PhD scholar duped of ₹24L by ‘astrologers’

 PhD scholar duped of ₹24L by ‘astrologers’

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TIMES N EWS N ETWORK

04.02.2022

New Delhi: A PhD student from Amity University was allegedly duped of Rs 24 lakh by two men who posed as astrologers and told her she will get good luck and fortune. The accused told the woman that she would have to sacrifice a human and also perform puja and rituals.

The woman was searching for astrologers online and got a number. She called and one of the accused picked up, who then asked her to start performing rituals. It was only when she was told to  sacrifice a human that she realised she had been duped. 

The two men have been arrested by the cops. They said that their families are also into astrology, but due to loss of business during Covid, they started duping people in order to get more money. Police have seized seven debit cards, cheque books and mobile phones used in the commission of the crime.

 The accused have been identified as Tanish and Gaurav, and were arrested from Rajasthan and Punjab. The woman had complained that due to some personal issues in her life and career, she was feeling depressed and suffering from anxiety, which led her to search for astrologers. “She was surfing the web, where she came across a page operating in the name of Amrita Devi, and through the contact details on the page, she contacted the fraudsters,who were pretending to be tantriks capable of solving all problems. 

Thecomplainant discussed her issues with the accused in the hope of finding a solution through any ritual. The accused assured her that the rituals costing Rs 24 lakh will solve her problems,” said KPS Malhotra, DCP (cyber cell).

He added, “She agreed for the rituals and gave payments in installments. Gradually, she was duped of Rs 24 lakh. The complainant didn’t find any relief and asked for the reason. The accused told her that the God/Devtas are asking for a human sacrifice, or more rituals, which would cost Rs 20 lakh more. ”

The accused also revealed that they are cousins.

Jind varsity to reprint calendar

 Jind varsity to reprint calendar

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Vijender Kumar TNN

Jind: After the controversy over the calendar of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU) and Chaudhary Bansi Lal University (CBLU), Jind-based Chaudhary Ranbir Singh University (CRSU) has now decided to print photo of Chaudhary Ranbir Singh in its calendars in this session. Photos of Chaudhary Charan Singh and Chaudhary Bansi Lal were missing from university calendars, leading to protests and demands for action against VCs and those responsible for the mistake.

CCSHAU in Hisar was named after former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh in 1970 and CBLU, established in Bhiwani district, was named after former chief minister Chaudhary Bansi Lal in 2014. The CRSU was named after Chaudhary Ran-bir Singh, a freedom fighter and member of the Constituent Assembly on July 24, 2014. Ranbir Singh was the father of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Tosham Congress MLA and daughter-in-law of Bansi Lal, Kiran Choudhry said the saffron party and its alliance partner in Haryana are seeking to change the history gradually. Talking with media persons on Thursday, CBLU vice-chancellor R K Mittal said, “We have ordered the printing of photos on the calendar and they will be released soon. ”

CRSU registrar Loveleen Mohan said in a meeting it was decided to print a photo of Chaudhary Ranbir Singh. Told that the photo of Chaudhary Ranbir Singh was not printed in the past, she said, “I can’t say about the past but. . . they decided that his photo will be in the calendars. ”

Court can convict if satisfied that dying declaration is true: HC

 Court can convict if satisfied that dying declaration is true: HC

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Ajay.Sura@timesgroup.com

04.02.2022

Chandigarh: Upholding the life imprisonment of an Haryana-based accused who had set his wife afire, the Punjab and Haryana high court held that if the court is satisfied that dying declaration is true and voluntary, it can convict the accused even without any corroboration. Even the main complainant in the case, brother of the deceased, had turned hostile.

"It is trite law that, if the court is satisfied that the dying declaration is true and voluntary it can base conviction on it, without corroboration…," observed the HC.

The division bench, comprising Justice Ajay Tewari and Justice Pankaj Jain of the HC, passed these orders while dismissing an appeal filed by Sukhbir of Palwal district in Haryana.

The appellant was aggri-eved against the judgment passed by Sessions Judge, Palwal, whereby he was convicted in FIR No. 170 dated March 25, 2014, for the murder of his wife and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

The couple, who had two children, got married in 2008 but they had regular fights and the accused used to beat her under the influence of liquor. On March 24, 2014, at around 6-7 pm the accused, who was in a drunken state, started beating his wife Ranjana. With the inter- vention of complainant Sonu Mohanti, who was Ranjana's brother, she was saved. At around12 am on the same day, the accused set her on fire. She was taken to Safdarganj hospital, Delhi. During the treatment, her dying declaration was recorded in which she confirmed that her husband had an illicit relationship with his sister in-law and had set her on fire.

During the trial, Mohanti, whowas the brother of the deceased, turned hostile.

However, the trial court held the accused guilty while relying on the dying declaration of the deceased. The trial court observed that the dying declaration of the victim when tested on the anvil of admissibility is fully admissible and no intrinsic infirmity could be pointed out in this statement.

Complainant turned hostile during trial

Hence, in my opinion, the same deserves to be relied upon without corroboration from any other source and while accepting the same, it stands fully proved that the victim had died due to burns caused by the accused by immolating her with in tention to kill her an in this way he proved to have committed the murder of the victim, the trial court had held.

In his appeal against these orders, the accused mainly argued that the complainant having resiled from his statement, dying declara tion alone is not sufficient to hold the app ellant guilty.

Counsel for the state contended that, as per settled law, o nce the court has come to the conclusion that the dying declaration was the truthful version, it does not need any corroboration.

After hearing both the parties, the HC dismissed the ap peal observing that the dying declaration of the victim proved on record proves the guilt of the appellant beyond doubt.

Student tries to sneak GF into hostel in trolley bag

 Student tries to sneak GF into hostel in trolley bag

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04.02.2022

Manipal: One confident answer and the engineering student may have succeeded in wheeling his girlfriend right into his hostel room. But he stumbled when asked to explain the unusually-bulged trolley bag and then the cat, well the girl in  this case,was out of the bag. 

The discovery happened at an engineering college hostel in Manipal on Tuesday night. A student who watched the lovers’ plan unravel said the boy walked in with the trolley bag and caught the caretaker’s attention. The man asked why the student was carrying such a huge piece of luggage. The student answered that it contained items that he had ordered online. That only seemed to have confirmed the caretaker’s suspicions.

TNN

Runaway bride who took 8 grooms for a ride held

 Runaway bride who took 8 grooms for a ride held

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04.02.2022

Jabalpur: A 28-year-old woman who allegedly married men and then ran away with jewelry and cash has been arrested along with three others, police said here on Thursday. Urmila Ahirwar alias Renu Rajput is suspected to have cheated at least eight men in this way.

The other three arrested accused were identified as Archana Burman alias Archana Rajput (40), Bhagchand Kori (22) and Amar Singh (50). Their latest victim was Dashrath Patel (41), a resident of neighbouring Seoni district, said inspector S S Baghel, the in-charge of Omti police station. After she was arrested, Ahirwar confessed to have cheated seven other men in the past, inspector Baghel said.

She would marry a man and flee with jewelry and cash after a few days, he said. She had thus cheated men in Jaipur, Kota and  Dholpur in Rajasthan and Damoh and Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, the police official added. Dashrath Patel's marriage with Ahirwar was fixed through Archana who posed as her relative. Patel gave jewelry, clothes and cash to Amar Singh, who also pretended to be among her relatives, during the wedding. As per Patel's complaint, after the marriage ceremony in Jabalpur on Tuesday, the couple left for his village in a car. Ahirwar allegedly got down at one point, saying she was feeling unwell. Kori arrived at the spot on a motorbike, and she fled with him, allegedly carrying cash and jewelry which Patel had given to her. Further probe is on.

PTI

Guv returns TN’s anti-NEET bill, govt fumes

 Guv returns TN’s anti-NEET bill, govt fumes

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

04.02.2022

Chennai: Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi on Thursday refused to give his assent to the anti-NEET Bill passed by the assembly, saying it was against the interest of students, especially those from rural areas and underprivileged families. The state government objected to the governor’s remarks and convened an all-party meeting on Saturday to decide its course of action.

A release from Raj Bhavan said the governor took the decision after a detailed study of the bill for admission to UG medical courses that seeks to do away with NEET, besides the report of the state government-constituted panel that recommended the move. The high-powered committee, led by Justice (retired) A K Rajan, examined the pre NEET status of social justice in medical admission, especially for students coming from socially and economically underprivileged backgrounds. “The governor returned the bill to the Speaker, Tamil Nadu legislative assembly, on February 1, 2022, giving detailed reasons for its reconsideration by the House,”  the release said.

The governor can return the bill “only on sound legal grounds, and not due to his subjective satisfaction”, said Justice K Chandru, former judge of the Madras high court. This decision to return the bill, coupled with the long delay, has rendered the decision clearly unconstitutional, he said.

Ravi’s decision reflects the will of four BJP MLAs, and disregards the collective resolution of 230 MLAs who supported the legislation, Justice Chandru said. “Return of a bill for reconsideration is open only when the issued concerned was never taken note of by the House, not when it has debated and adopted. ” The Supreme Court had examined the issue while hearing the Christian Medical College, Vellore Association Vs Union of India case in 2020, especially from the standpoint of social justice, and upheld NEET as a screening exam.

SC: Money laundering damages financial system of the country

 SC: Money laundering damages financial system of the country

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04.02.2022

The court is examining constitutional validity of various provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for allegedly being violative of basic principles of natural justice and crimina l jurisprudence. While hearing a batch of over 250 petitions, including those filed by Congress leader Karti Chidambaram and former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, the court said such crim e affects the integrity

and sovereignty of the country and that was the purpose for bringing the Act.

“The offence of money laundering is more heinous. It damages the economy and  the financial system of the country. It can put the economy on hold orcan derail it. It is more serious than murder. That is why a special Act was framed,” a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar observed when it was p ointed out that the procedure prescribed in the Act is against the Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act.

The court said that money laundering is not only used for drug trading but also for terrorist activities and such crime is not only heinous but also affects integrity and sovereignty of the country.

It said that possessing stolen property and ill gotten property out of proceeds of crime cannot be put on the same footing. The petitioners are being represented by top legal minds, including Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Sidharth Luthra and they pressed that the validity of provisions needed to be examined.

Money laundering more heinous than murder: SC

New Delhi: Observing that the offence of money laundering cannot be treated lightly, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that it was more serious and hei- nous crime than murder as it affected the entire economy whose growth could be put on hold or derailed because of it, reports Amit Anand Choudhary