70-yr-old man held for raping girls in residential school
Pithoragarh: A 70-year-old owner of a private school in Pithoragarh district has been arrested for allegedly raping minor girl students residing in his school hostel. Chandra Singh Karki was arrested from his house in Nainital on Wednesday after three girls, aged between 9-13 years, staying in the hostel of his school at Berinag charged him with raping them for a long time, in charge of anti-human trafficking cell of Nainital police D L Verma said today. The matter came to light when the victims shared their ordeal with their senior hostel inmates who prepared a video in support of the charges and submitted it to the police. Examination of the video and recording of the statements of the victims led to the arrest of Karki, Verma said. According to the statements of victims recorded separately by police, about six other girl students were earlier sexually assaulted by the school owner, forcing them to quit the school, the official said. Karki, who claims to have been associated with the Uttarakhand statehood movement and is a retired government college lecturer, was today produced in the court of Gangolihat Judicial Magistrate A K Srivastava who sent him to 14 days’ judicial custody. “The accused has been sent to Pithoragah judicial lock up for 14 days custody by the Judicial magistrate at Gangolihat,” Harish Punetha, the advocate pleading for the victims said. After detailed inquiry into the matter by anti human trafficking cell of the police at Haldwani, the accused has been booked under section 376 (Rape) of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. (PTI)
Govt recommends rejection of mercy petition of Yakub Memon
New Delhi: Home Ministry has recommended to the President that the mercy petition of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, be rejected. The recommendation, recently sent to President Pranab Mukherjee, was based on the Maharashtra government’s decision that the mercy petition be rejected, a senior official said. Yakub, a chartered accountant and brother of fugitive terror mastermind Tiger Memon, was sentenced to death by a TADA court in 2007 after being found guilty of charges of criminal conspiracy and for arranging finances and managing its disbursement through the co-accused in the Mumbai serial blasts. Upholding the Mumbai TADA court’s verdict, Supreme Court, in March, 2013, had said, “It is not a hyperbole to state that he was one of the driving spirits behind the plan.” In October, 2013, Yakub applied for a presidential pardon following which, a report from the state government was sought by Home Ministry. Yakub was arrested from Kathmandu airport in 1994. He was later described by the TADA court as being the mastermind who played a key role in the conspiracy, thus “warranting death penalty”. The multiple blasts had claimed 257 lives and left 713 injured. (PTI)
3 wanted Naxals surrender in C’garh
Raipur: Three wanted Naxals, including two women, on Thursday surrendered before police in Maoist-hit Kanker district of Chhattisgarh. The cadres who surrendered were active in Kanker region, Superintendent of Police, R N Dash told PTI. The three were identified as – Ganbatti Nureti (31), Somari (21) and Dharam Singh (30). Ganbatti, a native of Tadoiki area, joined the movement in 1998 and was involved in several incidents of crime, including murder, attempt to murder, encounter, attacks on police party in the region. She had served as a member in LOS (local operation squad) of Keshkal dalam, Koyalibeda dalam and Kiskoda dalam of banned CPI (Maoist), the SP said. Dharam Singh was associated with the Chetna Natya Manch, a cultural wing of Maoists, since 2005 and was also involved in several Naxal related incidents, Dash said. Similarly, Somari alias Jyoti, working as a member in Mangaltarai dalam of Maoist in Balod district, and was wanted in several incidents of crime in the region, he said adding that they were disappointed with the high-handedness of the senior cadres and atrocities on tribals by them. The cadres will be given assistance as per the rehabilitation policy of the state government, he said. (PTI)
4 injured as suburban train derails
Mumbai: Four persons were injured after three coaches of a suburban train derailed near Titwala in Thane district, railway authorities said here. The mishap, which threw traffic on the Central line out of gear, occurred at around 2.50 P.M. when the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus-bound local derailed near Titwala. “Four persons were injured after three coaches of the Kasara local derailed between Titwala and Ambivali sections of the Central Railway,” a spokesperson said here. Senior officials have rushed to the accident site to assess the situation, the spokesperson added. The Kalyan-Kasara rail segment, on which the accident occurred, is a very busy route which connects the financial capital of Mumbai with the northern and eastern cities of the country. (PTI)