Two senior Zee journalists arrested on extortion charges

Two senior journalists of Zeenews channel were arrested here on Tuesday on charges of trying to extort Rs 100 crore from Congress MP Naveen Jindal's group for not doing news reports on coal scam linking his firm.

The arrests on charges of extortion came following the registration of a case about 45 days ago on a complaint filed by Jindal's company with Delhi Police's Crime Branch.

Sudhir Chaudhary, the head of Zee News, and Samir Ahluwalia, head of Zee Business, have been arrested, a senior police official said.

Jindal had last month released a CD in which purportedly showed footage in which the Zee journalists were trying to strike a deal with his company officials, telling them that their channel will not air negative stories of Jindal Group if the money is paid to them.

Chaudhary had rubbished the allegations as ‘fabrication’ and described it as ‘pressure tactics’ to prevent the channel from doing such stories.

"We have done a series of stories on coal scam based on official papers. This is a retaliation to our relentless campaign against corruption," he had said.

Jindal Power and Steel Ltd (JPSL) Chairman Naveen Jindal had earlier claimed that the Zee executives had demanded Rs 20 crore for four years and they secretly filmed the meetings.
They later raised the demand to Rs 100 crore for not broadcasting stories against the company in relation to allocation of coal blocks, he claimed.

JSPL is among the companies named in the CAG report as one of the beneficiaries of the controversial coal block allocations.

In a retaliatory move, Zee News had last month sent a Rs 150 crore defamation notice to the Congress MP, who too had filed a Rs 200 crore case against the media conglomerate claiming the TV channel had tried to extort money from his company.

READ MORE - Two senior Zee journalists arrested on extortion charges

SP suspended for Facebook arrests, magistrate shunted

Nearly a week after two Palghar girls were arrested for an innocuous facebook post, the govt is suspending the superintendent of police (Thane rural) Ravindra Sengaonkar.

MUMBAI: Nearly a week after two Palghar girls were unnecessarily summoned to the police station and arrested for an innocuous Facebook post, the government is suspending the superintendent of police (Thane rural) Ravindra Sengaonkar. In a separate development, the Bombay high court on Monday transferred Ramchandra Bagade, the first-class judicial magistrate at Palghar who had given the girls bail of Rs 15,000 each.

Government officials said Palghar senior police inspector Shrikant Pingle would also be suspended and additional superintendent of police (Thane rural) Sangram Nishandar would escape with a strong warning. The action against the cops comes after a sustained campaign in TOI against the arrests of Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Shrinivasan, both 21. Sources said this is the biggest action against high-ranking police officers in Maharashtra in the recent past.

Dhada had lamented in a facebook post the November 18 shutdown due to Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's funeral. Shrinivasan had 'liked' the post. Though Dhada didn't name Thackeray,the local Sena chief complained against the girls and the cops arrested the duo on November 19, which kicked off a nationwide furore over the attack on freedom of speech. Moreover, only on November 20 did cops arrest the vandals who caused Rs 20 lakh worth of damage at Shaheen's uncle's hospital on November 18, despite her taking down her post and apologizing that day itself.

The actions of Bagade had been recently questioned by former chief information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, who asked why the magistrate hadn't seen the absurdity of the charges against the girls and thrown out the case. Bagade, who had also given bail of Rs 7,500 each to 10 hospital vandals, has been transferred to Jalgaon with immediate effect.

Sengaonkar's suspension comes after the government spent days dithering on taking action against the cops. Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and home minister R R Patil had promised action on Thursday, but an inquiry report by special inspector general (Konkan) Sukhwinder Singh was ready only on Friday. It indicted the three cops for not taking action at the appropriate time and called for appropriate administrative action against the police officials who handled the case ineptly. However, Singh's factual report didn't specify the action. Additional chief secretary (home) Amitabh Rajan recommended suspending Sengaonkar and Pingle and warning Nishandar.

On Monday, government officials blamed the delay in taking action on the statewide alert that had been issued due to the anniversary of the 26/11 attacks.

Singh's report, which was submitted to the DGP, confirmed that there was absolutely no justification for arresting the two young women under either sections 295A or 505-2 of the IPC and Section 66A of the IT Act. The two girls were first booked under 295-A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) and IT Act section 66A (sending a grossly offensive message through a communication device). Later, 295A was dropped and replaced with 505-2 (promoting enmity, hatred or ill will).

After the arrests, DGP Sanjeev Dayal immediately submitted a preliminary report to Rajan saying there appeared to be high-handedness on the part of the police and the arrests appeared unwarranted. Union telecom and IT minister Kapil Sibal and minister of state for communications and IT Milind Deora also condemned the arrests.

Chavan appointed Singh to probe the episode on November 19. All along, both Chavan and home minister R R Patil, while admitting that the Palghar police had exceeded their brief, maintained that once the IG's report was received stern action would be taken against the erring officials. "We have taken the arrests of the two women very seriously. We will take stern action against the erring police officials. We will take such action that they will remember for life," Patil said.

However, till Monday there was no sign of any action being taken. The Union home ministry stepped in on Friday, with a joint secretary in the ministry asking the state home department to immediately submit the inquiry report and details of the action taken against erring police officials.

Singh recommended dropping the charges against the girls. His report was processed by Rajan and submitted to Patil on Saturday. "Amitabh Rajan endorsed the views expressed by Sukhwinder Singh and has recommended stringent action against the police officials indicted in the report," a senior home department bureaucrat said on Monday.

Commenting on the suspension, senior counsel Amit Desai said, "Whilst the suspension is certainly welcome, what would be appreciated is that, before the issue becomes stale in the public's mind, final action is also taken. Since it is only a proper stringent action taken by the state that alone will send a message to other officers not to act in haste in matters of registration of such FIRs or makes such incorrect arrests. Final action should be quick and strong so that the message goes out that police too must face consequences for their hasty and unjustifiable acts.

READ MORE - SP suspended for Facebook arrests, magistrate shunted

Dad, brother, uncle rape Kerala minor

The police is investigating the alleged tampering of the dying declaration of a girl, whose sister has disclosed that both were serially abused by their father, brother and other relatives.

On Saturday, the police arrested Arun Kumar, 45, a native of Andaloor near Dharmadam in Kannur district and his son for abusing his 13-year old daughter after she confided the incest to her teachers.

The girl, whose mother was dead, said in her complaint that two years ago her sister committed suicide as she had been subjected to brutal sexual abuse by the father, who was a drug addict.

It’s also alleged that the police tampered with the victim’s dying declaration to save some political leaders, who were involved in the case. The police has nabbed an uncle of the girl, a CPM leader, in connection with the serial abuse. Dharmadam circle inspector M.P. Vinod told DC on Monday that police was investigating the allegations and proper action would be initiated if tampering was detected.

“We had a preliminary verification of the dying statement and no such tampering is visible”, he added.

The police was also perusing other documents related to the suicide.

Police said the father and son were addicted to drugs and alcohol. The elder sister was admitted with fatal, third degree burns at Medical College here in August 2010.

The younger sibling recently disclosed the torture to her teachers.

She was then subjected to a medical examination at Thalassery general hospital to confirm the abuse.
Following this, Dharmadam police arrested the father and the son.

READ MORE - Dad, brother, uncle rape Kerala minor

Huge haul of banned drugs

Pseudoephedrine bound for Myanmar

The pseudoephedrine tablets that were seized from a godown in Guwahati on Sunday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Nov 13 : A huge quantity of pseudoephedrine meant to be smuggled into Myanmar and estimated to be worth over Rs 1.2 crore was seized and two persons were arrested in this connection by Customs officials yesterday.

Acting on a tip-off, the anti-smuggling unit of the Guwahati customs division seized 1,00,17,000 tablets and 101.56 kg of powdered pseudoephedrine from a private godown at the Pub Boragaon area of the city, an official source today said.

Pseudoephedrine is a precursor chemical used for manufacturing party drugs such as Speed, Ecstasy and Ice. It is used for treating nasal and sinus congestion and was declared as a controlled substance under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Regulation of Controlled Substances) Order, 1993.

“Preliminary investigation has revealed that these drugs — packed in 58 cartons — were sent from Delhi to Guwahati through a private transport company. From here it would have been sent to Mizoram and then smuggled into Myanmar where several illegal factories for producing party drugs are located,” the source said.

“So far, two persons have been arrested and one truck has been seized in this connection,” he added.

Two persons — Raju Sen, 28, and Lalthanpuia, 38 have been arrested for their involvement. “They would have transported the drugs from Guwahati to Mizoram. They could not produce any of the documents required for transportation of pseudoephedrine,” the source said.

A case has been registered against them under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

The accused duo was produced in the court of chief judicial magistrate, Kamrup, here today and remanded to judicial custody.

“It appears that a huge interstate racket is involved in smuggling tablets containing pseudoephedrine from India to Myanmar and more arrests are likely to be made in this case,” he said.

READ MORE - Huge haul of banned drugs

Rs 4.50 lakh looted from Arunachal Rural Bank

ITANAGAR, Nov 9 – In a broad daylight robbery, armed miscreants today looted Rs 4.50 lakh from the Itanagar branch of Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank.

According to police, a group of three miscreants armed with small firearms entered the bank branch located at a busy area near Ramakrishna Mission Hospital here around 12.15 pm and looted the amount at gun point.

While two of them stood guard at the gate of the bank branch, one entered the branch and opened fire in the air. The miscreant threatened the bank staff with dire consequence if an alarm was raised and then decamped with the booty.

A case has been registered at the Itanagar police station in this connection, informed the Superintendent of Police, Capital Complex, Surender Kumar, adding that a manhunt was on to nab the miscreants.

READ MORE - Rs 4.50 lakh looted from Arunachal Rural Bank

Drugs worth Rs 10 lakh seized in Dimapur

DIMAPUR, Oct 18 – In a major haul, Dimapur East police seized a huge consignment of 14,11,000 tablets of controlled drugs worth Rs 10 lakh from a cosmetic shop located on the first floor of Hazi Park shopping complex here.

The banned drugs were reportedly transported from Delhi to Dimapur through the Railway Mail Service and shifted to the godown by the accused, one Mahadev Prasad, owner of the shop.

Police told reporters today that he received specific information of the consignment and had sent some plain clothes police personnel along with two officers to locate the godown.

On raiding the place, police found the controlled drugs kept hidden in a secret compartment built on the ceiling of the shop. The drugs were packed in 17 cartons.

The seized drugs included 10,08,000 tablets of Redikuf (Pseudeophedrine Hydcrochloride & Bromhexine Hydrochloride) 99,000 tablets of Sucet (Cetrizine Dihydrochloride & Pseudeophedrine HCI) and Cetcof (Cetirizine Hydrochloride & Pseudeophedrine HCI tablets).

These illegal consignments reportedly go to Manipur and Myanmar where the drugs are in high demand. Certain compositions of these drugs are learnt to be used for making some other illegal drugs like heroin, police said quoting sources.

The seized drugs are worth around Rs 10 lakh in Delhi with the price per strip of ten tablets ranging from Rs 3-10.

According to medical experts, the seized drugs have very high dosage of 40 mg which can sedate a normal person for at least 3 days.

The accused has been chargesheeted under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and investigation is on to ascertain the source and destination of these drugs, police said.

READ MORE - Drugs worth Rs 10 lakh seized in Dimapur

Police find bodies of two schoolgirls

ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Police have found the decomposed bodies of two schoolgirls in East Siang district. The corpses were found from Loklung bamboo garden near Ngorlung village under Ruksin circle of the district on Saturday, a source said.

The bodies have been identified to be that of 15-year-old Rinky Lohar, a Class VIII student of Govt HS School Ruksin, and Laxmi Kumari Prasad (16), a Class IX student of the same school who reportedly went missing last Monday.

An FIR has been lodged at Ruksin police station. The sources further informed that the girls had committed suicide by hanging themselves with a scarf (chunni). After post-mortem, the bodies were handed over to their relatives. A case of unnatural death has been registered.

READ MORE - Police find bodies of two schoolgirls

Nagaland announces reward for fake-notes gang leader

Kohima, Oct 16 : Nagaland has announced a reward of Rs.50,000 for information about the leader of the gang involved in circulating counterfeit Indian currency notes in the state, a minister said Monday.

"Any person who can provide detailed information on the ring leader circulating fake notes in Nagaland will be given a cash reward of Rs.50,000," Nagaland Health and Family Welfare Minister Kuzholuzo Neinu told IANS on phone.

Moreover, Neinu promised that the identity of the informant will be kept secret.

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has expressed serious concern over recovery of fake currency notes in the state and said pushing fake currency is a serious crime which should be dealt with firmly.

Nagaland Police Oct 5 arrested three people who were attempting to deposit counterfeit currency notes with a face value of Rs.45,000 in a State Bank of India branch in Nagaland's Phek district.

"A case has been filed against the culprits and it must be ensured that severe action is initiated," Rio said.

Phek district is about 140 km east of Kohima, the state capital of Nagaland.

"We have arrested the depositor Vekhoneyi Chakhesang and two other people but at the moment we would not reveal the identities of the other two accused in the case in order to ensure our investigation is not hampered," Y.E. Ngullie, the district police chief of Phek, said.

A special investigation team (SIT) headed by Phek Additional Superintendent of Police (Addl SP) Imtimeren is probing the case, he said.

"The SIT is examining the case and how this racket (of counterfeit notes) is spreading in the state. The team will investigate all angles," Ngullie said.

READ MORE - Nagaland announces reward for fake-notes gang leader

2 Nagas drugged, looted in Guwahati

DIMAPUR, Oct 16 – Two Nagas were reportedly drugged in an eatery in Guwahati and looted of their belongings on October 12.

The victims identified as Pyingchio Murry and Renabomo Lotha of Baghty town of Phek district became unconscious after consuming the tea laced with drugs in the eatery and their belongings including cash, mobile phones, etc., were taken away by the eatery employees, Ad-hoc Baghty Town Council chairman Yanpvuthung Kithan said in a release today.

They were later hospitalised and are currently undergoing treatment.

Both had gone to visit their children who are studying in Guwahati but failed to meet them following the incident.

Strongly condemning the incident, the Town Council urged the authority concerned to take stern action against the culprits as per law. It also urged all Nagas to be vigilant so as to avoid such incidents in future.

READ MORE - 2 Nagas drugged, looted in Guwahati

Arrested Manipur cop leads to seizure of 74 kgs of narcotic

Widening its probe into the arrest of a Manipur police official caught allegedly smuggling drugs at the IGI airport, anti-narcotics sleuths today recovered 74 kgs of contraband from a location in the capital.

The seized consignment of pseudoephedrine is estimated to cost Rs 80 lakh in the domestic market. Sleuths suspect that a syndicate operation was behind the incident as the drug was to be smuggled from Manipur to neighbouring Myanmar.

The Manipur cop, Chlalkhogin, along with his wife and an another associate were arrested yesterday by the Narcotics Control Bureau after they received a tip-off from CISF.

Confirming the development, NCB zonal director (Delhi) Manoranjan Kumar told PTI that they have seized additional 74 kgs of narcotic after getting information about it from Chlalkhogin.

Twenty four kgs of pseudoephedrine was allegedly seized from the Manipur cop yesterday after the contraband was detected in his bag at the IGI airport.

The NCB had arrested the trio under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and has now put them under interrogation.

READ MORE - Arrested Manipur cop leads to seizure of 74 kgs of narcotic

Police official among 3 arrested at IGI for smuggling

New Delhi: A Manipur police official and two others were Saturday arrested for allegedly smuggling contraband worth Rs 20 lakh from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here.

The official, identified as one Chlalkhogin, is a constable in Manipur police and he was accompanied with his wife Chongboi and another person Satkholal when they were intercepted by a CISF check squad at the terminal 3 of the IGI.

A senior CISF officer said that the trio were intercepted in the wee hours around 5 am, just before they were scheduled to board an Indigo flight (6E-221) to Guwahati.

"Their baggages appeared to be suspicious. On profiling, they were selected for thorough checking. During screening of one of their baggages about 24 kgs of Pseudoephedrine drug was detected and recovered," CISF spokesperson Hemendra Singh said.

The CISF then called up the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sleuths who arrested the trio under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

The NCB estimated the value of the drug consignment to be about Rs 20 lakh in the domestic market while the same volume would fetch Rs one crore in the international market, he said.

READ MORE - Police official among 3 arrested at IGI for smuggling

Armed and doubly dangerous: Local arms factories give Delhi criminals a lethal weapons edge

Criminals in Delhi are arming themselves with sophisticated weapons that are readily available from
local arms factories, making them more dangerous than ever before.
According to Delhi Police sources, some of these weapons can use ammunition meant for imported arms, which are available on the black market and have added to their firepower.
Delhi Police has prepared an eye-opening report on the ‘easy availability of high-quality firearms’ in the Capital and the National Capital Region. It says illegal arms used by gangs are usually well-made replicas of top quality weapons sold in the international market. They are cheap, which enables the criminals to buy them.

Gun crime: Cardiologist Dr Sanjeev Dhawan (right) was recently shot dead at home by Dharmendra Tandon, a former army gunner

With growing evidence of the proliferation of these weapons, Delhi Police shared the report with state police chiefs at the recently held conference of DGPs as part of an effort to curb the menace.
The police claimed that in September alone such weapons were used in over ten murders in the Capital.
The crime network operates well beyond Delhi. In a recent operation carried out over 15 days, the Muzaffarnagar police seized over 40 country-made .315 and 12 bore pistols.

“We have busted four illegal arms factories and seized all the material used in making these weapons. They have mastered the art of making these weapons and it is hard to notice any difference between country-made and imported weapons of the same format,” said V.B. Singh, senior superintendent of police, Muzaffarnagar.
Country-made 0.315 bore weapons are easily available for Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 in different parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Many first time criminals have also managed to get sophisticated pistols in the Capital, where they cost between Rs 35,000 and Rs 50,000.

According to police officials, automatic assault rifles can be procured from places like Dadri and cheaper variants can be brought from Meerut and Ghaziabad.
A senior police official in Uttar Pradesh also pointed out that the laws in the country are not stringent enough to act as actual deterrents.
The Delhi Police report was prepared following the recovery of a huge cache of sophisticated weapons from criminals in the capital and the NCR area. The police are worried about a possible explosion of violence.
A police officer who did not wish to be named said there are fears that even petty criminals will use these weapons for chain snatching or picking pockets.
Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar has constituted a special cell within the crime branch to keep tabs on cases of gun running.
“We have looked in detail at the forward and backward linkages and carried out joint operations at several places to corner the gun running mafia,” said Kumar.

The police have prepared an action plan to control trafficking in the sophisticated arms. This includes a proposal for amending rules in the Arms Act to make bail difficult for those held under the Act.
The Delhi Police report says the government should reduce the quota of ammunition available to individual license holders.

As in the army, every licensed gun user will have to deposit used cartridges with the arms dealers before getting a fresh stock.
Many a time, senior police officials believe that licensed arms dealers sell the quota of ammunition to others, and they go on to leak it to criminals who misuse it in various antisocial activities.
Delhi Police also observed that the criminals use factory-made ammunition in the sophisticated country-made weapons, which further aggravates the problem.
Delhi Police recommended a fresh audit of all arms dealers to get the latest statistics and maintain a database of outgoing and incoming ammunition to these dealers.
The police have identified areas like Munger in Bihar and Jalalabad in the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh where licenses have been given to arms dealers for manufacturing weapons.
“We have sent police teams to these areas to collect intelligence about the whole operations there and the possibility of leakage of arms to criminal elements,” Kumar said.
Interestingly, the Delhi Police report observed that weapons from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar do not find buyers in the Capital alone. They are selling like hot cakes in the Maoist areas.
The report proposes that the police should be allowed to take a photograph of a weapon before it is sealed, so that when it is produced in court the judge is aware how advanced the weapon is.
This is to ensure that the case is not treated like a regular arms recovery.

READ MORE - Armed and doubly dangerous: Local arms factories give Delhi criminals a lethal weapons edge

Drugs hidden in 13 sacks seized in Manipur

 IMPHAL: A joint team of sleuths and security personnel seized a huge quantity of psychotropic drugs including Spasmo Proxyvon (SP) and C-U-Kuf concealed inside 13 medium-sized sacks from a cement-laden truck at Kanglatongbi near Imphal.

Acting on specific information, sleuths from the Special Intelligence Unit (SIU) and the narcotic cell of Imphal West District Police and 43 Assam Rifles personnel intercepted the drugs ferried from Guwahati on Sunday.

The joint security team also pulled up the driver of the truck, identified as Md Farooque Khan of Khabeishoi village in Imphal East, police sources said, adding that the owner of the truck is also a Muslim from the state.

Each uncoated C-U-Kuf tablet contains 60mg of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride and 2.5mg of triproclidine hydrochloride, the sources added.

The cement consignment was being shipped in for one store at Churachandpur, while the drugs loaded from Guwahati were dispatched in the name of an individual at Khurai in Imphal East.

There have been earlier instances of interception of a huge quantity of drugs containing pseudoephedrine meant for smuggling to Myanamar. SP capsules have now become a serious menace in the state.

The cops have begun a probe to nab the ring leader behind the flow of psychotropic drugs in the state.

In another operation by 24 Assam Rifles, two drug peddlers were apprehended with a whopping 1,16,150 Sucet tablets and 1,00,740 Skuf tablets from Lokchao area near the border town of Moreh.

READ MORE - Drugs hidden in 13 sacks seized in Manipur

Man arrested for shooting woman on busy Delhi road while son watched

New Delhi: A woman who was shot dead on a busy road in North West Delhi was allegedly murdered by a man related to her husband's ex-wife, says the Delhi Police, who has arrested the man.

Meenakshi Rana was dropping her young son to school in a rickshaw in Rohini when a gunman on a bike pulled up and fired at her several times.  The shooter then escaped.

Newspapers report that Mrs Rana at first tried to dodge bullets by hiding behind cars and trees but the gunman was able to catch up with her. After killing her, he escaped on his bike.

Mrs Rana had allegedly married her husband before he formally divorced his first wife, according to the police.

READ MORE - Man arrested for shooting woman on busy Delhi road while son watched

Assam girl confined, gang raped for 8 days

NEW DELHI, Sept 12 : Four men assaulted her, police manage to arrest one culprit and his wife

 A 16-year-old girl from Assam was allegedly confined at a house in Khyala in west Delhi for eight days and raped by four men. A couple has been arrested in this connection, police said.

The rapists released her after her health deteriorated, following which she went to the house of  an acquaintance.

When her health improved in few days, she approached police and filed an FIR.
She worked as a maid at a house in Rohini. On August 25, she quit the job and called Imran, who was known to her, and asked him to find her shelter for a day before she looks for another job.

She reached Raghubir Nagar on Imran’s direction to spend the night at his friend Nawal Kishore’s house.

As Nawal lived with his wife Shabeena, the victim thought it was safe to stay there, said a police officer. Imran and Nawal called two of their friends Lalu and Mithun.
At night, they forced the victim to drink and raped her.

The next morning, Kishore told his wife to keep a tab on the victim so that she does not escape.

The girl was confined for seven more days, and the four men raped her every day.
When her health deteriorated, they hired an autorickshaw and asked her to leave and threatened her as well.

Traumatised and unwell, she reached the house of her acquaintance, from where after regaining health she went to a police station on Monday.

A case of rape was filed with Khyala police station after a medical test of the victim, and Nawal and his wife Shabeena were arrested.

“A hunt is on to arrest the rest,” said the police officer.
The girl came to Delhi two years ago with a woman from her hometown in Assam, looking for a job.


The woman introduced her to a placement agency, which made her work in a house in the city.

After working for a year there, she left and started looking for a different job. The placement agency then sent her to Gujarat.

She worked there for nine months as a maid, after which she returned to Delhi and started working in a house in Rohini.

READ MORE - Assam girl confined, gang raped for 8 days