Crime
That 70’s Show Actor Danny Masterson Sentenced To 30 Years To Life In Prison For Raping 2 Women
US actor Danny Masterson has been sentenced to serve 30 years to life in prison for raping two women, the media reported. Masterson starred on ‘That 70’s Show’, a TV series that was airing at the time of his crimes in the early 2000s. Prosecutors argued Masterson, 47, had relied on his status as a prominent Scientologist to avoid accountability.
Judge Charlaine Olmedo allowed the victims of his crimes to read impact statements in court ahead of his sentencing. Prominent former Scientologist and actress Leah Remini attended Thursday’s sentencing hearing and comforted the women before and after they delivered their statements. “I wished I had reported him earlier to the police,” one of the women said, according to US media.
Another woman told Masterson: “I forgive you. Your sickness is no longer mine to bear,” according to Reuters.
Masterson remained silent throughout the hearing. As the judge read his sentence — the maximum penalty allowed — his wife, Bijou Phillips, was seen in court breaking down in tears.
Masterson was found guilty in May at a re-trial after the first jury was unable to reach a verdict in 2022. After his conviction, Masterson was deemed a flight risk and was taken into prison custody. The actor was convicted after three women testified that he had sexually assaulted them at his Hollywood home from 2001-03 — during the height of his television fame.
The jury heard testimony that he had given them drugs before he assaulted them. He was found guilty of rape against two of his three accusers. The charges brought by the third accuser were declared a mistrial and prosecutors said they do not plan to retry the case.
Alison Anderson, a lawyer representing two of the victims, said in a statement sent that the women “have displayed tremendous strength and bravery, by coming forward to law enforcement and participating directly in two gruelling criminal trials”.
“Despite persistent harassment, obstruction, and intimidation, these courageous women helped hold a ruthless sexual predator accountable today,”
Masterson was first accused of rape in 2017 during the height of the #MeToo movement. He denied the accusations and said each of the encounters was consensual. Charges came after a three-year investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Prosecutors did not file charges in two other cases because of insufficient evidence and the statute of limitations expiring. Throughout the trial, prosecutors argued that the Church of Scientology had helped cover up the assaults — an allegation the organisation has categorically denied.
At the time of the assaults, Masterson and all three of his accusers were Scientologists. Several of the women said it took them years to come forward because Church of Scientology officials discouraged them from reporting the rape to police. Scientology officials told one survivor she would be kicked out of the Church of Scientology unless she signed a non-disclosure agreement and accepted a payment of $400,000 (£320,000), according to prosecutors.
she said, adding that the women will continue to speak out about the role the church allegedly played during their abuse.
In court on Thursday, one woman described being shunned by her mother, who is still a practicing Scientologist. “She texted me and told me to never contact her again,” she said. “She had warned me ahead of time she wanted to see Danny Masterson locked away for what he’d done to me, but not at the expense of her religion.”
Another woman said she had been victimised by the church ever since she first spoke out. “Since the week I came forward to police I have been terrorised, harassed and had my privacy invaded daily by the cult of Scientology for almost seven years now,” she said, adding: “But I don’t regret it.”
During the trial, Judge Olmedo allowed both sides to discuss the dogma and practices of Scientology, angering the organisation. In its statement after the verdict in May, the Church of Scientology said there was “not a scintilla of evidence supporting the scandalous allegations that the Church harassed the accusers”.
Thursday’s sentencing was also attended by Jessica Barth, who founded “Voices in Action” in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Barth was one of the women to publicly accuse disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of abuse. Her non-profit works to encourage others to come forward and report abuse. Before the hearing, a motion for a new trial by Masterson’s defence team was denied by the judge, according to an Los Angeles court official.
Crime
Patna court stays arrest of Khan Sir in coaching centre firing case

Patna, June 9: A Patna court on Tuesday granted interim relief to popular educator Faisal Khan, widely known as Khan Sir, by staying his arrest in connection with the recent coaching centre firing case.
The District Judge’s court pronounced its order on Tuesday after reserving its verdict on Khan Sir’s anticipatory bail plea following a hearing on Monday.
While the court has not yet granted anticipatory bail, it has directed the police not to take any coercive or punitive action against him until further proceedings.
The court has also sought the case diary and details of Khan Sir’s criminal history from the investigating agency. The matter will now be heard again on June 30.
Seeking the case diary and the accused’s criminal record is a routine judicial procedure while considering an anticipatory bail application.
Although the bail plea remains pending, the stay on arrest has provided major relief to Khan Sir, who had been facing the possibility of immediate police action.
After the court order, Khan Sir’s counsel, Advocate Arvind Kumar Mahuar, told media that Khan Sir is now free to move around wherever he wants as the court has given him protection from the arrest.
The case stems from an incident that occurred on the night of June 2, when unidentified individuals allegedly attacked Khan Global Studies, the coaching institute run by Khan Sir in Patna.
Following the incident, police arrested Roshan Anand, the owner of Gyan Bindu Coaching Institute, and sent him to judicial custody.
The controversy intensified after a video surfaced showing two security guards allegedly firing shots into the air outside the coaching institute during the attack.
The police subsequently arrested both guards and lodged a case against them. Later, Khan Sir was also named in the case.
Police registered an FIR against Khan Sir under provisions related to attempted murder and the Arms Act. Since the registration of the case, he had reportedly remained out of the police’s reach.
Law enforcement officials had visited his coaching institute in an attempt to apprehend him, but he was not found there.
Crime
CBI court sentences firm partner to three years RI in Rs 4 crore bank fraud case

Chandigarh, June 5: A Special CBI Court in Mohali, Punjab, has convicted and sentenced Samir Dua, a partner of M/s G.D. Ispat Udyog, Mandi Gobindgarh, to three years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) along with a fine of Rs 15,000 in connection with a multi-crore bank fraud case, an official statement said on Friday.
The sentence was pronounced on June 4, following the conclusion of trial proceedings in the case investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
According to the CBI, the case was registered against Dalip Dua and Samir Dua, partners of M/s G.D. Ispat Udyog, along with other accused, for allegedly entering into a criminal conspiracy to defraud Indian Overseas Bank’s Mandi Gobindgarh branch in Punjab.
The investigation revealed that the accused had fraudulently secured a cash credit limit of Rs 4 crore from the bank by submitting false and fabricated information and documents.
The loan facility was allegedly obtained through misrepresentation, causing a wrongful loss to the bank and corresponding unlawful gain to the accused, the agency said.
Following a detailed investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet against the accused persons before the competent court. During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence establishing the fraudulent nature of the transactions and the conspiracy behind obtaining the credit facility.
After examining the evidence and hearing the arguments, the Special CBI Court found Samir Dua guilty and sentenced him to three years of rigorous imprisonment. The court also imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 15,000.
Proceedings against co-accused Dalip Dua were abated due to his death during the pendency of the case.
The conviction marks the culmination of the CBI’s investigation into the bank fraud, underscoring the agency’s efforts to prosecute financial crimes and hold those responsible for defrauding public sector banks accountable.
Crime
NCB seizes 406 kg ganja, arrests 4 accused in UP’s Gorakhpur

Gorakhpur, June 4: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized 406 kg of ‘ganja’ (contraband substance) in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur and arrested four accused who were taking the contraband to Deoria from Tezpur in Assam, an official said on Thursday.
The NCB Gorakhpur Zone, in coordination with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF), achieved the breakthrough when they arrested two persons on Wednesday, a statement said.
Acting on specific intelligence, NCB Gorakhpur intercepted a pickup van on the Salempur–Lal Bazar Main Road in Deoria and seized 202 kg of ganja concealed in the vehicle, the statement added.
During the follow-up investigation, NCB teams conducted further operations in Barhaj town of Deoria, resulting in the recovery of an additional 204.8 kg of ganja and the arrest of two more accused, it said.
With two separate recoveries, the total seizure by the NCB and Uttar Pradesh STF totalled 406.8 kg of ganja, it added.
The four accused were charged with offences under the relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
The NCB said that investigation was underway to identify and apprehend other persons involved in the trafficking network and to ascertain the forward and backward linkages of the contraband.
In a separate operation in Maharashtra earlier, the NCB arrested two drug traffickers and recovered 702 kg ganja while busting a major interstate trafficking network in Gondia, an official said.
“The 702 kg ganja was concealed in 100 packets among grocery cargo items, including detergent, toothpaste and hair dye, was recovered and seized,” the official said in a statement.
The seized contraband was sourced from Odisha and destined for multiple Maharashtra-based drug syndicates operating in Nagpur, Gondia, Pune and Mumbai.
In another case, the NCB secured jail terms in a Mumbai court for five drug traffickers, including the kingpin, in a synthetic drug trafficking case.
The convicts were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 15 years to one year, a statement added.
The Special NDPS Court in Thane sentenced the kingpin Mohammed Arif Yaqoob Bhujwala, a resident of Mumbai’s Chinchbunder, to 15 years’ imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 2 lakh, the NCB’s Mumbai Zonal Unit said.
“Parvez Khan alias “Chinku Pathan” and Mohammed Salman Khan, both residents of Chinchbunder, along with Vikrant Jain, a resident of Bhiwandi in Thane, were awarded five years’ imprisonment each and fined Rs 50,000 each,” the NCB added.
“Haris Faizullah Khan, resident of Bandra West in Mumbai, was sentenced to one-year imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 10,000,” it said.
The NCB investigation led to freezing of two movable and three immovable properties worth more than Rs 1.5 crore belonging to Parvez Khan alias Chinku Pathan.
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