NEW DELHI: The CBI has accepted Haryana government's recommendation to take over the investigation in the Ruchika molestation case. Sources say that the CBI would probe ex-Haryana DGP Rathore under section 306.
Haryana Police has been pulled up for delaying action in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case but police officials say they did not want to arrest former top cop S P S Rathore "hastily" despite a Panchkula court having dismissed his anticipatory bail pleas.
"Our investigation is still under process and we are looking into all aspects of the case before arresting anybody. We cannot do things hastily in this matter and we are busy collecting evidence pertaining to these FIRs," Superintendent of Police (Panchkula) Maneesh Chaudhary said on Saturday.
Senior police officials had said they have recommended the fresh First Information Reports (FIRs) against Rathore be sent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), so there was no point seeking his interrogation in custody.
"The CBI can take over this case in the next few days and we do not want to do anything that might sabotage their investigation process," Chaudhary said earlier.
Declining anticipatory bail to Rathore in fresh cases registered against him, additional district and sessions judge Sanjeev Jindal had on Friday observed his crime had a "spine-chilling" impact.
Rathore was Dec 21 convicted of molesting teenager Ruchika 19 years back and sentenced to six months' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000.
Jindal had also pulled up the state government, specifically the police, for their lackadaisical attitude.
Rathore had moved the bail pleas against two fresh FIRs in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case, which were registered on Dec 29.
Rathore was booked under non-bailable charges like attempt to murder, criminal intimidation, forging evidence, wrongful confinement, fabricating false evidence and criminal conspiracy.
The court also pulled up the police for registering the FIRs under Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
Ruchika's friend Aradhana, whose family fought the case against Rathore for over 19 years, said: "State officials were supporting Rathore in the past and I still doubt their intentions. But we are hopeful of a fair probe by CBI and we all want to see Rathore behind bars at the earliest."
Ruchika, a teenaged budding tennis player, was molested by Rathore, then an inspector general of police, in Panchkula Aug 12, 1990. She committed suicide three years later.
Ruchika case: No hasty arrest of Rathore, say Haryana cops
PANCHKULA (HARYANA): Haryana Police has been pulled up for delaying action in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case but police officials say they did not want to arrest former top cop S P S Rathore "hastily" despite a Panchkula court having dismissed his anticipatory bail pleas.
"Our investigation is still under process and we are looking into all aspects of the case before arresting anybody. We cannot do things hastily in this matter and we are busy collecting evidence pertaining to these FIRs," Superintendent of Police (Panchkula) Maneesh Chaudhary said on Saturday.
Senior police officials said they have recommended the fresh First Information Reports (FIRs) against Rathore be sent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), so there was no point seeking his interrogation in custody.
"The CBI can take over this case in the next few days and we do not want to do anything that might sabotage their investigation process," Chaudhary said.
Declining anticipatory bail to Rathore in fresh cases registered against him, additional district and sessions judge Sanjeev Jindal had Friday observed his crime had a "spine-chilling" impact.
Rathore was Dec 21 convicted of molesting teenager Ruchika 19 years back and sentenced to six months' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000.
Jindal had also pulled up the state government, specifically the police, for their lackadaisical attitude.
"Conduct of the state of Haryana in not filing the reply to the present bail applications and seeking adjournment even after availing six-day time cannot be held anything else except baffling and disgusting," the judge said Friday.
"It gives a clear cut impression that either the law officers and police officers of the state are incompetent or they are intentionally dilly-dallying the matter under the buckling pressure of the applicant-accused, who had been stated to be mighty police officer having political clout," he observed.
The public prosecutor had on Thursday demanded adjournment of the case, seeking sufficient time for collection of evidence.
The court said that in view of the allegations levelled in both the FIRs, it was the state's duty to oppose both the bail applications and to seek custodial interrogation of the accused.
"The criminal conspiracies were not hatched sitting in the drawing rooms in the presence of the witnesses so the same can be unearthed only through the custodial interrogation of the accused," the judge wrote.
Rathore had moved the bail pleas against two fresh FIRs in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case, which were registered Dec 29.
Rathore was booked under non-bailable charges like attempt to murder, criminal intimidation, forging evidence, wrongful confinement, fabricating false evidence and criminal conspiracy.
The court also pulled up the police for registering the FIRs under Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
"They went ahead in registering both the FIRs under the provision of section 467 of IPC, which primarily relates to forgery of a document relating to monetary transaction, valuable security and wills. Thus the conduct in this respect becomes deplorable and as such, is hereby condemned by the court in the strongest possible terms."
Pankaj Bhardwaj, the lawyer who has been fighting Ruchika's case, also criticised the delay in Rathore's arrest.
"Custodial interrogation of the accused is very necessary to find out the involvement of other officials who shielded Rathore for the last 19 years in this case," Bhardwaj told IANS on Saturday.
"By seeking three weeks' time for collecting evidence, the state is adopting delaying tactics and they are working in connivance with the accused," he added.
Ruchika's friend Aradhana, whose family fought the case against Rathore for over 19 years, said: "State officials were supporting Rathore in the past and I still doubt their intentions. But we are hopeful of a fair probe by CBI and we all want to see Rathore behind bars at the earliest."
Ruchika, a teenaged budding tennis player, was molested by Rathore, then an inspector general of police, in Panchkula Aug 12, 1990. She committed suicide three years later.
Mamata slams Centre, but says she won't walk out of UPA
KOLKATA: Firing a salvo at the UPA government of which her party is a major ally, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that the Centre had "surrendered" to the CPM and failed to do enough to check Marxist violence in West Bengal.
However, the railway minister said she would not walk out of the alliance. "We are committed to the people who want the alliance to continue," Banerjee told a press conference here.
"The Centre has surrendered to the CPM and has failed to check Marxist violence on our partymen in the state," she said.
Banerjee alleged that the Centre was 'providing oxygen' to the CPM by launching the anti-Maoist operations by Central forces and the state police in West Midnapore.
Reiterating her opposition to the operations in the troubled district, she said, "Union home minister P Chidambaram owes an explanation to the people for the failure of the joint operations.
"The joint operations did not yield any result. Has the violence abated or killings or terrorism ended there?"
"Our party was not consulted despite the Trinamool Congress being the second largest ally of the UPA."
Renewing her demand for deploying the army in West Midnapore to deal with the situation, she said "Had the Centre been serious about fighting Maoists, it would have reacted."
Indian-origin man set on fire in Melbourne
Melbourne: A 29-year-old Indian-origin man was set ablaze by a group of four attackers in Melbourne on Saturday, a week after a student from the country was stabbed to death amid a slew of assaults on the community in Australia.
The man, who suffered 15 per cent burns including on his arms, chest and face, was admitted to 'The Alfred' hospital after he was attacked shortly before 2 am local time (0730 HRS IST) in Melbourne's Essendon area.
The man, who was not identified, and his wife left a dinner party in Essendon, in the city's northwest, between 1.30 am and 2 am and drove to their nearby home in Grice Crescent. He dropped his wife at home and had gone to park his car when he was attacked, local media reported.
Police said that as he was getting out of the car, four men attacked him, pushing him back against the vehicle and pouring an unknown fluid on him. One of the men then ignited the fluid with a lighter before all the attackers fled.
The victim, who is now in a stable condition in the hospital, ran from the car while peeling off his clothes, 'The Age' reported.
The attack comes a week after the stabbing death of 21-year-old Indian graduate Nitin Garg in a Yarraville park while he was on his way to his part-time job in a restaurant.
The body of another Indian youth, 25-year-old Ranjodh Singh, was found beside Wilga Road in Willbriggie in the neighbouring state of New South Wales on December 29. The incident was reported earlier this week.
Pakistan strikes four rockets near Wagah border in Punjab
Attari: At least four rockets were lobbed from Pakistani side in the fields near Attari, situated close to India-Pakistan border in Punjab at 12.40 am on Saturday.
No casualty has been reported so far.
According to eyewitnesses, two of the rocket shells landed at the Border Security Force (BSF) post situated at Khangarh, nearly two kilometres from the international India-Pakistan Border, while other two landed in a field.
"The rockets fell just in our fields. Our houses are also here. So it is grave danger for us. Earlier also such incidents have taken place in our village," said Gurdeep Singh, a resident.
The BSF retaliated with machine-gun fire but due to dense fog, border guards were hindered in their search operation.
However the Pakistani authorities have denied having anything to do with the rocket attacks.
Indian Business News
India likely to grow 9% in FY12: Montek
New Delhi: The economy is likely to return to an annual growth rate of 9 per cent by the fiscal year ending in March 2012, a top policy adviser said on Saturday.
Asia's third-largest economy expanded 6.7 per cent in 2008/09 (April-March), slower than the 9 per cent or more recorded in the previous three years.
"By the end of the 11th five-year plan we hope to back to 9 per cent growth rate. In the 12th plan the aim of the government is to bring the economy to 10 per cent growth rate," said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.
India's 11th five-year plan began in April 2007.
Ahluwalia said: "This may not be easy but not unrealistic. One critical objective for the government is massive expenditure in education."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said he was optimistic that India, which along with China is leading the drive out of a global recession, could return to annual growth of 9-10 per cent in a few years time.
He said the economy was expected to grow by around 7 per cent in the 2009/2010 fiscal year, slightly below previous forecasts by his policymakers.
The economy grew an annual 7.9 per cent in the quarter through September, its fastest in 18 months, prompting policymakers, including the finance minister, to revise the growth forecast for the current fiscal year to around 8 per cent from 7 per cent.
Next Bill Gates could be from India!
Washington: A sizeable number of Americans believe that the next Bill Gates would come from India or China as the two Asian giants are fast marching ahead on the global platform, a new US survey has revealed.
"When asked where the 'next Bill Gates will come from,' 40 per cent of Americans predicted either India or China," said a national survey released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) on the sidelines of the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow at Las Vegas.
The vast majority of them, about 96 per cent, believe that innovation was critical to the future success of the US as a world economic leader but they were concerned that the rising federal deficit would jeopardize prosperity of future generations, the survey said.
The economic survey, conducted by Zogby International, found that 68 per cent of Americans think innovation was key to the future success of their place of employment, with 50 per cent maintaining that innovation was important for their job remaining in the US.
After the World Economic Forum reported that the US has lost its global competitiveness ranking while India, China and Brazil have gained, 74 per cent of Americans said it was unlikely the US would regain its status next year.
India should have an aim to overtake China: PC
Karaikudi (TN): India should nourish a ‘burning ambition’ to overtake China and emerge as the world's largest economy as the country was poised to become the most populous by 2030, Home Minister P Chidambaram said.
"China wants to become the world's largest economy. If India's population exceeds China's in or about the year 2030, why do we not have the burning ambition to become the world's largest economy?" he said in his convocation address at the Alagappa University here in his native Sivaganga District.
Recent history was replete with examples of countries at cross roads making the correct choices and forging ahead on the path of development, he said adding India grabbed the chance in 2004 with both hands.
India clocked an unprecedented GDP growth of 8.5 per cent between 2004-09 and achieved several feats including landing a spacecraft on moon, the Home Minister pointed out.
"We have another chance. What we do with that chance depends on you and thousands of other young men and women who will graduate every year from college and universities. Will you be content with average ambition, average integrity...?
"Or will you be determined to take India to great heights just as every Chinese youth seems to be? China has accumulated the largest foreign reserves by any country. Why do we not have the ambition to produce more, to export more, to acquire more reserves and convert these reserves into precious assets and resources all over the world?" he said.
Chidambaram told the students to look for answers to these questions by looking inward. If more and more people ask these questions and find right answers, "you would be able to make India a great country," he said.
Indian Sports News
One dead, 9 hurt in gun attack on Togo soccer team
Luanda: Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Togo's national soccer squad to the top African tournament in Angola on Friday, killing the driver and wounding nine others, including two players, a Togo team official said.
Togo captain Emmanuel Adebayor, who was on the bus but escaped unharmed, said his team might quit the African Nations Cup, where some of soccer's most valuable stars are due to play.
A shaken Adebayor, who joined Manchester City for a reported 25 million pounds ($40 million) last year, also decried the blow to Africa's image in the year when South Africa hosts the World Cup.
The bus had just entered the Angolan enclave of Cabinda, where separatists have waged a three-decade long war, when it came under heavy gunfire for several minutes, the team official said. An Angolan minister called the attack in Cabinda, which produces most of Angola's oil, an "act of terrorism".
Many of the players at the tournament are with clubs at the top level of European football including Adebayor, Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o of Inter Milan and Chelsea's Ivory Coast striker Dider Drogba.
A separatist group, the Front for the Liberation of Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened two days before the start of the 2010 African Nations Cup, Africa's most-followed sporting event.
"This operation is just the start of a series of planned actions that will continue to take place in the whole territory of Cabinda," said the statement seen by Reuters and signed by FLEC's secretary general Rodrigues Mingas.
Lanka canter to nine-wicket win, book final match berth
Mirpur (Bangladesh): Mahela Jayawardene (108) and Upul Tharanga (118 not out) cracked sparkling centuries as Sri Lanka crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets to storm into the final of the cricket tri-series here on Friday.
Chasing a modest 250 for a win, Jayawardene and Tharanga tore apart the Bangladesh bowlers to canter to the target with 7.1 overs to spare at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Earlier, Bangladesh put up a shoddy batting display coming up with a modest score of 249 for nine with captain Shakib Al hasan top-scoring with 47 after being put into bat in front of 10,000-odd spectators.
Sri Lanka's win not only booked them a berth in the January 13 final they have also almost shut the final match door on the hosts.
If Bangladesh, who have a negative net run rate (-0.626) after losing all three games, are to qualify for the final, they will have to beat India by a huge margin and pray that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men lose heavily against the islanders on Sunday.
Jayawardene, who hit his 12th ODI hundred, was dismissed in the 38th over when the match was all over in his side's favour at 215 for one. He smashed 13 fours in his 117-ball innings.
Tharanga, who hit his eighth ODI hundred in his 90th match, struck 18 fours in his 126-ball innings.
The left-handed batsman reserved his special treatment for Syed Rasel hitting the pacer for six fours including three from the 23rd over while Jayawardene picked right-arm paceman Rubel Hossain for seven fours.
No comments:
Post a Comment