Questioning police’s handling of missing complaints; the Bombay High Court said that if anybody approaches a police station saying a child or woman relative is missing the police should first take down the complaint, instead of worrying about the jurisdiction.
The remarks were made by a division bench of Justices N H Patil and Anuja Prabhudesai while hearing a petition filed by advocate and activist Abha Singh seeking probe by the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) into the “gross inaction” by police officers, who failed to act on the missing complaint filed by the family of techie Esther Anuhya. Esther had gone missing on January 5 after alighting at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in suburban Kurla. Her decomposed body was found on January 16 in suburban Kanjurmarg. The police arrested one Chandrabhan Sanap for the murder of Esther.
According to the petition, when Esther’s uncle had approached the MIDC police and Kurla railway police on January 5 to report that his niece was missing, the police officials there turned him away without taking down his complaint. “Only after Esther’s father approached the Vijayawada police in Andhra Pradesh and the police there sent a letter to the Kurla railway police, a missing complaint was lodged on January 8. Esther went missing on January 5. For three days the police did nothing,” Abha argued.
The court then sought to know the mechanism adopted by the police while handling such cases. “If a person approaches the police saying his or her woman relative is missing what does the police do? Shouldn’t they first note down the complaint instead of worrying about whether the case falls under their jurisdiction? Instead of asking the already troubled relative to run from one police station to another, shouldn’t the police take down the complaint and intimate the concerned police station,” Justice Patil questioned.
Public prosecutor S K Shinde informed the court that several circulars have been issued, by which the police is bound to register missing complaints if a person gives a written complaint. “In the present case, it is not that the Kurla railway police did nothing. On January 5 itself police went through the CCTV footage. When they could not spot the girl in the footage, the police called for the reservation chart,” Shinde said. The bench directed the senior police inspector of Kurla railway police to file an affidavit in response to the petition within two weeks.
A petition has been filed in the Bombay High Court seeking independent probe by the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) into the gross inaction by police officers who failed to act on the missing complaint filed by family of techie Esther Anuya who was found dead. The petition filed by advocate and activist Abha Singh sought for registration of offence against the errant police officers who failed to conduct necessary investigation into the missing complaint of Esther.
According to the petition, the police’s failure to act timely resulted in the abduction of young girl and then her death.
On December 24, 2013, Esther, who was working as an employee of TCS Mumbai, went to Macchilipatanam for Christmas vacation with her parents. She returned to Mumbai on January 5 night and took an auto rickshaw from the LokmanyaTilak Terminus in suburban Mumbai but never reached home.
Esther’s brother and father came to Mumbai to lodge a missing complaint when they did not hear from Esther. The MIDC Police Station, Andheri, did not register their complaint and told them to go to Kurla Railway Police Station. However, when the matter was reported to Kurla Railway Police Station, they also did not register the complaint, and told that the matter be reported to Vijaywada police station in Andhra Pradesh.
Esther Anuhya case: HC questions police’s handling of missing person’s complaints
Eight charged with abduction of teenager acquitted by Thane court
Eight persons, who were tried in connection with alleged abduction of a 17-year-old college boy from Navi Mumbai in 2010, have been acquitted by a court.
Thane Additional Sessions Judge A S Waghwase found the accused not guilty after prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the purported crime was committed by them. They were set free yesterday on benefit of doubt.
The accused were tried under sections 364(A), 387, 504 and 506 of the IPC. According to prosecutor Buleshwar Hinge, student Ashish Kanojia left his house in Nerul on August 7, 2010 for his college and never returned home. His parents searched for him and later filed a missing complaint with police. A day after, his father Ramtilak, a material supplier, received a call from the accused demanding Rs. 1 crore ransom for his son’s release.
He thereafter received repeated calls from the accused for the ransom, which was finally settled at Rs. 7 lakh.
Ramtilak was asked to come near Raghuleela Mall on August 10, 2010. When the complainant reached the specified spot, three of the accused were nabbed by police officers who had laid a trap, the court was told.
The arrested three led police to three others who were waiting at Mhape following which they too were apprehended, Hinge said.
Further probe revealed that the boy was held captive in in Pune from where he was rescued and two more people were arrested. A total of eight persons were arrested.
However, counsel for the accused, Baba Shaikh pointed out to the court that these persons were never arrested from near Raghuleela Mall. In fact, they were picked up a couple of days back by police to cover up the case, he alleged.
Shaikh also argued that if police had nabbed three men in a crowded place at Vashi as stated by them on that day, then why did not they examine even a single witness from among the onlookers or citizens as independent witnesses.
The police had examined only their officers whose deposition were also contradictory, he pointed out.
Shaikh also brought to the notice of the court that no identification parade of the arrested accused was held and submitted that the arrested were not at all involved in the case.
Several flaws in the case led the court to decide in favour of the accused, who were finally let off by the court.
Film ‘Rahasya’ not based on Aarushi case: Censor Board tells HC
The Censor Board told the Bombay High Court that the movie ‘Rahasya’ is based on fiction and bears no resemblance to the case of dentist couple Nupur and Rajesh Talwar who were convicted for the murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and the domestic help in 2008. “The film ‘Rahasya’ is a work of fiction. The film has a disclaimer in the beginning that it is based on fiction and bears no resemblance to any person dead or alive,” the affidavit filed by SheetalTandel, Assistant Regional Officer of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Mumbai, said.
The affidavit was filed in response to a petition by Nupur and Rajesh Talwar, now serving life sentence awarded to them for Aarushi’s murder, seeking a stay on the release of ‘Rahasya’ directed by Manish Gupta. The Talwars in their petition claimed the movie is based on “distorted facts are surrounding the gruesome death” of Aarushi.
The Talwars approached the High Court after the Central Board of Film Certification granted U/A certificate to the movie in January this year. The CBFC, however, said there are several differences between the Aarushi case and the movie. “In the movie, an 18- year-old Mumbai-based girl gets murdered. The father of the girl is arrested but released on bail and then acquitted. Soon after that, he too gets murdered. This is hardly the case with Dr. Rajesh Talwar who is still very much alive and in detention,” the affidavit said.
It further claims the victim girl and her parents in the movie bear no resemblance in name or appearance with Aarushi and her parents Nupur and Rajesh.
Senior counsel Birendra Saraf, appearing for the Talwars told the High Court that if as per the CBFC affidavit the movie is not based on the Aarushi case, then the Talwars do not have any problem. “We would still request the producers of the movie to arrange a private screening of the film for at least one member of the family,” Saraf said.
Advocate Atul Damle, appearing for Gupta and producer UVI Films Production Ltd, sought time till March 10 to seek instructions on whether a private screening can be arranged.
On the intervening night of May 15 and 16, 2008, Aarushi and their house help Hemraj were found murdered at the Talwars’ residence in Noida.
The Talwars were convicted by a sessions court in Ghaziabad in November last and sentenced to life imprisonment. Their appeal against their conviction is pending before the Allahabad High Court.
Naval officer gets lifer for murder of girlfriend
A sessions court sentenced a 28-year-old naval officer to life imprisonment for killing his girlfriend.
Manish Thakur, an employee of Aeronautical Wing of the Indian Navy, had been arrested in May 2007 by Mumbai police in Goa for murdering his girlfriend and employee of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Kaushumbi Layek. He was arrested when he was serving in INS Hansa.
24-year-old Layek was found murdered with two bullet injuries and her body was found in ‘Sun and Sheel Hotel’ in Andheri in western Mumbai in the wee hours of May 14, 2007.
According to the prosecution, Thakur had gone to Vasco in Goa after the incident and at the time of his arrest he had gone for advanced training in INS Hansa.
The prosecution told the court that Thakur killed her because the Layek refused to marry him. According to prosecution Takur was already married and he had hidden this fact from Layek.
When Layek came to know about his marriage, she started avoiding him, due to which there would be regular fights between the two. Layek had also stopped receiving Thakur’s calls.
The prosecution argued in the court that a day prior to the incident Thakur convinced her to come to the hotel and then committed the crime.
Interestingly, in the deposition of Thakur’s wife, she had put the entire blame on Layek. She had told the court that it was Layek, who used to call him regularly and she (Layek) had even told her that she should divorce Thakur.
In the court, during the trial, the prosecution examined 29 witnesses to prove their case including the sanctioning officer while the defence lawyers examined 6 witnesses.
Accepting the prosecution’s case, the judge D W Deshpande convicted Thakur.
Thakur said, “I was expecting this and was prepared for this (the sentence).”
He said he would now approach the high court.
What will happen in 2014 and further?
Recently, somebody asked me, according to you, what will India be like in 2014? After hearing this question, my mind goes into a series of thought process. I was seeing Modi’s waves, Congress’ defeat, AAP emerging. It all started from Anna’s flop-show, to Gujarat elections, Delhi rape case, Italian scam, Owaisi, winning of Congress (after 26/11), in 2009, repeated assault of Army, tossed reputation of VK Singh internationally, then him joining BJP. Obama retained as American President, Osama getting killed, nuclear race, java hack, anonymous hackers, revolution around the world, etc. From which, it was difficult to find statistics; as stock broker would predict using the graphs, I tried reading the happenings of India in the last 4 years and tried comparing it with the previous 5 years.
Giving a considerable thought, it has been a long run within a short span of time. With this I came to the conclusion that people have a tendency to forget and move forward. For example, no one was asking about 26/11 until the opposition probed it or Anna refreshed the memories. Let me tell you about the recently happened incidents. Delhi rape case has been suppressed by news of Army jawan being beheaded, which was supposed to rock the nation but it didn’t spur the exact. After that case, there has been stricter laws or demands for implementation of strict laws against rapists. Such heinous crimes increased and were reported repeatedly from the same city. Maybe, it seemed like a message to the government from anti-social elements that we don’t want to hear you or it may be planned by the government to set fear in your hearts and snatch your freedom. Such crimes are on rise and there will be a time when India will have curfews rather than nightlife and closed circuit television surveillance rather a sophisticated privacy. Current government has lovers as well as haters. There was no baggage checking on railway platforms until Mumbai was rocked by series of blasts. Still, even after implementing the ‘solutions’, the message is being sent by ‘them’ to us, that there is nothing which can stop them. Recent blasts in Hyderabad, hate speeches from both sides of religious leaders are the present preoccupations. Bias decisions for one and punishment for the other are acts which divide the two communities. Please talk about harmony and peace.
We are people who have to forget the past and learn to live in harmony with each other. We understand this but we fail to implement this in our day to day life. This results in one man earning money whilst we play fool-fool game with each other. My intention is not to stop it but what will happen in future because of it. Very soon, the people will start rebelling against the government because government is biased towards one community. Government will use its political muscle and manpower and some sentimental foolish will help them. On the other side, the cyber world will soon be crippled as there are many attacks and attackers are getting advanced with their experience and unfortunately, the ‘companies’ in our country are not working exactly for the national security or threat analysis, making way for a doom in coming years. However, on the bright side, some states which have developed from the bottom and have reached higher might also face similar disputes. The rise in crimes, the rise in communal disharmony, the fallacy of economics, innumerable scams, rise of prices, frustrated common man and frustrated personal life due to governmental flaws will be common. War with neighbours will rise and many will lose their lives.
It is all seen in the making and soon the law will go out of hands and curfew will be imposed on us. CCTVs will be installed on roads, tracing all our activities and will snatch our privacy. The freedom on the internet will be lost. The sudden win of Arindham Chaudhary has taught us that ISP and internet is under the influence of private companies rather than governmental bodies. FDI may be or may not be affecting all to us but, ‘those’ foreign companies which is investing in our country will reap the share. Surely, it will raise employment but it will also result in fallacy of small and medium entreprenuers. It is a huge game and it requires a continuous cycle to execute this chain reaction. However, hope that there is another political party and of course this rebellious orator can help the country’s citizens. Those pockets are filled and those who had sold their souls, they are not complaining about it. On the other side, we cannot say anything about the future, might be our country is marching towards military rule like in North Korea. Military rule is good but it lays the freedom of citizens into the hands of men who enslave other men. It is like a dilemma in which this country is foreseen to be stuck. It would be interesting to see if this nation gets a hero, who actually twists the entire story.
Many good and bad things happened; political winds are blowing in this country. People are waiting for change and between all these; the life of conman man has not changed much. Upcoming Lok Sabha elections will be ever interesting in the history. Let’s see, who will win and who will lose; who will be the new king and the kingmakers. One fourth of the year has passed with many incidences taking place; let’s hope for better years ahead.
Hopes are high and hope is the reason, we all strive harder for our better future and plan fthe uture of our children. At the bottom line, if something has to happen, it will be for good. I didn’t say that, people say, god said it!
‘Mentaliser can use his powers to influence others’
Ehud Segev is a very senior Mentalist and is registered with the Guinness Book of World Records. The market for Ehud’s shows is the USA and Europe and for the first time a Workshop format was brought to India. Our correspondent Prakash Jha spoke to Ehud about the qualities of a Mentaliser who can use his powers to influence others.
What do mean by Mentaliser and how can a mentaliser help a person in day to day life operations?
A Mentaliser is a combination of the words “mental analyzer”, someone who uses his mental abilities to analyse a person or a situation he is facing. By unlocking the secret knowledge and understanding how to “read” others you can gain much more control over your life by realising things you didn’t notice before. A Mentaliser has the ability to know if someone is genuine or not and have a deep understanding of what makes a person tick. He can use his powers to Influence others and therefore learning the secrets of the Mentaliser can really help any type of a leader: managers, politicians, teachers etc!
You have organised workshops in which countries? How was the response?
I have been teaching and presenting my knowledge worldwide and have so far done workshops and shows in over 30 countries. My biggest venues so far were Israel and the USA. In Israel, the ministry of foreign affairs hired me to teach my knowledge to the country’s ambassadors throughout the world! As a part of my passion to share this knowledge with the rest of the world I published two books so far who became a worldwide sensation. “9 Steps to Influence” and “Secrets of the Voice” both became amazon #1 bestsellers! Secrets of the Voice remained a #1 bestsellers from its day of publishing last year until today! I currently have over 10,000 students enrolled in my online course “How to be a Mentalizer” and the list keeps on growing.
What was the reason for you to do first of its kind workshop in India?
I always wanted to do this workshop in India because I love India and have spent a lot of time here. Some of my biggest clients are from India. In fact one of my biggest clients is from IIT. When I was approached for the “Secret to master you mind” event which is being presented by Fiona Moissanite for the first time in India, I was enthralled! I knew that this will be a one in a lifetime experience with me and Prahlad Kakar joining hands.
As a mentaliser what all can you do? Please share some techniques.
Bending fork or making things fly is become a norm for any Mentaliser event but one of the most important aspects of mentally analysing people is to let go of what we were programmed to do and try to capture more information which was never natural to us although it’s the most natural way of communication in nature! You see, we are too busy listening to the words that come out from someone’s mouth and registering what the words means – which is very important for communication but it lacks over 90 percent of the information that the other person is trying to tell us (or sometimes hides from us). In my workshop apart from the mind and the body something very interesting that I have added is the five elements of the Voice which are much more important than the actual words when you’re trying to communicate in the Mentaliser way! Those elements are the pace, pitch, tone, volume and rhythm. By analysing HOW someone speaks and not only WHAT they speak, we can truly see the entire picture much clearer!
When do you realise you possess the abilities of a Mentaliser and can anybody become a mentaliser if they wish to?
I’ve been studying these phenomenal communications and influencing skills since I was a little kid. I was always attracted to this field but I knew that there is nothing supernatural about reading someone’s mind or feelings. In fact – that’s the way it should be! Everyone must have the ability to mentally analyse the people around them because this is the only way our world can become a better, more understanding
place! So yes, everyone can be a mental analyser and Mentalise the people around him, and this is exactly what I am trying to achieve by having my workshops and books published!
Declare item girl as CM
Ever since item girl and actress Rakhi Sawant visited the BJP Delhi office speculations are rife whether the party will make her the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. She also has expressed her willingness to join politics. Rakhi is an ardent fan of Modi and wants him to become the prime minister of India. She claimed that she is the daughter of the BJP and it is like her home. Earlier Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray had called the Aam Aadmi Party as the item girl of politics. He also had said that Rakhi could provide better governance than AAP which is an new entrant in the political arena. If BJP appoints Rakhi Sawant as the state’s CM then statements made by Uddav is likely to become a reality. Rakhi is known for issuing controversial statements and had participated in the reality show Bigg Boss. She nonetheless likes both Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi.
Mayank Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party Maharashtra president and North West Mumbai Lok Sabha candidate said, “Uddhav Thackeray wanted Rakhi Sawant to be inducted into the NDA and now his wish will be fulfilled. The party now needs to declare Rakhi Sawant as a Chief Ministerial candidate.”
Gopal Shetty, sitting MLA from Borivali and north Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency said, “Mayank Gandhi needs to concentrate on the development of his own party. They shouldn’t teach us what we should be doing. We will take a decision to decide whom we should nominate for the post of CM. The Aam Aadmi Party is unstable right now. They need to work for the party’s development instead of issuing such comments.”
Madhav Bhandari, BJP state unit spokesperson refused to comment on the statement issued by Mayank Gandhi. He said, “I don’t know him so I will not comment about this issue. I don’t know who is Mayank Gandhi hence I won’t comment about the statements issued by him.”
Rakhi Sawant who has never shied away from making statements that could gain her some free publicity and controversy said, “I have just come to the office. I do not know anything about joining the party. The senior leaders will be able to say better. I haven’t thought of anything as yet, I am a daughter of the BJP and it is like my home. I want people to support Modi, and I am sure he is going to be the next PM,” she said.
Soon after a meeting with Ms Sawant, BJP President Rajnath Singh said, “I got so emotional when Rakhi Sawant came without any invitation, to meet us, saying she wanted to thank the officers who are here, to tie a rakhi to them.”
Earlier the BJP had roped in real life magician PC Sorcar and entertainer Vijay Jolly. Even Salman Khan had rubbed shoulders with Modi for promoting his latest film.
Techie Esther Anuhya murder case cracked; history-sheeter arrested
Nearly two months after Hyderabad techie Esther Anuhya went missing and was found murdered here, Mumbai Police today claimed to have cracked the case with the arrest of a proclaimed offender, who allegedly made a failed attempt to rape the victim but later burnt her body partially.
Chandrabhan Sudam Sanap (28), who has several cases registered against him and working as a driver in Nashik, was apprehended from Kanjurmarg area in suburban Bhandup and placed under arrest, Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria said.
The accused was produced before a local court which remanded him in police custody till March 15, he said.
Sanap is the same person who was spotted with Anuhya in a CCTV footage at the Kurla railway terminus on January 5, the day she went missing, police said.
The victim’s decomposed body was found off the Eastern Express Highway in Bhandup on January 16.
The 23-year-old victim, a native of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, was employed as assistant system engineer with IT major TCS at its office in suburban Goregaon.
After painstaking scrutiny of 36 CCTVs’ footages at the railway station and grilling of about 2,500 people, investigators stumbled upon Sanap, who was picked up last night.
“Sanap confessed to the crime and claimed his initial conspiracy was only intended to rob her. The victim’s trolley bag has been recovered,” Maria said.
Explaining the chain of events that led to the murder, he said Sanap, who consumed alcohol a day before the incident, had early on January 5 began scouting for victims at Kurla railway terminus and surrounding areas so that he could steal their bags or mobile phones.
“He spotted this girl (Anuhya) sitting at railway station alone and offered to drop her in a taxi to Andheri for Rs. 300.
Sanap then took her to the taxi stand where the victim found that he had a two-wheeler and not the cab,” Maria said.
Jiah’s mom moves HC again for SIT probe, says she was killed
Rabia Khan, mother of late actor Jiah Khan, has moved the Bombay High Court once again alleging that her daughter was murdered and had not committed suicide and sought transfer of probe to a Special Investigating Team.
The petition would come up for hearing in due course, her lawyer Dinesh Tiwari said.
In October 2013, Rabia had filed a petition seeking CBI probe but did not press for it as the High Court had asked police to record her statement and probe as if it was a case of murder. The police had probed on these lines and filed a chargesheet saying it was a suicide case and charged actor Suraj Pancholi, Jiah’s boyfriend, for abetment of suicide.
At a press conference, Rabia alleged that she was threatened by a man on February 25 who met her at her house and asked her to withdraw case against the accused. She promptly reported this to Police Commissioner through e-mail.
In her petition filed recently, 53-year-old Rabia had cited circumstances which point out that Jiah was allegedly killed and had not committed suicide, as stated in charge sheet. She has blamed Suraj for her daughter’s death.
Rabia said she had carried out a sting operation of a few witnesses who revealed in an audio recording that they had not told the police what had been recorded in their statements, thereby doubting the police version that Jiah had committed suicide.
The petitioner has sought investigations by SIT under the supervision of the High Court and direction so as to allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation, USA, to assist the Indian investigating agency in the ongoing probe.
Rabia, a British citizen, has urged the High Court to direct the Juhu police to give her a copy of histopathology report, a copy of videography held during post mortem, copies of SMS exchanged between Suraj and Jiah and a copy of the call details record of Suraj and his father Aditya Pancholi.
Jiah’s mother has also prayed for a direction to the police to provide her with a copy of transcripts of the BBM (Blackberry Messenger services) chat between Suraj and Jiah, copies of details of mobile tower location and allow exhuming Jiah’s body so as to conduct more forensic examinations.
She prayed that police may be directed to book Suraj Pancholi with additional charges under IPC including 302 (murder), 323 (voluntary causing grievous hurt) and 376 (rape).
NCP’s Suresh Dhas pitched against Gopinath Munde
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Monday announced the name of Suresh Dhas, the minister of state for revenue, to contest the Beed parliamentary constituency against senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The decision was taken at a meeting of Nationalist Congress Party president and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and senior leaders at the party office here.
The party is yet to announce candidates for Maval, Hatkanangale and Hingoli seats.
Party sources said the decision on Hatkanangale was pending because the NCP was persuading minister Jayant Patil to contest against Raju Shetti, who has now tied-up with the Sena-BJP alliance.
Hingoli may be swapped with Congress for Raigad seat. NCP is likely field Water Resources Minister Sunil Tatkare from Raigad if it gets the seat, sources said.
Party workers are of the view that if the NCP parts with Hingoli, it might lose base in Marathwada. However, it is up to the leaders to decide, sources said.
Congress has not been able to wrest the seat from Shiv Sena which was once a bastion of Congress and former chief minister AR Antulay.
NCP is also yet to declare candidate for Maval.
The Congress is likely to declare its first list after March 13.