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Supreme Court extends interim bail granted to Zubair in Uttar Pradesh FIR

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 The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the interim bail granted to Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair by the top court in the case registered against him at Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh.

A bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna listed the matter for final disposal on September 7.

The bench noted that the state government seeks time to file a counter affidavit and allowed the government to file a reply within four weeks and rejoinder within two weeks thereafter. “Interim bail in Sitapur FIR case shall continue till further orders. List for final disposal on September 7, 2022,” said the bench.

The top court’s order came on a plea by Zubair seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him at Sitapur.

On July 8, the Supreme Court granted an interim bail for five days to Zubair in connection with a case registered against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police for a tweet, where he allegedly called Hindu seers ‘hatemongers’.

A vacation bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and J.K. Maheshwari said: “The petitioner shall be granted interim bail in connection with FIR…June 1, 2022 lodged at P.S. Khairabad, District Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh for a period of five days from today or until further orders of the Regular Bench on terms and conditions to be imposed by the Judicial Magistrate-I, Sitapur, which shall include the conditions that the petitioner shall not post any tweets and shall not tamper with any evidence, electronic or otherwise in Bengaluru or anywhere else.”

The bench added, “It is made clear that this order pertains to FIR dated 01.06.2022 lodged at PS Khairabad, District Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh only.”

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing Zubair, submitted that his client was promoting secularism and not promoting any enmity among religions.

Gonsalves said, “I capture hate speeches… I am defending the Constitution and I’m in jail…And for what?” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, submitted that the petitioner was a habitual offender and it was not a matter of one tweet or another, instead whether he was part of a syndicate which puts out tweets to destabilise the society.

Crime

Navi Mumbai Fraud: Panvel Police Arrest Couple From Pune For Duping Residents With Fake Discounted Grocery And Household Offers

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Navi Mumbai: The Panvel Taluka Police have arrested a couple who allegedly cheated several people of lakhs of rupees by promising to supply groceries, clothes, and household goods at discounted rates.

The accused, identified as Nawin Dhanaji Panchal (52) and Vidya Nawin Panchal (45), were arrested from Alandi in Pune and have been remanded in police custody till October 31 by the court.

According to the police, the Panchal couple rented flats in various housing societies across Panvel, where they initially gained the trust of residents by supplying groceries and household items at wholesale prices. Once they established credibility, they lured victims with offers to start a grocery business together, collecting large sums of money.

One such complainant from Panvel was cheated of Rs 5 lakh, after which the couple switched off their phones and vacated their rented home without delivering goods or returning the money.

Following a complaint, a case was registered against the duo under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. Acting on technical intelligence, a police team tracked them to Alandi in Pune. Under the supervision of Senior Police Inspector Gajanan Ghadge, a team led by API Aniruddha Gije and PSI Harshal Rajput laid a trap and arrested the accused on October 27.

“During the investigation, we found that the Panchal couple used multiple mobile numbers, email IDs, and bank accounts to cheat people in the same manner in different cities. They were previously booked in similar cases in Nagpur and Kalyan and had been absconding. We suspect more victims may come forward as the probe continues,” said Senior Police Inspector Gajanan Ghadge of Panvel Taluka Police Station.

Police have appealed to citizens who may have fallen victim to the couple’s fraud to contact their nearest police station immediately.

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Crime

Father, son found murdered in Bihar’s Bhojpur; political angle suspected

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Patna, Oct 31: A sense of shock and fear gripped Belghat village under Mufassil police station in Bihar’s Bhojpur district on Friday after two persons — a father and his son — were found lying murdered on the roadside.

The deceased have been identified as Pramod Kushwaha and his son Priyanshu Kushwaha, residents of Belghat.

According to local sources, the duo had gone out for some work on Thursday afternoon but did not return home until late in the evening.

Their family launched a search, and at around 4 a.m. on Friday, both were discovered unconscious along the road.

Police, upon being informed, reached the spot and seized a motorcycle and three empty cartridges found near the scene.

Pramod Kushwaha is known locally as the owner of the Maurya Sweets shop in Piyania Bazaar and is also an active worker of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).

The incident occurred at a time when the election campaign was underway in Bihar.

Due to his political affiliation, police are probing the case from both personal and political angles.

Mufassil Police Station SHO Deepak Kumar reached the site with a large police force.

A forensic team was called in to collect evidence, and several suspects are currently being questioned.

The local police recovered the dead bodies from the crime scene and sent them for the post-mortem in Sadar Hospital, Ara.

The incident has triggered panic in the area, with residents expressing fear over the brazenness of the attack.

Bhojpur Police suspect that the act could be a well-planned conspiracy and executed with precision, raising suspicions of an old enmity or an organised gang’s involvement.

An FIR has been lodged under relevant sections of the BNS Act against unidentified persons, and a detailed investigation is underway.

This disturbing incident once again highlights the lingering atmosphere of fear and lawlessness in parts of Bihar, where politics and crime often intersect.

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Crime

ED attaches Rs 127.3 cr shares linked to Alchemist group in PMLA case

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New Delhi, Oct 31: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached shares worth Rs 127.3 crore linked to two hospitals – Alchemist Hospital and Ojas Hospital in Panchkula – as part of an ongoing money laundering probe involving the Alchemist Group, the agency said on Friday.

The properties are beneficially owned by businessman Karan Deep Singh. The order was issued by the ED’s Delhi Zonal Office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on October 30, 2025.

The action is connected to a probe into alleged large-scale financial fraud and misappropriation of public funds by the group’s promoters and associated companies.

The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by Kolkata Police, which was later taken up by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), ACB Lucknow, under Sections 120-B and 420 of the IPC against Alchemist Township Pvt. Ltd., Alchemist Infra Realty Pvt. Ltd., their directors, and former Rajya Sabha MP and group chairman Kanwar Deep Singh.

“The case pertains to a large-scale criminal conspiracy to defraud investors by illegally raising funds through fraudulent Collective Investment Schemes (CIS), offering unusually high returns, and/ or making false promises of allotting plots, flats, and villas,” ED said in its press note.

The agency claims that Alchemist Holdings Ltd. and Alchemist Township India Ltd. raised approximately Rs 1,848 crore through these schemes, siphoning the money for unauthorised use.

“ED investigation revealed that the misappropriated funds were systematically layered through complex financial transactions involving group entities of the Alchemist Group, with the intent to conceal the illicit origin of the funds,” the agency said.

“These tainted proceeds were ultimately used for the acquisition of shares and the subsequent construction of Alchemist Hospital and Ojas Hospital. The transactions were deliberately structured to project these assets as legitimate, thereby disguising the Proceeds of Crime (POC),” it further added.

According to the ED, the shares of Alchemist Hospital and Ojas Hospital are held to the extent of 40.93 per cent and 37.23 per cent, respectively, by M/s Placid Estate Pvt. Ltd., a company beneficially owned by Kanwar Deep Singh.

“The assets of Alchemist Hospital and Ojas Hospital as held by M/s. Placid Estate Pvt. Ltd, valued at Rs 127.3 crore, has been attached in the current provisional attachment order,” it said.

In addition, the ED noted that it had previously arrested Kanwar Deep Singh on January 12, 2021.

A prosecution complaint was filed on March 2, 2021, followed by two supplementary complaints in July 2024 and September 2025. So far, assets worth Rs 365.42 crore have been attached in the case through earlier orders, including shares held by Sorus Agritech Pvt. Ltd. in the same hospitals.

Further investigation is underway.

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