Connect with us
Monday,31-March-2025
Breaking News

Crime

Navjot Singh Sidhu lodged in Patiala jail in 1988 road rage case

Published

on

 Former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday surrendered before a court in his hometown Patiala in Punjab in a 1988 road rage case in which the Supreme Court enhanced his punishment to a year’s rigorous imprisonment over the death of a 65-year-old man.

Earlier in the day, Sidhu requested the apex court to grant him a few more weeks to surrender, citing health grounds.

Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, appearing for Sidhu, requested to mention the matter before the court but it declined permission, asking Sidhu to give a letter, requesting more time to surrender to the registry. “Can’t mention like this,” it said.

In Patiala, a few party leaders reached his residence before his surrender to extend moral support to Sidhu, 58, a former legislator from Amritsar East and a three-time Amritsar MP from the BJP.

Sidhu surrendered in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Amit Malhan. After a medical check-up, the former cricketer-turned-politician was lodged in the Patiala Central Jail.

Sidhu has been lodged in an ordinary barrack as the AAP government in Punjab last week decided to junk special cells in jails for VIP prisoners.

Interestingly, Bikram Singh Majithia, one of the most powerful Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders, is in judicial custody in the same jail where Sidhu has been lodged.

Both Sidhu and Majithia, who is facing charges in a drugs case, were once close friends but are now political enemies.

They were in fray from Amritsar East in the recently-held Assembly polls and the seat witnessed a bitter battle. They faced defeat from AAP’s greenhorn Jeevan Jyot Kaur.

With the apex court imposing the imprisonment, Sidhu said he “will submit to the majesty of law”.

“Will submit to the majesty of law…,” Sidhu, who is not averse to even sharp criticism of his own party and its policies and leaders, said in a tweet on Thursday.

The judgment came when Sidhu, riding on an elephant, was staging a protest, along with party workers, against price rise in Patiala where the incident of road rage was reported in 1988.

The apex court, which reserved the judgment in March, overturned its 2018 judgment, which had reduced the punishment for Sidhu in the case, after a review petition was filed by the family of Gurnam Singh, who had died in the incident.

On December 27, 1988, the cricketer-turned-politician and one of his friends, Rupinder Singh Sandhu, had on December 27, 1988, hit Gurnam Singh, 65, on his head near the Sheranwala Gate crossing in Patiala.

Police said Sidhu fled from the scene after committing the crime. Gurnam Singh was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead.

Sidhu said Gurnam Singh died of a cardiac arrest and not because he was punched in the head.

Sidhu was acquitted of the murder charges by a trial court in September 1999. However, the Punjab High Court reversed the verdict and held Sidhu and his co-accused guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in December 2006. It sentenced them to three years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each.

Both Sidhu and Sandhu filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, which stayed their conviction in 2007.

In 2018, the Supreme Court acquitted him of culpable homicide and convicted him of causing hurt in a road rage case in which one person died.

In February 2022, the apex court agreed to hear a plea seeking review of its May 15, 2018 verdict, where it let off Sidhu with a mere Rs 1,000 fine.

Crime

Kunal Kamra row: 3 more FIRs filed over Shinde jibe, merged with Mumbai case

Published

on

Mumbai, March 29: In fresh trouble for controversial comedian Kunal Kamra, three additional FIRs filed against him in different cities have been merged with the one registered in Mumbai’s Khar police station over his alleged jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The stand-up comedian courted controversy for cracking an allegedly objectionable joke during a show last month, using the term ‘gaddar’ (traitor) to make a veiled reference to Shinde.

The three zero FIRs that have been merged with the main case registered in Khar were filed in Thane, Nashik and Buldhana by Shiv Sena workers.

The three FIRs were filed by Sunil Jadhav from Nandgaon Manmad, Nashik; Sanjay Bhujbal from Jalgaon Jamod, Buldhana and Mayur Borse from Manmad, Nashik.

The complainants in the three FIRs said that the comedian allegedly created hatred between political parties by making ‘objectionable’ remarks against Shinde. They also alleged that Kamra’s remarks defamed Shinde’s ‘conduct’.

The three FIRs were registered under penal provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita dealing with defamation and public mischief.

Kamra, who has been granted protection against arrest till April 7 by the Madras High Court, has been summoned by Khar police for recording his statement on Monday – this will be the third police attempt to call him as he has not responded to two earlier requests.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 9 (Mumbai), Dixit Gedam said two offences have been registered at Khar police station.

One is against Kamra for derogatory comments, while the other is against people who vandalised the Unicontinental hotel in Khar where the shoot of his stand-up comedy act titled ‘Naya Bharat’ took place.

Kamra landed in trouble after giving a comic spin-off to a popular Hindi song in which he indirectly described Shinde as a ‘traitor’, referring to the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis which eventually led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led state government.

The controversy snowballed after Kamra uploaded a clip from the show on social media last Saturday. Angry Shiv Saniks vandalised the hotel, resulting in the arrest and the subsequent granting of bail to 12 Shinde supporters.

Continue Reading

Crime

Accused in Saif Ali Khan stabbing case files bail plea, claims innocence

Published

on

Mumbai, March 29: Mohammad Shariful Islam Shahzad, the accused in the stabbing of Bollywood superstar Saif Ali Khan, has filed a bail petition in the Mumbai Sessions Court, asserting that he is innocent and the case against him is fabricated.

The attack took place in the early hours of January 16 when the accused allegedly entered Saif’s Bandra residence through his youngest son Jeh’s room.

The actor, who was reportedly trying to fend off the assailant, suffered multiple stab wounds. Despite his injuries, Saif managed to go to the hospital on his own, accompanied by his son Taimur.

Shariful Islam Shahzad’s petition, filed through his lawyer, claims that the FIR was wrongly registered and that he has fully cooperated with the police investigation.

His legal team argues that since all evidence is already in police custody, there is no risk of tampering, and therefore, he should be granted bail.

Currently, the case is being handled by the Bandra Magistrate Court, but it falls under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai Sessions Court. Once the police file a charge sheet, the case will be transferred to the Sessions Court. However, the charge sheet is yet to be filed.

According to media reports, doctors removed a 2.5-inch knife from Saif’s wound. The actor sustained six stab injuries, two of which were serious as they were near his spine.

The incident reportedly occurred around 2:15 am on January 16 when the accused broke into the house, attacked the house help, and then stabbed Saif when he intervened.

Saif was alerted by noises from Jeh’s room, where he found the accused in an altercation with the house help. Attempting to protect the staff, Saif fought off the intruder with his bare hands before being stabbed multiple times.

Investigations have revealed that the accused, a Bangladeshi national, intended to rob a wealthy individual to finance his mother’s medical treatment in his home country. He has a history of petty theft and was previously dismissed from restaurants in Worli and Thane for stealing.

It is also reported that the attacker was unaware of Saif Ali Khan’s celebrity status and targeted the residence purely because it was located in an upscale apartment complex.

Continue Reading

Crime

Baba Siddique Murder Case: Late NCP Leader’s Wife, Shehzeen Siddique, Seeks To Join Prosecution And Pleads For Justice In Special MCOCA Court

Published

on

Mumbai: Late NCP leader Baba Siddique’s wife Shehzeen has approached the special MCOCA court, pleading that she be allowed to join the prosecution to conduct the case of her husband’s murder, as her family is the ultimate victim of the act of the accused.

As the court is yet to begin the trial, Baba’s wife Shehzeen has, on Friday, submitted an application through her advocate Trivankumar Karnani, seeking permission to allow her to join the prosecution to conduct the trial in the case. She pleaded that the accused have committed a cold-blooded, gruesome murder in a pre-planned and premeditated manner of the deceased.

“She has suffered an irreparable loss, and that it is of utmost importance for the intervenor to put on record the true and correct facts to assist this Court to come to a free and fair conclusion in the matter at hand,” Shehzeen said in her application, adding that there are several important aspects which require due and proper weightage.

The application emphasis on the right of the victim to be heard as held by Supreme court in numerous pleas. “It has been held that the victim is the defacto sufferer of a crime. The ethos of criminal justice dispensation to prevent and punish crime should not surreptitiously turn its back on the victim. The jurisprudence with respect to the rights of victims to be heard and to participate in criminal proceedings began to positively evolve,” reads the plea.

Siddique, 66, was killed on October 12, 2014, near his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra. Three assailants allegedly part of Bishnoi’s gang had opened fire at the car where Baba sat to leave from the office. As soon as he got into the car, the accused opened fire at him, giving no room for his guards to react. The assailants however were caught by police while they tried to escape.

Shehzeen further pleaded that, “This audacious attack, executed in one of the city’s most affluent and bustling neighborhoods, saw the assailants shoot Siddique at point blank range, before fleeing the scene, leaving behind a trail of grief and outrage for the family of the deceased,’ reads the plea.

So far, police have arrested 26 suspects in connection with the murder. The Mumbai police had, in December, submitted a chargesheet against 26 accused involved in the murder of NCP leader. The police claimed that the murder was ordered by Bishnoi, who is heading the gang.

In its chargesheet, the police claimed that the investigation revealed that the members of the gang had hatred against the Bollywood actor Salman Khan. Besides, Siddique was very close to the actor, and further, the gang wanted to establish terror and supremacy. These were the key motives behind conspiring to kill Siddique.

Continue Reading

Trending