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Maharashtra to probe police ‘inaction’ on Shraddha’s SOS letter

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Taking strong cognisance, the Maharashtra government has ordered a probe into the Palghar Police’s ‘inaction’ on a letter written by Shraddha Walkar in November 2020, apprehending death threats from her live-in partner Aftab Amin Poonawala.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said he had seen the contents which were “very serious”, and said the matter needs to be investigated.

“Without blaming anybody, we need to know the truth… If the police had acted in a timely manner, this (killing of Shraddha by Poonawala) could have been avoided,” Fadnavis told mediapersons.

On November 23, 2020, Walkar had submitted a written complaint to the Tulinj Police Station expressing apprehensions from her Aftab and how he threatened to “kill and cut her into pieces”.

The letter, which has just surfaced, was duly acknowledged by the local police, who also said that though they had probed the matter, Shraddha later gave another letter withdrawing her previous complaint, signalling an end to the issue.

In her hand-penned plea, she sounded distressed, stating that Aftab was beating her up, blackmailing her and was threatening to murder her and cut her body into pieces.

Nearly two years later now, Shraddha’s worst fears proved true with Aftab’s arrest on November 12 for her gory killing in Delhi on may 18, chopping her body into many pieces and then disposing them off over several weeks.

In her letter, Shraddha, then 25, mentioned how she and Aftab, then 26, were living together in Vijay Vihar Complex, but he had been abusing and beating her up for six months.

“Today he tried to kill me by suffocating me and he scared and blackmails me that he will kill me cut me up in pieces and throw me away.

“It has been six months he has been beating me. I did not have the guts to go to the police because he would threaten to kill me,” she wrote in the letter.

In a shocking revelation, Shraddha said that Aftab’s parents “are aware that he beats me and that he tried to kill me”.

“They also know about we living together and they visit us on weekends. I lived with him till date as we were supposed to get married anytime soon and had the blessings of his family.”

Apparently fed up, she declared that “henceforth, I am not willing to live with him, so any kind of physical damage should be considered coming from him as he has been blackmailing to kill me or hurt me whenever he sees me anywhere”.

A police officer had even gone to the rented house in Vasai east, where the young couple resided, to conduct an enquiry but she categorically told them that said she didn’t want to pursue the matter, according to local media.

Since she had already given a letter withdrawing her earlier complaint the police said they couldn’t force her to pursue the case or even forcibly enter her home.

Crime

32-Year-Old Man Arrested For Hoax Bomb Threat To Mumbai Police Control Room; Suspect Was Drunk & Had Past Record Of Similar Calls

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Mumbai: Panic gripped the Mumbai Police force on Thursday evening after the control room received a call from an unidentified person claiming that a bomb would be detonated inside a suburban local train — the city’s lifeline. Within hours, the Azad Maidan police special team traced and arrested the caller, identified as Suraj Dharma Jadhav (32), from Kalina, Santacruz.

According to police officials, Jadhav, who is addicted to alcohol, has a past record of making similar hoax bomb threat calls to the police.

About The Case

On Thursday, after consuming liquor, he allegedly phoned the police control room and declared that he would trigger a blast in a suburban train before abruptly disconnecting the call. When police dialed back, the number was found switched off.

With Independence Day around the corner, senior police officials took the threat very seriously and directed the local police, Railway Police, and the Crime Branch to conduct immediate checks. Security was tightened across railway stations, with increased deployment, baggage checks, and inspection of suspicious individuals. However, no suspicious object was found.

Investigators traced the call to Kalina and picked up Jadhav for questioning. During interrogation, he confessed to making the hoax bomb threat. Police revealed that he had earlier been arrested for a similar offense and was out on bail. Despite having been bound down previously under preventive action by the Assistant Commissioner of Police’s office, Jadhav repeated the offense. Authorities have now warned that stricter action will be taken if he violates the bond conditions again.

Meanwhile, the Railway Police Force (RPF) and local police continued heightened vigilance at key stations following the threat.

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Crime

Mumbai: POCSO Court Sentences 50-Year-Old Businessman To 20 Years For Repeated Sexual Assault Of Minor

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Mumbai: A special POCSO court in Dindoshi sentenced a 50-year-old Malad businessman, who owns an imitation jewellery factory, to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly sexually assaulting a minor girl from April 2021 to February 2023 on the promise of marriage.

Observation Made By The Court

The Dindoshi court, while convicting the businessman, held that, “it is indigestible that a married man who at the relevant time, which is, from 2021 to 2023, was the father of four children, still enticed the victim expressing his desire to marry with her. This itself goes to show that the accused not only had a culpable mental state of mind but also the accused committed the offence of rape, not on one occasion but repeatedly.”

The court noted that the accused exploited the victim’s minority and her family’s status as his tenants, with her mother working in his factory. “The victim was influenced by the accused to marry her once she attained majority. The innocence of the victim reflects from her understanding that she had no idea about the consequences that the accused is quite older than her, he is already married and has four children,” the court added, noting the victim’s lack of maturity and understanding of reality.

In a separate case, a Thane sessions court sentenced a 35-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, with a Rs 10,000 fine, for raping his 10-year-old stepdaughter in April 2019, along with a one-year sentence under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and a Rs 1,000 fine.

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Crime

Two Held With ₹68 Lakh Cash Near India-Myanmar Border In Mizoram; Heroin Worth ₹78 Lakh Seized

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Aizawl: Two persons were arrested with Rs 68 lakh in cash near the India-Myanmar border in east Mizoram’s Champhai district, officials said on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off, the Assam Rifles intercepted a vehicle at Zote village on August 11, they said.

Upon thorough checking, Rs 60 lakh in cash was recovered from two persons in the vehicle.

The duo, identified as Joseph Lalthansanga and Vanlalruati, could not state any proper reason why they were carrying such a huge amount of cash. They were subsequently handed over to the police for legal action, officials said.

In another operation, the Assam Rifles recovered 94.6 gram of heroin, worth Rs 78 lakh, from the village on Wednesday.

The drugs were handed over to the Excise and Narcotics Department, officials said.

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