News Analysis India

Tag: Delhi police

  • Punjab government to give Rs 2 lakh compensation to 83 arrested in Delhi for tractor march

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has decided to give Rs 2 lakh as compensation to 83 people who were arrested by the Delhi Police after a tractor march against the Centre’s farm laws turned violent on the Republic Day this year.

    The farmers had taken out a tractor march on January 26 in the national capital to highlight their two principal demands of a repeal of three new agri laws and a legal guarantee of minimum support prices.

    However, the march took a violent turn as thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with the police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort.

    “Reiterating My Govt’s stand to support the ongoing #FarmersProtest against three black farm laws, We have decided to give Rs 2 lakh compensation to 83 people arrested by Delhi Police for carrying out a tractor rally in the national capital on 26th January, 2021,” Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said in a tweet on Friday.

    Hundreds of farmers have been camping at the three Delhi borders since November 2020 with the demand that the government repeal the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    The Centre, which held 11 rounds of formal dialogue with farmers, has maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer, while protesters claim they would be left at the mercy of corporations because of the legislations.

  • How is housing Tablighi Jamaat attendees during lockdown an offence, HC asks Delhi Police

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Friday questioned Delhi Police what offence was committed by certain Indian nationals when they housed foreigners, who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation last year, during a nationwide lockdown, saying the government notification did not impose any bar on persons residing at any particular place.

    Justice Mukta Gupta, who was hearing a batch of petitions to quash the FIRs registered against the hosts, observed that the Jamaat attendees sought refuge before the lockdown was imposed in the wake of the pandemic and there were no allegations of them violating the orders restricting movement.

    “Suddenly when lockdown is imposed, where does one go after that? What is the offence committed? Is there any bar on Madhya Pradesh residents to stay in Delhi in any mosque, temple or gurudwara? They can stay wherever they want. Was there a notice that everybody will throw out whosoever was staying (with them)?” the judge questioned.

    “I have brought out the point. You will tell me where is the violation when there is no question of changing places at that time. I can understand they went out, that they violated the (lockdown) notification. When lockdown was imposed, there was no bar on anyone residing,” the court stated as it granted time to Delhi Police to file its response to the pleas.

    Counsel for the prosecution sought time to file a detailed status report in terms of an earlier direction passed by the court and stated that at the relevant time, there was a bar on any type of religious congregations.

    Counsel appearing for the petitioners submitted that since the Jamaat attendees began residing in the premises in question before the lockdown was imposed and none tested positive for COVID, no case was made out against her clients.

    While some of the pleas for quashing of FIRs are by individuals who had provided refuge to the foreigners who had attended the event and could not travel owing to the subsequent lockdown due to the outbreak of COVID-19, others are by people like managing committee members or caretakers of different mosques who have been accused of providing housing facilities to the foreign nationals in the masjids under the jurisdiction of Chandni Mahal police station.

    FIRs were registered for the alleged commission of offences under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), Section 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection) and other offences under the Indian Penal Code.

    In their plea, filed through advocates Ashima Mandla and Mandakini Singh, Feroz and Rizwan, who had each provided accommodation to four women Tablighi attendees, have contended that shelter was given to them as they had nowhere to go during the lockdown.

    Feroz, Rizwan and other petitioners have also contended that there is no documentation on record in either the FIR or charge sheet to indicate that they had been infected by COVID-19 and therefore, they could not have been accused of spreading the disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

    In his petition, Rizwan has alleged that the instant case is a classic example of case wherein unsubstantiated allegations have been embellished and exaggerated.

    Earlier, the court had asked Delhi Police to file a status report indicating the role of each accused and as well as the duration of their stay and whether the housing facility was given after or before the prohibitory orders issued by the authorities in view of COVID-19.

  • Sorry state of affairs in Tihar Jail, murders happening in prison, says SC; seeks MHA report

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday said it is a “sorry state of affairs” in Tihar Jail which has become a den of criminals and murders are happening there, while directing the Home Ministry to take immediate steps on prison reforms and enhance management.

    The apex court also expressed annoyance over the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) not filing an action plan and report on steps taken on the suggestions given by Delhi Commissioner of Police Rakesh Asthana.

    The top court was informed by Delhi Police that it has registered an FIR under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC against 37 persons with regard to collusion with realty firm Unitech’s imprisoned ex-promoters Sanjay and Ajay Chandra.

    The Enforcement Directorate had made a startling revelation recently that it had unearthed a “secret underground office” here which was being operated by erstwhile Unitech founder Ramesh Chandra and visited by his sons Sanjay and Ajay when on parole or bail.

    Both Sanjay and Ajay who are in jail since August 2017 are accused of allegedly siphoning home buyers’ money.

    A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said Asthana’s report has recommended the installation of CCTV cameras, mobile jammers, body scanners and other security measures in Tihar Jail but there is no report before it on the compliance of the October 6 order by MHA.

    “It is a sorry state of affairs in Tihar Jail. We have read in newspapers two-three days back that murder is happening in the jail. It has become a den for criminals. The concerned secretary in MHA should file an action plan and a report on steps taken so far on the suggestions given by Delhi Commissioner of Police Rakesh Asthana within three weeks,” the bench said.

    “Take immediate and prompt steps and file a report. Neither has any action plan been submitted nor any status report has been filed by the MHA on the steps taken so far,” it added.

    At the outset, Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, appearing for Delhi Police, informed the top court that it has registered FIR under various Sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code which include 32 jail officials, the Chandras as well as one associate and two of their staff for collusion and carrying out unauthorised activities from the prison.

    He said the investigation was still underway and on the next date of hearing they will file a report in this regard.

    Nataraj said that Asthana’s report has been forwarded to the MHA as directed by the court and it is pending consideration before the ministry.

    The bench said, “Consideration means what? There are suggestions that some immediate reforms are necessary for the report. There needs to be body scanners and jammers to ensure that there is no unauthorised use of mobile phones. You should not wait for something to happen in the future”.”

    The bench said that it would also seek a report from the Delhi government on the suspension of jail officials who have been booked for collusion.

    The top court also perused a report of Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) report on the affairs of Unitech and the ex-promoters and said that the agency should continue its investigation and file a status report within three weeks.

    Besides, it sought a report from the Enforcement Directorate which is probing the money laundering charges against the Chandra brothers.

    On October 6, the top court had directed suspension of Tihar Jail officials, registration of case against them and full-fledged probe into their collusion with Chandra brothers, based on Asthana’s report.

    It had directed registration of cases against the Tihar Jail officials and other unknown persons under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC against those involved in the collusion as per the report.

    It had also directed suspension of Tihar Jail officials, pending proceedings against whom cases will be lodged as per the report, following ED’s disclosure that the Chandra brothers were conducting business from prison.

    The top court had further directed the MHA to comply with Asthana’s suggestions in the report on enhancing prison management.

    On August 26, the apex court had directed that the Chandra brothers be shifted from Tihar Jail in the national capital to Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail and Taloja prison in Maharashtra after the ED had said that they were conducting business from the premises in connivance with the staff.

    The top court, which had then perused two status reports of the ED, said that the Tihar Jail Superintendent and other staff are “absolutely shameless” for conniving with the Chandra brothers to flout the court orders and undermine its jurisdiction.

    Pursuant to the direction of the top court, the Chandra brothers were shifted to jails in Mumbai.

    It had directed the Delhi Police Commissioner to personally hold inquiry forthwith about the conduct of the Tihar Jail staff with regard to the Chandras and submit the report to the court within four weeks.

    ED and SFIO, Economic Offence Wing of Delhi Police is also conducting investigation into the affairs of the Unitech Group and business transactions of erstwhile promoters of the real estate company.

  • ‘Never blocked roads, we stand vindicated’: Samyukta Kisan Morcha on removal of barricades

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH:  With the barricades and concertina wire put in place by the Delhi Police at the Ghazipur and Tikri borders are being removed by the police itself.

    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) today said that this move by the police has vindicated their stand that they never blocked roads at the border points of the national capital.

    The SKM leaders said any decision to entirely clear both the carriageways at the protest sites would be taken by the morcha but a passage for traffic to move smoothly will be made in the coming days.

    Senior SKM leader Darshan Pal said false allegations were being levelled against farmers that they had blocked roads, which had been rejected by them from day one.

    “At Singhu border farmers had occupied the portion of road which is already closed for traffic due to construction of a flyover. Now, this move to remove the barricades by the Delhi Police proves our point that it was the police who had blocked roads and not the farmers. We never created any problem. Any bottleneck from our side will also be cleared for traffic movement.’’

    The lawyers of the farmer unions argued in the supreme court that the Delhi police were responsible for the blockade at the national capital’s borders said sources in the farmers unions and added that the labourers and police personnel were removing iron nails that were studded on the at Ghazipur and Tikri borders.

    Meanwhile, the barricades and cemented blocks remain intact at the Singhu border and the road remains closed for commuters. 

  • Two held for extorting money from people by threatening to circulate their obscene video

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has arrested two men from Rajasthan in two separate cases for allegedly extorting money from people by threatening to circulate their obscene videos, officials said on Saturday.

    In the first incident, 23-year-old Ijajul, a resident of Rajasthan, was arrested for demanding money from a person after morphing his video, police said.

    A case was registered on the complaint of a person who alleged that he received a friend request from a Facebook account, the police said.

    He received a video call after shared his contact with the accused following which Ijajul morphed his video.

    He made an obscene video and started blackmailing him and demanding money in lieu of not circulating the video on social media, police said.

    The accused was apprehended from his native place in Rajasthan on Friday.

    He disclosed that he was the gang leader and adopted this modus operandi to trap his Facebook friends who hail from Delhi and Mumbai, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Deepak Yadav said.

    Ijajul had been released from jail earlier this month in a similar case.

    His brother was also arrested in a similar case, police said.

    In another incident, a 25-year-old man, also from Rajasthan, was arrested for allegedly extorting money from a retired person after threatening to circulate his obscene video on the internet, police said.

    The accused has been identified as Nasir, a resident of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, they said.

    On October 2, the police received a complaint from the retired person in which the victim alleged that he was receiving extortion calls from different numbers, and the caller had introduced himself as officials of a social media platform, police said.

    He alleged that the callers had been demanding money, stating that they have received a complaint from a woman who has alleged that the complainant had been exploiting her, police said.

    The accused demanded money from him in lieu of not uploading his video.

    Out of fear, the complainant transferred around Rs 4 lakh as the accused threatened to implicate the retired person in a rape case, they said.

    The extortionists were using over 100 mobile phones and more than 1,000 SIM cards issued on fake IDs, they said.

    On October 13, the police received information that the kingpin of the gang will visit Nagar in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur.

    The police conducted raids and Nasir was apprehended from Nagar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar said.

    Nasir’s brother Shakir is also wanted in this case.

    He used to work as a truck driver.

    Later, he saw that many people in his circle were earning a lot of money using this modus operandi and also cyber cheating, Kumar said.

    For the last two years, he also got involved in this crime and started extorting and cheating people, the police added.

  • Delhi Police arrests man from Bihar for forging Parliament pass

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A 26-year-old man was arrested from Bihar for allegedly forging a pass required to enter Parliament complex to show-off and cheat people, police said on Saturday.

    The accused has been identified Babloo Kumar Arya, a resident of Gopalganj district in Bihar, they said.

    According to the police, the accused told them that he wanted to show off and also cheat people with the help of the forged pass.

    The police received a complaint that a Lok Sabha pass for the personal secretary of a Member of Parliament had been prepared in the name of Babloo Kumar Arya without the recommendation of MP concerned, they said.

    It was also learnt that Arya was neither the PA or PS to any MP nor his name was recommended for issuance of Lok Sabha pass, police said.

    As the pass could be used to enter in the Parliament and was a security threat, a case was registered and the investigation was taken up, a senior police officer said.

    It was revealed that the forged pass was prepared after editing the Lok Sabha pass which was issued to a person named Jyoti Bhushan Kumar Bharti, police said.

    It was also found that Arya knew Bharti and both belonged to Gopalganj in Bihar, the officer said.

    Thereafter, a team was sent to Gopalganj and Patna.

    They both were interrogated where Arya confessed to his crime and was arrested on Thursday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Monika Bhardwaj said.

    It was revealed that the pass was issued to Bharti for the period of June 18, 2019 to December 31, 2019, police said.

    Arya had taken the original pass from Bharti’s pocket at his house at Gopalganj without his knowledge.

    He had forged the pass at a cyber cafe in Gopalganj after scanning the original pass and editing the details, police said.

    Arya completed his graduation from Chhapra University in Bihar in 2018.

    In 2011, he came in touch with Bharti who was also studying in Chhapra University.

    Bharti used to work as PA/PS to an MP, police added.

  • Phone tapping: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot’s OSD fails to appear before Delhi Police for questioning

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s OSD Lokesh Sharma did not appear on Friday before the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police in connection with a phone tapping case, citing “family emergency”.

    The CM’s officer on special duty (OSD) was issued a notice by the Crime Branch to appear before it in Delhi for questioning in connection with the case lodged on a complaint by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

    “When I was on my way to the Crime Branch, I received news of a family emergency and returned. That is why I could not appear,” Sharma said.

    He was earlier called for questioning on July 24 but he said it was not possible for him to travel out of Jaipur for two weeks due to personal reasons.

    However, he said if there was any urgency, he is available via video conference at a suitable time.

    The Delhi High Court has already ordered not to take coercive action against Sharma till January 13.

    The Delhi police had registered the FIR in March this year against Sharma on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawfully intercepting telegraphic signals (telephonic conversation) on the complaint by Shekhawat, who is also a BJP MP from Jodhpur.

    The phone-tapping controversy erupted in July last year in Rajasthan after alleged audio clips of alleged telephonic conversations between Shekhawat and Congress leaders surfaced amidst a rebellion against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot by his party leader Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs.

    It was alleged that Lokesh Sharma circulated audio clips purportedly having conversation about the conspiracy to topple the Congress government.

    On the basis of the audio clips, a complaint was lodged with the Special Operations Group (SOG) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Rajasthan Police in July last year but the FIR did not mention that Gajendra Singh referred to in an audio clip was Union minister Shekhawat.

    The SOG later closed the case after the Congress high command intervened to resolve the issues between Gehlot and Pilot.

    Sharma has rejected the allegations of phone tapping.

  • We have removed tents but Delhi Police has put up barricades: Rakesh Tikait after SC order to unblock roads

    By PTI

    GHAZIABAD: The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), whose supporters and office-bearers led by Rakesh Tikait are camping at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border since November 2020, on Thursday said the barriers at the protest site have been put by the Delhi Police and not farmers.

    Tikait, the national spokesperson of the BKU, said protesters at Ghazipur have cleared the path on a service lane leading to the national capital but the Delhi Police’s barricades were still present there.

    The influential farmers’ outfit, which is part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), also trashed reports of vacating the Ghazipur border that emerged in the wake of a Supreme Court order for ending road blockades at protest sites.

    “The protesters have removed their tents but barricades have been put by the government and the Delhi Police which are still there. The road is otherwise open. If you see, there are only barricades which have been put by the police,” Tikait told reporters.

    He said the protesters want to go to Delhi if the police lifted the blockade.

    “We have cleared our belongings but the public is suffering because of the police,” Tikait told a TV channel at UP Gate.

    Earlier, several protesters at Ghazipur were seen trying to remove the metal barricades which are chained together, and tractors parked on roads taken aside in the wake of the top court’s observation.

    BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik said, “By removing tents and other belongings, we have shown that it’s not the farmers who are blocking the road to Delhi.”

    He added that the protest will continue.

    “Farmers have the right to protest but they cannot keep roads blocked indefinitely. You may have a right to agitate in any manner but roads should not be blocked like this. People have the right to go on roads but it cannot be blocked,” an apex court bench of justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh said.

    The bench made the observation while hearing a public interest lawsuit by Noida resident Monicca Agarwal who complained of delays in daily commute due to the protesting farmers blocking roads.

    The court has asked farmer unions to respond to the PIL within three week.

    Hundreds of farmers have been encamping on the Delhi borders at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020, demanding the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee to retain minimum support price for crops.

    Key roads connecting Delhi with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have remained impacted ever since the protests began amid the continued stalemate between the Centre and protesting farmers over the central laws.

    “We respect the Supreme Court’s directive. We would also like to make it clear that it was the Delhi Police which had set up barricades at the protest site. We also demand that the Delhi Police should remove them now for public welfare,” Saurabh Upadhyay, a BKU spokesperson, told PTI.

    “Whether Delhi or Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, nowhere have farmers barricaded any roads. Farmers do not have the power to barricade roads but police do,” Upadhyay said.

    On purported pictures and videos on social media claiming removal of tents at the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (NH-9) in Ghazipur, the BKU office-bearer said earlier in the day that such reports were false rumours.

    “There is nothing like that. We have just removed one tent which was located on a service lane towards Delhi under the flyover on NH 9 at the UP Gate. The barricading put up by Delhi Police still exists on the lane,” he said.

    “Farmers are going nowhere from the border until the demands are met. The onus of removing barricades is on the police,” he added.

    Asked if farmers would continue to sit on the expressway, Upadhyay said even the Supreme Court has observed that peaceful protest is a right of citizens.

  • Delhi Police to SC: Need 4 more months for probe into case against Shivinder Singh

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Thursday told the Supreme Court it needed four more months to complete the probe in a case in which former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh is accused of misappropriating Rs 2,397 crore of Religare Finvest Ltd funds.

    Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing gave the timeline before a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana which has now listed Singh’s bail plea for hearing on Monday.

    “How much time should it take to complete the investigation? It cannot be an unending story,” the bench had observed while asking the police to give a time line for concluding the probe.

    “We will list it on Monday,” the bench, which also comprised Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said.

    Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Singh, said the accused has been in jail for the last two years.

    Moreover, his custody is not needed for the investigation as two charge sheets have already been filed, he added.

    Delhi Police has said it needs four more months to conclude the investigation if unforseen circumstances do not hit the ongoing probe, the bench said after perusing the report of the police.

    In May, the Delhi High Court cancelled Singh’s bail, noting that his detention was necessary to unearth the “conspiracy hatched by him” and trace the alleged siphoned off money.

    The order was passed on a plea by Religare challenging the March 3 order of the trial court granting bail to Singh in the case registered against him by the EOW under charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.

    Singh has moved the top court against the Delhi High Court cancelling the bail granted to him by the trial court in the case.

    The EOW registered an FIR in March 2019 after it received a complaint from RFL’s Manpreet Suri against Shivinder, former CMD of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) Sunil Godhwani and former CEO of RFL Kavi Arora and others, alleging that loans were taken by them while managing the firm but the money was invested in other companies.

    According to the prosecution, RFL’s authorised representative Manpreet Suri alleged that these accused put RFL in poor financial condition by disbursing loans to entities having no financial standings and willfully defaulted in repayments thereby caused wrongful loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore.

  • Delhi court orders FIR against woman for attempting to poison mother-in-law

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A court here has directed the Delhi Police to lodge an FIR against a woman and her relatives for allegedly attempting to kill her mother-in-law by poisoning.

    Complainant Rita Gupta alleged that her daughter-in-law Swati Gupta, in connivance with her family members, poisoned the milk which she then used to prepare coffee for herself on September 25.

    The complainant claimed that her health deteriorated after drinking the coffee and she was rushed to a hospital.

    Rita Gupta claimed demand for property “triggered the dangerous act”.

    The investigating officer (IO), in a status report, stated that a cup with the leftover coffee and Digital Video Recorder (DVR) containing CCTV footage has been seized and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for examination.

    Metropolitan Magistrate Ajay Singh Parihar noted that a cognisable offence is made out and that the pendency of forensic report of the leftover coffee that was allegedly used to poison her, cannot be a ground for non-registration of FIR by the police.

    “In fact, IO should have registered the FIR and then collected the above materials. Be that as it may, since on the face of it, complainant discloses cognisable offence, SHO connected is directed to register the FIR,” the judge ordered in an order dated October 18.

    Rita Gupta, through advocate Amit Sahni, alleged that her daughter-in-law pressured the family to transfer a property in her name which triggered the dangerous act.

    She moved the court against the alleged inaction of the station house officer (SHO) Mangolpuri, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), and the Commissioner of Police to register the FIR on her complaint.

    Advocate Sahni argued that the police officer is “duty-bound to register the case on receiving the information disclosing cognisable offence and the genuineness or credibility of the information is not a condition precedent for registration of a case.”

    Earlier, Swati Gupta had also filed a complaint alleging that she was forced to undergo abortion by her husband and his family members in 2017.

    In an order dated October 9, the court stayed an order directing the police to lodge an FIR on the daughter-in-law’s complaint, noting that no documents regarding the incident were provided by her.