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SC to hear Pegasus snooping case on Friday

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 The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the case relating to the Pegasus surveillance scandal on February 25, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested for a new date before the Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, pointing out that he is supposed to be arguing a different part-heard case on Wednesday.

The Pegasus panel, appointed by the Supreme Court, have submitted an interim report appraising the apex court about the progress on the probe. The matter was listed for hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli on February 23. The panel had earlier said that only two people submitted their mobile phones with it for forensic examination.

On October 27 last year, the top court said it was compelled to take up the cause to determine the truth, as it appointed an independent expert technical committee supervised by a retired top court judge, Justice R.V. Raveendran, to probe the Pegasus snooping allegations.

The top court had authorised the technical committee to devise its own procedure to effectively implement and answer the terms of reference. The committee can hold an investigation it deems fit and take statements of any person in connection with the inquiry and call for records of any authority or individual.

Justice Raveendran is overseeing the functioning of the technical committee and he is assisted by Alok Joshi, former IPS officer and Dr Sundeep Oberoi, Chairman, Sub Committee in International Organisation of Standardisation/International Electro-Technical Commission/Joint Technical Committee.

The three members of the technical committee are Dr Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Professor (Cyber Security and Digital Forensics) and Dean, National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Dr Prabaharan P., Professor (School of Engineering), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri, Kerala, and Dr Ashwin Anil Gumaste, Institute Chair, Associate Professor (Computer Science and Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

A batch of petitions, including those by advocate M.L. Sharma, CPI-M MP John Brittas, journalist N. Ram, former IIM professor Jagdeep Chokkar, Narendra Mishra, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Rupesh Kumar Singh, S.N.M. Abdi and Editors Guild of India were filed seeking an independent probe into the Pegasus snooping allegations.

Crime

Gurugram hit-and-run case: Car driver, cousin sent to two days’ police custody

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Gurugram, Sep 16: A Gurugram court on Wednesday sent Kalyan Bainsla, the driver accused of hitting a woman biker on Golf Course Road, and his cousin to two days’ police custody in connection with the hit-and-run case.

Bainsla and his cousin Lavneesh were produced before Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) Nidhi Beniwal, who sent them to police custody.

Both accused will be produced before the court again on September 18.

The development came a day after Gurugram police arrested Bainsla from Rajasthan’s Dausa and Lavneesh from Haryana’s Palwal in connection with the incident.

Lavneesh was allegedly present in the car along with Bainsla at the time of the incident.

The Gurugram Police had earlier added Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), pertaining to attempt to murder, to the FIR after the victim, Sia, and her family approached the police seeking stringent action against those involved.

The case was initially registered after the police took suo motu cognisance of a video showing a car hitting a female biker on Golf Course Road.

Following a detailed investigation and analysis of CCTV footage, the police added the attempt-to-murder charge, which carries a punishment of up to 10 years.

The development came after Sia’s family submitted her written statement to Inspector Manoj Kumar, Station House Officer of Gurugram’s Sector-56 police station. The police are also recording her detailed statement as part of the investigation.

The Gurugram police have maintained that lawlessness will not be tolerated and said they are committed to taking strict action against those responsible.

Meanwhile, Sia on Wednesday appealed for strict punishment for all four occupants of the car, saying it was necessary to send the right message to society regarding women’s safety.

Speaking to media, Sia said she had “great expectations” from the court and wanted justice in the case. “I stated in court yesterday that all four, who were in the car, should be arrested and that strict action taken against all of them. In my opinion, they should face harsh consequences; that is the only way to send a message to such young men—so that anyone thinking of committing such an act would think twice,” she said.

Reacting to the accused’s reported claim that he was in a hurry to use the restroom, Sia said the explanation was “despicable”, stating that the entire incident had been recorded on video. She said that had the dashcam on her bike not recorded the incident, she “probably wouldn’t have even been able to justify what happened”. “So many women, who might be heading to work, have to face this kind of harassment. They don’t have cameras, and often, cases like this don’t even get registered,” she said.

Sia reiterated that all four occupants of the car should face action, saying: “All four must be punished; only then can we set an example for our society.”

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Yemen nationals found staying ‘illegally’ in Pune, cases filed against two house owners

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Pune, Sep 16: Pune Police have registered separate cases against two house owners for allegedly renting out their flats to Yemeni nationals for the past seven to eight years, without informing the police.

According to police, the tenants’ passports had expired and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRO) had issued restriction orders against them. Their passports have been deposited with the authorities.

The cases were registered at Kondhwa police station under relevant provisions after the house owners allegedly violated police orders by concealing information about the foreign nationals staying at their properties.

Senior Police Inspector Santosh Khetmals of Kondhwa police station told media that deportation proceedings against the Yemeni nationals have been initiated by the FRO.

In the first case, a case was registered against house owner Khan Faheema Jabbar, 55, a resident of Ghorpade Peth, for allegedly renting out her flat to a Yemeni family without informing the police.

In the second case, house owner Jabbar A. Sattar Khan, 62, also a resident of Ghorpade Peth, was booked for allegedly renting out his flat to another Yemeni family without informing the police.

Police said further action in the matter is being taken in coordination with the FRO.

This is however not the first such incident in Pune.

Earlier, on August 13, the special branch of Pune City Police arrested and detained 11 Yemeni nationals and two Afghan nationals from Yevalewadi, Phursungi and Kondhwa for allegedly staying illegally in India.

In 2022, Pune Police had deported a six-member family from Yemen, comprising three adults and three minor children, after they were found to have overstayed in India.

The police had identified the deported Yemeni nationals as Alkharraz Waled Abdurabu Ateq, 37, his wife, Heba Yahya Mohammed Hussen, 33, his brother, Shawqi Abdurabu Ateq, 34, and his three minor children.

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Drugs worth over Rs 40 crore seized in Tripura; one arrested

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Agartala, Sep 16: In a major narcotics haul, the Tripura Police have seized highly addictive methamphetamine tablets worth over Rs 40 crore and arrested a drug peddler on Wednesday.

Informing about the drug seizure, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, in a post on his X, said, “A major breakthrough in our fight against drugs ! In a significant operation, North Tripura Police under Panisagar Police Station seized 50 kg of Yaba tablets valued at approx. ₹40 crore, a major blow to the illicit drug network.”

“This success reflects the unwavering commitment of our police and security forces to protect our youth and society from the menace of drugs and strengthens our mission towards a Nasha Mukt Tripura,” said CM Saha, who also holds the home portfolio.

Police said that the seized drugs were suspected to have been smuggled from Myanmar, and through Mizoram, the narcotics entered Tripura to be smuggled to neighbouring Bangladesh. Tripura shares a 109 km interstate border with Mizoram, and the 856 km international border with Bangladesh.

The methamphetamine tablets, also known as Yaba or “party” tablets, contain a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine and are misused as high-dosage drugs in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries, besides India.

The drugs were banned in India. Various types of cough syrups containing codeine phosphate are also commonly misused and illegally smuggled into Bangladesh.

Mizoram and Manipur have emerged as major drug-trafficking corridors in the Northeast due to their long and porous international borders with Myanmar and proximity to the Golden Triangle, one of the world’s major illicit narcotics-producing regions. Six districts of Mizoram and five districts of Manipur share around 910 km of unfenced international border with Myanmar.

CM Saha had earlier said that his government follows a zero-tolerance policy towards the drug menace. “Law enforcement agencies must take all-out measures to curb drug-related activities,” he had said.

The Chief Minister also said that the state government has decided to set up drug de-addiction centres in all eight districts of Tripura, with Rs 20 crore earmarked for each centre. He said the Union Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has already sanctioned Rs 198 crore to set up a special drug de-addiction centre at Bishramganj in Sepahijala district.

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