A 17-year-old girl was kidnapped, gangraped and killed allegedly by six persons in Latur district of Marathwada region, police said.
The girl, resident of a village in Ausa tehsil, was student of 11th class and kidnapped on Thursday, police said, adding that she was gangraped and killed and her body was later thrown into a well.
The victim’s brother told reporters that six persons had kidnapped and assaulted her.
The girl’s family members refused to perform the last rites till police arrested the accused.
Yesterday, five accused were arrested, after which the girl’s family members performed her last rites, police said.
A case has been registered at the Ausa police station under relevant sections of IPC, a police official told over phone.
A 42-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly selling and renting country-made arms illegally.
Pramila Nadar used to run a vegetable shop in suburban Andheri. She sold and rented country-made weapons including revolvers to chain-snatchers and robbers, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection-1) M Dahikar said today.
A cop posed himself as a customer and nabbed Nadar while she was selling a weapon on September 29, he said.
It was found that she was also supplying firearms for the last three years. Each weapon was sold for Rs. 10,000- Rs. 15,000. She gave the weapons on rent for Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 4,000, police said.
A case under relevant section of Arms Act has been registered against Nadar and investigations are underway, they added.
Maharashtra government has enrolled about 88% of the total population under Aadhaarand plans to complete enrollment of the rest in the next three months.
The state government has now decided to arm its employees with device like tablets, so that employees can photograph kids with one of the parents to enroll children across the state.
The state had decided to bring the whole of Maharashtra under the Aadhar Scheme by December this year.
State Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya said Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently took a review of various projects, including those of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), through video-conferencing.
Chief Secretaries of all other states were also part of the video conferencing and the PM appealed to them to complete the project as soon as possible.
“We have completed over 88% of the adult enrollment of Aadhaar and are now concentrating on enrolling for which new 2,000 odd kits (laptops, monitors, single finger print scanner, iris scanner, web camera and multi-functional device) are being purchased. The process of buying machines will be competed in the next 15 days,” Kshatriya said.
At the village level, the government has provided tabs for enrolling children under UIDAI.
“Government employees will go from house to house at village level and enroll children. The employee will click a photograph of a child with one parent, either father or mother, for identification,” he said.
Kshatriya said he has personally visited few villages to see a demonstration and find easier ways to complete the project in the next three months.
“There is no need to take fingerprints of children till they are six years old, as we assume that the finger impression would change in future. We will try to complete the complete UID project in the next three months,” Kshatriya said.
In view of deficient rainfall this year and faced with the prospect of acute water scarcity, the Maharashtra government has decided to issue guidelines to all district authorities for making preparations to deal with the looming crisis.
Maharashtra is facing one of its most severe droughts in recent times. Many districts in the state are bearing the brunt of drinking water shortage and the government aims to use its existing resources carefully to avoid water crisis in the coming year.
According to a Government Resolution (GR), digging of wells only for the purpose of drinking water should be allowed at the distance 500 metres from water source that is being used for public.
Further, the local administration should prohibit lifting of ground water if its found to have an adverse impact on drinking water level.
Groundwater survey and development agency should be asked to prepare a village-wise plan with the help of geologists for areas likely to face scarcity problem.
A list of tehsils should be made where the monsoon was recorded less than 50 per cent from the average rainfall.
Also, prepare a list of villages where water level has been reduced by two metres from the average level, the GR said.
The GR also states that tankers provided by the local administration for supplying water are in a poor condition. Hence, private tankers are hired on rent due to which there is burden on the state exchequer.
The GR states that strict orders have been issued to keep tankers secure which should be provided to the district collectors for water supply when needed.
While using tanker services for supplying water, a GPS system should be used so that it can be strictly monitored. The expenses should be borne by the contractor, the GR said.
It has been 22 years since Amar Paladhe, a clearance diver working for the Indian Navy, died during an exercise in the Bay of Bengal, but his gutsy mother Anuradha says she is far from getting a closure and continues to seek answers on what led to her son’s demise.
“His untimely and – as several court judgments term it – ‘suspicious and mysterious’ death leaves me with no choice but to fight all odds and ensure that real culprits are found and punished,” said Anuradha (68).
The retired teacher stressed that she is a patriotic citizen and has full faith in law of the land.
But, she added, “I won’t even have liberty to die without knowing real culprits behind Amar’s death.”
Amar died on September 21, 1993 during an exercise off Kakinada on the eastern coast. The native of Dombivili in adjoining Thane district had reportedly jumped into the Bay of Bengal waters from a helicopter.
He was recruited by the Navy as Seaman-I, Clearance Diver No. III, and, in 1993, he was in the Eastern Naval Command Clearance Diving scheme.
The post-mortem report did not attribute any particular cause for the death and a lengthy battle ensued in the courts.
“Naval officials themselves called Amar as a diver who was ‘cut above other divers’ and several court judgements also noted the mystery and negligence surrounding his death,” Anuradha said.
She said the Navy is using “delaying tactics” like not being present in court for hearings, filing inaccurate affidavits, including a recent one where she had been called as his wife.
“There were grave inconsistencies in Navy’s official replies, affidavits, reports in these 22 years, so my question is what the concerned officers are protecting or hiding in this unfortunate incidence of my son’s mysterious and negligent death?” questioned Anuradha, whose husband died a few years ago.
She said friends like advocates Sunil and Manjiri Ganu, and legal counsel Rajendra Pai were fighting her case pro bono, and she was also getting support from her former students in this quest.
When contacted, a Defence spokesperson said, “The matter has been forwarded to the Eastern Naval Command and a reply is awaited.
Congress accused Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of violating the model code of conduct by announcing a Rs. 6,500 crore package for development of Kalyan-Dombivli townships in adjoining Thane district where civic polls will be held on November 1.
“The Election Commission should act against him,” Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) general secretary Sanjay Dutt said.
“Fadnavis has breached the election code of conduct by declaring Rs 6,500 crore Development Package for Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC),” he added.
Dutt further said that though Fadnavis had sold future dreams, he had remained mum on the “shoddy” state of affairs in KDMC for which his party BJP is “responsible”.
Addressing his first public rally for upcoming KDMC poll at Dombivli yesterday, Fadnavis said his government has prepared a draft plan of Rs 6,500 crore for smart city in Kalyan-Dombivli.
The Chief Minister described about benefits of smart city and appealed public to vote for BJP so that twin city can be developed as smart city.
The city Congress has organized a bullock-cart rally at Azad Maidan on Monday afternoon to protest against state government’s decision to impose surcharge on fuel
Former Maharashtra chief minister and state Congress president Ashok Chovan along with the city Congress president Sanjay Nirupam and other party leaders will lead the rally. They decided to gather at Fashion Street from where they will travel to Azad Maidan.
Last week, the BJP led state government had decided to impose a `drought surcharge’ on a host of items ranging from fuel and liquor to cigarettes and jewellery to raise Rs 1,600 crore for drought affected farmers. The new tax system will be in place for the next five months till February-end, after which the government will rationalize it.
A surcharge of Rs 2 per litre would be levied on petrol and diesel in Mumbai. Its impact will be lower in rural areas as the local body tax (LBT) was scrapped in the remaining 27 corporations across the state.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday met the family of Mohammed Akhlaq, who was lynched by a mob, and said the government will do everything to bring the guilty to book.
Addressing the media, shortly after meeting Iqlakh’s family who had landed here yesterday night, UP CM said, “We are with Iqlakh’s family in this hour of grief. The family is in shock, we assure them all help.”
“We will help them, will also provide them with job if required,” Yadav added.
Yadav also said that stern action will be taken against the accused and those attempting to spread rumours.
While lashing out at the opposition parties for politicising the matter, the UP CM said that communal harmony is an integral part of nation’s culture and added that Samajwadi Party would never do politics on matters such as these.
“We assure full support and help to the family. There are some people, who are politicising this matter. I want to assure you that the Samajwadi Party would never do politics over such matters. Communal harmony is in our culture and we must ensure that our social fabric remains intact,” he added.
Akhilesh Yadav also announces an ex-gratia of Rs 30 lakh to Iqlakh’s family and 5 lakh each to his three brothers.
Meanwhile, Iqlakh’s elder brother thanked UP CM and added that they hope for a quick justice.
“We thank CM Akhilesh Yadav who supported us. We hope that justice will be done,” Iqlakh’s elder brother said.
Controversial BJP lawmaker Sangeet Som also addressed a gathering of hundreds in a village. Prohibitory orders forbid the assembly of more than four people in one place in the village.
“We have been saying repeatedly that cow slaughter is happening all over UP. This is leading to riots,” he said and accused the state’s Samajwadi Party government for conducting a “one-sided investigation”.
Asked if he would visit the victim’s family, the BJP lawmaker said, “The family isn’t here. The government of Uttar Pradesh taken them away in an airplane. The way they did with the conspirators of the Muzaffarnagar riots… they have now done the same with the cow killers.”
A shocking video has surfaced in which Congress workers in Andhra Pradesh’s Kovvuru town have been seen stuffing live pigeons inside fire crackers and setting it alight.
The idea was that the pigeons will be released when the rockets burst and fly off – making for a grand spectacle during the visit of state Congress chief N Raghuveera Reddy.
But the rockets went up and the pigeons fell dead, roasted in the intense heat when the crackers burst high up.
In the video, the pigeons were seen being stuffed into paper cones fixed atop rockets. A cardboard lid was put on it and sealed tight. The rocket was then lit.
An NGO – People For Animals has filed a complaint with the police and an FIR has been lodged against the state Congress unit citing cruelty to animals. Cruelty to animals carries a punishment in India.
The local Congress unit is yet to comment on the matter.
In the third such incident in four months in Uttar Pradesh, a local television journalist was allegedly shot dead by motorcycle-borne miscreants in Dheena area.
Hemant Yadav (45) who worked with a news channel was shot by bike-borne miscreants on Saturday night, Superintendent of police Amit Verma said.
The scribe was rushed to the government hospital where he died.
Yadav’s body has been sent for post-mortem, police said, adding that an FIR has been registered against unidentified persons at Chandauli police station following a complaint by the deceased’s wife.
Three special police teams have been formed to expedite the investigation into the case, Verma said, adding, some inputs have been received.
In June, journalist Jagendra Singh was allegedly set on fire during a police raid at his house in Shahjahanpur. His family alleged that the police officials set him on fire. Singh, who was in his 50s, succumbed to injuries on June 8.
An FIR was registered against six persons including a UP minister, who was said to be angry over Singh’s Facebook posts about his illegal mining activities and land grabbing.
In another incident, a part-time reporter for a local Hindi daily in Bareilly district, Sanjay Pathak, was allegedly killed by two persons in August.
Police said Pathak (42) was hit several times on the head with some heavy object and might have died of excessive bleeding.
Another local scribe was attacked and nearly killed allegedly by the mining mafia in Chitrakoot district a few months back.
Before that another journalist was dragged on the road by goons after tying him to a motor bike in Pilibhit district.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday met the family of Mohammed Akhlaq, who was lynched by a mob, and said the government will do everything to bring the guilty to book.