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Kerala SIT gives clean chit to KSU activists in ex-Minister Veena George attack case

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In a major development in the alleged attack on former Kerala Health Minister Veena George, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Tuesday informed the court that none of the charges against the five KSU activists involved in the case can be sustained.

SIT head U. Preman submitted the final report before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kannur, stating that the activists had not committed any of the offences mentioned in the charge sheet.

The report says charges of rioting and trespassing into the railway premises will not stand.

It also makes it clear that the protesters did not obstruct the police from performing their official duties.

A black-flag protest, the SIT says, does not amount to a criminal offence.

The latest report marks a significant turn in the case, which had attracted considerable political attention after the police invoked serious charges, including attempt to murder, against the five Kerala Students’ Union (KSU) activists.

The SIT has found that the activists did not attack Veena George.

It has also said that the protesters never managed to reach her during the demonstration at Kannur railway station, early this year.

The alleged assault charge could not be established after the former minister’s gunman, Abhilash, changed his statement before the investigating team.

He told the SIT that he had not seen the protesters attempting to attack Veena George.

The original case was based largely on his statement that the protesters had attempted to assault the minister using weapons.

However, the SIT could not recover the weapons allegedly used in the incident.

The investigation found that what took place was a scuffle between the KSU activists and the police.

The team had earlier submitted a report to the Director General of Police (DGP), pointing out that the protest had been exaggerated and that the activists had not reached the former minister.

The gunman also reportedly told the SIT that he had given a false statement at Veena George’s direction.

This disclosure had raised questions over the original version of the incident.

The latest report before the court now places the entire case in a different light, with the SIT concluding that the protesters cannot be prosecuted for the offences originally alleged against them.

The case had become a major political controversy, with the Congress and the CPI(M) taking sharply opposing positions over the incident.

The CPI (M), as soon as the incident occurred in February, staged protest marches as elections were round the corner.

Bollywood

Tiger Shroff firing case: MCOCA court sends gangster Anil Pandit’s sister-in-law to police custody till Nov 16

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A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court here on Tuesday sent Suneha Pandit, the 13th accused arrested in connection with the firing incident on Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff, to police custody till November 16.

The Mumbai Crime Branch had arrested Suneha Pandit, the sister-in-law of gangster Anil Pandit, who had claimed responsibility for the October 18 firing case, from Haryana’s Karnal district.

She was produced before a special MCOCA court in Mumbai on Tuesday, where investigators sought her police custody for further questioning.

According to officials, Suneha Pandit is the wife of Abhishek, who allegedly operates a cryptocurrency account.

Funds have reportedly been received in this account from abroad, and investigators suspect that the money may be proceeds from extortion.

Abhishek Pandit is the brother of Anil Pandit and is accused of running two other groups along with his network and is said to handle payments for all operations.

The other accused persons in the firing case were assigned special codes through which Abhishek Pandit allegedly transferred money to them, police said.

The Mumbai Crime Branch had sought 15 days of police custody for Suneha Pandit.

However, her lawyer opposed the police custody request, arguing that the police have already obtained all the information they required.

The Mumbai Crime Branch also informed the court that the funds allegedly used in the Tiger Shroff firing case came from foreign sources.

In its order, the MCOCA court sent the accused woman to the custody of the Mumbai Crime Branch until November 16.

Last week, a special MCOCA court sent Amar, the 12th accused arrested from Haryana’s Sonipat, to police custody till November 6.

Prior to that, the MCOCA court had sent 11 other accused arrested in connection with the firing on Shroff’s car to police custody till November 6.

Amar was arrested from Rohna village in Sonipat.

According to officials, Amar is accused of having transferred money, allegedly used in the commission of the crime, online. The funds were reportedly used for various expenses, including the purchase of a motorcycle and booking hotel rooms linked to the case.

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Crime

Bank of Baroda ex-manager sentenced to four years in jail in CBI bribery case

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A CBI court in Lucknow has convicted and sentenced former Bank of Baroda branch manager Subodh Kumar Rastogi to four years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 in a bribery case dating back to 2015, an official statement said on Tuesday.

According to the statement, Rastogi, who was serving as the Branch Manager of Bank of Baroda’s Balrampur branch in Uttar Pradesh at the time of the offence, was found guilty of demanding and accepting illegal gratification from a borrower. The court delivered its judgment on November 2 after completing the trial.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered the case against Rastogi on October 26, 2015, based on a complaint filed by a businessman who had secured a loan of Rs 5 lakh from the bank for the expansion of his solar lights business.

The complainant alleged that while disbursing Rs 1.25 lakh as a term loan, the branch manager collected around Rs 25,000 under the pretext of chartered accountant fees, stamp paper charges and file processing expenses, the CBI said in the statement.

It was further alleged that after a cash credit limit of Rs 3.75 lakh was sanctioned, Rastogi demanded an additional bribe of Rs 25,000 and threatened to close the borrower’s account if the payment was not made.

Acting on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and caught the accused red-handed while allegedly accepting Rs 10,000 as illegal gratification from the complainant.

Following the investigation, the agency filed a charge sheet against Rastogi on December 18, 2015.

After examining the evidence and hearing the case from both sides, the court found him guilty and awarded the sentence, bringing the decade-old corruption case to a close.

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Crime

Rajasthan Police raid Naresh Meena ancestral home in Nahargarh forest office attack case

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The Rajasthan Police intensified their search for Naresh Meena, chief of the Bhagat Singh Sena and a farmers’ leader, in connection with the alleged attack on the Forest Department’s range office in Nahargarh town of Baran district, conducting a raid at his ancestral residence in Nayagaon on Tuesday.

However, Meena was not present at the house, and the police team returned empty-handed. Meena has announced through a social media post that he will surrender at the Nahargarh police station on November 6 at 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, police have arrested four other accused in the case and are conducting raids to trace the remaining suspects.

The case relates to an incident in which a group of people allegedly barged into the Forest Department’s range office, vandalised government property, assaulted forest personnel and took away a generator seized by the department.

Acting on the directions of Baran SP Abhishek Andasu, a special police team was constituted to apprehend Meena. The team included Atru Circle Officer Ramanand Yadav, Mothpur SHO Kamal Singh, Baran Sadar SHO Nawalkishore Meena and personnel from the District Special Team (DST). The team reached Meena’s ancestral residence in Nayagaon early Tuesday morning. However, he was not found there.

Police officials said efforts were underway to identify and apprehend others involved in vandalising government property, obstructing government officials from performing their duties, and allegedly threatening forest personnel.

Following the police raid, Meena posted a message on social media claiming that the police had reached his residence at 5 a.m. to arrest him. He announced that he would surrender at the Nahargarh police station on November 6 at 5 p.m. In the same post, he appealed to voters in Rajasthan to move beyond the Congress and BJP and support what he described as a Third Front. He urged people to vote for the BSP (elephant symbol) or the RLP (bottle symbol), support strong Independent candidates and vote for Left candidates in Sikar.

His announcement comes amid heightened political activity in the state ahead of the ongoing Panchayati Raj elections. The incident occurred on November 1 when Pradeep Singh Rathore, in charge of the Nahargarh forest check-post, along with a forest guard and other personnel, seized a generator allegedly being used for an illegal tubewell on forest land in Jhiri Tapra.

The generator was subsequently brought to the Forest Department’s range office. According to the allegations, Naresh Meena arrived at the office with hundreds of supporters, who allegedly threatened to set the premises on fire, assaulted forest personnel and tore badges and nameplates from their uniforms. They also allegedly damaged official documents, including the seizure panchnama, before taking away the confiscated generator in a mini transport vehicle. The incident reportedly caused significant damage to government property and led to a police investigation.

Nahargarh SHO Vivek Harsana said police had arrested four persons on Monday in connection with the incident. They were subsequently produced before a court and sent to jail. The arrested accused have been identified as Jitendra Nagar (36), a resident of Nahargarh; Devendra Kushwaha (22), a resident of Balapura; Pappu Bhil (25), a resident of Lakdai; and Murari Gurjar (20), a resident of Murari. Police said efforts were continuing to apprehend the remaining accused, including the main suspect, Naresh Meena.

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