Gone in 30 minutes: 14kg gold worth Rs 4 crore

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November 27, 2016

Ahmedabad, Nov 27: Two robbers, armed with an iron bar and a hammer, made off with 14. 2kg of gold bars after over powering the guard at a cash logistics firm near Mithakhali crossroads, early on Saturday morning. The robbed gold is valued at Rs 4 crore.

gold3Sources said CCTV footagehas made police suspect that one of the robbers is a woman. Police also believe that the entire operation took place in less than 30 minutes.

Navrangpura police said Amit Mishra, the vault officer of SIS Cash Service Pvt Ltd, located at Vasant Vihar Society has lodged the complaint. The gold bars had been taken out from safety vault and kept in frisking and dispatch area in boxes for collection. There were two security guards on night duty Sonpal Sharma from the firm itself, and Satishpal Chau han from Rapid Security Services.

"Mishra stated that he learned about the robbery from Murtaza Ansari, an employee of the firm, at 5am," said a Navrangpura police official. "Ansari informed him that Chauhan was wounded and bleeding profusely. Mishra reached the spot to find that one of the tin trunks containing gold bars had been prised open and two boxes were gone," said the police official.

Chauhan has told investigators that he was on his way to the toilet, outside the delivery room, at about 3.30 am when someone hit him hard on back of his head. He staggered and turned around to find two persons wearing handkerchiefs on their faces. He tried to fight back and in the process fell on one of the persons. The other person hit him repeatedly on his head and shoulders until he fell unconscious.

Woman involved?

The body language of one of the robbers soon came under scanner after which police believe that one of the persons seen in the footage -wearing a sweatshirt and trousers -might be a woman. Police have thus started looking at `Bunty-Babli gangs' active in the state and elsewhere.

Second guard was drunk

When the robbery was in process and Chauhan was attacked and he fell unconscious, Sonpal Sharma, the other security guard, was dozing off in one of the vans parked on the premises. When the firm officials reached the spot and woke him up, he was found inebriated. A complaint for violation of prohibition laws has been registered against him by Navrangpura police.

Inside job?

The investigators are also looking within firm to get clues. "It is known that the firm deals in currency notes and bullion but most of the times, the premises and vans are heavily guarded due to valuables. When the incident took place, the gold was out and there were only two guards, one of them drunk. The footage clearly shows that the robbers are novices as they struggle to open the boxes. In such a scenario, we are looking at all possibilities," said an official.

No CCTV outside premises

The biggest problem the police faced was lack of information on how the robbers came to the spot and how they left. "There are no CCTV cameras installed outside the premises.It is only assumption that the robbers came on a two-wheeler on the basis of the fact that they did not take away the entire trunks as it would have made the job cumbersome," said an official.

Guard also lost money

The complaint mentions that the robbers did not spare Satishpal Chauhan, the security guard beaten up by them. Along with the gold, the robbers also looted Rs 17,000 cash and mobile phone from him possibly when he fell unconscious. Due to his injuries, police have added offence of attempt to murder against the robber duo.

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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
March 24,2020

Kochi, Mar 24: A 54-year-old domestic passenger was arrested at the airport here for allegedly refusing to follow instructions given by doctorsfor prevention of the spread of novel coronavirus, police said here on Tuesday.

Lami Arackal from Ernakulam, who landed from Chennai at the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery on Monday night, was arrested based on a complaint from health officials, they said.

He was, however, later released on bail.

Arackal allegedly refused to wear mask and follow other instructions to be observed by the passengers coming from other states as part of the measures to check COVID-19 spread.

He also allegedly misbehaved with the medical officers, police said.

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Agencies
July 17,2020

New Delhi, Jul 17: The first FIR against Volkswagen and Audi in India for installing cheat devices in their cars to misrepresent emissions has been filed in Noida.

The FIR was filed by Noida resident Aniljit Singh against the top officials of Volkswagen and Audi in India and their headquarters in Germany. These include Rahil Ansari, Brand Director, Audi India, Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head, Audi India, and Bram Schot, Chairman, Audi AG.

The FIR reviewed by media agency cites forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The complaint has cited the global emissions scandal where VW was found to be installing a cheat device in its cars, in the absence of which, the cars produced 10-40 times emissions beyond the permissible limits.

The complainant said that in 2018 he had purchased seven Audi cars worth crores of rupees. At the time of taking the delivery, the complainant said that he inquired if the cheat devices were installed in India and he was told by the company that they were not, as in India's emission norms were not as stringent and the country being a growing market for Audi, no such device was implanted.

The complaint said that the authorities in India observed that Audi cars' emissions for nitrogen oxide were 5-8 times the permissible limits and after the National Green Tribunal imposed a penalty of Rs 500 crore on VW, the complainant realised that he had been duped of his hard earned money.

He alleged that the accused persons had misrepresented the complainant by forging the documents and devices and caused wrongful gains to themselves and wrongful losses to the complainant. These officials had made wrong records to capture the market, with malafide intent and under a pre-planned conspiracy had induced and defrauded the complainant.

The accused persons are guilty of cheating the customers and have induced the complainant to part with hard earned money for sub-standard cars. The accused are also guilty of forging the documents on which they had sought various clearances.

The complainant has demanded that the allegations may be thoroughly investigated by a senior official.

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