RT Nagar police arrested four men who forged documents and availed education loans through the website of Karnataka Minority Development Corporation (KMDC).

Police suspect the accused might have siphoned off Rs 1.70 core. The arrested are Imran Khan (30), a KMDC employee and a resident of RT Nagar; MD Multhni Iftikhar (23), a resident of HRBR Layout; Sultan Pasha (25); and Mohammed Iqbal. 

The accused are suspected to have embezzled Rs 1.70 crore so far. The police seized gold jewellery worth Rs 82 lakh, Rs 8 lakh in cash and some bank seals from them.

Police said Imran Khan was a contract employee with the KMDC, while Sultan Pasha recently left the job at the department. The other two are their friends. Iqbal claimed he was a human rights activist running an organisation.

The KMDC gives education loans between Rs 10,000 and Rs 75,000 to minority students. Since Imran was an employee, he had access to its website. The accused forged documents of students and transferred KMDC funds to fake educational institutions created by the accused.

They had purchased laptops and made fake seals of institutions to carry out the operation.

The family of a 12-year-old girl, whose body was found in a field on Wednesday, has alleged she was killed after being gangraped in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.

The incident took place in Ranitala area, about 231km north of state capital Kolkata. The Class 6 student went to a field near her home around 12:30 pm on Wednesday to hand over lunch to her father who was working there.

She didn’t return home after that and her body was found from a field around 200 meters away from her house around 8pm.

The girl’s father lodged a complaint at Ranitala police station, alleging his daughter was raped by more than one person before she being throttled.

He said he had no idea that his daughter did not reach home after giving him the lunch and was informed that she was missing around 4pm.

“There were several injuries and scratch marks all over the body of my daughter. Her hands were tied with a rope. The assailants shoved the sweater that she was wearing inside her mouth to prevent her from raising an alarm,” said the victim’s father.

”I am certain that my daughter was raped before she was killed. But I have no idea why. It’s also possible that they killed her to prevent any possibility of her identifying them,” the father said.

Officer-in-charge of Ranitala police station Samit Talukdar said they have started an investigation on the basis of the father’s complaint. “We have sent the body for autopsy to ascertain the cause of death,” Talukdar said.

An officer said on the condition of anonymity that the girl could have been raped before she was killed.

”The family is poor and the girl wasn’t wearing any ornaments. We are in the dark about the motive of the murder,” said Talukdar.

Bengal is one of the worst performing states when it comes to crimes against women.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the state accounted for 11.31%, 10.11% and 9.6% of all the crime against women in the country in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. In 2012, West Bengal accounted for 12.67% of the total cases, making the state the worst offender in the country.

Angered over his wife’s alleged social media obsession, a 27-year-old man allegedly bashed her head in with a stone and burnt her body in a eucalyptus grove in the outskirts of Bengaluru. The horror did not end there. He also allegedly killed his three-month-old baby boy and threw the child’s body in the bushes in the same grove.

Two years ago, SK Raju, a resident of Ramanagara’s Gangondanahalli had sent 25-year-old Sushma a friend request on Facebook. A few weeks later, she accepted it and they soon began chatting every day.

“A month or so after they chatted, they met and fell in love. Over eight months ago, Sushma became pregnant and she decided to tell her parents about Raju,” the Bidadi Police told media.

Sushma’s parents, first opposed the relationship but later relented and decided to get the couple married when they learnt that their daughter was pregnant. Three months ago, Sushma gave birth to a baby boy and the couple were to hold a naming ceremony in February. However, police say that all was not well between the couple and that Raju constantly picked fights with Sushma.

“She was a homemaker and he worked as a warehouse as a supervisor. Raju would pick fights with Sushma as he felt she was not doing the household chores but was always on Facebook and Instagram. He had even called Sushma’s father Govindaiah and told him to instruct Sushma about not using her phone so often,” the police said.

However, what began as fights about household chores soon led to Raju accusing Sushma of having an affair with a man she met online. “According to his statement, he became suspicious of her phone usage. He would accuse her of chatting with other men on Facebook and Instagram,” the police said.

The next morning, Raju told Sushma that he wanted to take her out for a picnic. He decided to drive Sushma and the baby boy to a eucalyptus grove located near Wonder La, an amusement near Bengaluru. When they were inside the grove, Raju allegedly bashed Sushma’s head in with a stone. He then allegedly took out a bottle of petrol that he had brought along and poured it over Sushma, who was unconscious and set her on fire. He then allegedly smothered his three-month-old baby boy with a pillow and threw the baby’s body in the bushes.

On January 20, Forest Officer Shivakumar, who was out for his daily patrolling duty, smelt something foul. “I decided to see what it was. I saw some blood on a stone and there was something black just a few meters away. When I went to see what it was, it looked like a burnt body. I was so shocked. I immediately informed the Bidadi Police,” Shivakumar told TNM.

“The murder is believed to have been committed on January 19. I was patrolling that same area that morning and left after looking through the forest area, just like I do every day. Maybe if I had come a little later, I could have saved the woman and the child. We are looking for the baby round the clock,” Shivakumar added.

On January 26, the woman’s father, Govindaiah, filed a missing person complaint online. Govindaiah had stated that his daughter and grandson had disappeared and that Raju was evading his calls.

“The woman’s father suspected that Raju was involved in her disappearance. After the forensic report came back, we realised that the body found on January 20 belonged to Sushma, the same one reported missing,” the Bidadi police said.

On Wednesday, the police arrested SK Raju and grilled him for hours, after which he allegedly confessed to killing the baby boy as well. “When we went to the bushes, there was a pillow but there was no baby. We are still searching for the baby’s body,” the police added.

Shivakumar told media that when they went to look for the baby’s body, they spotted a leopard prowling the area and decided to come back later. Officials now suspect that the leopard may have taken the baby’s body.

Raju was booked for murder and has been remanded to judicial custody.

Nasheman News :Rajiv Saxena, the co-accused in Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal case, and corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar were extradited to India in the early hours of Thursday from United Arab Emirates (UAE), in another breakthrough for the government which managed successful extradition of Christian Michel James in December last year.

The extradition comes as a major boost to the Indian agencies investigating corruption angles in two separate cases involving Saxena and Talwar. 

Informed sources said a two-member ED team headed by an Inspector General rank officer and officials of Ministry of External Affairs and Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) have accompanied both the accused to Delhi from Dubai in the aircraft which landed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here around 2.30 a.m. 

Soon after the aircraft landed, Talwar was taken into Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody, sources said.

After completing the immigration process and medical examination, he was moved to the ED’s Jamnagar House office here. There was, however, no clear information on Saxena’s whereabouts.

Saxena was reportedly picked up by the UAE security authorities from his residence on Wednesday morning and extradited to India in the evening for his pivotal role in laundering the money received to pay kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland scam. 

Besides Saxena, the agencies also brought corporate lobbyist Talwar to India as he fled to Dubai after the Indian agencies started probing his role for concealing income of more than Rs 1,000 crore as well as facilitating aviation contracts during the UPA regime. He is accused of brokering aviation sector deals, getting government approval in foreign companies, securing favours for clients and having ties with UPA functionaries. 

In Saxena case, the ED in its supplementary charge sheet had elaborated on how the bribe money paid to clinch the AgustaWestland chopper deal was “layered” and projected as “untainted money” by creating “fictitious invoices”. 

In its charge sheet, the ED has also mentioned how fictitious engineering contracts were created to hide the kickbacks allegedly paid by AgustaWestland to companies directly controlled by lawyer Gautam Khaitan — now in ED custody — and his associate Saxena. 

A Delhi court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Saxena, a businessman in Dubai, after it knew that he had not joined investigation despite repeated summons against him. 

Saxena’s name was mentioned in a charge sheet filed against his wife, Shivani, who is out on bail now after being arrested by the ED. 

Saxena was named only in the third supplementary complaint filed in July 2018. The same is also under challenge before Delhi High Court by another accused in the case, Khaitan. 

In a statement, Saxena’s lawyers Geeta Luthra and Prateek Yadav meanwhile claimed “there was no extradition proceedings started in the UAE” and that their client was neither allowed to access his family or lawyers, nor did he get his essential daily medicine. 

Saxena and Talwar were extradited like British national and the middleman in the AgustaWestland case, Michel, 57, who was brought to India on December 4, 2018 following his extradition by the UAE. He is currently in ED custody. 

The ED had earlier arrested Saxena, the Director of Matrix Holdings Dubai, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with the case. 

On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force (IAF) over alleged breach of contractual obligations and on charges of paying kickbacks amounting to Rs 423 crore.

Nasheman News : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file response on the bail plea of senior journalist Upendra Rai in a money laundering case.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on March 19.

Rai is facing three different cases. He has already been granted bail in two cases being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

But Rai cannot come out of jail as he continues to be in judicial custody in the money laundering, being probed by the ED.

The ED has alleged that Rai took “undue advantage of his connections with several government officials” to gain access to confidential information available with them about the penal proceedings being contemplated against various defaulters, at times in advance.

In its case filed on May 1, the CBI has accused him of using false information to obtain a pass to access sensitive areas in airports across the country. On January 7, the Delhi High Court granted him bail.

On May 5, the CBI filed the second FIR against Rai alleging that he took money from a Mumbai-based real estate company to settle an issue with income tax department and adverse media reporting. He was granted bail in the second case on December 11.

Three women were arrested Tuesday in connection with the poisoning of ‘prasad’ at a temple in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapura district.

Three women were arrested Tuesday in connection with the poisoning of ‘prasad’ at a temple in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapura district, police said.

Two women had died while scores of other people were hospitalised with complaints of vomiting and loose motions after they allegedly consumed ‘prasad’ at Gangamma temple on January 25 evening.

Those arrested were identified as Lakshmi, Amaravathi and Parvathamma, police said.

“They have been arrested and remanded in judicial custody. They have been charged with IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). They can be remanded in police custody, if required,” an officer at the Chintamani police station told media.

Nasheman News : A police officer and three journalists were arrested here on Tuesday midnight for extorting money from a call centre owner. Cash totalling Rs 8 lakh was recovered from the police officer’s office, police claimed on Wednesday.

The police said that Manoj Pant, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Sector 20 police station and his journalist facilitators — Udit Goel, Raman Thakur and Sushil Pandit — sought to extort money from the call centre owner against whom a case was filed in November 2018. 

In order to provide relief to the call centre owner, a deal was reportedly finalized for “crores of rupees” and an advance of Rs 8 lakh was handed over to the SHO through the journalists who were caught red-handed by Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna, his spokesman Manish Saxena said.

Pant carried out the raid after being tipped off about the racket, the spokesman said.

Additional SHO Jagvir Singh, who was found driving a Mercedes car, was suspended, added the spokesman. 

The Kerala Congress on Wednesday suspended OM George, the District Congress Committee (DCC) member from Wayanad, from primary membership of the party after the police registered a case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against him for alleged sexual assault of a tribal girl.

George, who is currently absconding, is accused of sexually assaulting the minor girl, aged 17, for one-and-half years during the time she worked as a domestic help at his house.

According to reports, the girl, who has been shifted to a government shelter home, had tried to commit suicide last week. Her parents, who too worked at George’s house, approached the police when the girl narrated her ordeal to them.

The police registered a case against George under relevant sections of the POCSO on Tuesday after taking the statements of the girl and her family.

George has also been slapped with charges under Section 376 (rape) and under the SC/ST Act.

Reports say that the police are probing the girl’s mobile phone which they believe contains crucial details regarding the case.

George, who hails from Sultan Bathery, is a former Panchayat president. Reports say that he also tried to “settle” the case with the police. The girl’s parents also alleged a local Congress leader had tried to put pressure on them to withdraw the case and offered money.

Suspending George from the party membership pending inquiry, KPCC president Mulapally Ramachandran told reporters that Congress would not brook criminals in its ranks and will not protect any accused.

Nasheman News :  Three civilians were injured on Wednesday in a grenade attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district.

Police said the militants hurled grenade at a police party in Damhal Hanjipora area. 

“The grenade missed the target and exploded on the road injuring three civilians,” an officer said. “The injured have been shifted to a hospital.”

In what appears to be the biggest financial scam in Indian history, the primary promoters of DHFL have been found to have siphoned off more than Rs. 31,000 crore of public money. The scam has primarily been carried out through grants of loans and advances to shell companies and by using other means. Money has also been routed through these dubious companies and parked outside India, to acquire assets. Cobrapost has unearthed the scam by closely analyzing documents available with public authorities and information available in public domain.

Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan happens to be the brand ambassador of this group.

The biggest victim of this alleged scam, according to Cobrapost, are Indian banks that are already reeling under enormous stress due to scams hitting the PNB, AXIS BANK and ICICI.

As illustrated in the table, together these banks have a cumulative liability of a whopping Rs 96,880 crore. These are mostly public sector banks with the exception of Kotak, ICICI, HDFC and Axis. Loans issued by the State Bank of India amounts to Rs 11,650 crore, while Bank of Baroda and Bank India loaned more than Rs 4,000 crores each.

Today’s revelation comes just days after the federal probe agency CBI booked former CEO and MD of ICICI, Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot, the promoter of Videocon along with several other big names from the banking industry in connection with a Rs 3,250 crore scam.

The anatomy of the scam, as highlighted by Cobrapost, has repercussions for the larger financial system in India. As an industry practice, loans are advanced to companies and are secured by not only the properties of the borrowers company but also by personal guaranty of the promoters of the companies.

By lending to shell companies without due diligence, the DHFL has ensured that the recovery of such dubious loans is impossible since the companies or their directors themselves do not own any assets.This way the properties/private wealth acquired by the Wadhawans and their associates by using the funds from these dubious loans are completely ring-fenced from any recovery process.

Another highlight of today’s expose by Cobrapost is the donation made by a group of companies belonging to DHFL to the ruling BJP. In total, companies owned by the DHFL have donated Rs 19.6 crore to the BJP. One of the subsidiaries, RK Developers, had hidden their donation of Rs 9.93 crore made to the BJP in their balance sheet.

The role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had come under a huge scanner after his close friends Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi fled India by defaulting the PNB worth over Rs 5,000 crore of loans. The opposition Congress has been causing grief to the ruling BJP and PM Modi for his alleged complicity in aiding Nirav Modi and Choksi to commit the large scale scam.

With the Lok Sabha elections scheduled in less than two months time, this expose is bound to have serious ramifications on the political discourse. It remains to be seen if the government will act with a lookout notice against the Wadhawans before they also leave India just like Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi did.

Courtesy : Cobrapost Exposes