Connect with us
Wednesday,10-December-2025
Breaking News

Crime

Umar Khalid bail plea: Delhi HC issues notice, terms his speech ‘obnoxious’

Published

on

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice to Delhi Police on the bail application of JNU scholar-activist Umar Khalid, who had approached the court following the dismissal of his bail plea from a trial court in the alleged “larger conspiracy” behind the Delhi riots.

While issuing notice in the matter, the division bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar said the speech delivered by Umar Khalid at Amravati, was “offensive and obnoxious”.

Seeking the stand of prosecution and to reply within three days, the bench slated the matter for further hearing on April 27.

During the course of the hearing, the court asked Khalid’s counsel about the speeches he delivered.

“Did Gandhiji ever employ this language? Did Shaheed Bhagat Singh ever employ such language? We have no qualms about permitting free speech but what are you saying?”, the bench asked.

Earlier in the trial court, Khalid’s counsel, opposing the charges under the Indian Penal Code and UAPA, had termed the charge sheet a “work of fiction”. He argued that the speech given by Khalid was about Gandhi, harmony, and the Constitution, and it was not a crime. After the submissions, the court had reserved the order.

Opposing the bail plea, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad had argued on the relevance of the speech given by Umar Khalid in Amravati in February 2020. He said the bail application was rejected on February 11, 2022 pointing out that the announcement of Donald Trump visiting India came on the same day.

Last month, Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat had denied bail to Khalid, observing that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against the accused are prima facie true.

It also stated that the contention that he was a researcher and his bent of mind can be assessed from his doctoral thesis on welfare aspects of tribals of Jharkhand and other writings is not a relevant consideration while deciding the bail application.

Crime

Mumbai Shocker: Auto Driver Arrested For Allegedly Molesting 17-Year-Old Girl & Pushing Her From Moving Vehicle In Malad

Published

on

Mumbai: The Malad police arrested a 54-year-old autorickshaw driver under the POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) and on charges of attempt to murder. He allegedly molested a 17-year-old college student in his autorickshaw. When she began to shout for help, he pushed her out of the moving vehicle. The incident occurred on December 8. The accused has been identified as Keshav Yadav, a resident of Kandivali West.

According to the Malad police, the victim is a student of a well-known college in Malad West. After college, around 4.30 pm, she was looking for an auto rickshaw on S.V. Road. She stopped an auto and asked the driver to take her to Surana Hospital, Orlem, Malad West. She initially sat on the right side of the autorickshaw. The driver told her that road work was underway and requested her to sit in the middle seat since she was alone.

However, he did not take the route she had instructed. Instead, he drove through a different route. He looked at her through the rear-view mirror and made obscene gestures several times. She became frightened and asked him to stop the autorickshaw. Instead, he increased the speed. Terrified, she started shouting, but he threatened her. After a brief silence, she shouted again. This time, he pushed her out of the autorickshaw, allegedly intending to kill her as other vehicles were passing on the busy road.

The girl went home and, along with her mother and sister, approached the Malad police station to file a complaint. The police registered a case under Sections 79 (outraging a woman’s modesty) and 109 (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 12 (sexual harassment of a child) of the POCSO Act, on Monday.

The Malad police immediately began the investigation. Assistant Police Inspector Raiwade and Police Sub-Inspector Tushar Sukhdeve from the detection team, visited the spot and worked on detecting the case. The police reviewed around 30 CCTV camera footage from the vicinity and identified the autorickshaw’s number.

They traced the auto’s last location to Kandivali West. Within a few hours, the police found the autorickshaw at Mathuradas Road, Kandivali West. The accused, Keshav Yadav, was asleep inside the vehicle. He was arrested, and the court remanded him to police custody until December 11.

The police officer stated that the accused resides in his auto-rickshaw itself. While the vehicle is registered under another individual’s name, the accused is its actual owner. No prior cases have been filed against him.

The operation was carried out under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Jadhav and Senior Police Inspector Dushyant Chavan of Malad police station.

Continue Reading

Business

CBI books Reliance Commercial Finance, its promoters in Rs 57.47 crore bank fraud case

Published

on

Mumbai, Dec 9: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday said it has filed a criminal case against Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL) and its promoters and directors over allegedly causing wrongful loss of Rs 57.47 crore to Bank of Maharashtra.

The case has been registered against RCFL — a company of Reliance ADA Group, its promoters/directors and unknown bank officials, on the allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct and thereby, the CBI said in a statement.

According to the statement, the loan account of Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd was declared an NPA by the bank on March 25, 2020 and also as fraud on October 4, 2025, for causing wrongful loss of Rs 57.47 crore to Bank of Maharashtra.

“RCFL was availing loans to the tune of Rs 9,280 crore from 31 banks/ FIs/NBFCs/Corporate Bodies, etc., including Bank of Maharashtra. A thorough investigation will be conducted into the allegations of defrauding all the banks/FIs, etc. by the accused company,” said the CBI.

The probe agency obtained search warrants from the court of a Special CBI judge, Mumbai and commenced searches at the official premises of RCFL at Mumbai and the residential premises of Devang Pravin Mody, Director of the company, at Pune, on December 9.

“Several incriminating documents have been observed and are being taken into possession during searches. Searches are in progress,” the CBI said.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a supplementary charge sheet against Reliance Power Ltd and 10 others, in the case of fake bank guarantees of Rs 68 crore submitted by Reliance Power Limited to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for the purpose of securing a tender issued by it. ED attached the proceeds of crime worth Rs 5.15 crore as well.

Reliance Power Ltd said in a statement that “ED allegations have not yet passed through judicial scrutiny and the Company has not been held guilty of any wrongdoing”.

“As per law settled by the Supreme Court, the company will get an opportunity to put across its case and facts before the court, even before cognisance, so filing of this complaint does not affect the affairs of the company in any manner,” said the company in an exchange filing.

Continue Reading

Crime

Mumbai: Man Arrested At Airport For Derogatory Social Media Posts On Bhagavad Gita & Women

Published

on

Mumbai: Mangaluru City Police have arrested a Mumbai native accused of uploading social media posts that promoted feelings of enmity or hatred in 2024.

The accused, who was working in Saudi Arabia, was arrested at Mumbai Airport based on a Look Out Circular (LOC).

The accused, Felix Edward Mathais (aged 56), is alleged to have circulated derogatory posts about the Bhagavad Gita and women in February 2024.

A case was registered against him at the Kankanady City Police Station under sections 153(A), 504, 507, 509 of the IPC and Section 66(D) of the IT Act.

At the time the case was filed, Mathais was in Saudi Arabia for employment, which prevented his arrest. The accused, originally from Charkop, Mumbai, was the subject of an LOC issued by the police following information gathered about his overseas employment.

The accused landed at Mumbai Airport from abroad. Immigration officials detained him and informed the Mangaluru Police. Subsequently, he was arrested at the Airport on December 5, 2025.

He was brought to Mangaluru for investigation and produced before the Court. A report has been submitted to the court requesting the confiscation of his passport.

Another accused in the case, Evigin John D’Souza (aged 57), was previously arrested on August 11, 2024, and produced before the court.

The investigation into the case is ongoing.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending