New Delhi, Aug 22: In a major breakthrough against long-evading fugitives, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Saturday arrested a proclaimed offender who had been absconding for nearly 15 years in connection with an extortion case, officials said on Saturday.

The accused, identified as 72-year-old Hari Singh Shekhawat, a resident of Rajasthan’s Jaipur, was arrested by a team of the South-Western Range (SWR) of the Special Cell following an extensive inter-state search spanning Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The case dates back to 2008, when Shekhawat allegedly attempted to extort money from a prominent multinational garment company while he was employed with the firm. Following the incident, a case was registered against him at the Special Cell police station under Sections 384, 389, 506 and 511 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to officials, Shekhawat subsequently failed to appear before the court on multiple occasions and continued to evade the legal proceedings. Due to his persistent non-appearance, the court declared him a Proclaimed Offender on April 2, 2016.

In view of the recent efforts to track down absconding criminals and fugitives involved in sensational crimes, a team of the SWR/Special Cell was constituted to pursue such offenders and prevent them from committing further crimes.

The team was led by Inspector Sandeep Yadav and Inspector Neeraj Kumar under the supervision of ACP Puran Chandra Pant. The officers deployed extensive human surveillance and conducted sustained efforts to establish the whereabouts of criminals who had been evading arrest for prolonged periods.

“Consequent to the rigorous groundwork for more than one month, it was established that initially, he had shifted to Gujarat to avoid legal proceedings in this case and later on, shifted to Rajasthan,” officials said.

Investigators found that Shekhawat had initially moved to Gujarat in an attempt to avoid the legal proceedings arising from the extortion case. He subsequently shifted to Rajasthan, where he remained under the radar and continued to evade arrest for several years.

On August 13, the Special Cell team received credible information that the absconder was hiding in Jaipur, Rajasthan, in an attempt to avoid being arrested in the long-pending case.

Following the information, a dedicated raiding team was immediately formed and sent to Jaipur.

The police team carried out an intensive search operation in Jaipur and eventually confirmed that the accused was residing inside a residential society in the city. After verifying his presence and establishing his identity, the team apprehended Shekhawat from the residential premises.

The accused was subsequently arrested in accordance with the provisions of law, officials said, bringing to an end his prolonged period of evasion from the authorities.

Police officials said the arrest was the result of sustained surveillance, intelligence gathering and coordinated efforts across multiple states to locate the accused, who had repeatedly changed his place of residence to remain away from the legal process.

Hari Singh Shekhawat is a graduate of XLRI and has worked with several renowned multinational corporations in senior positions during his professional career.

According to officials, he was working with a prominent garment multinational company when he allegedly attempted to extort money from the firm in 2008.

Chhindwara, Aug 22: A major accident struck the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Chhindwara District Hospital in Madhya Pradesh in the wee hours of Saturday when a radiant warmer machine caught fire, leaving three newborns with serious burn injuries.

The incident occurred around 2 a.m. in the wee hours of Saturday. According to hospital officials, the three infants were placed inside the warmer to maintain normal body temperature and receive intensive care after birth.

Suddenly, a filament in the heating unit of the warmer sparked, triggering a fire. The presence of oxygen in the NICU caused the blaze to spread rapidly inside the enclosed unit, engulfing the newborns.

Paediatrician of the Hospital Dr Anshul Lamba, confirmed that the sparking in the warmer’s heating filament led to the fire.

“Newborns are kept in warmers after birth to keep their body temperature stable. At night, the filament sparked suddenly and the fire broke out. All three babies suffered severe burns,” he said.

Panic gripped the hospital as the fire erupted. Doctors and staff on duty acted swiftly. They pulled the infants out of the burning warmer, used fire extinguishers to control the flames, and immediately started first-aid treatment.

Despite prompt medical intervention, the condition of the three newborns remained critical due to the extent of their burns.

Given the seriousness of the injuries and the unavailability of a paediatric surgeon at the Chhindwara facility, all three infants were referred to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College in Jabalpur for advanced treatment.

They were transported under the supervision of two doctors. One of the newborns is reported to be in a particularly critical state and may require surgical intervention.

Hospital authorities have initiated an internal enquiry into the incident. Preliminary reports point to a technical fault or short circuit in the warmer machine as the likely cause.

Officials are examining the equipment and safety protocols in the NICU to prevent any such recurrence. The accident has raised serious questions about the maintenance of critical medical equipment in government hospitals and the safety of newborns in intensive care units.

Srinagar, Aug 22: Sleuths of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday raided two places in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district in connection with an ongoing investigation in a terror case.

Officials said accompanied by J&K Police and the CRPF, the sleuths of NIA raided two houses at Bijbehara and Dooru in Anantnag district.

The NIA investigates major terror and terror-funding cases in Jammu and Kashmir involving banned terror groups, secessionist networks and hybrid operatives.

These active probes target conspiracies by Pakistan-backed outfits and their proxy offshoots aiming to revive or sustain violence in the region.

Cases being investigated by NIA include terror funding and charity misuse. Probes into networks like the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) for raising and channeling funds domestically and internationally under the guise of charity to fuel secessionist actions.

Crackdowns targeting Overground Workers (OGWs) and hybrid operatives linked to outfits like The Resistance Front (TRF), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Al-Badr.

Investigations tracking the delivery of sticky bombs, IEDs, arms, ammunition, and narcotics dropped via drones or cross-border smuggling networks into border districts like Poonch are also under the NIA

Investigations into Radicalization and Digital Propaganda include cases focussing on handlers utilising social media platforms to radicalise and recruit local youth into newly-floated terror outfits.

The cornerstone of terror funding investigation by NIA was targeting the financial channels fueling stone-pelting and unrest. The NIA filed extensive chargesheets against prominent Hurriyat leaders, including Yasin Malik (sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022) and Hafiz Saeed.

Investigations revealed complex Hawala networks, cross-border trade manipulations, and funding channels used to sustain street violence.

The NIA’s investigation centred on ‘Dukhtaran-Milat’, an all-women secessionist outfit, culminated in a landmark judgment by an NIA Special Court. Founder of the outfit, Aasiya Andrabi was sentenced to life imprisonment, and her top aides received 30-year prison terms for spearheading a physical and digital war against India.