65-year-old man arrested for duping investors to the tune of Rs. 4 crore

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

PUDUCHERRY, APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

The Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) on Friday arrested a 65-year-old man for allegedly duping investors to the tune of Rs. 4 crore.

Speaking to reporters here, Senior Superintendent of Police (C&I) Mahesh Kumar Barnwal said, the accused M. Thiyagarajan of Otteri in Vellore district was running a chit fund agency Royal Agro and Dairy Pvt Ltd at Jawaharlal Nehru Street here.

Chit fund bait

Thiyagarajan had lured people to invest in the chit fund schemes of his firm promising them attractive returns. Around 1,000 people had deposited money with him. However, he avoided repayment.


Mr. Barnwal said that one S. Tamilselvan of Velrampet, who had invested Rs. 11.18 lakh as fixed deposit lodged a complaint with the CB-CID police on April 4 that he was cheated by the firm.

A special police team led by Sub-Inspector Jerome Jesmond arrested the accused in Vellore.

Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that Thiyagarajan had duped over 1,000 investors to the tune of Rs. 4 crore in Puducherry.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Tamil Nadu Police had also registered a case against him and properties valued at Rs. 38 crore were frozen by the police.

A case has been registered and further investigations are on. Superintendent of Police (CID) N. Selvam was also present.

‘Health Secretary may be summoned’

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

With the State yet to file a report on a public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to videograph post mortem, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday said that if there was no response, the court would be constrained to summon the Health Secretary. A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S.S. Sundar adjourned the hearing by a week.

The court was hearing the public interest litigation petition filed by advocate Arun Swaminathan from Madurai, who sought a direction to videograph post mortem across the State to avoid irregularities.

He complained that a cut-copy-paste procedure was followed while issuing the certificates and the conduct of post mortem was not in accordance with the Tamil Nadu Medical Code, he said.

Cannot quash case against former V-C: HC

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

The Madras High Court has refused to quash a criminal case booked by the Kalapet police against Anisa Basheer Khan, former Vice-Chancellor (in-charge) of Pondicherry University, and three others on charges of fabricating certain documents in 2016 in order to ensure that she continued in the post despite having been relieved by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan dismissed the quash plea filed by Ms. Khan, professor of economics M. Ramachandra, data entry operator N. Veerappan and private secretary to the V-C S. Rajkumar.

HC offers no relief for medical negligence

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

The Madras High Court has refused to quash a criminal case booked against three doctors, including the owner of a hospital situated within Tondiarpet police station limits in Chennai, and two obstetricians, for having reportedly left behind a cotton swab inside the abdomen of a woman during a cesarean section-cum-sterilisation procedure.

Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan dismissed the quash petitions filed by the doctors Rajendran, P. Shanthi and P. Vasantha and said that there were sufficient materials to prosecute them for the charge of having negligently left behind a foreign body, inside the abdomen, which had to be removed through another surgery.

The judge pointed out that the wife of the complainant, T. Mahesh, had to suffer abdominal sepsis due to the presence of the foreign body.

CONNECTED EVEN IN AIR

Airtel arm gets licence to provide on-board Net

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: 06.04.2019

Leading telecom player Bharti Airtel has got the licence to provide inflight connectivity for on-board Internet in Indian airspace. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued Indo Teleports Limited (ITL), a subsidiary of Airtel, the inflight and maritime connectivity service provider licence. State-run BSNL has also been granted the same licence and its partner Inmarsat, a leading global mobile satellite communications player, earlier this week said they expect “to commence services later this year once the ground infrastructure and associated approvals are in place.” Once that happens, airlines can provide on board WiFi in Indian airspace on flight to, from, within and overflying India, enabling flyers to surf the net and send mails and WhatsApp messages.

Airlines that have on board WiFi let passengers surf, tweet, send text or WhatsApp message on their personal electronic devices at reasonably fast speeds in good connectivity zones.

Inflight WiFi connectivity is subject to factors like the number of concurrent users, satellite coverage, and weather conditions. Most airlines discourage voice calls to avoid inconvenience to fellow passengers. Till now, flight to, from, over and within India are not able to provide onboard WiFi as the same was not permitted in Indian airspace. While foreign airlines like Lufthansa and Qatar Airways have long said they want to provide this service here, Indian airlines like SpiceJet have also expressed a desire to provide onboard WiFi.

Failing to find sex worker, he raped 61-yr-old

New Delhi:06.04.2019

On Sunday night, Sudhir Kumar, 30, left home after having two bottles of liquor, one of which was stolen from a former colleague.

He looked around for a sex worker near Lajpat Nagar metro station, but failed to find one. He then entered the park near the metro station where he spotted an elderly mentally challenged woman sitting on a bench. He dragged the 61-year-old sitting to a corner and raped her. Sudhir had come to Delhi five years ago along with his elder brother, who got him a job at a dhaba in Lajpat Nagar.

During interrogation, Sudhir said he had seen the victim several times earlier in the park. When he found the woman sitting at her usual place on Sunday night, he decided to assault her. TNN

This doc prescribes voters alternative poll medicine

Devanathan.Veerappan@timesgroup.com

06.04.2019 TOI 

Electioneering by the Makkal Needhi Maiam candidate for Nilakottai assembly segment in Dindigul district is in complete contrast to the high-decibel campaigns of the established political parties.

Dr C Chinnadurai, a paediatrician, travels to villages in his own car, with only his driver, an assistant and a lawyer friend. Once they reach the village square, they set up a public address system – a mike and amplifier – and the doctor begins speaking. On the day before his campaign in an area, he makes sure pamphlets carrying the party’s manifesto reach the villagers.

“In minutes, crowds gather and start listening to my speech. Being a doctor, many people in each village recognize me and I can easily connect with them,” says Chinnadurai.

While candidates of established political parties are pumping in money into their campaigns, he says he has spent only ₹22,000 so far and already covered around 60 villagers. His budget is a maximum of ₹2 lakh and he is planning to spend it all from his own pocket.

“Kamal sir has told us to be frugal with election expenses. If one spends more money, he will be forced to embezzle public money to recover expenses and that’s where corruption starts. We are presenting alternative politics and people like it,” says Chinnadurai, who served in a government hospital in Nilakottai.

Chinnadurai says he has entered politics only to give back to society. His two sons are doctors now and live in Chennai. He has suspended practice until after the elections. The doctor says partymen are upbeat after Kamal Haasan’s campaign on Thursday, which received a huge response with a large number of people turning up on their own.

Basic amenities such as water and roads are big issues in Nilakottai. Some villages do not allow politicians to campaign saying they have done nothing to improve the situation. Chinnadurai says he hopes to change this. The basic requirements of the people can be fulfilled if MLAs and MPs use their local area development funds honestly, he says.


UNCOMPLICATED: Dr C Chinnnadurai travels in his own car with just his driver, an aide and a lawyer friend for campaigning

I HAVE SPENT ₹22,000 TO COVER 60 VILLAGES AND WILL SPEND A MAXIMUM OF ₹2 LAKH

Dr C Chinnadurai, MNM candidate for Nilakottai assembly seat