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Woman held for smuggling in memory cards

[email protected] (DHNS)
January 6, 2012

smugler

Bangalore, January 6: A 40-year-old woman was held on Thursday morning for smuggling in 31,520 micro-secure digital chips from Hong Kong.

Officials of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), Customs, at Bangalore International Airport (BIA) caught Rosy Bhatia from Delhi red-handed as she tried to walk away with the chips worth Rs 63.04 lakh, packed in 53 polythene pouches and concealed in her stockings, hidden under a salwar suit.

The cards, bearing the “Made in Taiwan” tag, were being smuggled into the country.

The customs sleuths intercepted her after she alighted from a Dragon Airways aircraft from Hong Kong around 2 am and immediately arrested her for offences under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Rosy Bhatia, according to a senior AIU official, was carrying approximately 31,520 such cards with the capacity of two gigabytes on her.

The officials, following a tip-off, waited for Rosy Bhatia to arrive and watched her moves. She passed through the green channel without declaring the goods and the value in the customs declaration slip. Questioned by the Customs, she simply said she had nothing to declare.

“She was a smart woman. She had packed these chips in 53 small polythene pouches which were concealed in her stockings, over which she was wearing a salwar,” said an official at the airport.

The AIU team had received specific intelligence from their Delhi counterparts that she would be smuggling in memory cards into the country.

“It was not viable to wait until she reached Delhi although she had an early morning flight to Delhi today (Thursday). There were chances of her disposing the smuggled articles in Bangalore, making it difficult to trace,” the official explained.

Initial interrogation revealed that this was the first time she was travelling through Bangalore. Besides, she had no history (cases registered) against her for smuggling.

“It is very difficult to believe that she was smuggling for the first time. The trade has been going on for sometime,” the official said. Her passport revealed that she had been to Hong Kong over 10 times in the last six months and the duration of her stay was between a day and two on most occasions.

“She would travel to Hong Kong and other places in South-East Asia on the excuse of buying textile goods to sell in India,” another official said.

Rosy Bhatia was produced before a local court here and was granted conditional bail.

Stating that there is a larger network operating in the country, officials said last month a passenger was caught at Kolkata airport, travelling from the same country and smuggling the same good, using the same modus operandi.

Also, a similar consignment was seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence here about six weeks ago, officials said.

They said there was a huge demand for such products in the country. “Our telecom market is growing. With electronic goods like this attracting 27-30 per cent in duties, smuggling them is very lucrative,” the official said.

Gaffar Market in Delhi, National Market and SP? Road in Bangalore, Heera Panna in Mumbai, Fancy Market in Kolkata and similar places in other key cities of the country play home to several shops that sell these products at discounted rates, hurting the licensed retail outlets.

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News Network
July 17,2020

Patna, Jul 17: A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a security guard at the Covid-19 quarantine center of the Patna Medical College Hospital where she was admitted after being rescued from a railway station, police said on Thursday.

The accused, Mahesh (40), was arrested on Wednesday night after being booked under the POCSO Act and other relevant IPC sections by the Pir Bahore police station, according to Arti Jaiswal, the in-charge of the women's police station here.

“The accused is being sent to jail while the victim will be undergoing medical tests on Thursday, as is the norm for all sexual assault survivors," Jaiswal said.

The girl had run away from her home in Nalanda district more than a week ago and reached Barh railway station on the outskirts of Patna to catch a train for Kolkata where her father is a daily wage-earner, police said.

She was spotted by Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel who informed the child helpline. The child helpline personnel, taking note of the girl’s tender age and her disturbed frame of mind, convinced her not to undertake the journey and brought her to the hospital’s quarantine ward for COVID-19 suspects as a precautionary measure, they said.

On the night of July 8, a few hours after the girl's arrival at the hospital, she was caught hold of by the accused inside the bathroom and allegedly raped. The accused also threatened her with dire consequences if she spilt the beans and, as per the FIR, kept harassing her sexually.

She finally decided to speak up when another girl, carrying a mobile phone, was similarly brought to the hospital by child helpline a couple of days ago. Using the fellow inmate’s phone, she narrated her ordeal to the helpline personnel who informed the police.

“Her Covid-19 test report is negative. After her examination, for the sexual assault, by a six-member medical board is over, she will be sent to a shelter home by the child helpline," Jaiswal said.

Meanwhile, state women’s commission chairperson Dilmani Mishra strongly reacted to the incident and said, “We are waiting for the medical reports of the girl. We will ensure that justice is done in the matter.”

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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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Agencies
July 31,2020

Amaravati, Jul 31: Nine people have died after allegedly consuming sanitiser in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh today, the police said.

Prakasam district Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal said the people had been consuming sanitiser for the past few days, mixing it with water and soft drinks.

"We are also investigating whether they laced the sanitiser with any other toxic substances," the official said.

"Their family members say these people have been consuming sanitiser for the past ten days. We are sending the sanitiser stocks, being sold in the area, for examination," he added.

Kurichedu in Prakasam district has been under lockdown due to rise in coronavirus cases and hence, liquor shops have also been shut since the past few days.

Habitual drinkers were said to be consuming sanitisers that have alcohol content, apart from illicitly distilled arrack.

The police said two beggars near a temple were the first to fall victim on Thursday night. While one of them was found dead at the spot, another died in the government hospital in Darsi town, they said.

A third person was also taken to the Darsi hospital late on Thursday night after he fell unconscious but he was declared brought dead. Six others who fell ill after allegedly consuming sanitiser, died this morning.

Others who fell ill after consuming sanitiser are undergoing treatment at their residences in the village, the police added.

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