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‘He’s innocent’: Court acquits Odisha man after 21 years of imprisonment

Agencies
August 24, 2019

Cuttack:  The Orissa High Court has acquitted a man in a murder case after he spent 21 years and nine months behind the bars.

The high court has ordered immediate release of Sadhu Pradhan from jail.

Pradhan, a resident of Kantapada village in Ganjam district, was arrested in November 1997 in connection with the killing of a woman.

A district court sentenced him to life imprisonment in August 1999.

He was also booked for theft as some ornaments of the victim were not found when her body was fished out of a village canal. Pradhan was, however, absolved of the theft charge in the trial court.

His appeal against the trial court verdict was pending in the high court and a division bench of justices S K Mishra and A K Mishra concluded the hearing in July.

In its verdict delivered on Monday, the bench acquitted Pradhan, holding that the trial court had committed an error in not appreciating the evidence in the proper perspective.

The high court observed that the prosecution had failed in ascertaining the motive behind the killing.

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Agencies
May 6,2020

A man posed as Superintendent of Police (SP), called up a subordinate police official and asked him to get his mobile phone repaired or face the consequences. But, his bluff was later called and the man landed in lockup.

Azamgarh SP Triveni Singh said the 23-year-old youth, Shubham Upadhyay, is the son of a farmer. He was preparing for competitive exams when his phone developed a snag on Saturday. He tried to reach out to local mechanics, but they were unavailable to fix it due to the lockdown.

Upadhyay used a free caller identification app to call up the in-charge of the Kotwali police station, K. K. Gupta, and threatened to shunt him out, if he failed to swiftly get the work done. Gupta grew suspicious and eventually caught the youth.

n his statement to the police, Shubham Upadhyay said, "On Sunday noon, I tried to breach the district borders to reach Lucknow to repair my phone, but since there was heavy police presence and barricading, I returned home. Later, I installed a free caller identification app in my handset and mentioned the name as SP Azamgarh and even uploaded a photo of the cop to appear genuine."

He first called SHO, Kotwali to get the phone repaired and was told the handset would be picked up from the SP office in an hour. Then, he called a businessman to bring his SUV and hand over his mobile to the SHO.

But when Upadhyay called the police again to suggest a separate meeting point, he raised suspicion. When the SHO tried to confirm the venue, Upadhyay got hesitant and said he would send a peon.

"I suddenly realised something was fishy and rang up the public relation officer of SP Azamgarh, who denied any such order from the SP. When the caller's number was scanned, it displayed the name of SP Azamgarh," said SHO Gupta.

A trap was laid and when the SHO reached the venue, he found one Praveen Shukla sitting in the vehicle. Police got the address of the accused from Shukla and reached Upadhyay's home in Bilariya locality and arrested him.

Upadhyay has been booked under IT Act and for threatening a public servant.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Guna (MP),  Jun 27: A 20-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly eloping with her minor partner and "marrying" her at Guna town in Madhya Pradesh, police said on Saturday.

The matter came to light, when a resident of Budhe Balaji area approached the Kotwali police station on Monday with a complaint that his 17-year-old daughter had gone missing, additional superintendent of police T S Baghel said.

On investigation, it was found that a relative from a village Shivpuri district, who was living with the family, was also missing, he said.

A team was sent to the village and the duo was caught on Friday, the official said, adding that the woman had married the minor, who claimed that she had eloped of her own volition.

The woman was arrested under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while the minor was sent back to her family after counselling.

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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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