Expected? Key documents in Malegaon blasts case missing from NIA court!

April 7, 2016

Mumbai, Apr 7: All the statements were given in front of a magistrate and hence admissible as evidence to nail the alleged culprits that include a 'sadhvi' and a serving Indian Army officer.

blastIn a major setback to the 2008 Malegaon blasts case, seven statements of witnesses - all recorded in the presence of a magistrate and admissible as evidence - have gone missing from the Special NIA Court.

Coming in the wake of Special Public Prosecutor Rohini Salian's statement in June last year that National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers were putting pressure on her to go soft in the case, the disappearance of the crucial court documents will again call into question the prosecution's intent and ability to take the case, in which members of an alleged Hindu radical group stand accused, to its logical conclusion.

Two low-intensity explosions in Malegaon's Bhikku Chowk on September 29, 2008, had left seven people dead and left over 80 injured. The Maharashtra police's Anti Terrorist Squad, which investigated the case before it was handed over to NIA in 2011, arrested a dozen-odd accused, including self-styled Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and serving Indian Army officer Lt Col Srikant Purohit. Both worked for Hindu radical group Abhinav Bharat.

An embarrassed NIA has formed three teams to look for the missing statements, while the court officials have also joined in the search. Salian, who quit the case last year over, what she called, NIA's pressure to not push too hard, on Wednesday told media that an official from the Special NIA Court came to her looking for the documents. "One of the staff from the special court enquired with me if I am in the possession of the key documents, including several witness statements recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which, he said, were not traceable in the court," she said.

Salian said she had handed over all documents to the designated special prosecutor Avinash Rasal in the presence of NIA officials. "I have not kept a single document related to the case with me," she said.

Rasal, on his part, said he had no knowledge of any witness statements having gone missing, but said that it is possible that some documents may have been misplaced. "The documents have been moved frequently from one court to the other. If the documents are not in the Special NIA Court, then they are probably some place else and the court officials should be able to locate them," he said.

Top NIA officials, including DIG Abhin Modak, all through Wednesday did not respond to calls and text messages and an agency spokesman said he had no comment to offer on the matter.

Among the witness statements gone missing is that of Dharmendra Bairagi, a close aid of Ramji Kalsangra, a key accused in the case who is absconding. Bairagi, in his statement recorded before a magistrate, had said that he was witness to a meeting between Kalsangra and Pragya Thakur in Ujjain just months before the 2008 blasts. He had also said he had heard the two discussing a plan to engineer blasts.

Another key statement that is missing is that of the founder of Abhinav Bharat Hemani Savarkar. Savarkar's statement details a meeting between Lt Col Purohit and Pragya Thakur in Nashik in 2007. It also accuses Lt Col Purohit of misusing Abhinav Bharat's name to raise funds.

Top criminal lawyer Majid Memon called the disappearance of the documents shocking. "In a case relating to terror, which is considered a serious offence, if lethargy, negligence or deliberate removal of important documents surfaces, it is an extremely serious matter. The court should not tolerate such lapses."

He added that this appears as a deliberate attempt at weakening the case and helping the accused. "On the face of it, this cannot be accidental or a case of omission."

While copies of the missing statements are available with the accused, these, in the absence of the originals, become secondary evidence. Statements recorded in the presence of a magistrate have evidentiary value before the trial court. Though a witness can still be called for deposition before the trial court so that he can be cross-examined, if the witness deviates from the statement given before the magistrate, the trial court can still rely on the statement.

Advocate Shirikant Bhat said that while statements can be reconstructed from a copy of the same available either with the prosecution or the defence, it all depends on how reliable or authentic this document being relied upon is. "And whether or not that document should be relied upon for reconstruction is for the court to decide," he said.

Advocate Shrikant Shivade, who is appearing for Col. Purohit in the case, said reconstruction based on the copies available either with the prosecution or the defense will be possible only if the process of filing the documents on record has been followed. "We will have to check if the statements were ever on record in this case," he said.

Comments

PONDER & Use UR
 - 
Saturday, 9 Apr 2016

Naren, Bopanna..
I dont think U guys have read QURAN...
I feel U just quoted the same thing which the devils agent salman rusdie... explained in his book...
If U read QURAN with its content ... U will understand the TRUTH. Sometimes try to read by yourself and dont be like animals, whatever is fed, U accept it.
Also If we quote from the Hindu scriptures... We can find many such wars & violence done ... But we use our intellectual which ALLAH and Prophet Muhammad pbuh taught us... not to insult other religion.
Please quote from hindu scriptures also, there are plenty of verse of Violence.... and some verses, I feel disgusting to read ... which u people say its from god... But its NOT and which was added by some shaukuni along with the word of God.....to FOOL U and those who blindly follow without using the intellect that God has given us.

Please read with open mind and Stop following blindly..

Curious
 - 
Friday, 8 Apr 2016

NIA looks like a RSS wing works pro for some community and anti for other communities.

Naren kotian
 - 
Thursday, 7 Apr 2016

Jai Sri ram ...god knew that nationalist Indians will never commit henious crimes like one particular community... So documents disappeared...welcome nationalist Indians ..soon we will make sure all sangh parivar guys are out from jail .hara hara modi ..death to jihad ...we must create terror in the hearts of terrorist community ..its the mossad policy ...jai ho Israel jai ho Indo Israel relationshi ...sangh parivar must double up nexus with Israel in all fields covertly and overtly ...hahaha jihadi galige menasina kaayi itta haage madlikke ishtu saaku ...ummah muah chummah ..

Bopanna
 - 
Thursday, 7 Apr 2016

Koran instruct in violence, 4:89; 5:33. 9,5,111,123. 47;4. but still further the Koran also teaches that the Jewish people are descendants of swine and apes.2:65.; 7:166; 5:60. T

PONDER & Dont
 - 
Thursday, 7 Apr 2016

When Tiger bit human --- There is no law to punish the Tiger
When leopard bit human --- There is no law to punish the leopard
When snake bit human --- There is no law to punish the snake
When Dog bites the human --- There is no law to punish the Dog

Dear HUMAN, when human makes trouble to other human, there is LAW to protect the innocent... (cos humans are intelligent creature, Created by God)
Some people in the authorities are joining the ANIMALs category and they are proving it by their EVIL plans & DECEPTION.

HONeST
 - 
Thursday, 7 Apr 2016

Our system in the hands of DECIEVERS and LIARS... An OPEN LIE to protect the KILLERS

ummar
 - 
Thursday, 7 Apr 2016

AAB KI BAAAR MODHI SARKAAR ,,'

EFFECT OF FEKUUMODHII

Rikaz
 - 
Thursday, 7 Apr 2016

That means no justice for those who killed due to their heinous crime. They should have put to gallows.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 13,2020

Mangaluru, June 13: Commending the Karnataka government move to ban the online classes for children up to Standard 5, Mangaluru MLA U T Khader has demanded to impose ban on all education apps that offer online coaching to school children.

"I welcome the government’s decision of banning online classes up to class 5. I would like to know why education apps of corporate companies are allowed to continue when schools are banned to conduct online classes. Why the government could not ban those education apps that offer online classes?” the former minister questioned.

He warned that private schools in the state may commence their online classes through such apps of corporate companies if the present situation continues.

Not all parents in the state can afford buying smart phones required for online classes, he said. "Only 30% of the school children in the state have access to smart phones. Most of the parents cannot afford to buy smart phones for their children. Government should take into consideration the mental stress of academically brilliant children among poor families. Those children may go under depression when they do not have access to online classes. The government can cancel some of the schemes like distribution of bicycles and reserve such funds to find solutions to the problems poor children face at present,” Khader said.

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News Network
January 18,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 18: Amidst the ongoing probe into the multi-billion IMA ponzi scam, another similar scam has come to light in the city wherein around 2500 depositors, most of them Muslims, are fearing that them may lose Rs 350 crore.

Shockingly, Shafiullah, Rafiullah, and Zabiullah, three brothers who run the Baraka Investment Consultant Private Limited, have accused the police of taking over 10 crore rupees bribe from them.

The depositors say that when they recently demanded their investments back from the accused the trio, they allegedly told them that they had paid the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and the RT Nagar police over 10 crores and they could collect that money from the police.

The aggrieved investors alleges that the RT Nagar police have charge-sheeted the three accused only on the complaints of 13 affected depositors who lost precisely Rs 97 lakh and the case is being probed under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978 instead of Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Institutions Act, 2004 (KPID Act) or the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019 (BUDS) Ordinance.

Aggrieved victims alleged that when the Baraka Investment Consultants had a Registration Certificate of Establishments from Department of Labour issued on November 28, 2017. The CCB took up a suo-motu case against Tellnet Computers on August 16, 2018, after they received complaints from Baraka investors.

Apparently, the CCB knew that Baraka Investment Consultants and Tellnet Computers was one and the same and operating from the same office, but they did not mention the name of Baraka in the case initially for reasons best known to them, said the victims of the Ponzi scheme. A few victims who wished to remain anonymous told BM that a CCB police inspector and one of the accused, Zabiullah, were childhood friends, neighbours and both hailed from Chikkaballapur. This is one of the reasons, they allege, the inspector has protected the accused by downplaying the scam.

The case registered by the CCB states that there are only 500 to 600 depositors who deposited amounts between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh expecting returns ranging from Rs 5000 to Rs 7000 a month, but in reality there are more than 2500 investors who have deposited amounts ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 50 lakh, expecting returns between 12% to 24%, said the victims. Despite this, the CCB was sitting on the case and making no investigations, the victims alleged.

It was later on in May 9, 2019, an FIR was registered by the RT Nagar police when many victims approached the police commissioner and petitioned him. “Even in this case, the accused Zabiullah was not arrested. Zabiullah’s two brothers, Shafiullah and Rafiullah, and his father Abdul Rahman were arrested, but were later granted conditional bails,” one of the victims Mohammed Yahya (42), a software engineer said.

Yahya had invested Rs 10 lakh with Baraka. “Though this case has been charge-sheeted, the police have not made any recoveries or they have not confiscated any properties of the accused,” alleged victim Habibur Rehman (42) who had invested Rs 5 lakh in Baraka. “There is clear-cut evidence that the accused was dealing in foreign exchange using the investors’ money without their knowledge and was offshoring and parking crores and crores in countries like Russia, Dubai, Malaysia, and Singapore. Though the police knew about this, they did nothing to stop it or bring it back,” said Azgar Pasha (44), a businessman who had invested Rs 41 lakh.

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Sushma Bangera
June 4,2020

Kuwait: The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the whole world into a difficult situation and the situation of Indians in Kuwait is not any different. Many people have lost their jobs, have no salary, are deprived of food and are not able to pay rent. The appalling conditions of labourers, domestic workers, taxi drivers and low waged earners don’t seem to end in Kuwait. 

At this trying situation when many people were even afraid of leaving their houses because of coronavirus, Suresh S. Rao Neramballi, volunteer of the Food Kit Distribution at the ICSG (Indian Community Support Group) has helped many tremendously. He was ready to go around delivering food kits at any time possible by his car. However, after Kuwait imposed a full curfew from 11th May 2020, no one could take out their vehicles unless they had a curfew pass. 

This did not stop Mr. Suresh Neramballi, who then borrowed a bicycle from a friend and ended up going around in the cycle delivering the food kits in curfew break time (4:30pm to 6:30pm) to all those who registered in the ICSG website. This selfless service surely commands appreciation and applause. Mr. Suresh Neramballi has been a light for many families and bachelors in Kuwait and will surely garner the blessings of them who have been able to eat at this time.

He was also the one who could deliver the food kits to many Indian Muslim maids, bachelors, laborers and families previous day and right on the day of EID, as they were not able to go shopping for their groceries for EID, due to the curfew. They blessed him in EID dua. 

Mr. Suresh Neramballi hails from Mangaluru, India and is an Engineer in the Oil sector company in Kuwait. He has been dedicated to social service, achieved 'Aryabhata International Award' for his Kannada Service and Social service, served in many Associations and Distributor of Kannada and Tulu Movies in Kuwait. He wholeheartedly thanks the people and government of Kuwait for his bread and butter.

Comments

Tanveer
 - 
Friday, 5 Jun 2020

May Almighty Allah shower His mescifull blessing on you and your family... Your selfless service will always be remembered,,,

M SHARIEF SULTAN
 - 
Thursday, 4 Jun 2020

God bless you and your family

abdullah
 - 
Thursday, 4 Jun 2020

God bless you brother and keep you healthy plus happy always.   You will be in the prayers of those who receivec your timely regardles they are hindu or muslim or christian.   This is a slap on the face of hate mongers who are always trying to divide the socieity in the name of religion.    Such people are burden to this world and society.   We should clean our society from such dirt and bad people.   Well done brother.  May God bless you.

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