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Israeli troops kill three Palestinians in occupied West Bank raids

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Israeli forces have killed three Palestinians in two separate incidents in the occupied West Bank, Palestine’s Health Ministry said, as Israeli troops reported opening fire on fleeing suspects and “being pelted with rocks” during raids.

Palestine’s Health Ministry said that Habib Kamil, 25, and Abdulhadi Nazal, 18, were killed by live Israeli bullets in the town of Qabatiya near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

The Israeli military said that during a raid to arrest a suspect in Qabatiya, “the wanted suspect and an additional suspect fled the scene.”

“The forces fired toward them. The wanted suspect was apprehended and a hit on the additional suspect was identified,” Israeli army said in a statement.

In an ensuing gunfight and clashes, Israeli soldiers shot two other Palestinians, the statement said.

The uptick in West Bank violence continued the trend of 2022, which was the deadliest since UN records began in 2005.

Fears of a military escalation in the territory have been sparked by the inauguration in late December of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

The West Bank, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, is home to about 2.9 million Palestinians. An estimated 500,000 illegal Jewish settlers now also live in West Bank communities considered unlawful under international law.

‘Don’t be afraid’

Earlier in the day, Palestine announced that 41-year-old Samir Aouni Harbi Aslan was killed “by a bullet of the Israeli occupation army” in Qalandia refugee camp, near Ramallah.

The Israeli military said troops had fired on people who “hurled rocks and blocks from the rooftops aiming at soldiers operating beneath”.

Eighteen people were arrested in raids overnight Wednesday-Thursday across the West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said.

Azzam Abdel Qader, who witnessed the raid, said Aslan was shot on the balcony of his home as his son was being detained.

“He shouted at the soldiers and said to his son: ‘Don’t be afraid’,” Qader told the AFP news agency. 

“After that, stones were being thrown at the occupation soldiers in the neighbourhood, so the soldiers started shooting randomly.”

Mourners gathered in Qalandia for the funeral of Aslan, the third Palestinian killed in the West Bank in 24 hours.

The Qabatia deaths bring the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of the year to nine.

More killings after deadly year 

On Wednesday, an Israeli civilian shot dead a 19-year-old Palestinian near a settlement in the southern West Bank.

The incident followed Israeli troops killing a Palestinian fighter in a firefight during an incursion by the forces into the northern city of Nablus.

His funeral on Thursday drew hundreds of mourners, who gathered in the city hours after another incursion by Israeli forces.

Two Palestinian journalists were among those wounded during the raid.

A surge in bloodshed last year saw at least 26 Israelis and 200 Palestinians killed across Israel and the occupied West Bank, according to an AFP tally.

More than 150 of the fatalities were in the occupied West Bank, according to United Nations figures.

(Source: TRT WORLD)

Crime

Parents of Kolkata law college rape victim should be ready for long battle like us: RG Kar victim’s parents

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Kolkata, June 28: In the midst of the outrage and politics over the rape of a woman in a Kolkata law college, the parents of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder victim stated on Saturday that the law student’s parents should also be ready to fight a protracted legal battle.

Their comments came days after a Kolkata-based law college student became a victim of rape within the college premises on June 25 evening.

They stated that the woman’s parents should also be ready for a long battle considering the influential backing enjoyed by the three accused in the case.

The mother of the junior doctor who became a victim of a ghastly rape and murder in August last year, expressed apprehension that like the case of her daughter, there might be attempts to protect the accused in the law college rape case also in the due course.

Hence, they feel that what is required now is a mass movement exactly in line with what happened after the heinous crime with their daughter.

“What is even more shocking is that even after the tragedy with my daughter, there was not enough initiative to ensure the safety of women within educational institutions where they study. The administration and ruling party are now trying to shy away from their responsibilities over the crime in the law college rape. It is natural. But the reality is that the influential backing that the accused persons enjoyed gave them the courage to conduct such a heinous crime within the college premises,” the R.G Kar victim’s mother said.

The father of the R.G. Kar victim said that he fears that like the case of his daughter, there might be attempts by influential people and even a section within the administration to protect the accused.

“So I also feel that the parents of the victim in the law college case should also be prepared for a long battle like us. They should understand that the administration will not do anything and they will have to fight their own battle as we have been doing. What the victim’s parents need now is the spontaneous public support which we have received,” he said.

All the three accused in the case, namely Monojit Mishra, Zaib Ahmed, and Pramit Mukhopadhyay were linked to Trinamool Congress’ students’ wing Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP).

Pictures of Mishra with different top and heavyweight Trinamool Congress leaders have already flooded social media. While Mishra is a former student of the same law college, the other two are existing students.

All three of them, on Friday, were remanded to police custody till July 1.

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Crime

25 prison officials in Punjab suspended in crackdown against drug networks

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Chandigarh, June 28: In a major action against corruption and drug networks in prisons, the Punjab government on Saturday said it has suspended 25 officials, including three Deputy Superintendents and two Assistant Superintendents.

The government said the action is part of the drive to root out corruption and dismantle drug networks operating inside prisons.

“Following reports of irregularities and drug-related activities within jails, the government said the action was to end corruption and drug networks. The big action was taken as per information received about corruption and drug networks in jails,” the government said in a statement.

In March, the government shifted notorious jailed gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria from the high-security Bathinda Central Jail to Silchar Jail in Assam as authorities suspected that detained gangsters were running drug syndicates from Punjab’s prisons.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had arrested Bhagwanpuria, also an accused in the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (PIT NDPS) Act.

Bhagwanpuria, against whom 128 FIRs have been registered in Punjab and other states, was arrested in a murder case in 2015 and, since then, has been lodged in several jails, previously in Punjab.

In the singer Moosewala’s murder case, it was Bhagwanpuria and gangster Lawrence Bishnoi who had hatched a conspiracy to kill him.

However, later, both fell apart. Bhagwanpuria, a native of Gurdaspur district, is considered the most dreaded gangster of Punjab after Bishnoi and has more than five cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for hatching conspiracies to disturb communal harmony in Punjab.

Bhagwanpuria is facing 15 cases of arms and drug smuggling. On his shifting to Assam, the NCB had said then that Bhagwanpuria was moved out of Punjab as he had “established linkages” with international operatives in Canada, the US and Pakistan. His relocation was a must to disrupt the ecosystem, facilitating continued criminal activities, it added.

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Crime

Mere recovery of blood-stained weapon matching deceased’s blood group not sufficient to prove murder: SC

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suprim court

New Delhi, June 27: Upholding the acquittal of an accused, the Supreme Court has ruled that mere recovery of a blood-stained weapon bearing the same blood group as that of the deceased would not be sufficient to prove the charge of murder.

A bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and P.B. Varale was dealing with a criminal appeal filed by the Rajasthan government challenging a judgment of the Rajasthan High Court, which had acquitted the respondent-accused of the offence of murder.

In its impugned order, a division bench set aside the judgment passed by the Additional Sessions Judge in December 2008, which had convicted the respondent for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs 100, and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo 3 months simple imprisonment.

During the trial, the respondent was charged with the murder of Chotu Lal, which took place on the intervening night of March 1 and 2, 2007.

Initially, an FIR was filed against unknown assailants, and at a later stage, the respondent was arraigned in the case on the basis of suspicion and circumstantial evidence.

The prosecution led circumstantial evidence in the form of motive, alleging the respondent was having an evil eye on the wife of the deceased; recovery of the weapon of offence and the FSL report indicating that the blood group on the weapon matched with the blood group of the deceased (B +ve).

Contrary to the findings of the trial court, the Rajasthan High Court opined that the prosecution could not prove the complete chain of circumstances required to bring home the guilt of the accused in the case, which was based entirely on circumstantial evidence, and proceeded to acquit the respondent.

Concurring with the view taken by the Rajasthan HC, the Justice Mehta-led Bench said: “We find that the incriminating circumstances relied upon by the prosecution, i.e., the motive and the recovery of the blood stained weapon, even taken in conjunction cannot constitute the complete chain of incriminating circumstances required to bring home the charges against the accused.”

“The High Court seems to have overlooked the FSL report, which fact was stressed upon by learned counsel for the appellant (state government). However, in our view, even if the FSL report is taken into account, then also, other than the fact that the weapon recovered at the instance of the accused tested positive for the same blood group as that of the deceased (B +ve), nothing much turns on the said report,” it added.

The apex court, relying upon a previous judgment of the apex court, opined that mere recovery of a blood-stained weapon even bearing the same blood group of the victim would not be sufficient to prove the charge of murder.

It discarded the theory of motive, saying the evidence in that regard seems to be very vague and vacillating.

The Justice Mehta-led Bench added that the law is well settled by a catena of apex court decisions that in an appeal against acquittal, interference can only be made if the only possible view based on the evidence points to the guilt of the accused and rules out his innocence.

Dismissing the appeal of the state government, the Supreme Court said: “In the present case, we are duly satisfied that the prosecution failed to lead clinching evidence to bring home the charges. The only possible view is the one taken by the High Court, i.e., the innocence of the accused.”

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