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Crime

Maharashtra Sadan scam: Chhagan Bhujbal, kin discharged due to ‘lack of evidence’

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Spelling a huge relief for embattled Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, he, his son Pankaj and nephew Sameer, and five others were on Thursday discharged by a special court for “lack of evidence” in the alleged corruption cases pertaining to the Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi and other projects.

Special Judge H.S. Satbhai, in his July order, has also discharged former PWD engineer Arun Devdhar, construction firm K.S. Chamankar Ent officials Prasanna Chamankar, Krishna Chamankar, Praveena Chamankar and Praneeta Chamankar, in the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The ACB case related to the 2005 deal entered with the firm K.S. Chamankar Ent, without calling for tenders when Chhagan Bhujbal was the PWD Minister in the then Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance Democratic Front government in the state.

Contending that there was “no evidence” to prosecute them, the Bhujbals had sought discharge, terming all the allegations levelled against them in the ACB case as “fake, based on wrong calculations and assumptions”.

The court order said that undue haste was made in lodging the FIR against the accused, and the ACB’s calculations of the alleged profits made by the contractor or the implied losses accrued to the state government without taking the help of an expert was illegal and improper.

It further noted that from the documents submitted, it seemed that most of the calculations were made by the informant and Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACB, Narendra Talegaonkar, who was neither an engineer, an architect, or an expert.

The special judge said that there is no evidence that the contractor had paid the bribe of Rs 13.50 crore to the Bhujbals, their staffers or their family members named as accused in the case.

The contractor was granted the redevelopment rights on a slum pocket at the prime location of RTO in Andheri west on the condition that the company would construct the Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, the RTO Building in Mumbai, and a government guesthouse in south Mumbai.

The Bhujbals’ lawyers Prasad Dhakephalkar, Sajal Yadava and Sudarshan Khawase argued that despite the voluminous chargesheet running into over 11,000 pages filed against them by the ACB in 2019, there is not sufficient evidence to continue with the trial against them.

Opposing their plea in the court, the ACB contended that the Bhujbals and others had received kickbacks from the firm in the project to build the Maharashtra Sadan state guesthouse in New Delhi.

Against the government circular of giving 20 percent to contractors, the ACB said the company had allegedly earned 80 percent profits in the New Delhi construction project.

While the original cost for building the guesthouse was reportedly Rs 13.50 crore, it was later hiked to Rs 50 crore.

The ACB claimed that the Bhujbal’s got Rs 13.50 crore as kickbacks from the contractor who allegedly earned a total profit of around Rs 190 crore from these PWD projects.

Crime

RG Kar rape-murder: Calcutta HC seeks CBI’s response on plea for fresh probe 

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Kolkata, Dec 19: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday sought the response of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the plea filed earlier in the day, seeking a fresh probe in the ghastly rape and murder of a junior woman doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata within the hospital premises in August.

In their petition, the victim’s parents have claimed that they are highly unsatisfied with the present course of investigation by the CBI in the matter, a single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh has directed the central agency to submit its point of view on the matter to the court.

The next hearing on the matter has been scheduled for December 24 and before that, the CBI will have to submit its response and report to Justice Ghosh’s bench.

According to the parents, since the trial process in the matter has already started and the statements of the witnesses are being recorded, unless the Calcutta High Court intervenes in the matter right now, there might be possibilities of the probe going in the wrong direction.

Since the time a special court in Kolkata last week granted default bail to two individuals accused of tampering with the evidence since the CBI was unable to file a supplementary charge sheet against them within 90 days from the day of their arrest, the victim’s parents, as well as the representatives of the state’s medical fraternity, had been accusing the CBI of gross incompetence in the matter.

The CBI has come under scathing criticism because of its failure to submit the supplementary charge sheet against former and controversial Principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal. Following its failure to submit the charge sheet within the stipulated period, both Ghosh and Mondal were granted default bail in the case by a special court in Kolkata last week.

While Ghosh continues to be behind bars because of the parallel probe by the CBI against him in the case of financial irregularities at R.G. Kar, Mondal is already out on bail.

Recently, the victim’s parents have also changed their counsel representing them at the Supreme Court.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, an umbrella of the body of junior doctors in the state spearheading the movement on this issue, has already threatened to resume their protests which they withdrew earlier keeping the larger public interest in mind.

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Crime

RG Kar rape-murder: Victim’s parents approach Calcutta HC seeking fresh probe

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Kolkata, Dec 19: Not satisfied with the current course of investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata in August this year, the parents of the victim on Thursday approached the Calcutta High Court seeking a court direction for initiating a fresh probe into the matter.

The victim’s parents have claimed that they do not have any faith in the course of the current investigation by the central agency in the matter and hence they want a fresh investigation from the beginning in the matter.

The parents have moved the single-judge Bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh with their petition in the matter.

Justice Ghosh has admitted the petition and the matter might come up for hearing next week.

According to the parents, since the trial process in the matter has already started and the statements of the witnesses are being recorded, unless the Calcutta High Court intervenes in the matter right now, there might be possibilities of the probe going in the wrong direction.

Since the time a special court in Kolkata last week granted “default bail” to two individuals accused of tampering with the evidence since the CBI was unable to file a supplementary charge sheet against them within 90 days from the day of their arrest, the victim’s parents as well as the representatives of the state’s medical fraternity had been accusing the CBI of gross incompetence in the matter.

Those two accused persons were the former principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal. Ghosh is still behind bars because of the pending parallel probe by the CBI against him in the case of financial irregularities at R.G. Kar, while Mondal is already out on bail.

The CBI so far has filed only one charge sheet in the case were civic volunteer Sanjay Roy had been identified as the “sole prime accused” in the rape and murder.

Recently, the victim’s parents have also changed their counsel representing them at the Supreme Court of India.

West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, an umbrella of the body of the junior doctors in the state spearheading the movement on this issue, has already threatened to resume their protests which they withdrew earlier keeping the larger public interest in mind.

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Crime

Arms, ammunition, narcotics recovered by security forces in J&K’s Kupwara

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Srinagar, Dec 18: Security forces said on Wednesday that a large cache of arms, ammunition and narcotics was recovered during searches in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Kupwara district.

Officials said on Wednesday, “Security forces, including the Army and the police recovered four pistols, six pistol magazines, four kilograms of narcotics, and other incriminating materials during a search operation in the general area of Amrohi, Tangdhar in Kupwara District.”

Security forces have started an aggressive campaign against terrorists, their Over Ground Workers (OGWs) and sympathisers in order to dismantle the terror ecosystem in J&K.

Properties worth multiples of crores belonging to drug smugglers and peddlers have been attached in Kashmir Valley after obtaining requisite orders from the competent authority.

Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha has been chairing top-level security meetings.

During these meetings the LG has given clear orders to the security forces to go all-out against the terror ecosystem.

Union Home Minister, Amit Shah is chairing a top level security review meeting regarding J&K on Thursday in Delhi.

Chiefs of Intelligence agencies, police, CAPFs and others connected with the anti-terrorist grid in J&K will attend the meeting.

Security forces revised their strategy after terrorists carried out some dastardly attacks in the aftermath of peaceful people participative Lok Sabha and legislative Assembly elections in J&K.

These elections were witnessed by diplomats of many countries and this, according to Intelligence agencies, has frustrated the terror handlers sitting across the border in Pakistan.

Intelligence inputs indicate that the terror handlers have given directions to terrorists in J&K to give dying terrorism its last push.

Heightened vigilance is also being maintained at the border in J&K following reports that terrorists are waiting at the launching pads to sneak into the Indian side of the border before the mountain passes are closed by this season’s snow.

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