8-year old endosulfan victim dies

Surat, Jul 16: Woman police constable Sunita Yadav, who had a confrontation with a minister's son over lockdown violation which led to his arrest here in Gujarat, claimed she has resigned from service. However, a senior police official has denied it.

Prakash Kanani, the son of Gujarat Minister of State for Health Kumar Kanani, and his two friends were arrested on Sunday for allegedly violating the lockdown and night curfew orders in Surat, a COVID-19 hotspot, a senior police official earlier said.

Yadav, who is being hailed on social media for taking action against the minister's son, told news channels on Wednesday that she had put in her papers.

"I have resigned because I did not receive support from my superior officers. I was only doing my duty as a constable. It's the fault of our system that these people (like the minister's son) think they are VVIPs (very very important persons)," she said.

However, a senior police official here denied that she has resigned.

"She has not given her resignation. The inquiry is still on and technically she cannot resign at this juncture," Surat Police Commissioner R B Brahmbhatt said.

Yadav's action had led to the registration of an FIR and arrest of Prakash Kanani and two of his friends for alleged violation of lockdown and curfew norms in Surat city.

The arrests came after a video of a heated exchange between them and Yadav, who pulled up the trio for violation of curfew, surfaced on social media. The trio was later released on bail.

Since the incident, Yadav is being hailed on social media.

While some social media users called her "Lady Singham" (referring to the tough cop in the Hindi film "Singham"), some suggested she contest the 2022 state Assembly polls against Kumar Kanani, who represents Varachha constituency in Surat district.

New Delhi, Jan 18: Two men accused of kidnapping and brutally raping a five-year-old girl in Delhi in 2013 have been held guilty by a court in the national capital today. The POCSO court, which will announce the quantum of punishment on January 30, said, "In our society the minor girls are worshipped as goddess on certain occasions but in the present case the victim child had experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality."

"The crime against the victim was committed in a most grotesque and revolting manner and the collective conscience of the community was shaken," the court added while holding the accused - Manoj Shah and Pradeep Kumar - guilty.

The assault which took place just four months after Nirbhaya's brutal rape had grabbed headlines with its shocking details. The girl, who was named Gudiya by sections of the media, went missing and the police told her parents to look for her themselves. She was found two days later, tied in the basement of the east Delhi house she lived in with traces of candles and bottles inside her private parts.

The convicts had fled after raping Gudiya and shoving a candle and bottle inside her private parts, leaving her at Manoj Shah's room, after believing the five-year-old to be dead. The child was rescued 40 hours later on April 17, 2013.

Manoj Shah and Pradeep Kumar were arrested by Delhi police separately from Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga in Bihar respectively in 2013. The charge sheet was filed on May 24 that year and charges were framed by the court on July 11. But, it took more than five years to complete the recording of the statement of 57 prosecution witnesses in the POCSO court.

"Though the trial should have been completed in two years, we are happy we got justice," said the father of the girl.

One of the convicts, Manoj Shah, allegedly assaulted some reporters while being taken out of the courtroom.

Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha President Ranjit Bachchan was shot dead on Sunday because of an extra-marital relationship of his second wife.

Lucknow Police Commissioner Sujit Pandey said at a press conference here on Thursday that Ranjit Bachchan's second wife Smriti Srivastava, her paramour Dipendra and driver Sanjit Gautam have been arrested in connection with the case. All three were held on Thursday, while the shooter -- Jitendra -- is yet to be arrested.

Pandey said that Smriti wanted a divorce from Ranjit Bachchan and their case was pending in the family court since 2016. While she was keen to marry Dipendra, Ranjit Bachchan was unwilling to leave her.

"On January 17, Ranjit had met Smriti and even slapped her, which became the provocation for the murder," he said.

The Police Commissioner said that during investigation, the police had probed all possible angles, including a terror angle.

"We found there were no financial disputes, no property disputes and no terror angle to the case. It emerged that Smriti had an affair with Dipendra and wanted to leave Ranjit Bachchan, who had four criminal cases against him. Through technical and electronic surveillance, we found the connection between Smriti, Dipendra, driver Sanjit and the shooter Jitendra," he said.

Ranjeet Bachchan, 40, who had founded the Vishwa Hindu Mahasabha, was shot in the head on Sunday morning while his brother Aditya Srivastava was injured in the attack by the assailant who also snatched their mobile phones.

The attacker had covered himself in a shawl and was on foot. The police had released CCTV footages showing a suspect and announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for providing information.

Four police personnel, including a sub-inspector, were suspended for alleged laxity and a case was registered at the Hazratganj po