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Saraswati-Lakshmi puja at home but no concern for daughters: SC rebukes Jharkhand man

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New Delhi, Jan 24: The Supreme Court made a scathing remark on Friday while hearing the petition of Yogeshwar Sao, a resident of Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, convicted in a dowry harassment case.

A Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh criticised the appellant for neglecting his daughters and mistreating his wife.

The Bench remarked, “What kind of man are you who does not even care for his daughters? How can we allow such a heartless person to come to our court? All day at home, sometimes Saraswati Puja, sometimes Lakshmi Puja… and then all this.”

The court emphasised that any relief for the petitioner would only be considered if he agreed to transfer agricultural land to his daughters.

Yogeshwar Sao, also known as W. Sao, a resident of Katkamdag village, was convicted in 2015 under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court of Hazaribagh which found him guilty of harassing his wife, Poonam Devi, for a dowry of Rs 50,000 and sentenced him to two-and-a-half years of imprisonment.

Sao and Devi were married in 2003 and had two daughters. In 2009, Poonam Devi filed an FIR alleging dowry harassment, forced surgical removal of her uterus, and her husband’s subsequent remarriage.

She also filed a petition in the family court for maintenance for herself and her daughters. The family court ordered Sao to pay Rs 2,000 per month to his wife and Rs 1,000 per month to each daughter until they reached adulthood.

Sao appealed against his conviction in the Jharkhand High Court, which upheld the trial court’s verdict in September 2024.

However, the High Court reduced his sentence to one-and-a-half years, citing lack of evidence regarding the allegations of forced surgery and remarriage. Additionally, the High Court imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Sao.

Following this, Sao approached the Supreme Court in December 2024 seeking relief.

During the hearing, the Supreme Court reiterated the importance of ensuring the welfare of Sao’s daughters and condemned his behaviour. The court made it clear that no relief would be granted unless he demonstrated accountability, including transferring his agricultural land to his daughters.

Crime

Delhi: Three arrested in cyber fraud case under ‘Operation Pre CyHawk’

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New Delhi, June 16: In a significant breakthrough under ‘Operation Pre CyHawk’, the Delhi Police’s Okhla Industrial Area Police Station successfully solved a cyber fraud case involving the unauthorised transfer of Rs 99,000 and arrested three persons from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district.

According to Delhi Police, the case surfaced after complainant Anoop Haldhar, a resident of Okhla Phase-I, reported receiving a suspicious link on his mobile phone. After clicking on the link, his device was allegedly compromised, leading to the unauthorised withdrawal of Rs 99,000 from his Kotak Mahindra Bank account through UPI and Google Pay transactions. Acting promptly, the victim reported the incident to the National Cyber Crime Helpline 1930.

During the investigation, police officials traced the digital money trail and identified the beneficiary account located in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. Based on the findings, FIR No. 330/2026 dated June 12, 2026, was registered at the Okhla Industrial Area Police Station under Sections 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The investigation was assigned to Sub-Inspector Sanjay Meena.

A police team comprising Sub-Inspector Sanjay Meena, Head Constable (HC) Dharampal, and Constable Jai Ram immediately proceeded to Rajasthan and apprehended the beneficiary account holder, identified as Rajat. During sustained interrogation, Rajat disclosed the involvement of two associates, Mitesh and Manoj Kumar, who allegedly arranged and operated the account as a mule account to route the fraudulently obtained funds.

Police said the accused attempted to evade detection by communicating only through voice and WhatsApp calls and frequently switching off their mobile phones. However, sustained technical surveillance, digital analysis, and cyber investigation, with support from ASI Rakhi and HC Abhay, enabled investigators to track and arrest the remaining two accused from a rented accommodation in Nawalgarh, Rajasthan.

The operation culminated in the arrest of all three accused. Police also recovered Rs 21,000 in cash, WhatsApp chats linking the conspirators, the beneficiary’s bank passbook, and an Aadhaar card, all of which are expected to serve as crucial evidence in the ongoing investigation.

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Railways okays Rs 201 crore Kavach project to enhance safety on 811 km route in Ambala division

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New Delhi, June 15: In a major step towards strengthening railway safety, Indian Railways has approved the installation of Kavach on the remaining 811 km broad gauge sections of the Ambala Division of the Northern Railway with an investment of Rs 201 crore, according to an official statement issued on Monday.

The sanctioned work will cover important rail routes in the Ambala Division, including Ambala Cantonment–Ludhiana, Kalka–Chandigarh–New Morinda–Sahnewal, Sirhind–Daulatpur Chowk, Rajpura–Bathinda–Shri Ganganagar, and Ludhiana–Dhuri–Jakhal sections.

These routes serve as key rail corridors connecting the states of Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. They handle substantial passenger and freight traffic and play an important role in the movement of people and goods across the region.

The work has been approved under the umbrella programme for the provision of Kavach with LTE-based communication backbone on balance routes of the Railways.

Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system designed to enhance operational safety. It helps prevent Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD), automatically applies brakes when required to avert unsafe situations, controls train speed in critical conditions, and significantly reduces the risk of collisions.

Indian Railways is progressively expanding Kavach across its network as part of its ongoing efforts to improve safety, reliability and capacity on high-density and strategically important routes.

Multiple projects worth Rs 1,364.45 crore have been approved to strengthen safety, signalling and communication infrastructure across its network. The sanctioned works include the provision of Kavach on locomotives, the expansion of optical fibre cable network, and the replacement of panel interlocking with electronic interlocking systems across various railway zones.

Indian Railways earlier sanctioned three itemised works in the Northern Railway at a total cost of Rs 400.86 crore for strengthening the communication backbone infrastructure. These works are part of a separate umbrella project approved at a cost of Rs 4,871 crore.

A sub-umbrella provision of Rs 871 crore has been allocated for Northern Railway for the laying of fibre cables along 926.05 route km in Ambala Division, along 1,204 route km along with Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) rooms at stations in Delhi Division, and along 1,074 route km in Lucknow Division. These works aim to enhance the capacity and reliability of communication systems across divisions, which are critical for modern signalling and Kavach deployment.

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National News

NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case: Delhi court extends judicial custody of 10 accused till June 29

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New Delhi, June 15: A Delhi court on Monday extended till June 29 the judicial custody of 10 accused in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The accused were produced before the Rouse Avenue Court through video conferencing from Tihar Jail upon the expiry of their previously granted judicial custody. The court extended the judicial custody of Yash Yadav, Mangilal Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, Vikas Biwal, Dhananjay Lokhande, Tejas Harshad Shah, Shubham Khairnar, Manisha Waghmare, Manisha Sanjay Havaldar and Dr Manoj Shirure till June 29.

The Rouse Avenue Court also permitted the CBI to interrogate accused Shubham Khairnar, Manisha Waghmare and Dhananjay Lokhande inside jail on June 17, 18 and 19, respectively.

The probe agency has been allowed to question each of the accused for one hour as part of its ongoing investigation into the alleged examination paper leak.

The CBI has so far arrested 13 accused in the case and is investigating an alleged network involved in procuring and circulating NEET-UG question papers ahead of the examination.

Earlier, on June 1, the Rouse Avenue Court had remanded accused Dr Manoj Shirure, Tejas Harshadkumar Shah and Manisha Sanjay Havaldar to judicial custody till June 15. The Central agency has alleged that Shirure, a Latur-based doctor, played a key role in facilitating three students, including the son of an accused coaching centre owner, in obtaining Chemistry questions from alleged kingpin P.V. Kulkarni before the examination.

Shah, a Physics faculty member at Pune-based Abhang Prabhu Medical Academy (APMA), is alleged to have received leaked Physics questions from co-accused Manisha Havaldar.

The case pertains to the alleged leak of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper, following which the CBI registered an FIR on May 12 on the basis of a complaint lodged by the Department of Higher Education under the Union Ministry of Education.

According to the probe agency, Pune-based education consultant Manisha Waghmare was among the intermediaries involved in mobilising students who allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to attend special coaching sessions where questions that later appeared in the NEET-UG 2026 examination were dictated and discussed.

The CBI has claimed that Waghmare facilitated prospective candidates for special coaching classes conducted by NTA-appointed senior Botany teacher Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, who is suspected to be the co-mastermind behind the Biology paper leak.

Chemistry professor P.V. Kulkarni has been identified by the probe agency as the alleged kingpin of the paper leak network.

Meanwhile, the Centre has stepped up preparations for the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21 after the original examination held in May was cancelled following allegations that some questions had been leaked.

Amid preparations for the re-test, Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan recently reviewed the arrangements with National Testing Agency officials and warned that the “full might and weight of the law” would fall on anyone attempting to distort, disrupt or tamper with the integrity of the examination process.

The Centre has put in place enhanced security measures, including transportation of question papers by the Indian Air Force and deployment of CRPF and CISF personnel to assist local authorities in ensuring secure conduct of the re-examination.

The NTA has also announced an additional 15 minutes for candidates and increased space for rough work in answer booklets.

The Centre has maintained that coordinated efforts by the Union government, state governments and district administrations are aimed at safeguarding the integrity and credibility of the re-examination process.

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