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Adnan murder: Four acquitted in case linked to Orkut

[email protected] (NDTV)
January 30, 2012

Adnan30Jan

Mumbai, January 30: A Mumbai court has today acquitted four men accused of kidnapping and murdering Mumbai teenager Adnan Patrawala in 2007, who they had allegedly met via social networking site Orkut.


The verdict is being read by the city as a moment of shame for the Mumbai Police, whose lethargic inquiry has belied what experts say was an open-and-shut case.

The court said there was not enough evidence to prove that the arrested men are guilty. A fifth - who is a minor and is being tried separately - is also likely to be declared innocent.

At a press conference today, Adnan's father, Aslam, steered clear of criticizing the police, saying only that he would appeal to a higher court.

"We are satisfied with what the police have done. I don't know what went wrong," he said.

At the court, another father expressed his thanks. "I am relieved that my son is innocent. The way he was trapped anything could have happened to him,'' said Arun Bhatt, whose young son, Ayush, had been in jail for the murder since 2007.

16-year-old Adnan's murder on an August night in 2007 made headlines for many reasons. His alleged killers were young and included two teens. They had befriended the rich Andheri businessman's son on Orkut, hugely popular among teens at the time for social networking. After they kidnapped him, reports on a television channel allegedly triggered panic. And they decided to strangle him.

The court said that forensic and circumstantial evidence was crudely handled by the police so that instead of complimenting each other, the different pieces of information rattled around in a largely incongruous narrative against the accused.

On the evening of August 18, 2007, Adnan took his father's Skoda to meet with his friends at a gaming parlour at a mall in North West Mumbai. The group of five people he was meeting with used to interact with him regularly on Orkut. They had zeroed in on him after scanning the site for other potential victims. According to the police, the men wanted quick money. Some had debts they needed to settle. They drew up a list of people they could kidnap for ransom. Adnan appeared trusting and came from a wealthy family.

The alleged killers, according to the police, offered Adnan a spiked drink and suggested they go for a drive. The next morning, Adnan's father received a call asking for a two-crore ransom. Meanwhile, news of the kidnapping had broken on TV. So Adnan's abductors strangled him, dumped his body in some bushes on Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, and took local trains home.

The only eyewitness produced by the police was the last person to see Adnan live. He said Adnan's dead body was discovered on August 19. Police records list the next day. Cellphone records for some of those accused of the murder did not include the crucial details of three different calls made to Adnan's father for ransom. The court today also said it was hard to believe the eyewitness' claim that the murder ws planned to the last detail in a busy mall.


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Agencies
January 6,2020

New Delhi, Jan 6: A blind student who is pursuing research in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was also attacked by the mob that perpetrated violence in the University yesterday.

"I thought that the mob which came yesterday would disperse after raising a few slogans but they indulged in violence. They were targeting ABVP students. They beat me with sticks and rods. When I went to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, I came to know that there are many other injured students there," Surya Prakash, the blind student pursuing research in the University told ANI.

"I talked to my family members. They are really worried about the situation here. I qualified in the National Eligibility Test (NET) last year but I want to study and hence I am continuing research in JNU. How can we do anything in this atmosphere of fear? I am receiving calls from anonymous numbers threatening me not to come in front of the media. They are saying that as I am blind, I would become the face of this case," he added.

Another PhD student, Santosh Bhagat recounted his experience.

"In the evening at around 7 pm, many masked men entered the hostel. They had rods and sticks in their hands. We tried to go out but the attackers had entered the premises by then. I locked my room from inside but the attackers broke the door and entered my room and attacked me. They pushed me from the first floor and I fell down and sustained an injury. Later, I took shelter at one of the Professor's flat. Later, I was taken to the AIIMS Trauma Cantre," Bhagat said.

On Sunday evening, more than 30 students of the university, including JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, were injured and were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the JNU and attacked them and professors with sticks and rods.

The JNU administration and political leaders, cutting across political lines, condemned the attack on students and urged the police to take action against the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, the situation remained tense but peaceful outside JNU on Monday morning as the university guards maintained a strict vigil at the gate, checking I-cards of all those entering the university.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Noida, Jul 28: A doctor admitted at a private hospital in Noida has been accused of sexually harassing a patient in his isolation ward, where both were undergoing treatment for COVID-19, the police said.

The 20-year-old woman, in her complaint to the police, alleged that the incident took place on Monday and based on that a case was filed at the local expressway police station, they said.

A senior police official said an investigation is underway and there might be lapses on part of the hospital which allegedly admitted a man and a woman in the same isolation ward, in violation of the norms.

The woman and the doctor had tested positive for coronavirus last week, according to officials.

"The woman was in the isolation ward of the private hospital. There was a man, a medical practitioner, who too was infected with coronavirus and was sharing the ward with her," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Noida, Ranvijay Singh said.

He said the woman alleged molestation and upon being informed, the police immediately lodged a case and initiated a probe into the matter.

"There appears to be some irresponsibility on part of the hospital too. We are communication with the medical departments to check whether the patients were being kept in accordance with the guidelines," Mr Singh said.

He said the accused is still in isolation but the police will reach out for his statement following due protocols of COVID-19.

"All necessary action will be taken as per the truth that will emerge after a thorough investigation," Mr Singh said.

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Agencies
March 26,2020

Puducherry,Mar 26: Congress legislator from Kamaraj Nagar constituency John Kumar has been booked on charges of violating lock-down rules, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi said on Thursday.

In a Whats app posting she further said that an FIR has been registered under the Disaster management Act.

She stated John Kumar in an irresponsible manner allowed more than 200 people to gather outside his house and distributed doles personally when lock down was enforced in the country.

A criminal case has been registered against him for blatant violation of law despite mass information and media messages.Instead of following the law, he chose to violate it,she further stated.

The LG added that as per the ground report by IGP Surendra Yadav, there was perceptible improvement in enforcement of lock down and public were aware and cooperative.Vehicles carrying essential supplies and personnel were moving and every day is an improvement.

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