2006 Mumbai train blasts case: 12 convicted, one acquitted

September 11, 2015

Mumbai, Sep 11: Nine years after seven RDX bombs kept in Mumbai suburban trains exploded killing 188 people, a MCOCA court here today convicted 12 persons in the serial blasts case.

trainDelivering the verdict, the Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) Judge Yatin D Shinde pronounced 12 accused as guilty while acquitting one accused Abdul Wahid Shaikh (34) in the case.

The 12 accused who were convicted today are: Kamal Ahamed Ansari (37), Tanvir Ahmed Ansari (37), Mohd Faisal Shaikh (36), Ehtesham Siddiqui (30), Mohammad Majid Shafi (32), Shaikh Alam Shaikh (41), Mohd Sajid Ansari (34), Muzzammil Shaikh (27), Soheil Mehmood Shaikh (43), Zamir Ahmad Shaikh (36), Naveed Hussain Khan (30) and Asif Khan (38).

However, Azam Chima, along with 14 others, are still absconding in the case. Arguments for the quantum of sentence are likely to begin on Monday.

In the trial that lasted for eight years, the prosecution examined 192 witnesses, including eight Indian Police Service (IPS) and five Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers as well as 18 doctors. The defence lawyers examined 51 witnesses and one person was called as a court witness.

The deposition made by witnesses runs into around 5,500 pages. Seven RDX bombs had exploded in the first class coaches of Mumbai's suburban trains on July 11, 2006, killing 188 people and injuring 829.

The blast occurred within a span of 10 minutes between Khar Road-Santacruz, Bandra-Khar Road, Jogeshwari-Mahim Junction, Mira Road- Bhayander, Matunga- Mahim Junction and Borivali.

The MCOCA judge had concluded the trial on August 19 last year. The examination of witnesses resumed after two years since the Supreme Court had stayed the trial in 2008.

Before the stay, the prosecution had already examined a police officer. The Supreme Court vacated the stay on April 23, 2010.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: India witnessed a single-day spike of 52,050 COVID-19 cases as the total cases in the country reached 18,55,746, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday.

803 COVID-19 related deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. The total cases include 5,86,298 active cases, 12,30,510 cured/discharged/migrated and 38,938 deaths, the Health Ministry added.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state as it has a total of 1,47,324 active cases and 15,842 deaths. A total of 4,50,196 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the state up to Monday, according to Union Ministry of Health.

Tamil Nadu reported 5,609 new COVID-19 cases and 109 deaths on Monday, taking total cases to 2,63,222 including 2,02,283 discharges and 4,241 deaths, the state Health Department said.

The total cases in Delhi have risen to 1,38,482 including 1,24,254 recovered/discharged/migrated cases and 4,021 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, India recorded the highest single-day testing by conducting over 6.6 lakh tests to diagnose COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
"In its fight against COVID-19, India scales a new high of 6,61,715 tests in the last 24 hours," said the Health Ministry in a tweet.

A total of 2,08,64,206 samples for COVID-19 have been tested across the country so far, said the Health Ministry.

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News Network
April 3,2020

New Delhi, April 3: The Government on Thursday launched a mobile app developed in public-private partnership as part of efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.

"The app, called 'AarogyaSetu' will enable people to assess themselves the risk for their catching the coronavirus infection," an official release said.

It said that the app will calculate this based on their interaction with others, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence.

"Once installed in a smartphone through an easy and user-friendly process, the app detects other devices with AarogyaSetu installed that come in the proximity of that phone. The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters," the release said.

It said that the app will help the government take necessary timely steps for assessing risk of spread of COVID-19 infection and ensuring isolation where required.

"The app's design ensures privacy. The personal data collected by the app is encrypted using state-of-the-art technology and stays secure on the phone till it is needed for facilitating medical intervention," the release said.

It said the app is available in 11 languages and has highly scalable architecture.

"This app is a unique example of the nation's young talent coming together and pooling resources and efforts to respond to a global crisis. It is at once a bridge between public and private sectors, digital technology and health services delivery," the release said.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Jaipur, Jul 18: BJP leader Laxmikant Bhardwaj filed a complaint against Congress leaders including Randeep Surjewala and Govind Singh Dotasra for associating Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat's name with an alleged audio clip related to "conspiring to topple" the elected government led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan.

"Mahesh Joshi, Randeep Surjewala, and other accused have regularly been giving false and inflammatory statements against the BJP to criminally damage its reputation so that the blame for the current sorry state of affairs of the Congress can be pinned on the BJP. With the ill-intention of damaging the BJP''s reputation, a conspiracy was formed at the Chief Minister''s residence situated at 8 Civil lines," read the letter written by BJP Rajasthan spokesperson Bhardwaj to the Station Officer of Ashok Nagar police station read.

"From there (CM's residence) imitation of (voices) of people were falsely told to be of that of reputed leaders from the BJP and a fake phone conversation was created through which the false narrative of crores of rupees being offered to buy off Congress MLAs was created. The accused involved in this conspiracy have severely misused their position and power and the whole crime has been conducted by one named Lokesh Sharma, who calls himself an OSD of the Chief Minister," the letter further stated.

The complaint letter also said that Lokesh Sharma had "released three audio tapes to media workers on July 16, 2020, somewhere around 8:25 pm through WhatsApp so that the defamatory material can be circulated on a large scale to fulfill the criminal intent."

Mr Bhardwaj said that a news report in the Jaipur edition of a Hindi newspaper, published on July 17, 2020, had conveyed that the audiotape was released by Mr Sharma.

He further said that Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala, Govind Singh Dotasra, in a press conference held on Friday read out the conversation in the audio tapes publically and "using them as a basis accused the BJP of throttling democracy, sabotaging the mandate, and toppling the government."

Through this conspiracy, Mr Bhardwaj said that hateful and insulting comments are being made on the BJP and its supporters, and "on the basis of this the Special Operation Group (SOG) has filed fake lawsuits under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code and is also threatening BJP leaders of arrest."

The BJP leader has urged the police officer to file a complaint against Mr Sharma, Mr Surjewala, Mr Dotasra, and others involved in the alleged conspiracy and take necessary action and recover the equipment used by them.

On June 17, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had accused Union Cabinet Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Congress legislator Bhanwarlal Sharma of conspiring to topple the elected government led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan and subvert the voters' mandate.

"Yesterday, shocking tapes were aired by the media in which Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, BJP leader Sanjay Jain and Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma spoke about bribing MLAs and bringing down Rajasthan government. Congress has suspended MLAs Bhanwar Lal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh from the primary membership of the party. The party has also issued show-cause notices to them," Mr Surjewala had said.

"We demand Rajasthan government and Special Operations Group (SOG) to register FIR and arrest the culprits as plenty of evidence has surfaced now," he had further stated.

Mr Surjewala had read out a transcript of an audio of alleged horse-trading between rebel MLAs and BJP, stating, "BJP has breached the trust of people. The audio clip reveals a horse-trading deal. This is a dark chapter in the history of democracy."

"This time the Narendra Modi government has challenged the wrong state," the Congress leader had said. He had alleged that the BJP has been "conspiring to topple Rajasthan government and buy legislators' allegiance."

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