Pune Police said it arrested a man accused of repeatedly sexually abusing and molesting his 17-year-old daughter for the past six years.
The minor alleged that her father, uncle and grandfather sexually abused and molested her several times over the past six years, police said, adding that the victim made the revelations after being visited by members of the Vishakha Committee, a panel put together in line with the Supreme Court’s Vishakha guidelines of 1997.
The set of procedural guidelines were promulgated by the Supreme Court in 1997 for use in sexual harassment cases.
On the basis of her complaint, a case was registered under sections 376 and 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act against the accused.
“Acting on the complaint, an FIR was registered and the accused father was arrested today (Wednesday). A Pune Police team has left for Uttar Pradesh to apprehend the victim’s uncle and grandfather,” a senior officer of Pune Police said.
“The girl alleged that between 2016 and 2018, she was sexually abused by her uncle and grandfather at their native place in Uttar Pradesh. Her father, too, sexually harassed the 17-year-old after she wrote to him complaining about his uncle and grandfather,” the officer added.
“Her father sexually abused the girl on several occasions while her mother was away,” the officer said, quoting the complaint.
Euglena is the main constituent of Yokohama city’s biofuel organization. It established a promotional plant to produce bio jet fuel and biofuel for diesel engines from algae and abolished the use of cooking oil.
Euglena has already made abroad overseas developments. It will contribute to global decarbonization. “The ingredients used are tempura oil and fat extracted from euglena algae. We make jet fuel and diesel fuel from these raw materials. There are four steps. I say simplified because there are five processes: pre-treatment, aromatic component production, oxygen removal, and distillation,” an official of Euglena, Hiromasa Kusatsugu said.
According to another official, Korehiro Odate, Biofuel is a liquid fuel and compared to lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen, the energy density is very high. The Euglena official stated, “We are now approaching to make use of the high energy density to make it green at the same time. Yokohama City is an “SDGs Future City” and is very active in SDGs. We are receiving subsidies in accordance with Yokohama City’s Corporate Location Ordinance. It consists of subsidies based on the amount invested in the plant, as well as exemption from fixed asset taxes and city planning taxes.”
“Asia Smart City Conference,” an international conference for smart cities, was hosted by Yokohama City. At the conference, Yokohama City introduced the efforts of de-carbonization and SDGs through cooperation between the city and companies. Foreign inspectors visit companies directly to inspect various technologies, and it is an opportunity for companies to expand their technology overseas. Yokohama City is the biggest city in Japan. Its administrative activity to direct future industry will affect other local governments and the Japanese government.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a faction of the Shiv Sena, on Thursday hit back at senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, saying the top leadership of the latter’s party took revenge on him by demoting him as the deputy chief minister.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief made the remark while addressing a press conference here.
Responding to a question on Fadnavis’ recent statement that he took revenge on Thackeray for “betraying” him, Thackeray said, “…That is why Delhi felt that the chief minister should be changed and he (Fadnavis) be made deputy chief minister. They also took this revenge.”
The Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had contested the 2019 state Assembly polls in alliance, but parted ways after the results following differences over sharing the chief minister’s post.
The Thackeray-led party went on to join hands with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
However, the MVA dispensation collapsed in June this year after Eknath Shinde and 39 other MLAs rebelled against the Shiv Sena leadership. Shinde became the chief minister with Fadnavis taking oath as his deputy. Fadnavis was the state CM during the BJP-Sena government from 2014 to 2019.
Earlier this month, Fadnavis said during an event that the BJP had never promised the chief minister’s post for half the term to the Shiv Sena as claimed by Thackeray.
“If Eknath Shinde wanted to leave Shiv Sena because of the way he was treated by Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray, we were not going to ask him to go back. We were going to welcome him and support him. We have taken revenge for the betrayal,” Fadnavis had said.
Maharashtra’s Shinde faction and many leaders from the BJP demands Bharat Jodo Yatra should be stopped in Maharashtra as words which were been used for the leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was disrespectful and it should be stopped.
Recently Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said “congress is not working on Bharat Jodo Yatra instead it is working on Bharat Todo Yatra as they do not the history of Veer Savarkar”.
Leaders from the congress party said opposition does not know the history and Bharat Jodo Yatra won’t be stopped.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while addressing press conference stated many leaders for money are moving towards BJP but we have many other people who are honest, can work for the country.
Congress Party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ has reached in Akola, Maharashtra in which he said we are completely focusing on this Yatra and most of the people are going through unemployment and no jobs are been given to the youth this is the focus of the Yatra.
Rahul Shewale from shinde faction while speaking to the reporters said demands congress ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ should be stopped.
Sachin Sawant congress leader told Afternoon Voice “Opposition does not know history of the leader Veer Savarkar and “Bharat Jodo Yatra” won’t be stopped as congress has not said anything wrong”.
Pramod Mandrekar congress spokesperson said “Opposition have their own opinion on stopping the yatra but it is not the opinion of entire Maharashtra”.
Sada Sarvankar from shinde faction said “We already filed complaint at police station against congress for saying wrong things about leader Veer Savarkar as they don’t know about history and the leader was very rich and he would never worked for some money as pension”.
Some leaders also said Congress is not doing Bharat Jodo Yatra they are working on Bharat Todo Yatra and if they really want to do something for the country they can work to join India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as per the sources.
The Supreme Court on Thursday was told by the counsel appearing for Gautam Navlakha, accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case of 2018, that the apex court’s order directing that he be placed under house arrest, was not being complied with by the State authorities.
Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Navlakha, mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices Hima Kohli and JB Pardiwala that probe agencies were asked to inspect the premises where Navlakha was to be shifted within 48 hours.
Ramakrishnan said, “They were supposed to inspect premises within 48 hours and not within 96 hours. The order was on November 10. The order is not being followed.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), told the top court that instead of providing details of a house where he wants to be placed under house arrest, Navlakha has given details of a library-cum-residential place belonging to the Communist Party.
“He is a Maoist and we objected to it, but now instead of the house he has given the address of a library-cum-stay place of the Communist Party,” he said.
Ramakrishnan objects to the argument of the Solicitor General saying “it was mentioned that it is a library.”
Solicitor General told the apex court that the agency has filed an application seeking certain directions from the court and urged it to list the case. The bench then listed the matter for hearing tomorrow before the bench headed by Justice KM Joseph.
A bench of Justice Joseph in an interim order permitted Navlakha to be placed under house arrest for a period of one month considering his health condition and old age.
The Maharashtra government was asked to carry out a necessary evaluation of the place where Navlakha will be under house arrest, the bench had ordered, adding that after an evaluation he shall be placed under house arrest within 48 hours.
Navlakha had moved the top court requesting that he be placed under house arrest instead of judicial custody in Taloja jail, Maharashtra.
The apex court had imposed several conditions on Navlakha including he shall not use any mobile phone, laptop, communication device or gadget. He shall use the phone to be provided by police personnel on the duty. He will be able to use the phone once a day for 10 minutes in the presence of the police.
“He is been in custody since 2020. He was placed on house arrest on an earlier occasion… prima facie, no complaint that he misused earlier house arrest No criminal antecedents apart from this case against him… We would think that we should allow him to be under house arrest, at least, to begin with, for a period of one month,” the bench had said.
NIA had vehemently opposed Navlakha’s plea saying his condition has been improved and there was no need to put him under house arrest. The ASG SV Rahi had alleged that Navlakha is in touch with Kashmiri extremists and ISI and read out some documents.
Earlier, the apex court had allowed the Superintendent of Taloja prison in Maharashtra to shift jailed activist Navlakha to Mumbai’s Jaslok hospital for medical checkup and treatment. It had said that receiving medical treatment is a fundamental right of a prisoner. 70-year-old Navlakha had told the bench that he has colon cancer and requires a colonoscopy and also a check-up for skin allergies and dental issues.
Navlakha had moved the top court challenging the April 26 order of the Bombay High Court which had dismissed his plea for house arrest over apprehensions of lack of adequate medical and other basic facilities in Taloja jail near Mumbai where he is currently lodged.
The High Court had said Navlakha’s apprehensions about the lack of medical aid and inadequate basic facilities at the Taloja prison, were “ill-founded”.
He had approached the High Court saying the Taloja prison has poor facilities, overcrowded, and his medical condition deteriorated during his incarceration there.
Navlakha, one of the several civil liberties activists in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been booked under stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for an alleged conspiracy to topple the government.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had granted bail to 82-year-old activist P Varavara Rao in the case.
The Varanasi Fast Track Court on Thursday dismissed the Anjuman Islamia Masjid committee’s plea challenging the maintainability of a suit to hand over possession of the Gyanvapi Mosque premises to the Hindu side.
The Court deferred the petition for the next hearing on December 2.
The court was hearing the petition on the plea seeking worship rights of the ‘Shivling’ that the Hindu side claimed to be found on the Gyanvapi mosque premises. Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sanstha had also filed a separate petition in the fast track court of Varanasi after the alleged Shivling was found.
The petition was filed by Kiran Singh, wife of Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sanstha President Jitendra Singh Vishen and others.
The demands of the Hindu side include permission for the immediate beginning of prayer of Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar, the handing over of the entire Gyanvapi complex to the Hindus, and banning the entry of Muslims inside the premises of the Gyanvapi complex.
In this case, the court under Order 7/Rule 11, said that “this matter is not maintainable.”
“Varanasi Court dismisses the plea filed by the Masjid committee challenging the maintainability of the suit in the Gyanvapi Mosque case. The next hearing is on December 1,” said Anupam Dwivedi, Advocate Hindu side.
The Muslim side is allowed to offer prayers in the premises till the matter is in court. The Supreme Court on November 11 extended its earlier order to protect the area where the ‘Shivling’ was stated to be discovered at the Gyanvapi Mosque complex during the court survey.
During the previous hearings in the Varanasi court, it had refused to allow a ‘scientific investigation’ of the purported ‘Shivling’.
The Hindu side had demanded carbon dating of the structure they claimed to be a Shivling found inside the Gyanvapi Mosque’s wazukhana.
However, the Muslim side said that the structure found was a ‘fountain’.
The Hindu side had then submitted an application in the Varanasi District Court on September 22 that sought a carbon dating of the object they claimed to be ‘Shivling’.
The Hindu side said that they would approach the Supreme Court against the Varanasi court’s verdict refusing to allow a ‘scientific investigation’ of the purported ‘Shivling’, claiming to be found on the Gyanvapi mosque premises.
On September 29 hearing, the Hindu side had demanded a scientific investigation of the ‘Shivling’ by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the carbon dating of ‘Argha’ and the area around it.
Referring to the order of May 17 of the Supreme Court, the Varanasi Court had said that “If the alleged Shivling is damaged by taking samples, then it will be in violation of the order of the Supreme Court”.
“If the Shivling is damaged, the religious sentiments of the general public can also get hurt”, the Varanasi Court had said.
Carbon dating is a scientific process that ascertains the age of an archaeological object or archaeological finds.
After hearing both sides’ arguments, the court had reserved the order in the Gyanvapi Mosque-Shringar Gauri case.
On May 20, the Supreme Court had ordered the transfer of the case related to worship at Gyanvapi mosque from the civil judge to the District Judge, Varanasi.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday raked up Veer Savarkar again and alleged that he betrayed leaders like M.K Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel by signing a letter of apology to the British before independence.
Addressing the media here during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi said, “Veer Savarkar, in a letter written to the British, said “Sir, I beg to remain your most obedient servant” and signed on it. Savarkar helped the British. He betrayed leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel by signing the letter out of fear.”
Hitting out at the BJP, the Congress leader said that the youth are not being given the assurance of getting jobs.
“I see two big problems- youths don’t have the assurance of getting jobs and farmers don’t get support from anywhere. The third is interlinked- people are paying for education and health as govt schools, colleges and hospitals are shutting, so where is the money going?” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi attended Tribal Convention during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Hingoli on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas.
Rahul Gandhi said that Hindutva ideologue, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar used to take a pension from Britisher and worked against Congress.
“In Andaman jail, Savarkar wrote a letter and told the British to forgive him and release him from jail. Veer Savarkar took a pension from the British, he worked against Congress. After coming out of jail he accepted the British proposal and joined their force. The difference between Savarkar and Birsa Munda is, he fought against the British when he was 24 years old,” he said.
Following this, Ranjit Savarkar, the grandson of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, had said that he would file a complaint at Shivaji Park Police Station in Mumbai against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for “insulting” Veer Savarkar.
Savarkar talking to media said, “It is not the first time Rahul Gandhi and Congress have insulted Savarkar. In the past too, they have insulted Savarkar, so I have decided to file a complaint against Rahul Gandhi at Shivaji Park police station.”
“I will file a complaint for insulting our leader freedom fighter. Rahul Gandhi is a serial offender in this regard. In the past in 2017 also he did the same thing,” Ranjit Sarvarkar also added, “Congress is trying to play vote bank politics and uses the same agenda of insulting Veer Savarkar,” he concluded.
Earlier today, Rahul Gandhi and others resumed the Maharashtra leg of the Yatra from Patur. The Yatra has already covered parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana before entering Maharashtra.
Rahul Gandhi will travel through 15 Assembly and 6 Parliamentary Constituencies in Five districts of Maharashtra and would cover a distance of 382 Kms. Bharat Jodo Yatra, which began on September 7 from Kanyakumari, will cover a further distance of 2,355 km in its 3,570-km march. It will end in Kashmir next year. It is the longest march on foot by any Indian politician in the history of India, the Congress claimed earlier in a statement.
Bharat Jodo Yatra is getting support from various political parties and social organizations across the country and the response is increasing day by day.
Notably, all the party MPs, leaders and workers along with Rahul Gandhi are staying in containers. Sleeping beds, toilets and ACs are also installed in some of the containers. The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places.
The Congress suffered a debacle in the assembly polls held earlier this year and the Yatra is seen as an attempt to rally the party rank and file for the upcoming electoral battles.
The removal of unauthorised construction at Union minister Narayan Rane’s bungalow in Mumbai’s Juhu area started on Thursday, a civic official confirmed.
The Supreme Court had in September dismissed a plea challenging the Bombay High Court verdict that directed the Mumbai civic body to demolish the unauthorised construction at Rane’s bungalow ‘Adhish’, noting there was a violation of the Floor Space Index and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.
The floor space index (FSI) is the maximum permissible floor area that can be built on a particular plot or/piece of land.
The plea against the high court judgement was filed in the apex court by Kaalkaa Real Estates Pvt Ltd, a company owned by Rane’s family.
Talking to the media on Thursday, a senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said, “The Supreme Court has directed Rane to remove the illegal construction at his bungalow in two months. If he fails to do so, the BMC will act.”
Activist Santosh Daundkar, who had filed complaints against Rane’s bungalow, welcomed the development but said his complaint about the CRZ rules violation was still pending.
“I suspect the BMC’s action is only about illegal construction in the bungalow, but no action is being taken on the CRZ rules violations. Such action is more severe than what is currently taking place at Rane’s bungalow,” he said.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to file their affidavits in response to two petitions challenging an ordinance issued by the state reducing the number of directly elected councillors within the Mumbai civic limits from 236 to 227.
A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Gauri Godse noted that the petitions filed by two former councillors raised a “seemingly complex issue” and it would have to be heard only after giving the respondents a chance to respond.
The petitioners had said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are already overdue by more than six months and if the ordinance is not stayed, then the SEC will not be able to conduct the polls.
The HC bench on Thursday directed the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and the State Election Commission to file their affidavits by November 25 and posted the matter for hearing on November 30.
The court also issued a notice to the government’s Advocate General as the petitions challenge the constitutional validity of the ordinance issued in August this year. In November 2021, the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray had decided to increase the number of wards under the BMC from 227 to 236.
However, in August this year, the Shinde-led government issued an ordinance bringing back the number to 227. Former BMC councillors Raju Pednekar and Sameer Desai in their petitions challenged this decision of the Shinde government and said it sought to put the clock back.
The petitioners said to ensure the increased population was proportionately represented in the BMC, the previous state government had decided that the number of directly elected councillors would be increased by nine, bringing the number to 236. This was then challenged before the HC, which proceeded to dismiss the petitions.
The court had held that the increase in the number of councillors was proportionate to the rise in population based on the 2011 census. This was upheld by the Supreme Court. Despite this, the present state government reversed the earlier cabinet decision, the plea said.
The ordinance under challenge is ex-facie illegal and unconstitutional, as it purports to defeat and nullify the orders of the Supreme Court, the petitions claimed.
In yet another turn in the Shraddha Walker murder case, the Southern District Police of Delhi have contacted their Eastern counterparts in a bid to match the DNA sample of chopped body parts including a human head which the latter had recovered earlier in June.
According to the sources, the East Delhi Police had found a chopped head and hand in the Trilokpuri area of Pandav Nagar police station of the national capital in June this year, which was nearly a month after Shraddha was murdered (on May 18).
In the East Delhi case, the police were not able to ascertain whose body parts they were because of the tampered state of the recovered body parts.
The body parts found in East Delhi were sent for a DNA test, and the forensic report will be coming soon. The bones found in Mehrauli forests have also been sent for a DNA test. The police will match the DNA report of all the pieces found at both these places and will try to ascertain if the found body parts were of Shraddha, the sources said.
The Southern District Police has contacted the Eastern District Police in this regard. The East District Police has handed over all the information to the South District Police.
According to the sources, Aftab, during his interrogation, told the police that after killing Shraddha and chopping her body into 35 pieces, he had first disposed of those parts which could stink quickly.
“Accused Aftab told the police that he used bleach to destroy the evidence, and also used chemicals so that not a single stain of blood remained on the floor,” the sources said.
“He threw all the parts of the body in the forest and left thumb at some other location,” the sources added.
According to police sources, there was no remorse visible on his face during his interrogation. “When the police officer talks to the accused in Hindi, he replies in English. He sleeps peacefully in the police station lockup all night. After the murder, the friends of the accused Aftab also came to the house..but during that time he had hidden the parts somewhere else,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has come across a fresh lead in the investigation of the Shraddha Walker murder case, in which they have found a pending water bill in accused Aftab Poonawalla’s flat, given the circumstances that 20,000 litres of water in Delhi is provided free by the government, according to the sources.
According to the sources, the police received information from the neighbours of Aftab that he has an outstanding water bill of Rs 300. The police are likely to investigate this angle as the Delhi government gives 20,000 litres of water for free. Two neighbours living on the floor above Aftab had informed the police that the water bill of all the floors comes to zero, except for Aftab’s, who had an outstanding due of Rs 300, thus rising suspicion.
“After the murder, Aftab used a lot of water to clean the blood stains leading to a high water bill and the pending bill. Neighbours told the Police that Aftab used to regularly go and check the building’s water tank,” the sources said.
The police have also got the information that in the rent agreement which was made, Aftab had put Shraddha’s name first and his own name at the last. “The flat owner knew that they are not a married couple. They were given the flat through a broker. Aftab used to deposit Rs 9,000 into the account of the owner between 8 and 10 of every month,” the sources said.
The water bill is also likely to play an important role in the investigation. Today, if the court grants further custody to the police, they are likely to investigate this angle as well, according to the sources.
Earlier, Aftab had told police that before the murder there was a fight between the couple over the shifting of household items from Mumbai. Police investigation revealed that the couple had a fight on May 18 during which Aftab killed Shraddha.
Delhi Police sources said the May 18 quarrel was not the first time, Aftab and Shraddha were fighting for three years.
“On May 18, there was a fight between the two regarding bringing household items from Mumbai. They used to fight over who would bear the household expenses and bring items. Aftab got very angry about this. The quarrel started around 8 pm on May 18 when Aftab strangled Shraddha to death. He kept her body in the room overnight and went to buy a knife and refrigerator the next day,” sources told to media.
Aftab was arrested on Saturday after Delhi police started probing into a missing complaint filed by Shraddha’s father Vikas Walker. Aftab had attempted to dupe the police of Delhi and Mumbai in the initial days of the investigation. Aftab had tried to hide the murder of Shraddha by removing any physical evidence, however, he had left the digital evidence that the police traced to reach the truth of the case.
When Delhi Police initiated the investigation, Aftab had told the police that Shraddha had left the house on May 22 (Shraddha was killed on May 18), after a fight. He said that she had only carried her phone with herself and had left her belongings in his flat.
He claimed that she was unreachable and he had not come in contact with her since then, according to the police sources. However, the truth came to the fore when the police checked the phone call records of the couple and investigated their locations.
The biggest breakthrough the police got was the bank statement of the couple’s account which showed a transaction of Rs 54,000 from Shraddha’s net banking account app to Aftab’s account on May 26.
The transaction exposed Aftab’s lies in which he had earlier said that Shraddha was unreachable after May 22 and he did not come in contact with her, the sources said. The location of the bank transfer that took place on May 26 also turned out to be the Mehrauli police station area.
Besides this, on May 31 there was a chat with her friend from Shraddha’s Instagram account. When the police found out the location of Shraddha’s phone, it turned out to be in Delhi’s Mehrauli police station area.
Aftab could not answer the police question that if Shraddha had carried her phone along with herself, why was its location being traced to his house? It was at this moment that Aftab revealed the truth.
The Maharashtra Police sources said that when Shraddha’s family could not contact her due to her phone being switched off, they filed the missing complaint at the Manikpur police station.
Following the complaint, Aftab was summoned to the Manikpur police station for questioning. Meanwhile, Shraddha’s father on Tuesday demanded the death penalty for the accused while also suspecting ‘love jihad’ behind the incident.
Speaking to the media, Shraddha’s father, Vikas Walker said, “I suspect love jihad. We demand that Aftab be sentenced to death. I have faith in the Delhi Police as the investigation is moving in the right direction. Shraddha was close to her uncle and didn’t talk to me much. I was never in touch with Aftab. I lodged the first complaint in the case at Vasai (Mumbai).”
“I had spoken to Shraddha last in 2021. I would ask her to tell me more about her live-in partner. But she didn’t say much. I did not know she had shifted to Delhi. Her friend told me she was in Delhi. I thought that she was in Bengaluru. Aftab had a lot of time to remove all the evidence,” Shraddha’s father said.
