Drugs whiff as woman drowns in posh club

August 5, 2014

Drugs whiffHowrah, Aug 5: A 24-year-old woman died mysteriously during a poolside Friendship Day party at a posh club in Howrah on Sunday night, triggering suspicion of a drug overdose. Suvanjeeta Saren died in front of 500-odd guests and staff but no one could say for sure how it happened.

The party was on in full swing when Suvanjeeta was suddenly seen struggling in a shallow pool. A bouncer dived in to save her and a friend gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but she died on the way to hospital. Strips of prescription sedatives were found in her pocket, say police.

Suvanjeeta was married to Samrat Saren but was staying in a hostel. Her roommate Priyanka Bhattacharya had reportedly invited her to the party at Lakeland Country Club, Domjur, and they were accompanied by two youths named Abhishek Singh and Rohit Tripathi.

Police say Suvanjeeta was accustomed to the "fast life" and died because of an overdose of drug and alcohol but her family members don't agree. Her husband said he will seek a full investigation. "I got a call from Suvanjeeta's brother at 7.30pm that she had drowned and had been taken to SSKM Hospital. Since she stayed in a hostel to pursue her studies I had no idea about her activities. I don't know who she had gone with and what happened there, so I shall wait for the post-mortem report. Once it comes I shall decide my next course of action," Samrat said. When asked if he would file an FIR, Samrat said: "Definitely. I will go to any extent to find the truth". Police are investigating it as a case of unnatural death.

The 'Viva La Friendship' revelry was organized at Lakeland Country Club by event management group Mellifluous Entertainment. The party was buzzing at 7pm when one of the bouncers spotted Suvanjeeta struggling for life in the pool. He pulled her out. Priyanka, who says she was at the food counter then, rushed back and tried to blow air into Suvanjeeta's lungs. Suvanjeeta was taken to West Bank Hospital in Howrah and then to SSKM where she was declared dead on arrival.

Singh denied having any kind of association with Suvanjeeta. "I had seen her at two or three parties earlier but I hardly spoke to her. I knew Priyanka and the four of us went to Lakeland Country Club together. After that I went to the booking counter as the event was organized by my friends. I accompanied her in the ambulance to West Bank and then to SSKM," Singh said. Police questioned the trio and allowed them to go. "We are waiting for the autopsy report. Once it comes, we might call them again," said additional SP-rural Indra Chakraborty.

"We recovered a strip of Nitrazepam (commonly referred as N-10) and a strip of Diazepam from her. The autopsy will tell us if she had taken these drugs. Since it was a private party, there was no CCTV coverage and this is a problem," an investigating officer said. Priyanka, in her statement to police, has claimed that Suvanjeeta had a habit of taking drugs. "When I was going to the food counter at 7pm I found her loitering by the side of the pool in a drowsy condition. I told her not to go near the pool. Suddenly I heard people shouting and rushed to the poolside to find her lying unconscious. I took her to the changing room and tried to blow air in her lungs but nothing worked," said Priyanka. She works with a private company. Manager of the club Nur Alam said, "There was only four feet of water in the pool and it is surprising that a five-foot-tall woman drowned in such a shallow pool".

Suvanjeeta, who married in January 2011, shifted to a hostel in Sreerampore, Garia, six months ago. "She was studying BCA under Ignou and moved to a hostel as her classes were at St Andrew's College," said Samrat, an education extension officer of the government posted in Swarupnagar block of North 24-Parganas.

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Agencies
February 6,2020

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

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News Network
July 15,2020

Mumbai, Jul 15: A domestic row between a couple spilled onto road when a woman stopped her husbands car and climbed on its bonnet, briefly disrupting traffic on the busy Pedder Road in South Mumbai, police said on Wednesday.

The incident, which took place on Saturday evening, was recorded by some passersby on their mobile phones and its videos are making rounds on social media.

The wife chased the husband's SUV (sports utility vehicle) in her car after she spotted another woman seated next to him in his vehicle.

As her husband's SUV stopped at the Pedder Road signal, the wife get down from her car, rushed towards his four-wheeler and started shouting at him, a police official said.

In the video, the woman is seen climbing the bonnet of the SUV, removing her footwear and hitting the vehicle's windshield with it. She is also seen asking the husband's co- passenger to get out of the SUV and shouting for police help.

As she stopped her car in the middle of the busy road, one lane got blocked for some time and the traffic police personnel present there tried to ensure movement of other vehicles, the official said.

After sometime, the traffic police asked the couple to take their cars near the footpath.

By that time, the husband stepped out of his SUV, following which the wife ran towards him and caught him. She even kicked him a couple of times and took him to her car, the video shows.

She then again ran towards her husband's SUV, which was parked a few metres away. She opened its driver-side door and lunged at the woman seated in the vehicle, but was stopped by some people who had gathered at the spot, the police official said.

Later, the couple and their cars were taken to Gamdevi police station, where the wife refused to lodge a complaint against her husband.

A fine was imposed on her for traffic rules violation and abandoning her car in the middle of the road, which caused disruption of vehicular movement, the official said.

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News Network
January 15,2020

New Delhi, Jan 15: The CBI has booked 17 individuals and companies, including three Mumbai-based senior Customs officials, for allegedly being part of a money laundering racket using over-invoiced import of diamonds worth more than Rs 156 crore, official said on Tuesday.

The case was referred to the CBI after a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence probe found alleged involvement of Customs officials in the conspiracy, they said.

The DRI probe had alleged that Hong Kong-based businessman Girish Kadel had imported rough diamonds from Switzerland to Hong Kong in the name of his four companies.

Kadel, who had business interests in India, had exported some of these diamonds to India through 14 consignments in the name of two companies Antique Exim Pvt Ltd and Tanman Jewels showing over-invoiced value of Rs 156.28 crore.

The DRI had found during revaluation that actual value of the consignment was Rs 1.03 crore instead of falsely declared value of Rs 156.28 crore, they said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that Kadel used Import Export Codes (IECs) of Antique Exim Private Ltd and Tanman Jewels through his aide Atul Paldecha for siphoning off the money outside India through import of over-valued diamonds, the officials said.

Rough diamonds were imported at "highly exaggerated value" to siphon off excess foreign exchange overseas to cover the differential cost of other imports and park money abroad for unlawful activities.

It is alleged that the then Commissioner APSC Mumbai, Vinay Brij Singh, influenced subordinate officers to give favourable report, they said.

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