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CBI sleuths at Pinarayi’s residence to probe assault case against Oommen Chandy

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The CBI officials on Tuesday arrived at the Cliff House — Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s official residence — to probe a complaint of the prime accused in the infamous solar scam that she was sexually attacked by the previous resident of the house, Congress Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

While serving as the chief minister from 2011-16, Chandy, along with his family and staff, resided in the Cliff House.

The CBI has registered six cases based on the prime accused’s complaint in the solar scam that she was sexually attacked by six top leaders which includes five top Congress leaders –Chandy, Lok Sabha member Adoor Prakash, AICC general secretary
(Organisation) Hibi Eden, Rajya Sabha member K.C.Venugopal and former State Minister and Congress legislator A.P.Anil Kumar besides national BJP vice-president A.P. Abdulla Kutty.

In the presence of the complainant, the team will collect the evidence from the house.

She was called to the Cliff House in 2012 by the then security official of Chandy, the complaint reads. And she was sexually abused by Chandy there.

On April 5, the probing team, along with the ‘victim’ arrived at the high security Kerala Legislative quarters as part of evidence collection in the case against Eden.

Incidentally, the ‘victim’ had raised a complaint against Vijayan, who handed it over to the CBI.

Just before the April 2021 Assembly polls, Vijayan forwarded the petition to the CBI, which agreed to take up the probe.

Following this, the CBI by now has filed three cases at the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court, here and one case in the CJM Kochi court.

However, the Kerala Police probe had earlier found out that there was nothing to prove the crime that and Chandy all along have said he has done no wrong and does not fear anything and will fully cooperate with the probe.

One of the main reasons behind Chandy government not getting a second term in 2016 was the scams involving the ‘victim’ and few others of the Chandy’s office, which the Left used widely in their election campaign in 2016.

The woman and her then live-in partner reportedly went around selling solar schemes and collected money from several people and cheated them. In between, her links with a few office staff of Chandy surfaced, which became the biggest campaign issue of the Left.

This was one reason why the Congress-led UDF government which was aiming for a second term in 2016, suffered a rout and for all practical purpose, after this shocker, the party has never been able to regain its lost glory and it continues to haunt the top leaders.

Crime

At least 18 killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

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Gaza, Dec 21: At least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the central and northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.

Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that Israeli warplanes targeted an apartment in the multi-story “Yaffa” tower in the al-Nuseirat camp, located in central Gaza.

A statement from Al-Awda Hospital in the camp confirmed that eight people were killed and 14 others injured, some seriously, in the attack.

In northern Gaza, Israeli shelling struck a house belonging to the “Khilla” family in Jabalia Al-Balad, killing 10 people and injuring several others, according to the Gaza Strip’s Civil Defence.

The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.

Also on Friday, the military wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that one of its fighters had carried out a suicide attack targeting an Israeli force of six soldiers in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza.

The Israeli army has not issued a comment on this incident.

Earlier on Thursday at least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombings in northern Gaza, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

At least 10 people were killed on Wednesday night and some others injured when the Israeli aircraft bombed the house of the Al-Najjar family in the town of Jabalia, WAFA said.

Six more people were killed due to Israeli bombing on the house of the Al-Zaytouniya family near the Al-Tabi’in School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, east of Gaza City, it added.

The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.

Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault on southern Israel, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages taken.

As of Friday, the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 45,206, according to Gaza-based health authorities.

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Crime

Maharashtra: Govt Employee Accused Of Attacking Marathi-Speaking Family In Kalyan Surrenders Before Cops

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The Maharashtra government employee accused of attacking a Marathi-speaking family at Kalyan in Thane district surrendered before police on Friday, a senior officer said.

Akhilesh Shukla (48), an employee of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), his wife Geeta (45) and others have been named in an FIR related to the alleged attack on the family, their neighbour, on December 18 after an argument.

Akhilesh Shukla surrendered before the Khadakpada police, senior inspector Aamarnath Waghmode said.

“We will trace the other accused,” said the police.

Meanwhile, before surrendering, Shukla posted a video on social media in which he claimed his wife was beaten up by family members of the victims.

The police have registered a case against Shukla and his wife Geeta (45) under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 74 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 189 (2) (3) and (5) (unlawful assembly) and others.

According to police, the attack took place around 8.45 pm on December 18, and the accused as well as the victims live on the same floor of a building in Kalyan.

As per the FIR, the victim saw Shukla quarrelling with one of their neighbours over lighting of an incense stick. The victim asked Shukla to maintain peace and not to abuse and insult the entire Marathi-speaking community.

The accused couple got angry on hearing this and beat up the victim and his wife with the help of eight to ten others. They attacked the male victim using some sharp weapon, iron rod, pipes and wooden sticks, and inflicted wounds on his arms, legs and face. The accused also molested his wife and threatened the couple, it added.

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Crime

RG Kar tragedy: Calcutta HC rejects Bengal government’s objections on venue of protests by doctors’ body

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Kolkata, Dec 20: The Calcutta High Court on Friday rejected the state government’s objections on the venue for the sit-in protest by the West Bengal Joint Platform of Doctors, an association of senior doctors, against the default bail granted to two accused of tampering with the evidence in the case of the ghastly rape and murder of a woman junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital within the hospital premises in August.

The single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh on Thursday already gave permission to the doctors’ body to hold the sit-in-demonstration at Doreena Crossing in central Kolkata.

At the same time, the bench gave the opportunity to the administration to furnish its views by Friday on the possible restrictions on the programme.

However, on Friday, the counsel for the state government objected to the venue of the demonstration on grounds of traffic congestion on occasions of Christmas and New Year’s Eve and suggested an alternative location in the area for the event.

However, Justice Ghosh refused to accept the argument and said that when he had already given permission on Thursday for the demonstration to be conducted at Doreena Crossing, there was no reason for the administration to raise objections on the venue.

He advised the state administration to raise a seven-foot tall guardrail around the protest venue and ensure the protesters stayed within the enclosure during the protest period. He also said that under no circumstance, the protest programme can be extended beyond December 26.

He also ruled that the protesters should not make any objectionable comment from the protest venue or do anything that might hamper the festive mood of the city in this part of the year.

Justice Ghosh also ruled that under no circumstance the number of protesters assembling at the venue should exceed 250.

Last week, a special court in Kolkata granted default bail to the former and controversial principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal as the CBI failed to file the supplementary charge sheet against the two within 90 days from the day of their arrests. Both were accused of misleading the investigation and tampering with evidence while the initial investigation was being carried out by Kolkata Police. Following the development, the representatives of the medical fraternity in the state as well as the victim’s parents accused the CBI of gross incompetence

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