Mystery Sikh on royal barge a sex offender

June 8, 2012

shikh

London, June 8: The mystery of an unknown Sikh on Queen Elizabeth's Royal Barge that sailed down the Thames to mark the monarch's diamond jubilee has been solved. An investigation by a British tabloid has found that the man was a sex offender who spent four years in a British prison.

But the mystery about who invited Harbinder Singh Rana, 52, remains. Rana was jailed in the 1980s for posing as a doctor and groping and molesting several women on the pretext of performing internal examinations or administering injections.

Rana has since rejigged himself as a pillar of the community and wormed his way into the good books of Elizabeth's son Prince Charles.

Rana was found guilty on five counts of indecent assault, 11 counts of assault causing bodily harm and one count of attempted assault in August 1986.

"In an astonishing error of judgment , the Sikh charity director, who now lives in Walsall in the West Midlands, was allowed to mingle with VIPs on the Royal Barge during Sunday's river pageant," said the Daily Mirror article. "The convicted sex attacker was at times during the 1,000 boat extravaganza just feet from the Queen herself."

Sex offender was invited by Charles to queen's party

Rana, a former management consultant,is understood to have met the prince through his charity work for the Anglo-Sikh heritage trail, a group that promotes Sikh culture in Britain.

The prince's staff appeared to be unaware of Rana's shameful past. It is not known if security checks were done on Rana.

"I was given the invitation and I attended. The fact that the Prince of Wales invited me clearly shows what I have done for the community since then," Rana told the British daily. "I have made it clear I wasn't representing the Sikh community , I was there because I was very happy to be invited."

However, the incident has created outrage in Britain about vetting procedures in place to protect the British royal family. An investigation is likely.

A spokesman for Charles said, "Harbinder Singh was asked to take part as he is a leading member of the Sikh community and someone who has done a lot of charitable work."

Scotland Yard claimed that those travelling on the royal barge would have been vetted by security. But Rana was not deemed a threat.



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News Network
January 17,2020

Jan 17: Police have busted a "high- profile" sex racket operating in a three-star hotel in suburban Andheri and arrested a 29-year-old woman and rescued three female artists, including a minor, an official said on Thursday.

The Social Service (SS) branch of the city police conducted the raid at the hotel at Andheri East on Thursday, the official said.

"During the raid, three females, including a minor, were found to have been forced into prostitution. They were rescued and a woman, identified as Priya Sharma, who was operating the racket, was arrested," he said.

"Sharma was running tours and travel agency in Kandivali East. However, she was involved in immoral activities," senior inspector of SS branch, Sandesh Revale, said.

While one of the rescued is a woman actor and singer, who has worked in 'Savdhaan India' TV crime show, he said, another one has worked in a Marathi movie and serials.

The minor has worked in a web series, Revale added.

The offence was being registered against Sharma, he said.

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Agencies
April 11,2020

Hyderabad, Apr 11: With the Telangana government banning spitting in public places in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic, a police case has been registered here against a man for violating the rule.

During vehicle-checking on Friday, police found the man spitting on the road here and registered a case against him for disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant, police said.

Spitting in public places and institutions has been banned in the state in view of the pandemic with the government saying such acts pose a serious threat of leading to spread of infections.

"In the interest of public health and safety, the spitting of paan/any chewable tobacco or non-tobacco product, sputum in public places & institutions is hereby BANNED with immediate effect," a gvernment notification said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the importance of hygiene and cleanliness in both personal as well as public spheres, the April 6 notification issued by the Health, Medical and Family Welfare department said.

"It is of utmost need to impose restrictions on unhealthy practices that may potentially lead to spread of such viruses and other infections," it said.

The habit of public spitting poses a serious threat of leading to spread of such infections, the notification added.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Bengaluru, May 21:Tragedy struck an elderly migrant worker who was looking forward to joining his family as he died on reaching a nearby railway station to board a Shramik Special train to his home state Madhya Pradesh, police said on Thursday.

The 69-year old man, who worked in a coffee estate in Chikkamagaluru, collapsed and died soon after getting down from a state-run KSRTC bus that brought him and others to the Chikkabanavara Railway station on Wednesday.

According to police, fellow labourers said he had been ailing for quite some time.

The cause of his death would be known only after a post-mortem, police added.

Karnataka government has been sending back thousands of migrant workers stranded in the state due to the COVID-19 lockdown by arranging the special trains.

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