India

Dehradun, Dec 18 (IANS) The 500-page charge sheet has been prepared in Ankita Bhandari murder case, which will be presented in the court on Monday.

According to ADG Law and Order, V. Murugashan, it took 90 days to file the 500-page charge sheet, after examining around 100 witnesses.

Bhandari was allegedly murdered by Pulkit Arya, the son of now expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya.

The 19-year-old victim worked at a resort owned by the accused in Uttarakhand's Pauri district.

Inspection of the crime site and interrogation of resort workers revealed that the victim left the place with accused Pulkit Arya, the resort's manager Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Arya at around 8 p.m. on September 18, 2022.

The accused confessed to the murder and throwing her body in the canal after
they were strictly interrogated.

In connection with the murder, IPC sections 302, 201, 120B were added and the accused were sent to jail on September 23.

The victim's body was recovered on September 24 from Chilla canal.

Since the murder was an instance of heinous crime committed against woman, an SIT team led by Director General of Police, Law and Order, P. Renuka Devi was constituted on September 24.

The statements of several witnesses were recorded in the court under section 164 CrPC, along with procurement of reports by expert doctors and documents related to prosecution.

The accused have been charged under IPC sections 302, 201, 120B, 354A and Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.

Narco test of the accused is also being discussed by the police officials.

--IANS
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Ayodhya, Dec 18 (IANS) To give it a distinct identity, the temple town of Ayodhya will soon have a uniform colour coding for various establishments.

The Ayodhya Development Authority is finalising the scheme of colours to be used in buildings of different nature.

There will be a dedicated colour each for commercial, residential, religious and historical buildings.

The colour of the temples leading to Ram Janmabhoomi site will be saffron.

There will be a uniformity of colour in different buildings and pavements in their vicinity.

Ayodhya Development Authority vice-chairman Vishal Singh said, "There will be different types of colour choices for commercial, residential, religious and for the buildings of archaeological importance. We are yet to finalise which shades of colours to be painted on which type of buildings. However, the colour of the temples leading to the Ram Janmabhoomi site will be saffron."

According to the sources, other than the temples on the Ram Mandir way, all the private buildings - from Saadatganj area of the Faizabad city to the banks of Saryu - will also have the same colour.

Besides, agencies involved in the construction of the grand Ram temple are taking special cognisance of the security of Ram Janmabhoomi complex. A double-layer security wall with a 50-metre foundation will ensure permanent security for the temple, said Anil Mishra, member of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) The Customs officials on Saturday said that they have arrested a Guinea national and recovered 82 capsules containing cocaine -- which were ingested by her -- valued at Rs 15.36 crore.

The woman was held at Indira Gandhi International Airport while her operation to retrieve cocaine capsules was performed at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

The official said that the woman who travelled from Conakry to Addis Ababa had further arrived at Terminal-3, IGI Airport on December 7.

She was intercepted by the Customs on the basis of specific information after she had crossed the Green Channel and was approaching towards the exit gate of international arrival hall of T-3.

Upon questioning, she finally divulged that she had swallowed capsules of Narcotics substance.

"Since it was an impending medical emergency, she was admitted to hospital. Under expert medical supervision, ejection process was carried out. The entire ejection process lasted over several days during which Customs Officers maintained round the clock vigil," the official said.

Finally, 82 capsules were recovered which yielded a total of 1,024 gm white powdery substance.

"The woman had violated provisions of section 8 of the NDPS Act, and had committed offence punishable under Section 21, Section 23 and Section 29 of NDPS Act. Accordingly, she was placed under arrest. The powdery substance which is cocaine has been seized along with concealing material under section 43(a) of NDPS Act," said the official.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Dec 17 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday held a brief one-on-one meeting here at state secretariat Nabanna on the sidelines of the Eastern Zonal Council meeting chaired by Shah.

During the meeting that lasted around 20 minutes, issues such as the pending dues from the Centre to West Bengal government on account of different centrally-sponsored schemes and complications related to availability of land for several border outposts (BOPs) for Border Security Force (BSF) in the state were reportedly discussed.

West Bengal government sources said that during the meeting, the Chief Minister handed over to the Union Home Minister a detailed written submission of the dues pending to the state government under various centrally sponsored schemes and she also requested Amit Shah to ensure that such dues are cleared as quickly as possible so that the state government could go ahead with the different development projects.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said that in the one-on-one meeting, the Union Home Minister raised the issue of BSF facing problems in getting lands for setting up BOPs.

"Before the Union home minister left the city, I had a chance to speak to him for a couple of minutes. I enquired about the proceedings of his meeting with the chief minister. He said that the state government is reluctant to provide land for setting up 72 new BOPs of BSF. He requested the chief minister to ensure that this problem is solved and also discussed ways on how the coordination between BSF and state police can be improved to check cross- border criminal activities," he said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Saturday ruled that even in the absence of a written complaint, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has the power to initiate suo motu disciplinary proceedings against its members.

A batch of petitions were filed by chartered accountants wanting to cancel the disciplinary proceedings initiated against them by the ICAI.

A single-bench judge of Justice Yashwant Varma said: "A written complaint or allegation in writing cannot, in any manner, be understood to be a pre-requisite or a sine qua non for the initiation of action under Section 21.

"That material need not necessarily be in the written or be interpreted as being confined to something which an individual may choose to bring to the notice of the institute. Acceptance of a submission to the contrary would amount to restricting the width and amplitude of the power conferred by Section 21 which enables the institute to proceed on the basis of 'any information'."

However, the court said that a news article cannot be counted as an evidence.

"A newspaper report, as is well settled, cannot and does not constitute evidence per se. A report that may appear in the print media or on a visual news platform, can at best be understood as being an external source from which the institute may gather or derive knowledge of a particular fact or incident," the judge said.

These petitioners were employed with firms which were appointed as joint statutory auditors of the Punjab National Bank to conduct a limited review of its financial statements.

ICAI issued show cause notices to the petitioners for allegedly not complying with various auditing standards in the money laundering case involving Nirav Modi, who had defrauded banks to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore.

The CAs had said that the ICAI cannot initiate suo motu proceedings as they were based merely on news reports.

In response, the court said: "The court is of the firm opinion that the Institute did have the requisite information as contemplated by Section 21 and which justified the initiation of the enquiry against the petitioners in the facts of the present case."

"The answer to the question whether a particular power stands conferred under statute must necessarily be answered on a reading of the statute and on discernment of its scope. The meaning to be conferred upon a statute cannot rest merely on the fact that the power though being found to exist was never invoked earlier," the court added.A

Justice Varma further dismissed the petitions and said that the ICAI is entitled to proceed in the matter.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) With over 4 crore digital health records linked to the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) of individuals, the scheme has crossed a significant milestone. More than 29 crore citizens have generated their unique Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHA) so far, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is making steady progress in building a comprehensive digital health ecosystem for the country, it added.

With their health records linked to their ABHA accounts digitally, citizens will be able to access and manage these records as per convenience.

Elaborating on ABDM's role in digitising health records, R.S. Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority (NHA) said: "As the implementing agency for ABDM, National Health Authority is working closely with different stakeholders to ensure that the benefits of digital health services can be availed by more citizens.

"We're planning to launch an incentive scheme for health facilities such as hospitals, clinics, diagnostic labs etc. to further promote digitisation of health records. We're also encouraging different health locker applications to integrate with ABDM so that citizens get more choice for storing and managing their digital records."

He further said: "With continuous focus on digitisation of health records, we aim to achieve paperless medical consultations and thereby more accuracy in each transaction between the patient and healthcare service provider."

--IANS
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Bhopal, Dec 17 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Saturday even smaller nations were threatening India when Rajiv Gandhi was the country's Prime Minister.

Referring to the recent clash at LAC between the Indian and Chinese army, Chouhan said India's soldiers have given a befitting reply to the Chinese troops. He also accused Rahul Gandhi of "insulting Indian Army's efforts".

"I would advice Rahul Gandhi not to such things. When Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister, the smaller countries of the world used to threaten us. A glorious and powerful India is being built under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi," the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said.

He went on to say that Rahul Gandhi should recall the 1962 India-China war (when India under Jawaharlal Nehru's leadership faced unfavourable outcomes in the border conflict with China) before speaking in such a manner.

Reacting to Chouhan's remarks on former Rajiv Gandhi, Madhya Pradesh unit Congress chief Kamal Nath demanded an apology from the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.

Slamming Chouhan, Kamal Nath said such language does not suit the person holding the chair of a Chief Minister.

"Rajiv Gandhi who sacrificed everything for the pride of India, will always be the ideal of this country," Kamal Nath said, adding Chouhan must study the history to find out about the military's valour when Rajiv Gandhi was PM.

"As part of political vendetta, Chouhan is not only insulting Rajiv Gandhi but also the military of the country, for which he must apologise," Nath further asserted.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) A Delhi court on Saturday sent three accused allegedly involved in an acid attack on Wednesday on a 17-year-old school girl to 14 days of judicial custody.

The three individuals were presented in the court after their police custody ended on Saturday. They were arrested on December 14 after the incident had taken place earlier in the day.

They were presented before a Metropolitan Magistrate in Dwarka court, who had sent Sachin Arora, Harshit Aggarwal a.k.a. Honey and Virender Singh a.k.a. Sonu to two days' police remand.

A day after the shocking incident of an acid attack on a 17-year-old schoolgirl, the Delhi Police on Thursday also issued notice to Flipkart, from where the accused had bought the acid.

"The acid has been procured online through Flipkart. A notice has been sent to Flipkart to provide information regarding the seller and the particular transaction. They have also been asked regarding compliance of regulations related to sale of acid," said M Harsha Vardhan, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka).

The sale of acid is banned in the market but the accused Sachin had bought it online from the e-commerce platform.

The 17-year-old school girl was attacked with acid on Wednesday morning near Dwarka Mor while she was on her way to school along with her sister.

Arora, along with Harshit and Virender had planned and hatched the conspiracy a few days ago to throw acid on the girl after their friendship ended in September this year, an official said.

All the three accused are residents of the same locality where the girl resides.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) Two members of an inter-state drug syndicate, who had been supplying drugs for the last 8 years, were nabbed by the Delhi Police's Special Cell, said an official on Saturday.

The police have also recovered 2,36,080 Tramadol and 2,23,800 Alprazolam tablets along with 150 bottles of Codeine worth Rs 1.5 crores in the international market from the accused. They were identified as Rishi Kumar Singh, 29, a resident of Sant Nagar, Burari, Kuldeep Kumar, 26, a resident of Loni, Ghaziabad and Anurag Kumar Sinha, 48, a resident of Timarpur.

According to Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), on December 13 specific inputs were received that Rishi would supply a big consignment of contraband drugs to Kuldeep near the Wazirabad flyover.

"Acting on the inputs, a trap was laid and the police team observed Rishi and an e-rickshaw carrying several cardboard boxes, containing contraband, reaching the spot. Two cardboard boxes were also on his scooty," said the official.

"In the meantime, Kuldeep also arrived at the spot on a bike. Both the accused met and started loading the cardboard boxes from the scooty and the e-rickshaw into a van. They were surrounded and apprehended by the police team. After compliance with provisions of the NDPS Act contraband, including Tramadol and Alprazolam tablets, was recovered from the accused," said the official.

All the contraband recovered from the possession of the duo is manufactured by Pure & Cure Healthcare Private Ltd (a subsidiary of Akums Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd) near Ranipur in Haridwar.

"During further investigation, the source of the recovered contraband Anurag Kumar Sinha was also apprehended from Nehru Vihar. At his instance a raid was conducted at his shop cum godown near Mukherjee Nagar with officials from the Drugs Control Department, Karkardooma, said the official.

"Several Tramadol capsules and Alprazolam tablets were seized from his shop cum office. The wholesale drug license of accused Anurag Kumar Sinha had expired and renewal was pending with the concerned department," said the official.

"Rishi had started supplying the contraband drugs to Kuldeep after procuring the same from Anurag. He has supplied the contraband drugs to Kuldeep more than 25 times during the period August 2022 till date. The present recovered consignment of Tramadol and Alprazolam was also procured by him from Anurag," said the official.

--IANS
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By Shekhar Singh
New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) Cannabis or ganja, 'babaji ki booti' or 'maal' (what peddlers call it) has spread its roots across the national capital, which is evident as it is being openly sold at some places across the city.


Easily available at various hotspots, which include JJ clusters and parks, at prices ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 5,000, anyone can get ganja in the quantities that they require.

An IANS team visited several places across the city, including JJ clusters and found that these drugs and illicit liquor are sold openly in these colonies without any fear of authorities.

The team first visited the JJ cluster built on both sides of the railway lines near Jal Vihar area in Lajpat Nagar. The team asked about the 'maal' from one of the men sitting outside the one of the shanties, who then said to go in third alley, and ask for 'Anna'.

The team then reached the third alley and after entering it just left, and the second single room shanty was Anna's 'office', where he was sitting on a chair watching a movie on TV. The correspondent asked him about the cannabis to which he said you can buy Rs 100, 500 and Rs 1,000 packets from here.

He kept the cannabis rolled in newspapers and all the rooms were filled with those packets. He calls it his 'office'.

The team then visited JJ cluster in Chattarpur near 100 ft road where narrow lanes led to a woman who was sitting on a cot and used to openly sell ganja and illicit liquor. The ganja is sold in packets starting from Rs 100 per pack whereas alcohol quarter is sold for Rs 50.

"We don't have any other business to do. This is easy earning and once a buyer is here, he will come again to buy the stuff," said the woman on anonymity, adding that most of the people who come to buy drugs are youngsters.

She also said that whenever there is a shortage of ganja, other peddlers in the area specifically reduce quantity and sell drugs by mixing 'Avil' tablet and other chemicals. "The salt is available easily. Some peddlers mix this salt, so that the drug can leave a positive effect on buyers that the quality is good, but I don't sell that way," she said.

The team then visited Neb Sarai, Freedom Fighter Colony, gate no-4, where the correspondent spoke to people who pointed out towards a general store which sells these drugs. Posing as a buyer, the correspondent asked the shop owner to give a packet of ganja. The shopkeeper pointed towards a street near his shop and asked to wait there.

As the peddler returned, he asked what would we like to buy - ganja or heroin, adding: "Heroin would cost you Rs 300 for 1 gram and a small packet of ganja would cost Rs 100 while a quarter of illicit liquor is sold for Rs 100."

Madan Giri, Subhash Nagar, RK Puram, INA, Khirki Extension, Malviya Nagar, Munirka and JJ clusters in Jahangirpuri, Dwarka, Uttam Nagar and Rohini are also the hotspots for drug peddlers and distributors.

Most peddlers and distributors also operate in areas close to North Campus such as Majnu Ka Tila, Kashmere Gate, Indra Vikas opposite Nirankari colony and Shastri Park.

According to a senior police official, interrogation reports of the arrested men indicate that a majority of the drug users are school and college students, apart from criminals, who are into smack and other cheap stuff.

"Most of the robbers and snatchers caught by Delhi Police are addicted to drugs and are youngsters. Just to fulfil the need for drugs, these youngsters commit crimes. They stole items and sold them at throwaway
rates to people," said the senior police official.

On December 5, Delhi Police said that they have arrested two drug peddlers and recovered over 100 kgs of cannabis from their possession. On interrogation of the accused, it was revealed that the said consignment was procured from Tripura, a North East state.

"The accused used to procure consignment from Tripura at a cost of Rs 5,000-6,000 per kg and supplied it at a cost of Rs 10,000-12,000 per kg in Delhi and its peripherals," said the official.

On December 12, with the arrest of three people, the Delhi Police claimed to have busted an interstate drug syndicate involved in supplying narcotics contrabands in Delhi and its peripherals. A total of 22.400 kg of cannabis was recovered from them.

The accused were identified as Veer Singh, a resident of Bharatpur in Rajasthan; Rajendra and Rajkumar- both residents of Bhim Basti in South Delhi.

"Rajkumar after getting influenced by one of the drug peddlers active in South Delhi along with his brother-in-law of Veer did drug peddling from Orissa and Andhra Pradesh," said the official.

On September 8, the South Delhi Police arrested two drug peddlers and recovered 259.607 kg ganja from their possession. The accused said that they were handed over ganja in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) to supply in the NCR.

"They disclosed that farming of cannabis is being conducted in remote areas of Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh. From there, it was transported by road to Vijaynagaram in a mini truck. At Vijaynagaram, it was packed in black coloured keyboards, so that the consignment cannot be detected by scanners installed at railway stations. Then, it was taken to the Hyderabad Railway Station to be parcelled to Delhi by train. Thus it reached Delhi and was being supplied in different areas by road in private vehicle," said the police official.

In March this year, an interstate drug peddler was nabbed with 109.7 kg ganja worth Rs 1.02 crore packed in 51 small cartoons in a vehicle which was intercepted by the police near Mahipalpur in South Delhi.

--IANS
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