Hathras horror: 11-year-old boy killed as sacrifice for school's prosperity by owner; 5 held

Hathras horror: 11-year-old boy killed as sacrifice for school's prosperity by owner; 5 held

Friday, 27 September 2024 | PTI | Agra

An 11-year-old child was killed as part of an alleged sacrificial ritual performed by the owners of his school in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras to make it more prosperous, police said on Friday.

Besides the owner and director of the school, the principal and two teachers were also arrested for their alleged involvement in the incident, they said.

Police said the postmortem report of the class two student revealed that he was strangled.

DL Public School owner Jasodhan Singh, who is said to believe in 'tantrik rituals', asked his son Dinesh Baghel, the director of the school, to sacrifice a child for the prosperity of the school and his family.

Principal Laxman Singh and two teachers -- Ramprakash Solanki and Veerpal Singh -- have also been held by police.

Police has lodged an FIR against them under the section 103 (1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, against five of them and they have been sent to jail.

"The student has been identified as Kritarth (11) studying in class second of the DL Public school," Ashok Kumar Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Hathras told PTI.

"On September 23, the student was abducted from the school's hostel by teacher Ramprakash Solanki, Dinesh Baghel and school owner Jasodhan Singh. Jasodhan Singh believes in 'tantra' practice and asked his son to sacrifice a child for the prosperity of school and his family," he said.

They took the student to a secluded place for the sacrifice but the student woke up and began crying, the officer said.

"After that he was strangulated. Another teacher Veerpal Singh and school principal Laxman Singh were also present at the spot and were guarding the place," he said.

Police further said that the accused told the child's parents that Kritarth was not well as was being taken to a hospital in Baghel's car. Family members of the child, however, stopped the car and informed police about Kritarth's death, police said.

Later, postmortem report showed that he died due to strangulation.

In the police investigation, the accused informed police that the student was killed for 'sacrifice' for the prosperity of school and the owner's family," the ASP said.

(Source:The Pioneer)

SC grants bail to Kejriwal in excise policy corruption case

SC grants bail to Kejriwal in excise policy corruption case

Friday, 13 September 2024 | PTI | New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the corruption case lodged by the CBI in connection with the excise policy 'scam', saying prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan granted the relief to Kejriwal on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh, and two sureties of like amount.

Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED in the excise policy case on March 21, was granted interim bail on May 10 for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls and has been in jail since June 2 when he surrendered.

The top court directed Kejriwal not to make any public comment on the merits of the case and added that terms and conditions as imposed in the ED case would also be applicable here.

The top court, while granting him bail in the ED case, had said that Kejriwal cannot visit his office or the Delhi Secretariat and not sign any official file unless absolutely necessary to obtain the Lieutenant Governor's sanction.

It said completion of trial was unlikely to occur in the immediate future and rejected the apprehension of tampering by Kejriwal.

Justice Bhuyan, who wrote a separate judgement, concurred with Justice Kant on grant of bail.

However, Justice Bhuyan questioned the timing of Kejriwal's arrest by the CBI and said the agency's aim was to frustrate grant of bail to him in the ED case.

I fail to understand the CBI's urgency to arrest Kejriwal on cusp of release in the ED case when it did not do so for 22 months, Justice Bhuyan said.

He said the CBI can't justify arrest and continued detention citing evasive replies by Kejriwal, and added that non-cooperation cannot mean self-incrimination.

"The CBI must dispel notion of being a caged parrot, must show it is an uncaged parrot," Justice Bhuyan said.

It would be travesty of justice to keep Kejriwal in custody when he has got bail in the ED case on the same grounds, he said.

Justice Bhuyan said he has serious reservations on the conditions imposed in the ED case on Kejriwal which bar him from entering the CM's office and signing files.

"I am not commenting on conditions imposed on Kejriwal due to judicial discipline as it was in separate ED case," he added.

The bench had on September 5 reserved its verdict on the pleas.

Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI in the corruption case filed by the central agency.

The AAP chief was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 26. He has challenged in the apex court the Delhi High Court's August 5 order which upheld his arrest in the corruption case.

On July 12, the apex court had granted interim bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering case.

The top court had referred to a larger bench, preferably of five judges, for in-depth consideration of three questions on the aspect of "need and necessity of arrest" under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

During the arguments on September 5 on Kejriwal's plea in the corruption case, the chief minister had vehemently opposed in the apex court the CBI's contentions that he should have approached the trial court first for bail in the corruption case.               Questioning the maintainability of Kejriwal's pleas, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the CBI, had submitted that even in the money laundering case in which he had challenged his arrest by the ED, he was sent back by the apex court to the trial court.

(Source : PTI & The Pioneer)

Probe agency must be above board, CBI should dispel notion of being caged parrot: Justice Bhuyan

Probe agency must be above board, CBI should dispel notion of being caged parrot: Justice Bhuyan

Friday, 13 September 2024 | PTI | New Delhi

Observing that the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal by the CBI was unjustified, Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Friday came down heavily on the premier agency for arresting the Delhi chief minister in the corruption case linked to excise policy 'scam', and said it must dispel the notion of being a caged parrot.

Writing a separate concurring judgement granting bail to the AAP supremo, Justice Bhuyan questioned the timing of Kejriwal's arrest by the C.B.I. and said its aim was to frustrate grant of bail to him in the ED case.

Justice Surya Kant did not find any illegality in the CBI arrest.

"CBI is a premier investigating agency of the country. It is in the public interest that CBI must not only be above board, but must also be seen to be so. Every effort must be made to remove any perception that investigation was not carried out fairly and that the arrest was made in a high-handed and biased manner.

"In a functional democracy governed by the rule of law, perception matters. Like Caesar's wife, an investigating agency must be above board. Not long ago, this court has castigated the CBI comparing it to a caged parrot. It is imperative that CBI dispels the notion of it being a caged parrot. Rather, the perception should be that of an uncaged parrot," Justice Bhuyan wrote.

The top court judge said when Kejriwal has been granted bail under the more stringent provisions of PMLA, further detention by the CBI in respect of the same predicate offense has become wholly untenable.

"When the CBI did not feel the necessity to arrest the appellant for 22 long months, I fail to understand the great hurry and urgency to arrest the appellant when he was on the cusp of release in the ED case," Justice Bhuyan said.

He said the CBI can't justify arrest and continued detention citing evasive replies by Kejriwal, and added that non-cooperation cannot mean self-incrimination.

"The CBI must dispel notion of being a caged parrot, must show it is an uncaged parrot," Justice Bhuyan said.

It would be travesty of justice to keep Kejriwal in custody when he has got bail in the ED case on the same grounds, he said.

Justice Bhuyan said he has serious reservations on the conditions imposed in the ED case on Kejriwal which bar him from entering the CM's office and signing files.

"I am not commenting on conditions imposed on Kejriwal due to judicial discipline as it was in separate ED case," he added.

The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.

According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.

(Source : PTI & The Pioneer)

PoK residents should join India; we consider them our own unlike Pak: Rajnath

PoK residents should join India; we consider them our own unlike Pak: Rajnath Singh

Sunday, 08 September 2024 | PTI 

:

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday asked the residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to come and join India as "we consider you as our own unlike Pakistan which treats you as foreigners".

Addressing an election rally in the Ramban assembly constituency in support of BJP candidate Rakesh Singh Thakur, the Union minister came down heavily on the National Conference-Congress alliance over its poll promise of restoring Article 370 and said it is impossible as long as the BJP is there.

He welcomed the "sea change" in the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, and said youths now carry laptops and computers instead of pistols and revolvers.

"Support the BJP to form the next government in J-K so that we can facilitate massive development in the region. There will be so much development that the people in PoK on seeing this should say that we do not want to live with Pakistan and instead will go to India," the defence minister said.

He said that recently an affidavit was filed by the additional solicitor general in the neighboring country stating that PoK is a foreign land.

"I want to tell PoK residents that Pakistan is considering you foreigner but the people in India do no consider you as such. We consider you as our own and so come and join us," he said.

(Source : PTI & The Pioneer)

Russian helicopter with 22 persons onboard goes missing

Russian helicopter with 22 persons onboard goes  missing

Sunday, 01 September 2024 | AP | Moscow

Rescuers are searching for a helicopter that went missing in Russia’s far east on Saturday with 22 people on board.

The Mi-8 helicopter took off close to the Vachkazhets volcano in the Kamchatka region, but did not arrive at its destination as scheduled, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said in a statement. It said it believed that 19 passengers and three crew members were on board.

The Mi-8 is a two-engine helicopter designed in the 1960s. It is widely used in Russia, where crashes have been frequent, as well as in neighbouring countries and many other nations.

(Source : AP & The Pioneer)