Cops zero in on man spotted with victim Esther

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January 31, 2014

In an important development in the Esther Anuhya murder case, Railway Police has stumbled upon a CCTV footage that showed the victim with a man after alighting the train at Kurla Railway Terminus from where she went missing, police claimed today.

Police suspect that the man, spotted with the 23-year-old female software engineer, could be behind her murder and attempts were on to identify him.

A team of railway police left to Andhra Pradesh to meet her parents and show the clipping, an officer said refusing to elaborate any further.

Groping in the dark, Mumbai police and Railway Police have questioned several auto rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, small-time criminals and drug addicts, and even detained four persons for a few days, though nothing concrete has been achieved.

“This is a very good lead in the case. We are hoping to crack the case soon,” said Shivaji Dhumal, Senior Inspector at Kurla Government Railway Police.

Police have so far failed to recover key evidence like the victim’s bag and laptop. The girl’s family, however, claim that the police was not doing enough to solve the case.

On January 16, Mumbai Police had found the burnt body of Anuhya eleven days after she went missing from Kurla Railway Terminus. The body was identified by her father S Prasad, a retired Professor of Andhra Pradesh University, police said.

The body of Anuhya, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh, bearing burn injuries, was found in Kanjurmarg. Anuhya was employed with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

Government assures HC to form panel to hear medical negligence cases

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Afternoon Voice

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January 31, 2014

Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court that it had already appointed a high-power committee to prepare a draft on constituting an authority, before whom victims of medical negligence can file complaints.

The committee is expected to submit its report soon and thereafter the state would take steps to constitute the authority to look into the cases filed by victims of medical negligence, government pleader Prajakta Shinde told a bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah.

The bench had asked the state on January 17 to form an authority to probe cases of medical negligence. Such a panel would hear the victims of medical negligence and recommend measures to take action against the accused, the judges said.

Under Section 7 of Maharashtra Medicare Service, Persons and Medicare Service Institution (MMSPMSI) Act, establishment of such an authority is mandatory. Hence, the HC asked the state to set up this committee as soon as possible.

The court had also directed Additional Home Secretary (AHS) and Director General of Police (DGP) to issue a circular within two weeks asking the police force to invoke provisions of MMSPMSI Act in cases of assault on doctors.

As the circular is still not distributed to police, the bench gave a stern warning to the State and noted that if such circular is not given to all the police stations in the State within two weeks, the additional home secretary and DGP would have to personally remain present on February 17.

The court was hearing a suo motu (on its own) petition alleging assault by three policemen on a doctor who had refused to attend a woman in labour pains in a government hospital in Solapur town in Maharashtra on December 31.

Following a court directive, the policemen, who had assaulted the doctor, were held under MMSPMSI on January 12.

The policemen were first booked under the IPC for bailable offences and granted bail. However, the court, after viewing CCTV footage of the incident, had directed the government to book the policemen under MMSPMSI Act, under which offences were cognisable and non-bailable.

The Solapur attack had led to a flash strike by 4,000 resident doctors in Maharashtra on January 2. The stir was called off after the policemen surrendered in a Solapur court. The accused policemen had tendered an unconditional apology in the high court through their lawyer for the attack.

HC restrains numismatist from auctioning coins

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Afternoon Voice

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January 31, 2014

The Bombay High Court restrained a numismatist (coin collector) from auctioning coins purchased by him and invoice in the name of Dinesh Mody Institute of Numismatics and Archaeology (DMINA).

A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha was hearing a petition filed by another numismatist Farokh Todywalla, who claims to have sold a part of his coin collection to Dinesh Mody at a low price, some of which are on the block now.

Mody, in 2005, had donated over 7,500 coins to the Mumbai University to set up a museum at its suburban Kalina campus. Dinyar Madon, counsel for the petitioner, argued that Mody continued to purchase several coins and invoiced them in the name of the museum in order to avoid 10-15 per cent service tax.

According to the petition, Mody is allegedly auctioning some of these coins on February 2 under a series named ‘The Wardhaman Collection of Indian Coins- Part I’. 409 coins have been put up for auction.

“If the coins are in the name of the museum, then that does not amount to his (Mody’s) private collection,” Madon argued.

The petition included a list of 45 coins, identified by him, as those which were invoiced in the museum’s name, but has been put up for auction.

Ashish Kamat, Mody’s counsel, refuted the claims that Mody had put up the museum’s coins for auction.

He alleged that the petitioner (Todywalla) belonged to the rival business house and have been aware of the auction since December 28, 2013. “The auction was in the know of concerned persons since last year. Then why has the petition been filed two days before the auction,” questioned Kamat.

Kamat further argued that the coins that have been put up for auction have been shown by Mody as his private collection in the Income Tax Returns filed by him.

Mody made a statement that he will not auction the 45 coins identified by the petitioner till the matter was settled.

However, the high court restrained him from auctioning any coin which has been invoiced in the museum’s name. The court has directed Mody to file a detailed affidavit in reply by February 26.

NMMC wins Vashundra Award

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Afternoon Voice

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January 31, 2014

The Navi Mumbai Corporation has won the Maharashtra state government Environmental Department ‘Vashundra Award’. From last seven years Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has been working for the creating awareness related to environment. Corporation is also conducting exhibition on Agriculture, Floriculture, Horticulture which is scheduled to be held from 7 to 9 February at Rozi Vanders Park, Nerul.

From Khaki to Khadi

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Afternoon Voice

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January 31, 2014

Satyapal Singh might be keen to make a foray into politics after resigning from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner but will he be able achieve success in this arena? Many police officials who had entered politics failed to make any impact as they found that journey was not smooth. Will Satyapal Singh be able to script a new success story in politics? We take a look at how several police officials fared after taking a plunge into politics.

Aftab Ahmed Khan, a former Indian Police Service officer, turned politician from Mumbai, noted for his encounter killings of gangsters from the Mumbai organized crime syndicates. An officer of the Indian Police Service, Khan was a Deputy Inspector General of Police in Maharashtra state in the 1980s. In the mid-1990s, Khan sought to build on his image by joining politics. Initially expressing interest in joining the Samajwadi Party, he eventually went with the Janata Dal, with whom he stood elections in the Mumbai North-west constituency in 1998.

Former Assistant Commissioner of Police, Shamsher Khan Pathan is another official who entered politics. He formed the party, ‘Awami Vikas Party’ with an intention to create a united political front of the minorities and to “strengthen” the Muslim and Dalit unity. The party’s launch coincided with the 52nd Maharashtra Day. He retired as an Assistant Commissioner of Police after a service of over three decades. Shamsher Kahn Pathan’s party was unable to make an impact.

Baban Jadhav (60) who retired in 2007 as Assistant Police Inspector too had made a foray into politics. He failed to get backing from any political party and hence he contested as an independent candidate from Wadala Constituency. He stands with the intention to bring police reforms as his main agenda. Jadhav had chosen Wadala area to contest election because many police housing colonies exist in the place but he lost.

Retired Director General of Police T. K. Choudhary is another example of a police official who was unable to achieve success in politics. After retirement his first stint was to become a politician but he remained unsuccessful.

Satyapal Singh said, “So far my sphere of work was limited to Mumbai, now I want to serve the country,” he said. “I want to focus on working for social harmony, national integration and world peace,” he added.

A 1980 batch IPS officer, Singh is reportedly planning to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate from Meerut or Baghpet constituency in Uttar Pradesh (UP). He has reportedly been in advanced talks with several senior BJP leaders, including party president Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari. He also had received an offer from Aam Aadmi Party international forum.

Former IPS officer YP Singh said, “A police official has to seek the permission of the central government before taking up any assignment. Satypal Singh had good contacts with political parties by serving the police force.”

What is Satyapal’s credibility?

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Vaidehi Taman

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January 31, 2014

After his resignation from the Indian Police Service (IPS), there is gossip doing round that Satyapal Singh is joining politics. If he has decided to join politics and become Member of Parliament then this is a good decision according to me. Just relying on pension after retirement is not possible or we can say very hard to survive. Good financial decision by the person concerned, but what country gets in return is not known yet. Satyapal Singh has not given any applauding performance after joining services or at least after coming to Mumbai as a Police Commissioner. No doubt, he is very good writer and also authored couple of books in the recent past. Author of two books: one on confronting the Naxal menace, and the other a self-help book, Talash Insaan Ki (The Search for Man), that has sold over a lakh copies and has been translated into several languages. As a service man, his influence on state and department is just unnoticeable. Whichever party he joins but this man has no principles of his own. So, no one guess about him. Weighing all options and then move, is what the work of the opportunist is. And he may end up as an opportunist in politics.

Satyapal Singh is a Maharashtra cadre IPS officer of the 1980 batch. Born on November 29, 1955, in Basauli in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Singh had aimed to become a scientist before he joined the IPS. He is a post-graduate in chemistry and has also done his M Phil (Chemistry). He has secured an MBA from Australia and is also has an MA and PhD in Public Administration. Singh’s first posting was as an Assistant Superintendent of Police of Nashik. He then went on to become the Superintendent of Police of Buldhana. Prior to being appointed the Mumbai police chief, Singh was Maharashtra’s Additional Director General of Police. He has also served as the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) in Mumbai, Nagpur’s Police Commissioner, Special Inspector General of Police of the Konkan range. He has also been on deputation to the CBI and received a special service medal for extraordinary work in the Naxalite areas of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Satyapal received the President’s Police Medal for distinguished service in 2004, the President’s Police Medal for meritorious service in 1996 and the DG’s Insignia in the same year. Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Dr. Satyapal Singh was the 37th police chief of the mega polis who took charge in August 2012, was one of the most competent law enforcers to take over the reins of the city police. In the late ’90s, when the mafia in Mumbai went berserk with several high profile killings, Dr Singh, who was then the additional commissioner of police, Mumbai North West region, formed special police squads to call the bluff of Chhota Shakeel, Arun Gawli and Chhota Rajan gangs. To this day, the notorious gangs have not recovered from that body blow.

Satyapal Singh’s stint as Pune police chief did run into rough weather at one point, but he persevered with his Mrityunjay Mission programme which he initiated in 2008. The Mrityunjay Mission roped in college students who were introduced to the basics of security, the dangers of terrorism and police patrolling. It was a huge success as Pune, an educational hub, gained a lot from this student-police interaction. But after German bakery blast, he was shunted out of Pune as the police commissioner. He was transferred from Pune. Then he claimed to send three letters to the owners and management of the German bakery (at Koregaon Park area in Pune) to apprise them about the possible terror threat in unclaimed packages, and suggesting other security measures. The bakery used to attract a lot of foreigners. But they did not show any signs of paying attention. Inspite of knowing the threat even Pune police didn’t take any action. Actually, on the day of the incident (February 13, 2010), the unclaimed bag was lying in that spot for 90 minutes. Even when a waiter informed the manager, no action was taken for 25 minutes, until it resulted in the blast. Satypal Singh was aware of the blast, he even intimated the owner but failed to provide police watch and security to the place. His prompt response could have prevented German bakery attack. Inspite of this, then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had defended the Pune police in Parliament. How one can blame the police when the owner was informed about the inputs and they had not increased the security of the place? Anyways, this argument leads to debate.

There were rumours that Satyapal’s appointment as Commissioner of Mumbai was graced by Congress senior politicians. Arup Patnaik was suddenly transferred and replaced by Dr. Singh. This sudden transfer has given birth to rift between both of them. There were sequences of pictures published in newspapers on how both of them did not see eye to eye during the whole takeover ceremony. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray’s rally claimed Patnaik’s job and he was a victim of a political conspiracy. Then Satyapal was political choice to this higher post. When Satyapal took over, Raj Thackeray immediately went and met him. There were rumours that Raj and Satyapal Singh has some hidden agenda as both follow staunch Hindutva principles. Satyapal was brought to Commissioner’s post during crises and he was due for promotion in six months. His tenure was too brief to bring about any positive change in the system. Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party supremo, Sharad Pawar was also instrumental in his appointment, as home department in Maharashtra is with NCP.

Meanwhile, Singh has always been in news for making controversial statements. His decision to keep hotels and bars open only till 1.30am on New Year’s Eve attracted lot of criticism and which was eventually turned down by Bombay High Court. He always maintained relations with media and promoted himself whenever possible. I wonder, a person who is not popular among masses, how will he attract voters? I don’t know why some political parties are showing interest in such a low profile police officer. After Kiran Bedi perhaps every IPS officer aiming to remain in lime light and politics is the only option one can opt for.

Kejriwal names Rahul in ‘corrupt leaders’ list, says Modi spending crores to win polls

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Afternoon Voice

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January 31, 2014

A day after he announced that his new Aam Aadmi Party will contest more than 350 of the Lok Sabha’s 543 seats, Arvind Kejriwal listed his choice for “India’s Most Corrupt” and vowed to put up strong candidates against them.

Union ministers like Kapil Sibal, Kamal Nath and Farooq Abdullah were among his nominees; so was Nitin Gadkari, BS Yeddyurappa and Anant Kumar of the BJP and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi who is helming his party’s campaign for the national election due by May. “Don’t let a single corrupt politician enter Parliament,” he told party workers.

Think of that election as a revolution to cleanse parliament, Mr Kejriwal urged party workers in Delhi. He has declared that his party will prioritize defeating about 160 candidates who have criminal records.

Positioning his party as the putative antidote to a deeply-corrupt system has served the former tax inspector well. A month ago, he took over as the chief minister of Delhi after the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP emerged as a breakout hit in the first election it contested.

After the hyper-change it escorted, national interest in the AAP has spiked. Opinion polls project about 12 seats for the AAP, but its impact is visible in the national campaign, with the two major parties, the Congress and the opposition BJP, aping its anti-elite, anti-corruption language.

Mr. Kejriwal and his cabinet will discuss the anti-graft Jan Lokpal Bill that seeks to punish corrupt government officials with a maximum sentence of life in jail.

Listing out the names, Kejriwal said corrupt netas like Suresh Kalmadi, Nitin Gadkari, Sushilkumar Shinde, BS Yeddyurappa, Kapil Sibal, Mulayam Singh, Kamal Nath, Veerappa Moily, Ananth Kumar, Anurag Thakur, Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel, P Chidambaram, Alagari, Kanimozhi, A Raja, Tarun Gogoi, Mayawati, Naveen Jindal etc have to be defeated.

Nitin Gadkari threatens to sue Kejriwal

Former BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Friday sought an apology from Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for calling him corrupt.

Gadkari has asked Kejriwal to apologise for his remark within three days. Kejriwal this morning had mentioned Gadkari’s name in his list of most corrupt politicians.

The BJP leader has also threatened to sue the AAP chief if there is no apology from him within three days.

Arunachal student dies allegedly after being beaten in south Delhi market

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Afternoon Voice

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January 31, 2014

The family of an 18-year-old college student from Arunachal Pradesh alleges that he died after being beaten by a group of men in the crowded commercial locality of Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi.

Nido Taniam, a first-year student, had reportedly gone to Lajpat Nagar with three friends on Wednesday evening and was looking for an address, when someone at a sweet shop allegedly began mocking him. According to a member of the Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union, Nido was teased about his hair.

Police sources say a fight erupted, in which Taniam broke a glass at the shop. A group of seven or eight local men then allegedly beat him with sticks and iron rods.

The police was called in and they took the four students away, but inexplicably dropped them back at the same place after a while. There they were allegedly caught by the men and beaten again, say sources.

Nido Taniam’s family says he was found dead the next morning in his room in Green Park Extension. They allege that he died of his injuries from the brutal beating.

The police have detained a person from the shop where Nido was allegedly beaten. He has denied that anyone made fun of him. The police say they will wait for a report of the post-mortem conducted today at the AIIMS hospital before filing an FIR, or a police complaint.

Nido’s friends have alleged that it was a racist attack.

“After the Khirki incident, people from North-East have been feeling scared. He broke a window… that does not mean six people thrash him. Why did the police drop him back to that place and not where he lives?” questioned activist Bina Lakshmi.

The incident has triggered outrage on social media. Angry tweets were directed at Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, which has been criticised for its policy of encouraging people to catch corrupt officers and for standing by a minister, Somnath Bharti, who had conducted a vigilante-style “raid” in Khirki Extension in his constituency, targeting African nationals on the suspicion that they were involved in a drugs and sex racket.

Arvind Kejriwal alleges blackmail as power firm warns of huge blackouts

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Afternoon Voice

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January 31, 2014

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused the companies that supply power to Delhi of “blackmail” after one of them warned of all-day electricity outages starting tomorrow in Central and East Delhi.

Mr. Kejriwal, who has accused the three private firms that distribute power in Delhi (discoms) of fudging their accounts to show losses, warned that their licenses could be cancelled.

Power distribution in Delhi was privatized in 2008. Since then, discoms have complained they are losing thousands of crores because they are forced to provide electricity at below-market rates.

BSES, one of the three firms, says it no longer has the money to buy electricity from the state-run NTPC, which generates power. NTPC says it is owed more than 150 crores for the month of December by BSES, which is backed by billionaire Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infra.

NTPC has turned down the Delhi government’s request to continue supplying power to BSES, which has in turn said that East and Central Delhi are staring at 8-10 hour power cuts.

Mr. Kejriwal, who took over as chief minister of Delhi last month, wants the three power companies to be audited.

Within days of taking office, he announced that electricity rates would be halved starting January 1, 2014 till March 31, 2014.

He has said that his cabinet would take a fresh call on the power rates after the national auditor completes its inspection of the private firms’ accounts.

Uttarakhand CM Bahuguna forced to quit, state sees 6 CMs in 14 years

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Afternoon Voice

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January 31, 2014

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Friday resigned saying he was bowing before the wishes of the Congress leadership. “The party high command has asked me to resign. I am resigning from the post. The Congress MLAs will elect the new chief minister on Saturday. I will continue to work for the party,” Bahuguna said in state capital Dehradun.

The Governor on Friday accepted the resignation of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. The demand for Bahuguna’s removal from the post of chief minister had been doing the rounds for a long time.

After the devastating floods in June 2013, there was an intense pressure on him to step down. He is accused of not carrying out the flood relief work properly.

Vijay Bahuguna’s appointment as the chief minister after the Congress returned to power in 2012 was a real surprise for party MLAs. At that time he was a sitting MP from Tehri-Garwal. Union minister and a strong leader from the state Harish Rawat had openly revolted against the party high command for imposing Bahuguna. The high command managed to pacify him by making him a Cabinet minister later.

Bahuguna, a former judge of the Bombay High Court, is the son of Congress stalwart HN Bahuguna, who was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Bahuguna’s Brahmin caste had also played role in making him the CM. Some people had alleged that he managed the CM post through some big industrial houses, which have commercial interests in the state.

Bahuguna proved to be a failure from day one. Most of his ministers refused to take orders from him and powerful leaders from the state like Harish Rawat, Harak Singh Rawat, Indira Hridayesh and others kept pressuring him to quit

The state Congress also informed the high command that the party may lose all 5 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, if they don’t change him. In 2009, the Congress won all 5 seats in the state.
The small Himalayan state of Uttarakhand has seen 6 chief ministers after it was carved out of UP in 2000.