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SC issues notice on CBI plea against Ram Rahim’s acquittal in 2002 murder case

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New Delhi, Jan 3: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the acquittal of controversial self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of the Dera Sacha Sauda in the Ranjit Singh murder case.

A bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar directed to tag the CBI’s special leave petition with another pending petition filed by a family member of the deceased against the acquittal of Ram Rahim and four other accused.

In September 2024, a bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and S.C. Sharma agreed to examine a plea filed by the complainant Jasgeer Singh and sought responses from the CBI, Ram Rahim and the other accused persons.

In May last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed the appeals moved by Ram Rahim and others who were convicted by a CBI court in Panchkula in 2021.

A bench of Justices Sureshwar Thakur and Lalit Batra of the high court acquitted Avtar Singh, Jasbir Singh, Sabdil Singh, and Krishan Lal, all of whom were awarded life sentences along with the self-styled godman.

Despite the acquittal, Ram Rahim remained in prison as he stood convicted in other cases of rape and murder. Former Dera manager Ranjit Singh was shot by four assailants on July 10, 2002, at Khanpur Kolian village in Haryana’s Kurukshetra.

In 2021, a special CBI court found Ram Rahim and others guilty of the murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment. It was suspected that Ranjit Singh was murdered because of his alleged role in circulating a letter that narrated how the sect head was sexually exploiting women at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati later used the same letter in a news report. He was killed soon after the report was published. Ram Rahim was also convicted on the charges of murdering the journalist.

Crime

Karni Sena national vice president shot dead in Jamshedpur, supporters block highway in protest

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Jamshedpur, April 21: Vinay Kumar Singh, the national vice president of Karni Sena and Jharkhand state president, was shot dead in Jamshedpur late Sunday night, triggering widespread outrage among his supporters, police officials said on Monday.

Singh, 46, was a resident of Aastha Space Township in Mango, Jamshedpur.

According to his family, he had left home on Sunday afternoon for work related to land dealings but did not return by evening. A search was launched, and around 11 p.m., his body was found in a bush off a dirt road, approximately 500 meters from NH-33 (Tata-Ranchi Road).

He had bullet wounds to the head and multiple injuries on his body, police said.

Police reached the spot shortly after receiving information. A scooty, a mobile phone, and a pistol were recovered from the scene.

Family members have alleged that the pistol was planted near his hand to mislead investigators, insisting Singh had no criminal background or links to weapons.

Singh also owned a tile shop near the Ulidih police station and was said to be active in land-related business. Sources said he had received threats a few months ago.

News of the murder spread rapidly, prompting Karni Sena members and supporters to block Dimna Chowk and NH-33 in protest. They demanded immediate arrest of those responsible and threatened a larger agitation if swift action was not taken.

Protesters also slammed the police for the delay in dispatching an ambulance to transport Singh’s body.

The blockade was lifted around 1 a.m. in the night after the ambulance arrived and the body was sent for post-mortem.

Police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the murder. DSP Bachan Deo Kujur said all angles are being examined and assured that the perpetrators will be brought to justice soon.

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Crime

Accused in air hostess sexual assault case was porn addict: Gurugram Police

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Gurugram, April 19: Gurugram Police said on Saturday that the accused in the air hostess sexual assault case was a porn addict, an official said.

Gurugram Police Spokesperson Sandeep Kumar said that the accused used to watch porn videos habitually, which was also confirmed from the mobile phone recovered from him.

He said that during police interrogation, it was found that the accused has a B.Sc. (OT) degree from a private institute from the years 2019-2022, and he was an average student in studies.

“For the last five months, he was working as a treatment machine technician in the ICU of the hospital. The accused going to the victim at the time of the incident was confirmed from the CCTV cameras installed in the hospital,” he said.

The Spokesperson said that during interrogation of the accused, it was also found that he had watched porn videos before the incident and even after committing the crime.

“Which is also being confirmed from the search history of the accused’s mobile phone. He was produced before the court on Saturday, from where he was sent to judicial custody for further proceedings,” he said.

Meanwhile, the SIT on Friday nabbed the accused, after analysing at least 800 CCTV cameras installed inside and outside of the hospital, who sexually assaulted the woman when she was on a ventilator.

The accused was identified as Deepak (25), a native of Muzaffarpur in Bihar. The accused had been working as a treatment machine technician in the ICU of the hospital for the past five months and was arrested in the Sadar police station area on Friday.

An official privy to the investigation said that the accused has confessed to his crime in the matter.

“While investigating the incident, eight police teams checked the footage of 800 CCTV cameras installed in the hospital, and around 50 hospital staff, including doctors, were questioned about the incident. Keeping in mind the seriousness of the incident, the police teams investigated from every angle and collected a lot of information related to the incident, as a result of which the police got great success in identifying the accused who committed the crime,” said Arpit Jain, DCP (Headquarters).

On Thursday, Vikas Kumar Arora, Commissioner of Police, Gurugram, had constituted an SIT and ordered the identification and arrest of the accused.

As per the order of the Police Commissioner, an SIT was constituted under the leadership of Arpit Jain, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Headquarters, Gurugram, in which a total of eight different police teams were given special directions and deployed to collect information and evidence related to the incident.

Dr. Sanjay Durani, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, said in a statement that: “We have been informed that the police have identified a suspect who has been taken into custody in connection with the ongoing investigation concerning allegations of sexual assault on a patient. On the basis of information provided to us by the police, we have suspended the suspect employee. As we await the final outcome of the investigation, we will continue to provide full support to the police.”

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Manipur govt launches verification of papers of arms license holders

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Imphal, April 19: The Manipur government has launched a drive to verify the licensed arms and asked all the district administrations to examine the papers of the arms license holders and arms dealers, officials said on Saturday.

A senior official said that the Commissioner (Home) has, in an urgent circular, asked the Deputy Commissioners of all 16 districts to take steps to verify the papers of arms license holders and arms dealers in their respective districts.

Accordingly, all the Deputy Commissioners directed the arms license holders and arms dealers to submit their papers in their nearest or respective police stations on or before April 25.

“Non-compliance with the orders may lead to penalisation and cancellation of arms license,” the official said, referring to the circular of the Commissioner (Home). Till March 6, around 1,000 looted and illegally held weapons, including many sophisticated arms, and a huge cache of ammunition, have been returned to the security forces since Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla appealed for the first time on February 20.

The initiative to recover the looted and illegally held arms began on May 31, 2023, when former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh made an appeal to all concerned to surrender the firearms looted from security forces and police armouries.

Officials said that before Singh’s resignation as Chief Minister on February 9, a total of 3,422 firearms had been voluntarily surrendered to the authorities and police stations in different districts.

Various official reports, political parties claimed that during the ethnic riots, which broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023, over 6,020 varied types of sophisticated arms and lakhs of different types of ammunition were looted from the police stations and police outposts by the mobs, attackers and militants.

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