CBI arrests former Jharkhand minister in DA case
Ranchi: Former Jharkhand Minister Enos Ekka was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday in connection with a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case. CBI sources said that he was arrested. Ekka had not appeared in the CBI court despite repeated summons. Ekka was a minister in the Madhu Koda government from 2006 to 2008. A compliant was registered against him in the State Vigilance Department in 2009 for amassing assets exceeding his known sources of income. Later the case was transferred to the CBI at the directive of the Jharkhand High Court. In 2013, the CBI filed a closure report saying the assets were of small amounts. However, the CBI court refused to accept that closure report and asked the probe agency to proceed in the case. Sources in CBI said that Ekka had disclosed Rs 60,000 cash and a Maruti vehicle in his name in the 2005 election declaration. Between 2005 and 2009, Ekka purchased a flat worth Rs 8 crore in posh Vasant Vihar area in New Delhi. The payment for the flat was made by a private construction company, which was awarded the contract of stadiums of the 2011 national games in Ranchi. There were also allegations that the former minister purchased 100 acres of land in the name of his relatives. Ekka had won the Assembly poll for the first time in 2005. He lost the 2014 Assembly elections. At present he is part of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajantraik (JVM-P). (IANS)
UK Home Office gets receipt of Mallya’s extradition order
London: The UK Home Office has confirmed the receipt of the Westminster Magistrates’ Court verdict in favour of Vijay Mallya’s extradition to India. After Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot ruled that the “flashy” liquor baron had a “case to answer” in the Indian courts on allegations of fraud and money laundering amounting to nearly Rs 9,000 crores, the decision now lies with Home Secretary Sajid Javid to formally order the extradition. Javid, the senior-most British-Pakistani minister in the UK Cabinet, has two months to make that decision but the extradition process itself would take longer if the entire appeals process is taken into account. The UK Home Office said on Tuesday that it has received the Westminster Magistrates’ Court verdict for Mallya’s extradition to India. “If after considering the case, the Home Secretary thinks extradition should go ahead he has to order the extradition within two months of the date the matter was referred to him,” said a spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which argued on behalf of the Indian government. “Whatever that decision, the losing side has up to 14 days within which to approach the High Court and seek leave to appeal,” the spokesperson said.(PTI)
CBI to file 21 charge sheets in Muzaffarpur shelter home case
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court to have prepared as many as 21 charge sheets against the accused in Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case. “We are in the process of filing 21 charge sheets for every girl who was subjected to abuse and rape,” the Central investigating agency informed the apex court. The apex court bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur also asked the CBI whether the Income Tax (I-T) Department is investigating the assets of Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in Muzaffarpur home shelter rape case. In response, the CBI stated that the I-T Department is carrying out an investigation in this regard. More than 40 minor girls were allegedly sexually assaulted over a period of time in the shelter home which was run by Brajesh Thakur’s state-funded NGO. Subsequently, the NGO was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to other shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani. (ANI)