Crime
Mumbai Covid-19 Body Bags Purchase Scam: Ex-Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar Appears Before EOW
Mumbai: Former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar appeared before the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing on Monday in connection with an alleged scam in the purchase of body bags for COVID-19 victims, a police official said. On September 6, the Bombay High Court granted interim protection from arrest for four weeks to Pednekar, noting the case probe was on and at this stage custodial interrogation was not warranted. The court also directed Pednekar to cooperate with the probe in the case and appear before the city police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on September 11, 13 and 16 for questioning.
On Monday, Pednekar reached the EOW office here at around 11 am to face an inquiry into the case, the official said.Pednekar approached the HC after a sessions court rejected her pre-arrest bail plea, saying she was accused of an economic offence involving a huge amount of public money.
The EOW had registered a case against Pednekar and two senior officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) under various Indian Penal Code sections including 420 (cheating) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), based on a complaint filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.
It was alleged that there was a misappropriation of funds and irregularities in the management of health facilities and purchase of body bags for deceased coronavirus patients, masks and other items by the BMC during the pandemic.
Pednekar was Mumbai mayor from November 2019 till March 2022 when the term of the BMC’s general body ended. Fresh civic elections are yet to be held.In her pre-arrest bail plea, Pednekar claimed she was falsely implicated in the case and the complaint against her was politically motivated. She claimed the case was lodged only after the split in the Shiv Sena party and that she is being targeted as she belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray faction.
Crime
RG Kar tragedy: Confidentiality of autopsy process compromised, states CFSL report
Kolkata, Dec 27: A report by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) over the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata in August this year, which surfaced earlier this week, has clearly stated that the confidentiality factor of the post-mortem process of the body of the victim was totally compromised and standard protocols were not followed during that process.
“Upon perusal of the videography of the PM Examination, it has been observed that there was presence of many persons inside the autopsy hall and few of them were taking photographs and videos on their personal mobiles which is against the standard and accepted protocol and practice for maintaining the confidentiality of the case and the dignity of the deceased,” the seventh point mention in the CSFL report read.
The CSFL report has maintained that the injury report of the deceased was basically prepared for pronunciation of death (i.e. brought dead) since it does not mention any detailed examination findings pertaining to injuries.
“After preparation of the Injury Certificate the body was sent for Postmortem examination. Perusal of the Magistrate inquest report shows that most of the findings were consistent with the PM report,” the CSFL report read.
The CFSL has suggested further research to be exactly sure whether the crime of rape and murder was accomplished by one or there were partners in the crime.
As per the contents of the report, while the possibility of involvement of just one accused cannot be ruled out, further research based on different past scientific reports by experts in similar cases can lead to the final conclusion on whether more than one person was involved in the crime.
Till now the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed just one charge sheet in the case where civic volunteer Sanjay Roy has been identified as “sole prime accused” in the crime of rape and murder.
On the morning of August 9 this year, the body of the victim was spotted at the seminar hall within the hospital premises of R.G. Kar. Accordingly, first the Kolkata Police and subsequently the CBI carried out the investigation considering the seminar hall as the “scene of crime”.
However, the report of the CFSL, which was submitted to the CBI clearly stated that there was no evident sign of a scuffle within the seminar room.
At the same time, the CFSL report has clearly stated that most of the wounds that were traced on the body of the victim was the result of her attempts to resist the rape.
Crime
Pune shocker: Man kidnaps, rapes and drowns 2 minor sisters in drum
Pune (Maharashtra), Dec 26: In a shocking case, the Pune Police have arrested a 54-year-old man for the alleged kidnapping, rape and murder of two minor girls in the Rajgurunagar area of the city.
The man, identified as Ajay Das, is accused of committing the heinous double crime with the two siblings aged nine and eight before he absconded, said a police official.
The dual crime occurred on Wednesday when the two girls were playing outside their home around noon, but later suddenly ‘disappeared’.
The family, which was keeping an eye on them, started a frantic search in the vicinity but failed to trace them and finally in the evening lodged a complaint with the Khed Police Station.
Responding promptly, Police Inspector Prabhakar More formed teams to launch a system effort to trace the two missing sisters but did not get any clues.
Late in the night, around 10.30 p.m., the police and the family inspected the two siblings’ room on the upper floors of their building and made the shocking discovery.
The two girls’ bodies were found at Das’ home, in a huge drum filled with water, with their heads below and their feet up, pointing at murder by forcible drowning.
As the discovery created a sensation in the vicinity, the case was handed over to a woman Investigation Officer Snehal Raje, said the officials, while the victims’ bodies were sent to the Sassoon Hospital in Pune for autopsies.
Cracking the whip, the Khed Police launched a manhunt for Das and apprehended him from his hideout in a shady lodging house early in the day (December 26) as he was packing up and preparing to flee out of Maharashtra.
This morning the grieving families along with other relatives, staged a sit-in dharna outside the police station, demanding that the culprit should be given the noose, and refused to accept the bodies of the two little girls.
As per preliminary questioning, Das is understood to have confessed to the double crime and also admitted that he had to kill them to suppress the matter secretly and also prevent them from screaming or attracting attention.
Although the accused was arrested by the police, the girls’ relatives gathered at the Rajgurunagar police station, saying they would not take possession of the bodies till they got justice.
The brutal kidnap-rape-double murder has evoked strong reactions from Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Working President and MLA Rohit R. Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut and Kishore Tiwari and local Congress leaders, who slammed the ruling Mahayuti for what they termed as ‘utter failure on the law-and-order front’.
Crime
RG Kar case: Police deny permission for extension of protest by doctors
Kolkata, Dec 26: Kolkata Police have denied permission to a doctors’ association seeking an extension of their protest in the R.G. Kar rape and murder case.
The protest has been going on to condemn the failure of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to present a charge sheet against Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mondal, who are accused of tampering with the evidence in the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of state-run R.G. Medical College and Hospital.
The sit-in protest at Doreena Crossing organised by the West Bengal Joint Platform of Doctors, an umbrella association of doctors practising in the state, is supposed to end in the evening.
A member of the doctor’s body said they forwarded a communique on Wednesday night to the city police for permission to extend the sit-in protest.
However, on Thursday, the city police replied to the doctors’ email communique claiming the inability to give permission on certain grounds.
“We are weighing legal options available to ensure the extension of the demonstration. Initially, the city police even denied granting permission for the ongoing sit-in demonstration which is scheduled to end this afternoon. However, later we got permission for the same from the Calcutta High Court,” said a representative of the umbrella doctors’ body.
On Wednesday, another doctors’ body namely West Bengal Doctors Forum had written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking the change the name of “Doreena Crossing”, a popular protest point in the city, to “Abhaya Crossing”.
The victim junior doctor of the R.G Kar is referred to as “Abhaya” since the legal system of the country bars revealing the identity of any rape or rape-and-murder victim.
Recently, 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 CBI failed to file the supplementary charge sheet against them within 90 days from the date of their arrests.
Both Ghosh and Mondal were accused of misleading the investigation and tampering with the evidence when the initial investigation was being carried out by Kolkata Police.
This week, a report from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) surfaced, which has created doubts about the “scene of crime” in the rape and murder case.
On the morning of August 9, 2024, the body of the victim was spotted at the seminar hall within the hospital premises of R.G. Kar and Hospital, accordingly, first the Kolkata Police and then CBI carried out the investigation considering the seminar hall as the “scene of crime”.
However, a report that CFSL has submitted to the CBI agency clearly stated that there is no evident sign of scuffle within the seminar room, sources said.
In fact, the CFSL report strengthens the apprehension raised by the section of the medical fraternity in the state since the beginning that the actual “scene of crime” was someplace else and after the rape and murder, the body was shifted to the seminar hall to mislead the investigation.
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