Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
most tragic incidents in India's history
by-AMITABH THAKUR
Though this does not concern our group exactly, but as we are all aware, the incidents in Mumbai, which are still not completely over, in which ATS chief of Mumbai Police Hemant Karkare -- who was investigating the Malegaon blast case, Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte, noted encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, ATS sub-inspector Sudhir Dalvi and many other police officers were killed in different accidents during a series of encounters in Mumbai, must be among the most tragic and gruesome incidents in Independent India's history. This is more bizarre and unthinkable than I could even have dreamt.
54-year-old Mr. Karkare, who was the 1982 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, held a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Vishveshvarayya Regional Engineering in Nagpur. Before joining ATS, he was aslso with the RAW (the external intelligence wing of our country) for nine years . For a long time, he also served in the
Naxalite-infested Chandarpur area of the state. He had solved the serial bomb blasts in Thane, Vashi and Panvel. He was credited for the stunning revelations in the investigation of the September 29 blast in Malegaon goes to his credit. He was known for his discipline and fair investigation. During the Malegaon investigation, Karkare had told his officers not to create false evidence, said, "We have done our job and it is for the court to decide." During the Malegaon enquiry, he was subjected to a lot of criticism from many quarters. He even got a threat of his house getting blown up. His brave act of fighting the terrorists ended in tragedy Additional police commissioner Ashok Marutirao Kamte had served as Commissioner of Police for Solapur District earlier to his current posting. He was an IPS officer of 1989 batch. He also got killed in a shootout at the Metro Cinema in Mumbai long with Hemant Karkare and Vijay Salaskar. He was a Graduate from The Rajkumar College, Rajkot in 1977, was a body builder and power-lifter who had won six gold and silver medals in power-lifting and held three records for the sport. He was also DCP, Zone 1in Mumbai, and was known as a key officer in the state police, who had always been in the thick of the action.
Vijay Salaskar, who was reportedly sidelined for the last two years for unearthing the gutka-underworld nexus, was recently attached to the crime branch, where he currently headed the anti-extortion cell. An officer of the 1983 batch, Salaskar in his 24 years of service has eliminated many criminals. Amar Naik, Jaggu Shetty, Sadhu Shetty, Kundan Singh Rawat, Zahoor Makhanda are some of the gangsters who had fallen to Salaskar's bullets. He was also known to have acted in a real tough manner against Arun Gawli. He had killed his two trusted men, Sada Pawle and Vijay Tandel, in 1997 during an enclounter. Gawli remained rightly scared of Salaskar all through.
There can be no denial to the fact that this is not only a great moment of tragedy for India but is also one for the highest concern. We must pay our highest tributes to these slain police personnel who laid their lives for the sake of their nation-making the supreme sacrifice and must also pray for the peace of all the departed souls.
Though this does not concern our group exactly, but as we are all aware, the incidents in Mumbai, which are still not completely over, in which ATS chief of Mumbai Police Hemant Karkare -- who was investigating the Malegaon blast case, Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte, noted encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, ATS sub-inspector Sudhir Dalvi and many other police officers were killed in different accidents during a series of encounters in Mumbai, must be among the most tragic and gruesome incidents in Independent India's history. This is more bizarre and unthinkable than I could even have dreamt.
54-year-old Mr. Karkare, who was the 1982 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, held a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Vishveshvarayya Regional Engineering in Nagpur. Before joining ATS, he was aslso with the RAW (the external intelligence wing of our country) for nine years . For a long time, he also served in the
Naxalite-infested Chandarpur area of the state. He had solved the serial bomb blasts in Thane, Vashi and Panvel. He was credited for the stunning revelations in the investigation of the September 29 blast in Malegaon goes to his credit. He was known for his discipline and fair investigation. During the Malegaon investigation, Karkare had told his officers not to create false evidence, said, "We have done our job and it is for the court to decide." During the Malegaon enquiry, he was subjected to a lot of criticism from many quarters. He even got a threat of his house getting blown up. His brave act of fighting the terrorists ended in tragedy Additional police commissioner Ashok Marutirao Kamte had served as Commissioner of Police for Solapur District earlier to his current posting. He was an IPS officer of 1989 batch. He also got killed in a shootout at the Metro Cinema in Mumbai long with Hemant Karkare and Vijay Salaskar. He was a Graduate from The Rajkumar College, Rajkot in 1977, was a body builder and power-lifter who had won six gold and silver medals in power-lifting and held three records for the sport. He was also DCP, Zone 1in Mumbai, and was known as a key officer in the state police, who had always been in the thick of the action.
Vijay Salaskar, who was reportedly sidelined for the last two years for unearthing the gutka-underworld nexus, was recently attached to the crime branch, where he currently headed the anti-extortion cell. An officer of the 1983 batch, Salaskar in his 24 years of service has eliminated many criminals. Amar Naik, Jaggu Shetty, Sadhu Shetty, Kundan Singh Rawat, Zahoor Makhanda are some of the gangsters who had fallen to Salaskar's bullets. He was also known to have acted in a real tough manner against Arun Gawli. He had killed his two trusted men, Sada Pawle and Vijay Tandel, in 1997 during an enclounter. Gawli remained rightly scared of Salaskar all through. There can be no denial to the fact that this is not only a great moment of tragedy for India but is also one for the highest concern. We must pay our highest tributes to these slain police personnel who laid their lives for the sake of their nation-making the supreme sacrifice and must also pray for the peace of all the departed souls.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Terrorist attack in Mumbai
THE sheer scale and audacity of the assault were staggering. Gangs of well-armed youths attacked two luxury hotels, a restaurant, a railway station and at least one hospital. Gunfire and explosions rang through Mumbai overnight on November 26th-27th and through the next morning. By Thursday November 27th more than 100 people were reported to have been killed, and the toll seemed likely to rise. Several foreigners, including some from America, Japan and Britain, were among the dead. So were over a dozen policemen, including Mumbai’s chief counter-terrorism officer. Up to 100 hostages, including selected American and British guests, were alleged to be held hostage inside a hotel.
Even in a city—and country—with a grim record of terrorist violence, these were extraordinary scenes. The attacks started at around 10.30pm on Wednesday, when gunmen started shooting and throwing grenades at Mumbai’s main Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station. Television footage showed two men shooting at random as they drove through nearby streets in a stolen police jeep. Around the same time, a bomb was reported to have exploded in a taxi parked near the city’s main airport. More or less simultaneously, gunmen speaking Hindi and Urdu, the language of many north-Indian Muslims and of neighbouring Pakistan, stormed two hotels—the Taj Mahal and the Trident Oberoi—and Café Leopold, a restaurant popular with tourists. Police outside the Taj Mahal, India’s most famous hotel, lapped by the Arabian Sea, said gunmen arrived there by inflatable dinghy. In the early hours, a gunfight erupted on Marine Drive, the scenic coastal road seen in so many Bollywood films, in which another Mumbai police chief was killed.
As dawn broke, flames were rising from the domed roof of the Taj Mahal. Navy and army commandos, who had retaken the hotel’s lower floors and killed two terrorists, reported bodies in many rooms and perhaps half a dozen terrorists still living. A trickle of terrified employees and guests, some with gunshot wounds, continued to flee the building. One fugitive, Amit, a hotel-restaurant manager, said his chef had been hit by three bullets and many colleagues remained inside. A few badly-injured survivors were wheeled from the hotel on brass luggage-trolleys. By midday on Thursday most of the hostages were reported to have been released from the hotel, although there were reports of further shooting. Meanwhile at the nearby Trident Oberoi, as many as 100 hostages were reported still to be held. Gunfire and explosions were reported from the upper storeys of the building.There seemed little doubt that the attackers were Muslim militants of some description, but their exact provenance was unclear. Responsibility was claimed by a previously little-known group called the Deccan Mujahideen. Speaking to Indian television by telephone, a gunman holding hostages in the Trident Oberoi demanded that Muslim prisoners, including those captured in Kashmir, should be released from Indian jails. “Release all the mujahideens, and Muslims living in India should not be troubled,” he said.
In the past five months India has suffered from a spate of Islamist militancy, with bomb-blasts in half a dozen cities, including Delhi, Bangalore and Jaipur. A home-grown Muslim terrorist group, the Indian Mujahideen, has been blamed for the spree, in which over 150 people were killed. In a chilling, 14-page admission of responsibility for the Delhi bombings in September, the Indian Mujahideen castigated the counter-terrorism efforts of Mumbai’s police, and promised Mumbaikars future “deadly attacks”.
As India’s first indigenous Muslim terrorist group—so they have often been described—the Indian Mujahideen are a worrying sign. They seem to have evolved from a decade-long campaign by Pakistan-based militants, including many fighting an insurgency in Kashmir, to incite India’s 140m Muslims to revolt. These groups have been held primarily responsible for half a dozen major terrorist attacks in Mumbai in recent years. In 1993 local Muslim gangsters backed by Pakistan-based militants set off 13 near-simultaneous bomb-blasts in the city, killing more than 250 people. In 2006 another co-ordinated bombing spree on Mumbai’s railway killed over 180 commuters. A Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-toiba, was blamed at the time.This week’s attacks in Mumbai seemed different, however. Attacks by bands of gunmen on numerous targets, instead of the mere laying of bombs, and the seizure of so many hostages, led to speculation, unsupported by evidence, that local militants in India could not have mounted the attacks without considerable foreign help. And the targets chosen—world famous hotels and Western tourists—was a new phenomenon for India, despite being a pattern familiar from attacks directed or inspired by al-Qaeda elsewhere in the world.
Al-Qaeda has often threatened to launch strikes on India. In 2006 Arab terrorists belonging to the organisation were foiled in an attempt to set off bombs in Goa, India’s main destination for foreign tourists. Among the targets of the latest attacks was a Jewish religious centre in southern Mumbai which was reported to have been attacked by the gunmen. Police said that an Israeli rabbi and his family were among a group being held as hostages in a nearby apartment block.
Despite these worrying signs, Indian officials have so far resisted suggestions that Indian Muslims are being radicalised and joining a global jihad. Many refer approvingly to the observation of George Bush that Muslims from India have not in general turned up to fight the infidels on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But security analysts have meanwhile despaired at the unpreparedness of India’s security agencies to counter a domestic Islamist threat. Whether or not al-Qaeda was behind the latest attack, that happy complacency must now have ended. (reuters)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Statement of BHRPC on the Death of a young journalist
Barak Human Rights Protection Committee (BHRPC), a human rights organisation based in Silchar, Assam expresses agony and grave concern at yet another cruel and untimely death of a young journalist caused by unidentified gunmen. Mr. Jagjit Saikia, a Kokrajhar (Assam) based reporter, who worked with "Amar Asom", a local daily in the Assamese language, was reportedly shot at by miscreants on November 22 afternoon in Kokrajhar town which caused his death. BHRPC categorically condemns this cowardly act and sends condolences to the family members of the deceased journalist and extends solidarity with the media fraternity.
BHRPC sees it not only as another blow to the media, which is regarded as a pillar of democracy, but also as the naked manifestation of the brutality to which the continuous assault on the right to freedom of thought and expression guaranteed under
Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India has reached. The State and Union Governments are under obligations in International Human Rights Law as well as duty bound under the Law of the Land to ensure the exercise of this inalienable human right by its citizens. It is evident from this and other such incidence of attack on the media and the people's right to freedom of expression including the incidence of death of Konsam Rishikanta, a trainee sub-editor of The Imphal Free Press, an English daily of Manipur on 17 November, at the hands of unidentified shooters that the Indian State is miserably failed to protect basic human rights of the citizens.
BHRPC urges the Union and State Governments:
1. To conduct prompt, objective and transparent investigations into both of the incidents.
2. To bring the perpetrators of these ghastly acts to book and punish them as per law.
3. To pay adequate compensation to the dependants relatives of the deceased.
4. To ensure security of the life of journalist.
5. To protect the right to freedom of expression and thought of the people by going hard on those elements who pose threat to it. BHRPC also wrote Urgent Appeal to the Prime Minister of India sending copies to the Home Minster of the Union Government of India,Chief Minister of Assam and others conveying these demands.(by-Waliullah Ahmed Laskar, Liaison Officer,Silchar,Assam,India)
BHRPC sees it not only as another blow to the media, which is regarded as a pillar of democracy, but also as the naked manifestation of the brutality to which the continuous assault on the right to freedom of thought and expression guaranteed under
Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India has reached. The State and Union Governments are under obligations in International Human Rights Law as well as duty bound under the Law of the Land to ensure the exercise of this inalienable human right by its citizens. It is evident from this and other such incidence of attack on the media and the people's right to freedom of expression including the incidence of death of Konsam Rishikanta, a trainee sub-editor of The Imphal Free Press, an English daily of Manipur on 17 November, at the hands of unidentified shooters that the Indian State is miserably failed to protect basic human rights of the citizens.
BHRPC urges the Union and State Governments:
1. To conduct prompt, objective and transparent investigations into both of the incidents.
2. To bring the perpetrators of these ghastly acts to book and punish them as per law.
3. To pay adequate compensation to the dependants relatives of the deceased.
4. To ensure security of the life of journalist.
5. To protect the right to freedom of expression and thought of the people by going hard on those elements who pose threat to it. BHRPC also wrote Urgent Appeal to the Prime Minister of India sending copies to the Home Minster of the Union Government of India,Chief Minister of Assam and others conveying these demands.(by-Waliullah Ahmed Laskar, Liaison Officer,Silchar,Assam,India)
Murder of a young journalist
A young journalist Konsam Rishikanta Singh in Manipur . He was killed on 17 November 2008 near Second Sangai Home, Langol Hill range by unknown armed personnel suspected to security forces. Not even twenty, Konsam was Junior Sub-editor, Imphal Free Press and was also pursuing B.Sc. 1st Year, Standard College, Kongba. The autopsy conducted at the morgue of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences stated that the body bored three bullet injuries one below the chin and two at the chest. He belonged to a very ordinary family. His father holds a Diploma in Electrical Engineering but is unemployed and mother is a housewife.
He has two unmarried sisters. He was good in studies, hard-working and was an idealistic person. He dropped out from college in the year 2007 so that his sister could continue her studies without isturbances. He demise has caused great irreparable loss to the family.
The killing of the young, energetic, struggling and dedicated journalist Konsam Rishikanta Singh in Manipur, supposedly by the bullets of the Armed Force personnel, is another sad and condemnable incidence on the face of Indian democracy. No one knows how many innocent people these defence personnel have killed in their bloodthirsty way. What is even more hurting and serious is the manner in which these forces behave in the aftermath of such incidents. Instead of taking the responsibility and iterating their commitment to take the guilty personas to task, these forces believe in the only policy they know best- " to out rightly reject such accusations and to start cribbing about the poor, hostile and tough conditions in which they are forced to work".
The end result is always that the poor and helpless people are forced to keep their mouth shut and to accept their fate as it is. This has happened so many times and this might happen again in the case of Konsam Rishikanta. Thus, it is very important that all of us, who are in any way, concerned with the Human Rights activities and are in the field of intellectual field and social justice, musty join hands together and resist such one-sided extreme highhandedness and outlandish/ criminal behaviour of the Armed personnel and must struggle to get the accused punished.
On 18 November 2008, the All Manipur Working Journalist Union (AMWJU) held an emergency meeting at the Manipur Press Club and condemned the killing. In the afternoon, a silent rally was taken out and a memorandum was submitted to the Chief Minster of Manipur with the following demands:
Constitute a judicial inquiry to find out and punish the culprit(s) Award compensation to the bereaved family as per center's scheme for victims of terrorist violence. Ensure a sense of security in the minds of journalist and take necessary measures for protection of the working journalists of the State. But so far the Government of Manipur has not come out with any concrete steps, I fully agree with the three demands put forth by the Manipur Journalist association. But it seems to me that even more important is the basic requirement of registering an FIR in this regards, if it has not already been registered, as per the free will of the slain journalist's family members. It is only then the wheel of law will start moving at all. (Dr Nutan Thakur)
He has two unmarried sisters. He was good in studies, hard-working and was an idealistic person. He dropped out from college in the year 2007 so that his sister could continue her studies without isturbances. He demise has caused great irreparable loss to the family.The killing of the young, energetic, struggling and dedicated journalist Konsam Rishikanta Singh in Manipur, supposedly by the bullets of the Armed Force personnel, is another sad and condemnable incidence on the face of Indian democracy. No one knows how many innocent people these defence personnel have killed in their bloodthirsty way. What is even more hurting and serious is the manner in which these forces behave in the aftermath of such incidents. Instead of taking the responsibility and iterating their commitment to take the guilty personas to task, these forces believe in the only policy they know best- " to out rightly reject such accusations and to start cribbing about the poor, hostile and tough conditions in which they are forced to work".
The end result is always that the poor and helpless people are forced to keep their mouth shut and to accept their fate as it is. This has happened so many times and this might happen again in the case of Konsam Rishikanta. Thus, it is very important that all of us, who are in any way, concerned with the Human Rights activities and are in the field of intellectual field and social justice, musty join hands together and resist such one-sided extreme highhandedness and outlandish/ criminal behaviour of the Armed personnel and must struggle to get the accused punished.
On 18 November 2008, the All Manipur Working Journalist Union (AMWJU) held an emergency meeting at the Manipur Press Club and condemned the killing. In the afternoon, a silent rally was taken out and a memorandum was submitted to the Chief Minster of Manipur with the following demands:
Constitute a judicial inquiry to find out and punish the culprit(s) Award compensation to the bereaved family as per center's scheme for victims of terrorist violence. Ensure a sense of security in the minds of journalist and take necessary measures for protection of the working journalists of the State. But so far the Government of Manipur has not come out with any concrete steps, I fully agree with the three demands put forth by the Manipur Journalist association. But it seems to me that even more important is the basic requirement of registering an FIR in this regards, if it has not already been registered, as per the free will of the slain journalist's family members. It is only then the wheel of law will start moving at all. (Dr Nutan Thakur)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Two arrested in Panchkula rape case
Three persons, including the arrested, were booked for the crime after a case was registered based on a complaint filed by the 35-year-old woman against them on Sunday. Police today arrested two army personnel for allegedly raping the wife of an IAF cadre at the Western Command hospital in Haryana's Panchkula district.
"The two main accused-Hottam Singh and Iftikhar Khan, working as nursing attendants at the army hospital, have been arrested and further investigations are on," Senior Superintendent of Police (Panchakula) Sandeep Khirwar said over phone.Three persons, including the arrested, were booked for the crime after a case was registered based on a complaint filed by the 35-year-old woman against them on Sunday.A defence spokesperson said the two main accused belonged to Army Medical Corps and were posted at the hospital which falls in Chandimandir, the Army's Western Command headquarters.Panchkula police have moved a formal request to the army, seeking the custody of the two accused as they are army personnel.The police had also recorded the victim's statement before the judicial magistrate in Panchkula.Police said that in her complaint the victim, who is a native of Bihar and is currently residing in Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) quarters at Panchkula, alleged that she had gone to the hospital in Chandimandir on Saturday for physiotherapy.
Once she was through with the treatment, she went to see one of her relatives who was admitted in the hospital. On her way, she was dragged to a nearby room by three men who raped her.While Hottam Singh, a native of Madhya Pradesh is working as the documentation in-charge of the neuro-surgical ward, Iftikhar, a resident of Bihar, joined the nursing staff of the same ward around seven months back.
The victim, in her complaint, alleged that Singh also asked her not to disclose the incident to anyone and threatened that it had been recorded and the footage would be made public in case she did so.The woman has been living with her son after her husband was recently transferred to Jamnagar Air Force Station in Gujarat.A FIR had been registered under various sections of the IPC, police said. (pti)
"The two main accused-Hottam Singh and Iftikhar Khan, working as nursing attendants at the army hospital, have been arrested and further investigations are on," Senior Superintendent of Police (Panchakula) Sandeep Khirwar said over phone.Three persons, including the arrested, were booked for the crime after a case was registered based on a complaint filed by the 35-year-old woman against them on Sunday.A defence spokesperson said the two main accused belonged to Army Medical Corps and were posted at the hospital which falls in Chandimandir, the Army's Western Command headquarters.Panchkula police have moved a formal request to the army, seeking the custody of the two accused as they are army personnel.The police had also recorded the victim's statement before the judicial magistrate in Panchkula.Police said that in her complaint the victim, who is a native of Bihar and is currently residing in Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) quarters at Panchkula, alleged that she had gone to the hospital in Chandimandir on Saturday for physiotherapy.Once she was through with the treatment, she went to see one of her relatives who was admitted in the hospital. On her way, she was dragged to a nearby room by three men who raped her.While Hottam Singh, a native of Madhya Pradesh is working as the documentation in-charge of the neuro-surgical ward, Iftikhar, a resident of Bihar, joined the nursing staff of the same ward around seven months back.
The victim, in her complaint, alleged that Singh also asked her not to disclose the incident to anyone and threatened that it had been recorded and the footage would be made public in case she did so.The woman has been living with her son after her husband was recently transferred to Jamnagar Air Force Station in Gujarat.A FIR had been registered under various sections of the IPC, police said. (pti)
Two MBA students held for kidnapping 15 year old Boy
In a kidnapping case in Delhi, six students including two MBA students were arrested on Sunday evening by the South Delhi police. The accused had kidnapped a 15-year-old student of Gyan Bharti school and were demanding a ransom of Rs 80 lakh to cover up their losses in the share market.
According to the police, the two MBA students had planned the kidnapping along with a cousin to make up huge losses suffered by them in the share market. The trio had also hired some criminals to execute their plot. The 15-year-old Class IX student was on his way to school on Thursday morning along with a friend when Rohit, Piyush, Dilip and Ramesh accosted the two in their silver Hyundai Getz car. As per the plan, the men asked the two about the way to the teenager’s house. The teenager readily agreed to accompany them home, taking them to be distant relatives. The men drove away instead to a secluded house at Sukhrali village in neighbouring Gurgaon and locked up the teenager in a room. The house had been taken on rent from one Suresh Ahlawat on the pretext of using it as a godown and Rs.15,000 had been paid as advance.
When the boy did not return home after school, his brother-in-law got a case registered at the Saket police station. Soon the family started receiving ransom calls demanding Rs.80 lakh for his release. The teenager’s father had died a year ago and he had been living with his mother and a sister in Saket. During investigation, the police found that the Haryana registration number of the car was a fake. They were then tipped off that a car with four young men and a schoolboy had been spotted in Sector 17 of Gurgaon.“Following the input, the police team carried out house-to-house enquiries and the car was found parked in a plot belonging to Suresh Ahlawat in Sukhrali. Based on Suresh’s interrogation one of the accused was identified as a friend of the teenager’s first cousin. He was questioned and he confessed to having kidnapped the boy along with his friends Piyush and Rohit. The three had hired a gang for Rs.1 lakh,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) H. G. S. Dhaliwal on Monday.
The cousin had a longstanding property dispute with the teenager’s family and bore a grudge against them. He purportedly discussed his plan to kidnap the boy with Rohit and Piyush, whom he had met at a hairdressing saloon in Gurgaon and struck a friendship. Rohit and Piyush, both MBA students, readily agreed as they had suffered heavy losses in the share and property market and wanted to recoup as much as they could. Saloon owner Praveen Kashyap also joined the trio to make some quick money and introduced them to Dilip and Ramesh, who had a criminal past. (the hindu)
DRIVEN BY GREED
Piyush Jain (24) is an MBA student in IMT Ghaziabad. His friend Rohit Chopra (24), enrolled in Ignou’s MBA course, is a property dealer in Gurgaon. The duo together lost around Rs 80 lakh in market meltdown. That was the ransom demand to Arjun’s mother Kidnapping allegedly conducted by 21-year-old Bharat Jhamb, Arjun’s first cousin. He was reportedly unhappy with his share of ancestral property that got divided 3 years ago between his father and Arjun’s father. (tnn)
According to the police, the two MBA students had planned the kidnapping along with a cousin to make up huge losses suffered by them in the share market. The trio had also hired some criminals to execute their plot. The 15-year-old Class IX student was on his way to school on Thursday morning along with a friend when Rohit, Piyush, Dilip and Ramesh accosted the two in their silver Hyundai Getz car. As per the plan, the men asked the two about the way to the teenager’s house. The teenager readily agreed to accompany them home, taking them to be distant relatives. The men drove away instead to a secluded house at Sukhrali village in neighbouring Gurgaon and locked up the teenager in a room. The house had been taken on rent from one Suresh Ahlawat on the pretext of using it as a godown and Rs.15,000 had been paid as advance.
When the boy did not return home after school, his brother-in-law got a case registered at the Saket police station. Soon the family started receiving ransom calls demanding Rs.80 lakh for his release. The teenager’s father had died a year ago and he had been living with his mother and a sister in Saket. During investigation, the police found that the Haryana registration number of the car was a fake. They were then tipped off that a car with four young men and a schoolboy had been spotted in Sector 17 of Gurgaon.“Following the input, the police team carried out house-to-house enquiries and the car was found parked in a plot belonging to Suresh Ahlawat in Sukhrali. Based on Suresh’s interrogation one of the accused was identified as a friend of the teenager’s first cousin. He was questioned and he confessed to having kidnapped the boy along with his friends Piyush and Rohit. The three had hired a gang for Rs.1 lakh,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) H. G. S. Dhaliwal on Monday.The cousin had a longstanding property dispute with the teenager’s family and bore a grudge against them. He purportedly discussed his plan to kidnap the boy with Rohit and Piyush, whom he had met at a hairdressing saloon in Gurgaon and struck a friendship. Rohit and Piyush, both MBA students, readily agreed as they had suffered heavy losses in the share and property market and wanted to recoup as much as they could. Saloon owner Praveen Kashyap also joined the trio to make some quick money and introduced them to Dilip and Ramesh, who had a criminal past. (the hindu)
DRIVEN BY GREED
Piyush Jain (24) is an MBA student in IMT Ghaziabad. His friend Rohit Chopra (24), enrolled in Ignou’s MBA course, is a property dealer in Gurgaon. The duo together lost around Rs 80 lakh in market meltdown. That was the ransom demand to Arjun’s mother Kidnapping allegedly conducted by 21-year-old Bharat Jhamb, Arjun’s first cousin. He was reportedly unhappy with his share of ancestral property that got divided 3 years ago between his father and Arjun’s father. (tnn)
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