undergoing treatment following a cardiac arrest.

He was 80.

Krishna, father of superstar Mahesh Babu, was admitted to the hospital in the early hours of Monday and was put on ventilator.

He was being treated by a multi-disciplinary team of doctors following the cardiac arrest. The actor died at 4 AM on Tuesday, hospital sources said.

Over the last 24 hours, Krishna continued to remain in an extremely critical state, following his admission to the emergency ward due to a cardiac arrest and upon resuscitation he was shifted to ICU, the hospital said in a statement

“He remained critically ill with multi-organ failure and severe hypoxic brain injury It was decided late evening with family members and all the consultants not to pursue further supportive care given to his dismal prognosis and to keep him final moments painless and peaceful. He expired in early hours of the morning at 4.09 AM,” the statement said.

Ghattamaneni Sivarama Krishna, popularly known as Krishna, began his career in the early 1960s and acted in about 350 films.

Krishna is known in the Telugu film industry for his good-nature and courageous attitude. He earned fame with his cowboy roles and by introducing advanced technologies in film-making.

Krishna was a Lok Sabha member from Eluru Parliamentary constituency, winning the elections in 1989. His son-in-law Jayadev Galla is presently a TDP Lok Sabha member representing the Guntur constituency.

Chief Ministers of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, K Chandrasekhar Rao, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and MK Stalin respectively condoled his death.

Chandrasekhar Rao, in a statement recalled Krishna’s five decades of contribution to the Telugu film industry as an actor, producer and director.

“Krishna, who acted in over 350 movies, left an indelible mark on the hearts of moviegoers and his death is a huge loss for the Telugu film industry,” Rao said.

“Krishna garu is a Telugu superstar. He is Alluri…He is our James Bond. As a man of heart in real life as well, who earned distinction for himself in the film industry, his death is a great loss for Telugu film industry and Telugu people,” Jagan Mohan Reddy tweeted.

Condoling, the death, Stalin said his demise is an irreparable loss to Indian cinema.

In a statement, he said Krishna was known for including many innovative aspects in cinema. He expressed his condolences to his son Mahesh Babu and the bereaved family.

Actor and former union minister Chiranjeevi in a statement posted in his Twitter page said he could not believe that Krishna is no more and offered condolences to his family members.

“Krishna garu is synonym for adventure. Apart from many experimental films and distinctive characters, your credit for introducing many techniques to Telugu cinema will always be remembered,” Jr NTR tweeted.
Several film personalities have recalled their association with the departing soul.