CRIME xx : Blog Title the same as above

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Citi fraud: Siphoned funds may have gone into stocks

New Delhi: Shivraj Puri, Relationship Manager in Citibank, who is alleged to be at the centre of a Rs 200-crore scam, diverted large sums of money collected from high net worth individual and corporate clients into accounts opened by him with several brokerage firms such as Religare Securities and Bonanza Portfolio.

The police said Puri and his family was not traceable and that his residence in Hamilton Court was locked. S S Deswal, Gurgaon Commissioner of Police said, "We have released a look-out notice to prevent him from leaving the country and have notified immigration authorities." Money was siphoned in the second stage to certain accounts in broker firms, Bonanza Portfolio and Religare Securities, he said.
Instead of investing the moneys of clients directly into the account of brokerage firms, Puri is alleged to have diverted them to the accounts of his relatives who had opened accounts in these firms. Two brokerage firms Bonanza and Religare, on Wednesday issued statements stating Shivraj Puri was their client. "A certain Shivraj Puri whose name appears in press reports as an accused has a personal broking account with one of our branches. In the light of the recent developments, we have frozen the related accounts and suspended all transactions," Bonanza Portfolio said in its statement.
Religare Securities, a brokerage arm of Religare Enterprise, said Puri was a client with its broking business in his individual capacity since June 2009 and all KYC formalities and other due diligence was undertaken before the account was opened. "We have no knowledge of the details of this alleged scam," Religare said, adding it will cooperate and furnish all information, as and when required by investigating authorities.

Preliminary investigation by the police has revealed transactions between Puri's accounts and 60 other accounts with eight banks -- Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank, Axis Bank, ABN Amro and Standard Chartered. Sources in the police said they were probing if these accounts were genuine or created by Puri. None of the victims of the alleged scam have so far registered a complaint.
Eight of the 18 bank accounts at Citibank's Gurgaon branch belong to a Mumbai-based company, Norman Martin Private Limited, a division of Normans Martin Brokers Pvt. Ltd. This company, according to its website, provides technical research to companies on a wide range of financial services.
The FIR registered by the Gurgaon police on December 27 -- based on a complaint by Binu Soman, AVP, Citibank -- states that big-ticket transactions were noticed from a joint account (5011666247) that Puri opened in September 2009 with close relatives Premnath, Shaila Premnath and Diksha Puri as account holders. The bank's internal probe, the FIR said, revealed that funds were transferred from this account to a firm, G2S Management Consultants and also to a clutch of other accounts.
Citibank itself initiated a probe after receiving information that Puri had got some of the bank's high networth clients to invest in a special scheme that offered unusually high returns.
Source: The Indian Express

Man arrested for 'raping' daughter

Mumbai, Dec 30 (PTI) A 55-year-old man was today arrested for allegedly raping his minor daughter, police said.

Mukhtar Essa Siddiqui, who is unemployed, sexually assaulted the 17-year-old, a Class X student, at his residence at Bhoiwada in central Mumbai, they said.

Siddiqui's wife tried to intervene, but she was threatened by her husband, Senior Inspector V B Patil said, the incident took place on Saturday morning, but a complaint was lodged by the victim's mother today.

Siddiqui was not under the influence of alcohol while committing the crime, Patil said, adding, the victim has four elder brothers.

Friday, December 17, 2010

No hiding place: The amazing scans that show the dangerous lengths to which drug smugglers will go

At first glance it may appear just like a normal body scan - but something is very definitely off.
These extraordinary images of drug mules show the packages of narcotics hidden inside their bodies in astonishingly clear detail.
Computed tomography or CT scans are usually used by doctors to diagnose disease.

Busted: The first of the CT scans shows roughly 20 packages of drugs lodged in a man's colon

Talk your way out of this one: One man took the very easy route of stashing some cocaine packets under his tongue

Bottoms up: This scan, taken from the feet looking up towards the head, clearly shows nine white packets of cocaine

But now the high-tech X-rays are being used as an increasingly effective weapon in the war against drugs.
Mules often swallow carefully wrapped packages of drugs or stuff them in to body cavities to keep them hidden as they smuggle them through airport security and across borders.
And when they are caught, the contraband shows up a lot more clearly on CT scans than they do on ordinary X-rays.

My tummy's feeling funny: This colour-enhanced scan shows drugs packed into the large intestine

Just to be sure: Another view of the man with the cocaine hidden beneath his tongue

Dr Priscilla Flach, a radiologist at the University Hospital in Berne, Switzerland, is the author of a new study comparing the two imaging techniques.
In her colour-enhanced scans of mules caught in Swiss airports and train stations, the drugs packets are eerily suspended inside the body.
In many of the scans, the sheer size and number of the packets is enough to induce an involuntary shudder.
Sometimes the drugs are packaged in specially made containers - but often they are simply packed into condoms.

Sharp as a beach ball: This man complained of abdominal pain... which was unsurprising considering he had 100 packets of cocaine stuffed in there

Room for one more? A mule caught with packets in his colon

Don't put all your eggs in one basket: This man had packets of cocaine under his tongue as well as some hidden in his stomach

Aside from the danger of being caught, mules also face the danger of one of the packets inside them bursting.
Quite often that amount of drugs in their system could prove fatal.
Computed topography scans use digital processing to generate a single three-dimensional image of the inside of an object using a series of two-dimensional X-rays around a single axis of rotation.
It has several advantages over traditional X-rays - one of the most important being the higher level of contrast.
But there are also fears over the level of radiation used in the scans and how it affects the body.
CT scans were first introduced in the 1970s.

Photographs of 180 women who may have been murdered by 'Grim Sleeper' released in desperate search for more victims

Detectives today released 180 photographs of mystery women who could have fallen victim to a suspected serial killer tagged the ‘Grim Sleeper’.
The pictures of the women - many of them snapped in sexually explicit poses - were discovered in the Los Angeles home of 57-year-old Lonnie Franklin, who is accused of murdering ten female victims.
Police do not know the identities of the women in the photographs but are bracing themselves for a flood of calls from the public.

Last resort: The LAPD is hoping to determine if there are more victims of the so-called 'Grim Sleeper', releasing 180 photos found in the possession of suspect Lonnie David Franklin Jnr

Grim discovery: Police found the photos and hundreds of hours of filmed footage after arresting Franklin in July. They are appealing to the public to help identify the women

Grim Sleeper

Frightening number: The pictures, many of them showing scantily clad women, stretch back decades. Detective Dennis Kilcoyne said: 'We do not know what we are going to learn'

Detective Dennis Kilcoyne said: ‘Now that we know who he is and what type of activity he is involved in with women, we are very concerned for everyone in these photographs.

‘We don’t know what we are going to learn.'

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck added: 'These people are not suspects. We don't even know if they are victims. We certainly do not believe that we are so lucky or good that we know all of the victims. We need the public's help.'

Enlarge

Trial: Lonnie Franklin Jr, 57, is charged with the murder of 10 people and one attempted murder over a 22-year-period

He said that some of the pictures - all cropped to just show faces - are decades old and that some of the women will have aged.

Hundreds of hours of home videos were also discovered at Franklin’s South Los Angeles home following his arrest in July.

The pictures show 160 different women, with some shown more than once. All are black and range from their teens to their 60s. Some are smiling, others appear to be unconscious.

Franklin Jr allegedly committed his crimes over a 22-year period: These pictures show the 11 people he is accused of murdering as well as an unidentified victim who escaped

VICTIMS OF THE 'GRIM SLEEPER'

August 10, 1985: Debra Jackson - A 29-year-old cocktail waitress who went to take a bus home after visiting her friend's house. Her body was found three days later with three gunshot wounds to the chest.

August 12, 1986: Henrietta Wright - The 35-year-old was found dead in an alley near West Vernon Avenue. She was shot twice and wrapped in a blanket and covered in a mattress.

August 14, 1986: Thomas Steele - The only known male victim of the serial killer. The 36-year-old was found with a single gunshot wound to the head in the middle of a street intersection.

January 10, 1987: Barbara Ware - The 23-year-old had been shot once in the chest and her body had been dumped under a pile of rubbish.

April 15, 1987: Bernita Sparks - 26-year-old went out to the shops but never returned. Her body was found in a bin, covered in rubbish. She had been shot, strangled and beaten.

October 31, 1987: Mary Lowe - 26-year-old left home to go to a party, but never returned. Her body was found in an alley of Western Avenue.

January 30, 1988: Lachrica Jefferson - Officers found the 22-year-old's body with a napkin over the face with the word 'AIDS' written on it.

September 11, 1988: Alicia Alexander - Another victim killed while going to the shops. The 18-year-old's body was also found in an alley near Western Avenue.

December 21, 2001: Princess Berthomieux - The end of the 14-year hiatus. DNA on the 14-year-old's body matched those of previous killings.

July 11, 2003: Valerie McCorvey - 35-year-old had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

January 1, 2007: Janecia Peters - 25-year-old was shot in the back and her body was dumped in a rubbish bag.

They were among a stash of more than 1,000 photos of mostly nude or partly-clothed women.

Franklin has pleaded not guilty to the murders of ten women between 1985 and 1988 and from 2002 to 2007.

The 14-year pause in the alleged murders led to the ‘Grim Sleeper’ nickname.

Detectives said they are reopening up to 30 ‘cold cases’ they think could be linked to the retired motor mechanic.

Police have also received 75 calls from relatives and friends of missing women, who were afraid there could be more victims. But after months of trying to identify the women in the photos, detectives took the rare step of releasing them to the public in the hope that they will be recognised by their loved ones.

Officers asked a woman believed to be a survivor of the Grim Sleeper, Enietra Washington, as well as family members of other victims, to view the images before they were released.

They were also shown bracelets, rings, earrings, watches and necklaces - all allegedly discovered in Franklin Jr's home.
Franklin's arrest in July ended a 25-year investigation into the deaths of 11 people.
He was linked to the crime using a new forensic technique known as 'familial' DNA searching, when a sample taken from his son in an unrelated case was found to bear a close resemblance to DNA found on the victims.

Detectives then used a discarded cup with his DNA on it to make the link, according to officials.
The alleged killer was dubbed the 'Grim Sleeper' after a 14-year hiatus between the murders from 1988 and 2002.
The last killing came on January 1, 2007.

A law enforcement official said the gap coincides with a time when Franklin was on disability.
All of the victims were found outdoors, usually in alleyways. They were shot, strangled, or both, usually after some kind of sexual assault.
Ten of the victims were women and several were prostitutes. The only man killed - Thomas Steele - is believed to have been shot in the head in 1987 after discovering the killer's identity.
Ms Washington told police that a man, driving an orange-coloured Pinto, picked her up in November 1988.
She said he shot her in the chest, sexually assaulted her and then photographed her using a Polaroid camera, before pushing her out of the car.

DNA: Officers remove items from the home of Franklin Jr after he was arrested by a SWAT team in Los Angeles

She said: 'That is what woke me up. I remember the flash.
'Some of them [are] in his car and their eyes are closed. Some of them look dead, if you ask me.'
Detective Kilcoyne added: 'Some people will be upset that we are putting their picture in the paper.
'What they need to realise is we are obligated to do this. We aren't the ones who took the picture.'
Franklin's preliminary hearing is due to take place on January 31 and could take as long as three years to complete. He has been held without bail.

Woman gangraped by brothers-in-law at husband's behest

Muzaffarnagar, Dec 17 (PTI) A 21-year-old woman was allegedly gangraped by her two brothers-in-law in Minrapur town here at the behest of her husband, police said today.

The incident occurred yesterday when the woman's husband Shamim, whom she had married in May this year, consented that his two cousin brothers Shakil and Wakil Ahmad rape his wife, they said.

After being raped, the victim was beaten up and thrown out of the house, the police said.

The victim has lodged a complaint with the police in this connection and the SSP has directed them to file a case against Shamim, Shakil and Wakil.

In her complaint, the woman has also alleged that her husband was impotent, the police said.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Teen gang raped in Delhi again

Delhi is clearly an unsafe city for women. Just a few days after an18-year old girl was gangraped in Sultanpuri, another rape case has been reported from capital’s Khichripur area where a teenage girl gang raped here on Wednesday evening.

According to the sources, a fifteen year old girl has been gang raped by Delhi police constable’s son who was accompanied by the son of NDMC staf.

Soon after the incident the Delhi police arrested the culprits.

Earlier, an 18-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and raped in a moving in Sultanpuri area of north-west Delhi late on Saturday.

Two youths-Rama (28) and Chanderpal (23)-allegedly raped her in a secluded locality in Mongolpuri on Saturday night while two others-Manish (25) and a 15-year-old boy-helped them in abducting her.

Few days before Sultanpuri rape case a BPO employee was abducted and gangraped in a vehicle which took place in the early hours of November 24 when the Mizo woman, working in a BPO, was abducted while she was on her way back home.

She was walking towards her residence in Moti village near Dhaula Kuan in South Delhi along with one of her colleagues when the accused kidnapped her, put her in their vehicle and sped off. They later dumped her near Mongolpuri in West Delhi.

MNC employee 'raped' in resort near Lonavla

MUMBAI: An executive of an MNC was allegedly raped in a resort near Lonavla early on Friday.

According to sources, the incident occurred when the executive had gone there for a conference. She was allegedly raped by an employee of the resort. The Paud police have registered a case of rape.

Pratap Dighavakar, SP of Pune (rural), confirmed that a case had been registered but refused to divulge further details.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

'What a lovely job. Still someone's got to do it': Facebook message posted by ex-lover after the axe killings of mother, 43, and her son, 22

A suspected double killer left a bizarre Facebook message just hours after a mother and son were found hacked to death in their own home, it was revealed this morning.
Sally Cox, 43, and her son Martin Faulkner, 22, were found 'dead or dying' at their end of terrace home early yesterday morning.
Mrs Cox's two teenage daughters, Amy, 19, and Katie, 13, ran screaming from the house, in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and raised the alarm. The elder daughter was said to be badly injured.
The girls were apparently heard screaming: 'Call the police. Call the police. Help. He's killing them!'

Attack: Former line dancing coach Michael Kelly, far left, had been in an relationship with Sally Cox until last month

Sally Cox, 43, who was hacked to death in her own home by an axeman who fled leaving the house 'covered with blood'. Her son Martin Faulkner, 19, (right) is pictured here with his girlfriend Melissa Foster

Hours later Mrs Cox's ex-partner Michael Kelly was arrested by armed officers in Swindon, Wiltshire, on suspicion of murder.
In a status update allegedly left on Facebook after the killing took place, suspect Kelly wrote: 'What a lovely job. Still someone's got to do it.'
It is understood Mrs Cox, who worked for delivery company DHL, was in the process of getting divorced from her second husband Anthony, who was not the father of her children, when she was killed.
Her son Martin was thought to have been protecting his mother when he was attacked.

Police activity outside a house in Banbury, as officers investigate a suspected double murder

Ten uniformed officers remained at the scene, along with five detectives and a number of forensic investigators

Split: Michael Kelly, right, walked out on his wife Suzanne and child after meeting Sally Cox

Split: Michael Kelly, right, walked out on his wife Susanne and child after meeting Sally Cox

She had moved in to her rented three-bedroom £125,000 home in Banbury, Oxfordshire, with new boyfriend Michael Kelly, 45, and her three children from her first marriage in January.
The pair met on Facebook while Mr Kelly was still living with wife of 22 years, Susanne, 46, in his home town of Swindon, Wiltshire.
The pair started dating after arranging a first date at a bar in the town and Mr Kelly then walked out on his wife and two young sons last December and he was also in the process of getting divorced.
He has reportedly not been paying child maintenance for his two boys.
After Mr Kelly got together with Mrs Cox they were both regularly swapping messages on Facebook.
Before things soured, he wrote on his page the relationship was 'the best thing that has ever happened 2 me.'
Victor Cox, Mr Kelly's father-in-law, told the Sun: 'He's certainly got a very quick temper. He was breaking things up when he left.'
He added that he has not seen him for more than a year.
Mrs Cox's daughter Amy was last night in an undisclosed hospital with serious injuries sustained in the incident. Social services had been called in to take the siblings to a 'place of safety', where they were due to be told the tragic news of their brother and mother's murder.
Thames Valley Police told a press conference yesterday officers had had no prior contact with the occupants of the house before today's tragedy.
Detective Inspector Steve Duffy said: 'As you can appreciate officers went out this morning and they were faced with a quiet horrific scene.

'There were two people who were obviously dead, or very close to death, at the scene.'
He would not say whether or not the victims had been attacked with an axe but said that a firearm was not used. Officers were still hunting for the murder weapon.

Enlarge

The bodies were discovered in the Oxfordshire town of Banbury

The bodies were discovered in Banbury, Oxfordshire

Det Insp Duffy said he could not confirm if the suspect was related to the victims but did say that he was recently in a relationship with the female victim.
He added: 'This is a traumatic and horrific incident and what I can say is that while there is a background to this and it is very, very tragic, the wider community is not at risk.
'As far as I am aware there have been no previous calls to this address.
'We believe they had been in a relationship in the last few months but that had broken down.' He said the victims had suffered 'blunt trauma' injuries.
Police said a 45-year-old suspect was arrested two hours after the alarm was raised after he was 'tracked' to an address in Swindon, 55 miles away.
The street where the double murder took place, Mold Crescent, was the scene two years ago of another brutal killing in which a wife was battered to death with a chapatti pan.
In that incident the 30-year-old woman was murdered and body wrapped in a duvet and hidden behind a settee. Her husband, Mohammed Rashid, was jailed for life after walking into a police station and giving himself up.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Techie killed wife, hid body in freezer for two months

Dehradun: The software engineer who allegedly murdered his wife, cut the body into pieces and hid it in a deep freezer for nearly two months, was on Monday sent to four days police remand by a local court.

Rajesh Gulati (37), who hails from Delhi, was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate Amrendra Singh, who sent him to four-day police remand, SSP Dehra Dun G S Mortolia said. The incident came to light on Sunday when Sujan Kumar, brother of the victim Anupama Gulati (33), lodged a complaint with the police after he failed to get a satisfactory answer from the accused about his sister.
After the complaint, police arrested Gulati from his rented accommodation at Prakash Nagar area here, Martolia said, adding that Gulati confessed that he had murdered Anupama on October 17.
The couple used to fight frequently, and, on October 17, Gulati banged Anupama's head against a wall after which she fell unconscious. He then strangulated her in a fit of rage and cut the corpse into pieces later, hiding it in a deep freezer, Martolia said.
The couple have four-year-old twins, who were reportedly told by the accused that their mother had gone to Delhi. Gulati also told Anupama's family that his relations with his wife had improved. However, her brother grew suspicious and came to Dehra Dun on Sunday to inquire about his sister.
The couple had married in 1999 after a long courtship, but their relations turned sour later. They had settled down in Dehra Dun just 18 months back, after they returned from the US.
Meanwhile, the couple's children are in the custody of their maternal uncle, who is taking them to Delhi, police said.
Inspector General of Police, Garhwal, M A Ganapathy said the police would investigate the case under "rare of the rarest cases" and take help of forensic experts.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Mexico forces kill La Familia drugs baron in Michoacan

Mexican federal police officers stand by a burning blockade set up by drug cartel gunmen in the western state of Michoacan

Michoacan state has been racked by two days of violence

Mexican security forces say they have shot dead a notorious drug baron in the western state of Michoacan.

Nazario Moreno Gonzalez - dubbed The Craziest One - was a leader of the drug cartel known as La Familia.
He was killed during fierce fighting between security forces and cartel gunmen near the town of Apatzingan.
La Familia has a reputation for extreme violence but also claims to protect local communities and promote family and religious values.
For two days, hundreds of Mexican police and troops backed by helicopters have been involved in gun battles with drug cartel gunmen across large areas of Michoacan.
At least five police officers and three other suspected cartel members were shot dead.
Three civilians were also killed, including an eight-month-old baby apparently caught in the crossfire.
"Diverse pieces of information obtained during the raid all indicate that Nazario Moreno Gonzalez was killed yesterday," national security spokesman Alejandro Poire said on Friday.
Nazario Moreno is considered the spiritual leader of La Familia cartel, says the BBC's Ignacio de los Reyes in Mexico City.
He was the author of a book known as The Family Bible that was used to train new recruits.
The Mexican government said his death was a severe blow to the cartel.
Burning barricades The upsurge in violence in Michoacan started on Wednesday when police moved into Apatzingan - a stronghold of La Familia - to search for cartel leaders.
Residents described intense fighting, with cartel gunmen exchanging fire with military helicopters.
The violence spread to other parts of Michoacan, with gunmen blockading roads around the state capital Morelia with burning vehicles.
Mr Moreno is the latest high-profile suspected drugs baron to be captured or killed by the Mexican authorities in recent months.
His death will be a boost for President Felipe Calderon - a native of Michoacan - whose determination to tackle the drugs gangs by military means has come under criticism.
More than 30,000 people have died in drug-related violence since Mr Calderon began deploying troops to fight the cartels four years ago.
La Familia Michoacana is involved in cocaine smuggling to the US along Mexico's Pacific coast as well as the production of the synthetic drug, methamphetamine.
In recent months the gang has come under growing pressure from the Mexican authorities, with several suspected leaders captured.
It has also been involved in bloody territorial wars with rival cartels.
The cartel was recently reported to have offered to negotiate a truce with the government and disband.

Street Preacher Found Guilty in Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping

Dec. 10 -- A former street preacher was convicted today of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, 8 1/2 years after the Utah teen was snatched from her bedroom at knifepoint and forced into nine hellish months of sexual slavery.

A federal jury in Salt Lake City deliberated fewer than five hours over two days before finding Brian David Mitchell, 57, guilty of both counts he faced -- kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines. He faces life in prison.

Mitchell was in the courtroom when the verdict was read, singing a hymn. He could receive life in prison when he is sentenced on May 25.

Smart, now 23, smiled at the guilty verdict and began hugging family members and prosecutors.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Father rapes 16-year-old daughter

London: In a shocking case, a teenage girl in Britain was raped by her father everyday for nearly a month until she became pregnant to provide a child for him and his infertile partner, a media report said.
The Cambridge Crown Court was informed that the girl was just 16 years old when her father sexually abused her for a month for getting a child for his new partner, who became infertile following a hysterectomy, the Daily Mail reported.
The girl, who gave birth to a baby boy in December 2008 and passed him off as the son of her ex-boyfriend, though she had never slept with him, finally told the police in March this year when she discovered her father making advances to a 14-year-old girl in the family home, the report said.
In a shocking police interview shown to the jury, the girl said, "He started pestering me. I said I did not want to have sex with him, but he locked the bedroom door. I knew it was illegal to have sex with your father. I said it's illegal and I do not want to get pregnant or get into trouble. That's how I got pregnant. He told me not to tell anyone."
The court heard that the teenager's father threatened to kill himself if she told anyone about the abuse. "He said he would take 1,000 tablets," she said. The girl and her father, both from Cambridgeshire, have not been named "for legal reasons".
The father denies three counts of rape, one of sexual activity with a child and one of sexual assault of a child.
A similar case took place in Austria where Josef Fritzl kept his daughter Elisabeth locked in a cellar for nearly 24 years and raped her numerous times.

Delhi man hired contract killers to get father murdered: Cops

New Delhi: Crime Branch officials have arrested five persons for allegedly murdering a spice trader in 2008. Police said the victim Jai Bhagwan Gupta's son had plotted the murder.
Identifying the son as Nikesh Gupta (29), the police said that the spice trader was shot dead while he was on a morning walk in Priyadarshani Vihar.
The incident had come to light on January 11, 2008, when Nikesh, a resident of CC Colony in Model Town, filed a complaint with the local police stating that his father had not returned from his morning walk. Soon after, the neighbourhood milkman reportedly saw Gupta lying on a road near Highway No 91, in the vicinity of the Priyadarshini Vihar Market.
Nikesh and his stepmother rushed to the spot and found Gupta's body lying in a pool of blood. Though they took him to the Hindu Rao Hospital, the spice trader was declared brought dead. A case of murder was registered with the Model Town police.
Acting on a tip-off, the police reached a paan shop, Chourasiya Pan Bhandar, at Kalyan Vihar, where they had learnt that few suspects would gather, on December 7. Upon being questioned, the gang members revealed that they had assembled at the spot to evict a tenant from a flat owned by Nikesh in Shalimar Bagh. Further grilling revealed that they had murdered Gupta two years ago, police said.
"It was a dead-end case. We were lucky to have nabbed the five accused," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ashok Chand.
The contract killers allegedly employed by Nikesh were identified as Lalit Yadav (22), Lal Bahadur (40), Gaurav Kumar (23) and Mohad Adil (23). Another accomplice, Rakesh Kumar, had died in a pitched battle between two gangs at Rohtak in Haryana last year.
When interrogated, Nikesh disclosed that he held a grudge against his father, who used to allegedly ill-treat him. According to the police, Nikesh hired the contract killers for Rs 10 lakh. While Rs 6 lakh was handed over to Lalit, the rest of the amount was deposited with Lal Bahadur. They had then decided to murder Gupta while he was out for his morning walk.
The accused have been charged with murder and conspiracy to murder.

Alcohol, sex rampant in Nithyananda's ashram: Victim

Bangalore: One of the witnesses in the case against Swami Nithyananda, the selfstyled godman who has been accused of rape and of hurting religious sentiments, has said in a statement to the CID that the swami had condoms and liquor at his Bidadi ashram.

The CID has submitted the statements to the Ramanagar Court along with the chargesheet.
One witness, who was reportedly forced by the swami to have physical relationship with him in the name of enlightenment (moksha), has said in her statement that during her stay in the Bidadi ashram, between August 2006 and December 2006, Nithyananda asked her to get liquor from a liquor store.
She has said in the statement that though she was surprised by this instruction, she ignored her ego (as preached by Nithyananda) and did not judge the master.
According to her statement to CID, no respectable family woman would go to a liquor store, but she subjected herself to such indignity of going to a liquor store near the ashram and buy alcohol.

"He asked me to bring it to his room one day and drink it. Since I was not used to drinking such strong alcohol, my body reacted badly by vomiting and then I passed out. I have no idea what happened to me until Nithyananda woke me up after a few hours. I found myself lying naked in his bed," she has said in her statement.
"He then asked me to get dressed and leave. I must mention here that, according to the ashram rules created by Nithyananda himself, alcohol is strictly banned in the ashram premises," says the statement.
So, he reminded her about this rule and cautioned her to be extra careful in keeping the liquor very confidential, she said in her statement.

She visited the Las Vegas Ashram in May 2006, where he had taken his team, including her to a strip club in Las Vegas. The swami shed his saffron clothing, and changed into a T-shirt and jeans. He explained to his followers that he was becoming too popular, and it was necessary for him to travel incognito.
After their return, he called her to his room and asked her to perform a strip tease for him. Later, he asked her to buy "sexy clothes, condoms, make-up and red lipstick," she says in her statement.
Nithyananda used condoms during sex with her. He instructed her a couple of times to buy condoms, keep them with her very carefully, and hand them over to him later. "After sex, he would carefully collect the used condom and keep it with himself, saying it had to be disposed in a water body, and so he would do it himself while travelling," she detailed.
The investigating officers have submitted her deposition before the Ramnagar district court.
Source: Agencies

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Man puts wife's bedroom scenes on Net, arrested

MURSHIDABAD: A woman has got her husband arrested for allegedly shooting videos of their intimate moments on cellphone, uploading them on the internet and even making CDs that are selling like mad in the local market.

This comes close on the heels of a gory incident in Siliguri in October when a girl committed suicide because her boyfriend took explicit cellphone footage of them in bed and put them on the web. The lewd comments of other students at her institute and the neighbours drove her to kill herself.

In the Murshidabad incident, the wife had no clue that her video footage was on the internet. Her husband Samaresh Swarnakar 11 years older than her had shot the scenes on his mobile phone in their bedroom a few months ago, says her complaint. Some days ago, she got the shock of her life when she learnt from people in the locality that the footage was uploaded online and even a CD was available in the market. The couple married last year.

When Sunita confronted her husband, he first alleged that she was the one who had made the CD in league with a local youngster who runs a cyber cafe. The woman refused to take this and stormed out. She went back to her father's house in Behrampore and after consulting with her family lodged a complaint with Islampur police station on Saturday.

"We are shocked beyond words. How can a husband do such a thing that will tarnish the image of his wife? It is just unacceptable and unimaginable," said the woman's father.

Samaresh, who owns a jewellery shop, was arrested on Sunday evening. Police have seized the mobile phone that was used to shoot the scenes. The cyber cafe has also been put under lock and key and police are looking for Chand Gonai, who runs the cafe.

Bengal has seen a string of such incidents this year, starting with a particularly gory one in Burdwan in July when a mob lynched a private tutor after a homemade porn CD he had shot with one of her students hit the market. Police suspected that the 40-year-old married man was part of a national sleaze racket and had made more such films that were sold in other metros.

The next month, a chilling MMS was circulated of a teenage tribal girl being stripped, forced to parade naked for 8km, and molested by hundreds of men. And last month, four students of a school in Salt Lake, Kolkata, sent porn MMSes to one of their teachers "just for fun".

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Husband 'paid £1,400 to taxi driver to have wife killed on South Africa honeymoon' claims state prosecutor

The British husband of the bride hijacked and killed on their South African honeymoon has been accused of paying for the attack.
The dramatic claim was made by the state's prosecutor this morning in court.
The South African prosecuting authority accused British businessman Shrien Dewani of paying two hitmen 15,000 rand (£1,400) to murder his wife.

Plea bargain: The Dewanis' taxi driver, Zola Tongo, has accused the husband of paying for his wife's murder

He has always denied any involvement in her death.
Cape Town’s senior prosecutor Rodney de Kock claimed that Mr Dewani, 30, paid his taxi driver to arrange for gunmen to hijack the couple’s taxi as they drove through one of the city.
'The deceased was murdered at the instance of her husband,' De Kock said.

According to the prosecution, Mr Dewani pre-arranged with the driver, Zola Tongo, that the two of them should be ejected from the taxi unharmed.

Mr Dewani’s wife of two weeks, Anni, however was always intended to be shot in the ‘simulated hijacking’ of November 13th this year.

The dramatic accusations came after a two week whispering campaign in which South African police have leaked to the media their suspicions of Mr Dewani.

They were made during the plea and sentencing appearance of Zola Tongo, who was sentenced to only 18 years for his role in the plot after he told police about Mr Dewani’s alleged involvement.

Grim: Police prepare to tow away the taxi in which Mrs Dewani's body was found

Outlining the case against Tongo in Cape Town’s High Court, Mr de Kock explained how, the day before the incident, Mr Dewani had met the driver at Cape Town’s airport and asked him to take the couple to the Cape Grace hotel in the city centre.

Mr de Kock said: 'After their arrival at the Cape grce, Shrien Dewani approached the accused with a request to procure a hitman to have a woman killed for a fee of 15,000 Rand (£1,400).

'On a subsequent occasion the accused and Shrien Dewani discussed how this had to be done.'

Mr de Kock went on to explain how Tongo arranged with the two other arrested men – Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni to plan how the killing would be executed.'
Meanwhile Mr Dewani's friends claim he has been set up.
The husband of murdered bride Anni Dewani fears he is being ‘set up’ by South African police, his friends revealed yesterday.
Sources close to Shrien Dewani claimed detectives were under political pressure to pin the horrific killing on someone other than a South African.
The millionaire businessman was said to be in an ‘absolutely dreadful state’ as he waits to return to Cape Town to identify the armed robbers who shot dead his wife on their honeymoon.
One friend said: ‘We are just increasingly conscious that there are some people who are definitely trying to set him up. It suits them because an English guy who has done this would be much less damaging to South Africa than if one of their own had done it.

Setback: Businessman Shrien Dewani's lawyer has announced that he is resigning as his representative. Mr Dewani's wife Anni was shot dead in South Africa on November 14

The Dewanis, who had been married for two weeks, were hijacked on November 13 on the way back to their five-star hotel in central Cape Town.
They had agreed to take a detour through a township but within three minutes of leaving the motorway, the taxi was ambushed by two gunmen.
Mr Dewani was thrown out and his wife’s body was found later. She had been shot in the neck.
Two men and Tongo were arrested and charged with murder.

Mr Dewani's spokesman, Max Clifford, has repeatedly insisted that he is nothing other than a victim.

Mrs Dewani and her father, Vinod Hindocha, who flew to England to deal with a matter 'so delicate' that he may miss his daughter's memorial service in Mariestad, the Swedish town where she was born

Woman strangulated for opposing attempt to rape

Muzaffarnagar, Dec 7 (PTI) A man has been arrested for allegedly murdering his sister-in-law after attempting to rape her at Kheri Viran village in the district, police said today.

Mohanlal strangulated Maya Devi yesterday when she opposed his attempt to rape her, they said.

A meeting of panchayat members was convened in this connection which decided that Mohanlal should remain free and an FIR should not be lodged, the police said.

However, Maya Devi''s son Dilip Kumar opposed the panchayat''s decision and lodged a complaint against Mohanlal at Sikhera police station, based on which the police arrested him and registered a case of murder.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Thai woman's suicide screened over webcam

BANGKOK: A 24-year-old Thai woman committed suicide in front of a webcam and broadcast it through an online video chat room to her estranged boyfriend and others, a news report said Monday.

Nichakorn Srisawat, from the central province of Nakhon Sawan, was found hanging by a bed sheet tied to a ceiling fan in her apartment in Bangkok's Bang Khen district Sunday, according to the Bangkok Post.

A webcam had been set up to record the suicide, which was screened on the locally popular Camfrog video chat network.

A maid at the apartment said a man had phoned her and asked her to rescue the woman but the door was locked and she could not get into the room in time to save her.

A 25-year-old man who identified himself as Nichakorn's boyfriend said they had met through the Camfrog network and had just had an argument.

He said he had decided to break up with her, causing her to become very upset.

Nichakorn reportedly wrote several messages before her suicide, saying how disappointed she was about the end of the affair.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

22-year-old woman raped in car, 5 held

NEW DELHI: In a shocking incident , coming close at the heels of the gangrape of a call-centre employee in Dhaula Kuan, a 22-year-old woman - a resident of Seemapuri in northeast Delhi - has alleged that she was gangraped by six men on Tuesday night.

The victim was allegedly abducted from near her residence and raped for over two hours in a moving car. Police claim to have arrested five of the accused.

The accused dumped her in the same area in a semi-conscious state. The woman complained to police but no FIR was lodged for two days; till the time the medical report confirming rape was received.

The woman, who got married recently, was returning home when six men driving in acar forcibly pulled her in.

After being dumped in the Seemapuri area, the traumatized victim somehow managed to get to police, but no immediate steps were taken to track down the accused. The woman was taken to GTB Hospital . After the medical reports confirmed rape a case was registered under sections 365 (kidnapping) and 376 (g) (gangrape) at Seemapuri police station.

Police sources said the accused were known to the victim . "We have apprehended five out of the six men based on the description given by the victim. The car used for the crime is yet to be recovered. The accused will be produced before the court on Monday," said a senior police officer.

Boy rapes sister in Noida

In a serious breach of chaste relationship between brother and sister, a boy raped his 14-year-old sister in Noida on Sunday.

The incident took place at Chotpur area in sector 58 of Noida when the victim and his brother were alone at their residence.

The girl narrated the whole incident to her neighbors, who then lodged a complaint with the police.

Acting swiftly on the complaint, police has arrested the accused. Parents and their younger brother were in Shajahanpur when the incident took place.

Army school teacher molested minor girls

In a gruesome act, an Army School Teacher in Panchkula has been booked for sexually harassing class Vth students, police said.

Sham Bahadur Thapa, music teacher at Army Public School in Panchkula, sexually molested five girls studying in class 5th.

Meanwhile, police has registered a case against Thapa, who is absconding after committing crime. Police has also launched raids on several places to arrest the culprit. Raids were conducted in Haryana and Chandigarh on Monday to nab the molestor music teacher.

"We received a complaint against Thapa from the principal of the Army Public School here. We raided his house in Sector 25 (in Panchkula) late Sunday but did not find him there. We are raiding various places in Haryana and Chandigarh in search of the accused teacher," a police official said.

However, no words have been received yet from the school management.

This is not the first incident when a scared relationship between a pupil and a teacher was breached.

Earlier, a girl of the prestigious Parkwood International School at Vikarabad in Andhra Pradesh had also levelled allegations of rape and molestation against the principal Mohammad Salahuddin Ayub.

Fourth arrest in gangrape; police on hot pursuit of gang leader

A 25-year-old man, who was absconding in the call-centre employee gangrape case, was arrested from a Haryana village while a hot pursuit is on to apprehend the gangleader who is evading police.

A team of Delhi Police swooped on Iqbal alias ‘Bada Billi’ from Fatehpur Beri in Haryana’s Sohna district last night, 11 days after he along with four of his friends allegedly abducted and raped the 30-year-old Mizo woman.

With this, police has arrested four persons in connection with the incident which took place in Dhaula Kuan in the early hours of November 24. Kamru alias Mobile, the gang leader, is yet to be arrested.

“We have arrested the fourth person. We have to apprehend one more. Kamru has earlier managed to give slip to police despite a team managing to spot him,” a senior police official said.

While Shamshad and Usman were arrested from Dhaujj village in Haryana’s Mewat region on December two, another accused Shahid had surrendered in a Faridabad court on November 26 apparently to evade arrest in the gangrape case.

Strengthening the case against the two arrested, the victim had yesterday identified Usman and Shamshad during a Test Identification Parade (TIP) at Tihar jails.

Though the accused had shaved off their heads before their arrests to make sure that they were not identified, the official said, the victim “correctly” identified the duo among those who were presented before her identification.

Shahid has been brought from Faridabad to the capital after police secured a production warrant, and presented in court which sent him to judicial custody.

Software engineer accuses friend of rape

Noida, Dec 5 (IANS) A software engineer working in a BPO was allegedly raped by a friend in Noida after promising to marry her, police said Saturday. The accused befriended her through a matrimonial website.

The incident came to light Saturday when the 26-year-old woman, originally from Guwahati in Assam, filed a complaint with police. A rape case has been registered.

According to police, the woman, a resident of Sector-22, complained that Shivalik Ghosh, also a software engineer, befriended her on the internet through a matrimonial website and promised to marry her.

Ghosh, a resident of Gurgaon, raped her on several occasions and later refused to marry her. On some occasions, he came to her house and raped her after lacing her drinks with sedative, the victim's complaint said.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Snared by sex, blackmailed

Police have arrested a gang of six who targeted youth using a honey trap to demand money from them later.

A call from unknown women seeking friendship can cost you dearly. The Chikajala police have arrested a gang of six, who targeted youth using a honey trap, only to blackmail them later.

Sex and the silly: The unsuspecting youth would follow the girl to the
pre-designated flat, where a gang of blackmailers awaited.
Representation pic

The accused are identified as Radha Krishna Shenoy (30), M Rashid (28), Manikanta (29), Manoj (34), Rohith (24) and Sathish (31). Nine other members of the gang are yet to be traced. Police have seized three cars from the gang that were used for ferrying their eventual victims.

How they did it
The gang members would target youth from rich families, and collect their telephone numbers. Later, a girl, another gang member, would call the target, and befriend them.

After a few meetings, the girl would invite the victim to a pre-decided flat at the BIAL road. When the couple would be getting intimate, the girl would signal her accomplices. Within minutes, a group of men claiming to be cops and reporters would barge in, and force the couple to strip. They would then proceed to make a video of them in the nude.

The gang would then blackmail the victim by threatening to leak the videos and pictures to the media, and demand money.

Even after their demands were met, they would never return the 'proof'. Finally, after being blackmailed for months, a youth approached the police, and put an end to his ordeal.

"After the gang was arrested, three more cases have come to light. Investigations are on," said an investigator.

Drugged, robbed
The Yelahanka police have arrested a 26-year-old woman who would rob people by drugging them with cream biscuits mixed with a sleeping drug.

The accused Bindu, would get in contact with realtors on the pretext of seeking a house for rent. Later, she would call them to a certain place and claiming that it that was her child's birthday, would feed them the drugged biscuits.

The victims would fall unconscious soon, and the woman would flee with their valuables. The police have recovered gold rings worth Rs 50,000 from her possession. Police suspect that her husband was also involved, and are investigating.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Two Nigerians arrested for drug peddling

New Delhi, Dec 1 (PTI) Two Nigerian nationals were arrested here on charges of drug peddling, police said today.

Emmanuel Paul and Christian, both Nigerians, were apprehended from Kalkaji when they came there allegedly to courier the contraband to Holland, they said.

The arrest came following inputs that two foreigners were about to come to a courier office in Kalkaji to smuggle drugs concealed in clothes hangers.

"They were carrying Sherwanis with wooden hangers.
After breaking of wooden hangers, six rolls containing 536 grams of the drug was recovered from them," a senior police official said.

Police did not identify the contraband recovered from their possession.

The duo had come to Delhi three months ago and were allegedly involved in drug peddling by concealing them in general use items and sending them to their associates in various countries through couriers.

"They were trying to send the psychotropic substance to their associates in Holland. The investigation is still going on to ascertain the source of supply and their other associates involved peddling drugs," the official said.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Russia virtual 'mafia state': WikiLeaks

London: Russia is a virtual "mafia state" whose political parties operate "hand in hand" with organised crime, said a US memo revealed by WikiLeaks and published by the Guardian newspaper on Thursday.

Spanish prosecutor Jose Gonzalez told US officials that "he considers ... Russia to be a virtual 'mafia state'" where "one cannot differentiate between the activities of the government and organised crime groups”, it said.

Gonzalez, who has been investigating Russian organised crime in Spain for a decade, also agreed with poisoned dissident Alexander Litvinenko's thesis that Russian intelligence and security services "owned organised crime”.

The memo, sent in February of this year from the US embassy in Madrid, cited the senior prosecutor as claiming that "certain political parties in Russia operate 'hand in hand' with organised crime”.

"He argued that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was created by the KGB and its successor, the SVR, and is home to many serious criminals," the memo continued.

In a separate leaked cable sent shortly after Litvinenko's death in London in 2006, US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried questioned whether Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin knew beforehand of the plot to kill the dissident.

In a meeting with a senior French diplomatic adviser, Fried asked "whether rogue security elements could operate...without Putin's knowledge”, given the leader's "attention to detail”.

British police have accused ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi of murdering the former Russian spy turned self-exiled Kremlin critic by lacing his tea with radioactive polonium in a London hotel.

Gonzalez also alleged there were "proven ties between the Russian political parties, organised crime and arms trafficking”.

The cable relayed that Gonzalez believed Russian intelligence officials were behind the 2009 case of an Arctic Sea cargo ship which was suspected of carrying weapons destined for Iran.

In addition, the leaked cable suggested that Russian authorities used the mafia to carry out operations it could not "acceptably do as a government”, citing the sale of arms to Kurds in order to destablilise Turkey as an example.

The document added the authorities took "the relationship with crime leaders even further by granting them the privileges of politics, in order to grant them immunity from racketeering charges."

Any crime lords who defied the country's Federal Security Service (FSB) could be "eliminated" either by killing them or "putting them behind bars to eliminate them as a competitor for influence”, Gonzalez claimed.

Far from being a localised problem, Gonzalez said he also thought the mafia virtually ran Belarus and Chechnya and exerted "tremendous control" over vital components of the global economy, including aluminium.

A third leaked cable sent by US Ambassador in Russia, John Beyrle, singled out Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov as a vital cog in Russia's organised crime machine.

"Despite [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev's stated anti-corruption campaign, the extent of corruption in Moscow remains pervasive with Mayor Luzhkov at the top of the pyramid," Beyrle said in a memo revealed by WikiLeaks.

"Luzhkov oversees a system in which it appears that almost everyone at every level is involved in some form of corruption or criminal behaviour," he added in the cable, sent in February of this year.

Shahla Jahed, Nasser Mohammad Khani's Mistress, Hanged In Iran

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/223632/thumbs/s-SHAHLA-JAHED-large.jpg

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Wednesday hanged a former soccer player's mistress – known as a "temporary wife – who was convicted of murdering her love rival in a case that captivated the Iranian public for several years.

Shahla Jahed was hanged at dawn, after spending more than eight years in jail for the slaying of the player's wife, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Jahed had become what is known as a "temporary wife" of former soccer star Nasser Mohammad Khani. She was charged in 2002 with stabbing his wife, Laleh Saharkhizan, to death and convicted of murder in 2004 and again in 2009, after her appeal was denied.

Contracts with "temporary wives" are a legal way for Iranian men to have mistresses outside marriage, with the agreements lasting from between several hours to a few years.

Wednesday's death sentence was based on the Islamic law of "qisas" – or eye for an eye retribution.

International human rights groups, including Amnesty International, had campaigned for Jahed's punishment to be halted.

The IRNA report said that just before the hanging at Tehran's Evin prison, the 40-year-old Jahed prayed peacefully, then burst into tears and cries, shouting for her life to be spared.

The victim's son pulled the chair from under her feet as Jahed gasped for breath in the remaining moments of her life, the khabaronline.ir news website said. The former soccer striker, Khani, also attended the hanging.

The reports also said that judiciary officials spent almost an hour in talks with Saharkhizan's family before the hanging, trying to convince them to spare Jahed's life but were unsuccessful.

Prominent artists and respected cultural figures in Iran have also for years appealed to the victim's family to show mercy.

Under Iranian law, men and women can commit to a "temporary marriage" for an agreed period of time after a certain amount of money is paid to the woman.

In Iran, men are allowed up to four legal wives under Islam and any number of temporary wives. Women can only be married to one man at a time.

Jahed initially denied any involvement in Saharkhizan's killing but later confessed to the stabbing, only to subsequently withdraw the confession. Several Iranian experts have said she may have been wrongfully convicted.

Murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and drug trafficking are crimes punishable with the death penalty in Iran.

Indian accused of molesting teen in Dubai-bound flight

Dubai, Dec 1 (PTI) A 36-year-old Indian national has been accused of molesting a teenage Moroccan girl on board a Dubai-bound Emirates flight, a charge he has denied.

Prosecutors accused the man of consuming liquor and sexually molesting the 15-year-old Moroccan girl on board the flight, a newspaper report here said.

It was not clear when the incident happened.

The man, who works as a blacksmith and identified only as V D, pleaded not guilty to the molestation charge as he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance. He, however, admitted to consuming liquor.

"I consumed liquor but I did not molest the girl. I am innocent on that count," the man said before the court.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said that the Moroccan girl was asleep when V D sat beside her and molested her. The 15-year-old schoolgirl, B B, testified that the alleged incident happened while she was seated alone on the window seat, Gulf News reported.

"The seat next to mine was empty. The defendant who seemed drunk came and sat beside me. I neglected him although he tried to open up a conversation with me. I couldn't understand his language and I had my earphones on listening to music. When he grabbed my hand, I pulled it away and scolded him. Shortly after that, he pretended to be opening the window shutter when he touched my breast I shouted at him and felt embarrassed and angered," she was quoted as saying.

The girl's Emirati brother-in-law testified that when he and his wife [BB's sister] went to pick her from the airport, they were informed about the incident.

The newspaper said a steward claimed: "The defendant admitted to me that he molested the girl and apologised for his wrongdoing we kept him until police came and took him."