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Friday,10-January-2025
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Crime

Hyderabad gang rape: Police begin questioning five juveniles

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Rape

Hyderabad police on Saturday began questioning five juveniles arrested in connection with the May 28 gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in a car. The police until now was questioning only the accused who is a major.

The minors were brought to Jubilee Hills police station from Juvenile Home, where they have been lodged since their arrest a few days ago.

The police had requested Juvenile Home authorities to make arrangements for questioning the minors in their premises but that was not possible. The juveniles were then brought to the police station.

The Children in Conflict with Law (CCL), as the minors are called by the police, will be questioned from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. After 5 p.m., CCL will be handed over to Juvenile Home.

The Juvenile Justice Board on Thursday granted police a five-day custody of three CCLs. However, they could not be questioned on Friday, as the day was lost in the tussle over the location of questioning.

With the Board allowing five-day police custody of the remaining two CCLs on Friday, the police decided to bring all of them to the police station for simultaneous but separate questioning.

The investigators are likely to show CCL the evidence gathered by the police against them including the CCTV footage to make them confess to the crime.

Meanwhile, police continued questioning Saduddin Malik, who is the only major accused in the sensational case. Police officers were grilling him for the third consecutive day on Saturday.

The police are seeking to gather more information to piece together the sequence of events, role played by each of the offenders to build a strong case against the accused.

The police also plan to conduct reconstruction of crime scene and potency tests on the accused. Potency test is a medical test which establish whether a person is capable of engaging in sexual acts or not.

If necessary, the police may approach the court for extending the police custody of Malik which is expiring on Sunday.

The police officials are also reportedly collecting information from the accused as to who helped them in escaping after committing the crime. The accused were reportedly arrested from places in other states including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa.

Since the accused belong to politically influential families, police have come under flak from going soft on those who helped them flee or might have tampered with the evidence.

Out of five accused who sexually assaulted the girl, four are aged 16-17. The fifth accused is 18-year-old Malik, who is the prime accused.

The sixth accused who has been charged with molestation is one month short of turning 18. He is the son of an MLA of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM).

The leader is also the chairman of a government-run body. Two others are said to be sons of TRS corporators in Greater Hyderabad and Sangareddy. One of them is said to have played the key role in trapping the victim and lure her into the car.

Malik (18) and four CCL have been booked under IPC’s Sections 376 D (gang rape), 323 (causing hurt), Section 5 (G) (gang penetrative sexual assault on child) read with Section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 366 (kidnapping a woman) and 366 A (procuration of a minor girl) and Section 67 of Information Technology Act.

Police say the accused could face punishment for not less than 20 years or imprisonment for life till death or even death penalty.

The sixth CCL was not involved in rape but he kissed the victim in the car. He has been booked under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 and Section 9 (G) read with 10 of POCSO Act. He could face 5-7 years imprisonment.

The incident occurred on May 28 after the victim and accused attended a daytime party at a pub in upscale Jubilee Hills.

Business

Torres Jewellery Scam: MBVV Police Freeze ₹9.51 Crore Deposited In 2 Bank Accounts, 76 Victims File Complaints

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Mira Bhayandar: In a significant development in the Torres Jewellery Investment Scam, the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police have managed to freeze Rs 9.51 crore which was parked by the management of the jewellery firm in two bank accounts. While one bank account had Rs 1.77 crore, the other had a balance of Rs 7.74 crore.

“So far 76 people who have lost around Rs 1.7 crore to the evil designs of the scammers have come forward to register their complaints at the Navghar police station in Bhayandar. Funds amounting Rs 9.51 crore which were parked in two bank accounts of the firm have been freezed.” informed DCP (Zone I)- Prakash Gaikwad who has appealed to other investors to come forward and register their complaints.

According to the FIR registered at the Navghar police station four people including – Sarvesh Ashok Surve, Victoria Kowalenko, Olena Stoen (both Ukrainian Nationals) and Imran Javed have been booked under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and provisions of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act, 1999.

However, former CEO of the firm Tausif Riyaz has claimed that he and Surve were actually the whistle-blowers who reportedly flagged the suspected fraud to relevant agencies and also sent a letter to the prime minister. The scam is expected to run into 1,000 crore.

The firm- Torres which boasted of being one of the largest jewellery houses in India was headquartered in Dadar having a chain of grand showrooms housed in rented spaces in areas including- Grant Road, Navi-Mumbai, Kalyan and Mira Road.

To the shock of investors in Mira Road, the establishment which was operational till Sunday (5, January) never opened on Monday. People thronged the showroom in Mira Road after learning that they had been scammed. All other branches and the headquarters in Dadar had simultaneously closed down, leaving the investors in lurch.

As per their modus-operandi, the scamsters lured investors by floating a fake scheme envisaging purchase of moissanite stones and gems with an assured 11 percent weekly cashback on the purchase value for the next one year (52 weeks).

A person investing Rs 1 lakh was assured Rs 11,000 a weekly cash back for next 52 weeks which translated into a whopping 400 percent profit amounting Rs 5.72 lakh in a year.

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Crime

Baba Siddique Murder Case: MCOCA Chargesheet Reveals ₹17 Lakh Contract, Funding From Maharashtra & Uttar Pradesh, & Bishnoi Gang’s Role

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Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch has made startling revelations in the chargesheet filed in the special MCOCA court regarding the high-profile murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique. According to the chargesheet, the ₹17 lakh contract killing was majorly funded from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, with the Bishnoi gang playing a crucial role.

Details Revealed

Crime Branch sources revealed that the money trail investigation pointed to Anmol Bishnoi and Shubham Lonkar, who orchestrated the funding through accounts opened at Karnataka Bank’s Anand branch in Gujarat under the name of accused Salman Vohra. Lonkar was tasked with handling deposits into this account, while sleeper cells of the Bishnoi gang in Uttar Pradesh transferred funds using Cash Deposit Machines (CDM) into different accounts linked to the conspirators.

Approximately 60-70% of the funding came from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and no evidence of foreign funding has been discovered so far. However, a portion of the funds reportedly reached the accused via hawala networks.

While the Maharashtra funding trail has been traced, investigators are still piecing together the financial connections from Uttar Pradesh.

The chargesheet also details the meticulous planning and surveillance carried out by the shooters. According to shooter Shiv Kumar Gautam, after two months of reconnaissance, frustration was building as they failed to find the right moment to attack. The final opportunity came on October 12, and the assassination would have been abandoned had it not materialized that day.

The chargesheet states that the shooters anticipated a police chase post-shooting. To evade capture, they purchased a pepper spray worth ₹13,000, which they kept handy. Evidence gathered by the Crime Branch supports the claim that Gautam fired at Baba Siddique, while Gurmel Singh used the spray on pursuing police officers. The planning, weapons procurement, and use of unconventional tactics like pepper spray demonstrate the sophisticated strategy behind the murder.

This chilling case continues to unfold as police pursue additional leads in the money trail and remaining accomplices linked to the Bishnoi gang.

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Crime

RG Kar case: CBI to present final arguments in special court

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Kolkata, Jan 9: The trial process in the ghastly rape and murder of a woman doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August last year has almost come to the closing stage as the counsel of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will start presenting final arguments at a special court here from Thursday.

The process of final argument by the civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, the sole prime accused in the crime, was completed on Wednesday.

After the CBI counsel completes its final argument, the same will be presented by the counsel of the victim’s parents.

Sources said that after the final arguments by the counsels of both CBI and the victim’s parents are over, the counsel of the accused will get a chance to briefly counter the contents of the final argument by CBI’s counsel.

After the entire process is over, the judge of the special court will ask the counsels of the three parties to give their final statements, following which the trial process will be over. Thereafter the process of first the conviction and then the pronouncement of sentence will follow.

Since the entire trial process is held in-camera within the closed doors of the courtroom there is no scope to know or report on the details of the arguments and counter-arguments during the process.

Barring the parties concerned and their counsels, no other person, including the media, is allowed to be present in the courtroom during the entire trial process.

The CBI had so far submitted just one charge sheet in the case identifying Sanjay Roy as the “sole prime accused” in the case. During the course of interrogation, the CBI sleuths arrested the former and controversial principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal on charges of tampering with the evidence. However, both were recently granted “default bail” by the special court because the CBI failed to file a supplementary charge sheet against them within 90 days from the date of their arrests.

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