Archives for September 2024

Nagpur: A luxury car owned by Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule’s son Sanket hit several vehicles in the early hours of Monday in Ramdaspeth area of Nagpur, after which the driver and one more occupant were detained and their medical examination was underway, a police official said.

According to the Sitabuldi police station official, the Audi car first collided with complainant Jitendra Sonkamble’s car at 1am and then with a moped, leaving two youth riding it injured.

“The Audi car struck some more vehicles moving towards Mankapur area. At T-Point there, the vehicle hit a Polo car. Its occupants chased the Audi and stopped it near Mankapur bridge. Two occupants, identified as driver Arjun Hawre and Ronit Chittamwar, were stopped by those in the Polo car,” he said.

“The duo was taken to Tehsil police station, from where they were handed over for further probe to Sitabuldi police. The medical examination of driver Arjun Hawre and occupant Chittamwar is in progress. Driver Hawre could be placed under arrest at any time ,” he said.

The official said the occupants of the Audi were returning from a beer bar in Dharampeth when the incident took place, adding the medical examination will include blood tests for alcohol detection.

“A case of rash driving and other offences was registered on the complaint of Sonkamble. No action has been taken so far against Sanket Bawankule and the other two occupants who reportedly escaped from the scene at Mankapur bridge,” the official said.

“We are checking the CCTV footage to ascertain the chain of events, after which further action on all aspects, including other occupants, will follow,” he said.

Speaking to reporters about the incident, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule admitted the Audi car was registered in the name of his son Sanket.

“Police should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the accident without any bias. Those found guilty should be charged and appropriate action should be taken against them. I have not spoken to any police official. The law must be equal for all,” the senior BJP leader said.

Mandya: The police have arrested three more individuals in connection with the female foeticide case registered across Pandavapur, Bellur, and Melukote police stations in the district. The latest arrests bring the total number of accused in custody to 18.

The newly arrested individuals include Shankara GN of Ashwini Diagnostic Center in KR Nagar of Hunsur, Mysuru, Naveen HK of Hiremarali village in Pandavapur taluk, and Jabbar of Haralahalli village in Pandavapur taluk.

The arrests were made on Sunday, and a vehicle was seized from the accused. The police investigation team has confirmed that the suspects have been remanded in judicial custody. The search for the remaining accused is ongoing.

Earlier, 15 accused were arrested and sent to judicial custody. The authorities also seized four scanning machines and four vehicles from the suspects. The discovery and murder of female fetuses have surfaced in Hadya village in Mandya taluk, at the residence of a Health Department employee in Pandavapur taluk, and in Bellur in Nagamangala taluk, with several accused still at large.

An attempt to derail a loaded goods train was made in the Ajmer district of Rajasthan by putting two cement blocks on tracks of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, railway officials said on Tuesday.

They said a goods train did hit the blocks, weighing around 70 kg each, but nothing untoward occurred.

“Some miscreants put two cement blocks on tracks on the dedicated freight corridor on Sunday. A goods train hit them,” a North Western Railway official said.

The incident occurred between Saradhna and Bangad stations of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor on the Phulera-Ahmedabad stretch.

A freight corridor official said a case has been registered and the matter is under investigation.

The report comes a day after an attempt to derail the Bhiwani-Prayagraj Kalindi Express

was made in Kanpur by placing an LPG cylinder on tracks, along with a bottle of petrol and matchboxes.

Cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi alias Rajkumar Panchal

Faridabad: Cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi alias Rajkumar Panchal, an accused in the Nuh violence case, filed his nomination as an independent candidate from NIT assembly segment in Faridabad on Monday.

The assembly elections will be held in Haryana on October 5.

In an official statement, District Election Officer Vikram Singh confirmed that Bajrangi has filed his nomination as an independent from NIT Faridabad seat.

Bajrangi, who formed Gau Raksha Bajrang Force, has a long association with controversies.

Bajrangi has been an accused in the case of Nuh violence that had started in July last year after a procession organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad was attacked by a mob.

Five people, including two home guards, were killed and many injured in the violence that erupted on July 31 last year in Nuh and spread to other areas of the state. In Gurugram, a naib imam was killed at a mosque amid a series of incidents of arson.

In July this year, three cases were registered against Bajrangi in Faridabad.

Lucknow: In a shocking incident, an enquiry by UP irrigation department about a 6-year experienced senior assistant missing work led to the discovery of his murder conviction 11 years ago, Times of India reported on September 9.

The convict Anoop Dubey, who is in his mid-30s now, had been arrested for the murder of a youth named Devendra Singh Tomar of Nainagarh in 2013, along with Gaurav Jha, Kapil Sharma and Akash. The gang, who wanted to kill Devendra for ‘arrogant behavior’, had taken the victim to a secluded spot in Babina near Jhansi in the pretext of a picnic. They had shot him dead and burnt his body.

When Lakhan Singh Tomar, the victim’s father, had confronted them about his missing son, they had told him about the murder and had proceeded to issue death threats, if he told anyone. Despite the threats, Tomar had filed a murder case against all four on May 17, 2013 which had let to their arrest. However, chief engineer Mithlesh Dubey, the accused’s father, had succeeded in securing his bail six months later.

When his father died in 2018, Dubey had secured a job in the UP irrigations department on compassionate grounds. Despite stringent background checks, including mandatory police verification and character certificate of any candidate applying for a government post, no criminal history of Dubey had allegedly come out inspite of there being an active murder trial against him.

Dubey went on to work till August 13, this year, completing 6 years of service. On August 14, the day of verdict in his case, he was on leave to his duty at the irrigation department. Jhansi court convicted him and other three accused in Tomar murder case and sentenced them to life, on that day.

When he didn’t return to work, the blissfully ignorant department had initiated an enquiry to trace him which had revealed his court conviction. The case has led many to question the credibility and efficiency of the recruitment process in the government agencies which couldn’t prevent an accused murderer from securing a job and settling comfortably for over six years in public service.

The case draws parallel with that of Bitty Mohanty who was jailed for seven years in 2006 for raping a German national. Eight months later, while on a 15-days parole to visit his sick mother in Cuttack, Odisha, he escaped the clutches of law and went missing. His father B B Mohanty, an IPS officer, had been charged with helping his son abscond, an accusation which the former persistently refused. He was reinstated to service in 2009 and continued to serve in the force till his retirement in 2012.

Years of police work to locate Bitty Mohanty failed until 2013 when he was arrested from a bank in Kannur, Kerala, where he was working under a false name of ‘Raghav Rajan’, a resident of Andhra Pradesh. An anonymous letter sent to the bank revealing the true identity of one of its employees had led to the police tip-off.

Patna: Bike-borne assailants gunned down a BJP member outside a restaurant in the Bihar capital Patna in the early hours of Monday, police said.

The deceased was identified as Munna Sharma who was associated with the BJP for years.

“Munna Sharma was shot at by three unidentified bike-borne armed assailants outside a restaurant when he was waiting for an autorickshaw. The armed men fled the spot after the shooting,” Patna Rural Superintendent of Police Raushan Kumar told reporters.

He succumbed to his injuries in a government hospital.

“Police registered a case and launched a manhunt to nab the gunmen. Forensic experts collected evidence from the spot. Officials are analysing CCTV footage of the area to identify the accused,” he said.

Leader of the opposition in the assembly Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD claimed that the incident showed crime was flourishing under the NDA government in the state.

“The state government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has miserably failed to check the deteriorating law and order situation in the state,” the RJD leader posted on X.

Union minister Chirag Paswan said it is a matter of serious concern.