Blast at Bosnia police headquarters kills one officer

June 27 (Reuters) – An explosion at the police headquarters of the central Bosnian town of Bugojno killed one officer and injured another early on Sunday, officicals said.

“An unidentified explosive device went off during the morning shift at 0500 CET (0300 GMT) when about 25 policemen were in the building,” a local police officer told Reuters by telephone.

He said that it was unclear whether the device, which also caused serious damage to nearby buildings and vehicles, had been planted or thrown at the police station.

“Such terrorist attacks represent a jeopardy for the whole of society and we have to energetically stem this evil which is threathening the lives of our people,” Bosnia’s Security Minister Sadik Ahmetovic told state television. (Reporting by Maja Zuvela and Miran Jelenek; Editing by Matthew Jones) (maja.zuvela@thomsonreuters.com; +387 33 295 484; Reuters Messaging: maja.zuvela.reuters.com@reuters.net)

Two men drown off Gorai beach

Mumbai, June 6 — Two men, who were part of a 10-member group from Thane that had gone for a picnic to Gorai beach, drowned on Saturday. While Shailesh Ghadigaonkar’s (25) body has been recovered, Srikrishna Bhoir (22) is still missing. Police suspect Bhoir too has drowned. At 2 pm, Ghadigaonkar decided to go for a swim. Soon, Bhoir too joined him. “After half-an-hour they ventured deep into the sea,” said a witness, who refused to give his name. The other eight friends too were in shallow waters. The witness added that a few members of the group noticed that their friends were drowning and tried to save them. “One of the group members informed the police and fire brigade,” said an officer of the Gorai police station, requesting anonymity.

Efforts to locate Bhoir were on until late evening.

Autorickshaw driver, aide rape 15-yr-old girl at Dahisar

Mumbai, June 6 — The Dahisar police on Friday arrested an autorickshaw driver for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl. The accused’s accomplice is wanted in the case.

The arrested accused has been identified as Farid Syed (22), a resident of Dahisar (East). Police officials said the incident happened at Raut Compound in Dahisar Thursday morning.

The police said that the victim and two of her friends went to the N. G. Park area in search of a relative, who had been missing for the last two days. The police said the victim’s friends were walking ahead, while the victim was trailing.

Farid and his accomplice were drunk and they allegedly approached the victim. “They threatened and assaulted the victim and then dragged her to an isolated corner,” said Police Sub Inspector D. Girkar of the Dahisar police station.

They reportedly raped the victim and fled. The victim narrated the entire incident to her family, who then lodged a complaint with the police.

Based on the description provided by the victim and her friend, the police arrested Syed from his residence.

Plane crash case: Court issues summons against Raja Bhaiyya

Pratapgarh (UP), June 6 (PTI) A local court has issued summons to controversial independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya and two others in a case in which the former UP minister was accused of flying a two-seater plane without a license which crash-landed here last year. “On the basis of a chargesheet filed by police, the court has directed Kunda MLA, Raja Bhaiyya, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and pilot Captain Ramesh chandra Ramnani to appear in person before it on July 3,” prosecution sources said.

Raja Bhaiyya and two others had a close shave on the evening of March 22 last year after the private ”microlite” aircraft they were flying crashed on the banks of Chausa river in Dheemi village of Pratapgarh district. Raja Bhaiyya and the pilot sustained serious injuries in the accident.

It was alleged that Raja Bhaiyya was flying the aircraft at the time of the crash. Later an FIR was lodged at Hathgawan police station against Raja Bhaiyya, Zulfiqar and Capt Ramnani under Section 2/3 of the Aircraft Act 1934 and Sections 279, 338, 201 of the IPC. The sections cover charges of flying an aircraft without a licence, flying in a prohibited area, not informing ATC before flying and causing danger to public by flying without a skilled pilot.

Director (Safety), Civil Aviation Department, Ramnath also probed into the incident. The investigating officer recently filed a chargesheet against the three accused in the court, the sources said.

Not Mayawati, Akhilesh framed me in fraud case: Amar

Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Sunday mounted a frontal attack against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son and Lok Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav, alleging that he was behind the case of Rs 500 crore financial fraud registered against him in Kanpur last year.

“First of all, I want to apologise to UP CM Mayawati because it was not she but the brother and son of the SP supremo (Mulayam Singh Yadav) who got me framed in the case lodged at Babupurva police station (in Kanpur),” Amar Singh wrote in his latest blog post, without naming Ram Gopal Yadav (Mulayam’s brother) and Akhilesh.

Amar Singh was referring to an FIR lodged against him and his wife Pankaja in Babupurva police station (in Kanpur) in October last year in connection with a financial fraud. The complainant, advocate Shiv Kant Tiwari, had alleged that the couple had amassed nearly Rs 500 crore between 2003 and 2008.

“A functionary of my old party (SP) was given Rs 5 crore in first tranche and then Rs 2 crore in second trance, a total of Rs 7 crore, to frame me,” he alleged, claiming that one Dhirendra Sahay, whom he describes as Akhilesh Yadav’s friend, among others, which included a Congress Member of Parliament and a senior bureaucrat in Mayawati administration, were aware of the conspiracy from the very beginning.

Akhilesh rejects charges

NEW DELHI: Akhilesh Yadav rejected Amar Singh’s charge that he was behind framing him in the financial fraud case. “I don’t have any friend by the name of Dhirendra Sahay. It is neither in my character or nature nor in my habit to frame anybody in false charges ostensibly to settle political scores,” Akhilesh told The Indian Express . ENS

Wadala police face heat over kidnappings

Mumbai, May 29 — More than 250 locals surrounded Wadala police station on Friday to protest police inaction in the kidnap of two minor girls 20 days ago. Firoz A, one of the girls’ father said 20 days ago, his 14-year-old daughter and her 15-year-old friend went missing from their respective houses. “We lodged a missing complaint at Wadala police station but when the police enquired in the area and found two local boys also missing, they registered a case of kidnapping against the two 22-year-old boys,” said Firoz. “The police investigated and found the four were in Uttar Pradesh. A police team went there to arrest the boys and bring back our girls but returned empty-handed,” he said at the police station, where he was present with the locals. “It’s hard to believe a police team went to UP but couldn’t even get pictures of the boys. I’m afraid that if the police do not arrest the boys soon, they will kill my daughter and her friend, Ruchi Sharma,” he said. “If the children have eloped, the police should at least tell us,” he added. The alleged kidnappers, identified as Mumtaz (22) and Parvez (23), lived in the same area as the girls and worked as daily wage labourers. Vilas Shinde, senior police inspector at Wadala police station, said the couples had eloped and the girls had taken cash and jewellery from their houses, and said police are charging them with kidnapping because they are minors.

Asked about fresh efforts to locate the girls, Shinde said: “We’ve sent messages to police stations in the neighbouring areas of UP. In Mumbai too, we’ve sent wireless messages to all police stations, railway stations and bus stands.”

Pak pigeon has police in flutter

Amritsar, May 29 — This gives a whole new meaning to cross-border infiltration, but it’s not clear if it will add a feather in the cap of the Punjab police. In an era of spy planes and satellites, the Amritsar (rural) police have detained a white pigeon that could have been – the police claim – used as a Pakistani spy.

The pigeon was reportedly spotted in Ramdas, a tiny town close to the Indo-Pak border, with a Pakistani stamp imprinted and a Pakistani phone number written on its feathers. Excited residents took the bird to the nearest police station.

The pigeon’s fate will be decided once officials there decide what to do with it. With news of the low-tech ‘spy’ spreading, the police have kept the bird in a special cage.

It was earlier simply locked in a room. “The people of the area had come with the pigeon that had a Pakistani stamp and telephone number on it,” said Jagjit Singh, station house officer of Ramdas police station.

Pigeon races are known to be held across the border, and it was possible that this particular pigeon took a longer route in one such race and lost its way, a police official suggested.

Car driven by drunk rams, kills Inspector

New Delhi, May 29 — Delhi Police Inspector Shyam Sunder Pawar (45) died on Thursday night after he was hit by an overspeeding car on Bhairon Road. Police say the offending car- a Maruti Suzuki Swift-was driven by Sahil Gupta (22), a businessman in east Delhi’s Dilshad Garden area. Gupta was apparently drunk at the time of the incident. The incident was discovered by a patrol party from the local police station around 12.30 pm. Police say, “Gupta’s car, after hitting Inspector Pawar, had crashed into an iron railing on the sidewalk where digging work for the Commonwealth Games is underway.” “Such was the impact that the front of the vehicle suffered irreparable damage. Pawar’s body was recovered 20 metres away from the accident spot,” said a senior police officer. Inspector Pawar, a 1994 batch police officer and from a family of police personnel, was posted as Inspector Investigations at the Kalyanpuri Police Station in east Delhi. “Prima facie, it seems that Inspector Pawar, who was standing behind his black Hyundai Santro, was talking on the phone when Gupta crashed into him. The left side of Pawar’s body was completely destroyed,” the officer said. Police said Gupta claimed he was trying to avoid a stray dog and lost control of the vehicle in the process. “Gupta was so inebriated that he confessed to having blacked out seconds before he hit the officer.” When the police patrol party reached the spot, Gupta was apparently trying to discard empty beer bottles from his car. He was pulled out of his damaged car by the patrol party. Gupta’s kin, however, refuted the police’s claims. “Sahil was not under the influence of alcohol. He doesn’t drink,” claimed his mother Veena Gupta (42). Gupta was released on bail on Friday evening. However, the police stood by their version of the incident.

“We have registered a case of attempting to cause death through negligence and are investigating the matter.”

30 killed in drug related clashes in Jamaica

Mexico City, May 26 (DPA) At least 26 civilians were killed in the Jamaican capital of Kingston as police stormed a drug gangster’s stronghold and violence spread to outlying regions, local media reported Tuesday.

The deaths confirmed by the Jamaica Constabulary Force would bring to 30 the number of people, including three members of the security forces, killed since clashes began over the weekend.

Another 25 people have been injured and more than 200 arrested.

The clashes broke out when military and police officials attempted to arrest accused drug kingpin Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, wanted in the US on criminal charges. He is believed to be hiding in the Tivoli Gardens neighbourhood of the capital, where the clashes have centred.

Explosions were heard near the quarter in the capital, and heavy clouds of smoke rose from the area late Monday, according to local media reports.

Violence initially broke out Sunday after Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding vowed to extradite Coke to the United States.

Police reportedly came under fire in parts of West Kingston Sunday, and a police station was set ablaze after being abandoned by besieged officers who had run out of ammunition.

In response, Golding declared a month-long state of emergency in parts of the capital and outlying St Andrew, media reports from the Caribbean island said.

Kahlon-Chitkara tiff reaches cricket ground

The ongoing tussle between RTI activist Sarbjeet Singh Kahlon and Ludhiana Cricket Association general secretary Vinod Chitkara spilled over to the cricket ground at PAU on Sunday, after Kahlon allegedly abused two players on the ground.

Kahlon and Chitkara have been at war over the issue of election of players for the under-15 team. Kahlon’s son, too, is a cricketer and was not selected for the team, which according to him, was done to accommodate Chitkara’s son. Kahlon even showed some documents to prove that Chitkara’s son was over-aged and did not qualify for the team and that he was using his position to get his son selected.

The police had to be called in to control the situation. The ruckus broke out when Chandigarh was playing Ludhiana in a domestic cricket match. It has been learnt that Kahlon abused players Rahul Singla and Varun Chitkara, who lodged a complaint with the umpire, who took up the matter with game referee Jasvir Singh. Singh, meanwhile, said, “The police are looking into the matter. We will also report the issue to the Punjab Cricket Association.”

Kahlon rubbished the entire issue and said, “The matter is quite the contrary. I reached the ground around 11.30 in the morning. Ajay Singla and his son Varun approached me and started abusing me. I called in the PCA and seeing the police, they backed off. The moment the police returned, these two again began abusing and manhandling me. I went to the police station and recorded my statement . These two never even reached the police station.”

He said, “Like Vinod’s son, Ajay Singla”s son, too, was found over-aged for the under-19 team last year. Chitkara is already facing an FIR filed by me. Moreover, had I abused the boys, why no one else heard the abuses? The umpire or the referee did not hear anything. This shows the complaint is completely false.”

Four CRPF personnel killed as Naxals trigger off landmine in West Bengal

West Midnapore (West Bengal), May 19 (ANI): At least four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were feared killed when suspected Maoists triggered off a landmine in West Bengal’s West Midnapore District on Wednesday.

Two other personnel were injured in the incident.

According to the CRPF, the personnel were conducting routine patrolling.

The personnel had set out from their camp at Goaltore market to nearby villages when the blast took place at Ramgarh in Lalgarh Police Station limits at around 11.30 a.m.

Those killed included three constables besides the driver of the vehicle in which they were traveling.

The vehicle was badly damaged in the explosion.

Sources said the blast left a five-feet-deep crater on the road.

Wednesday is the second day of 48-hour shutdown forced by the Maoists.

The recent attack comes just two days after a bus was blown up in Chhattisgarh killing 31 people, including 16 Special Police Officers (SPOs).

Earlier in the day, the Maoists detonated a landmine between Gidhni and Khathura stations damaging a goods train running between Tatanagar and Howrah in the Jhargram Police Station area near Khatpora in the District.

The train was damaged, and the driver and assistant driver of the train have been injured.

Earlier, the Union Home Ministry had issued a high alert in all the five states–Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand – following the call for a shutdown by the Maoists. (ANI)

Maoist blow up rail track in West Bengal

West Midnapore (WB), May 19 (ANI): Maoists blew up a railway track near Jhargram in West Bengal”s West Midnapore district on Wednesday.

The incident took place at around 2.00 am between Gidhni and Khathura stations damaging a goods train running between Tatanagar and Howrah in the Jhargram police station.

The driver and assistant driver of the train have been injured.

Railways and security officials have reached the spot. Work is currently on to repair the rail tracks.

The attack came on the second day of the two-day five-state shutdown called by the Maoists.

The shutdown call has been given in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh in protest against anti-Maoist operations by paramilitary forces. (ANI)

Kaneria arrested on spot-fixing charges

London, May 15 (IANS) Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who is playing for English county Essex, was arrested and later released on bail by Essex police following the police’s investigation into alleged spot-fixing in his team’s Pro40 match against Durham last September.

Essex’s young fast bowler Mervyn Westfield has also been arrested along with Kaneria.

‘Both men appeared at Brentwood police station Friday and were questioned under caution before being released on bail until Sept 15, pending further inquiries,’ said a report in Daily Telegraph.

As neither has yet been charged with any offence, both are free to continue playing cricket until then, by which time Pakistan will have completed their Test series against England. That should allow Pakistan’s selectors to at least pick Kaneria.

Essex police had wanted to interview Kaneria, 29, who has 58 Test caps for Pakistan, last Monday, three days after his return to England, but that was during Essex’s County Championship match with Kent and the club asked if that could be deferred until Friday. Every other Essex player, as well as the support staff, have been helping police with their inquiries.

Kaneria’s performance in the match against Durham is not under scrutiny, but he is thought to have introduced Westfield, whose performance against Durham is under the microscope, to an illegal bookmaker,’ the report claimed.

Westfield, 22, has been interviewed before by police, who confiscated his mobile phone. He conceded 60 runs in seven overs in the 40-over match against Durham, with four wides and two no-balls.

Essex police confirmed that their investigation, which began in March this year, followed allegations received. As these allegations are thought to have come from other players, it has made for an uncomfortable dressing room this season.

Spot-fixing is when small events in the game are fixed, such as a wide or a dropped catch.

‘It is thought to be the vehicle favoured by India’s illegal bookmakers to manipulate bets, in which millions of pounds are staked on the smallest shifts within a match, to their advantage,’ the report said.

Shutdown in Siliguri against separate state demand

Siliguri (West Bengal), May 14 (ANI): A regional non-political group, Bangla O Bangla Bhasha Bachao Committee, called for a 24-hour shutdown in West Bengal”s Siliguri District on Friday to protest the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha”s (GJM) demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

Opposing the demand of the GJM, the members of the committee said that West Bengal is for Bengalis, and the Gorkhas residing in the hills are outsiders.

“Bangla O Bangla Bhasha Bachao Committee called a 24-hour strike throughout West Bengal to protest and oppose the interim self-government as demanded by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, which amounts to partition of the state,” said Mukunda Majumdar, President of the Bangla O Bangla Bhasha Bachao Committee.

The streets wore a deserted look and only a few government buses were plying during the shutdown.

The marketplaces and establishments belonging to supporters of the protest also remained closed during the shutdown.

Police personnel were deployed across the city to prevent any clashes.

“We have allowed them to carry out their agitation peacefully. But if they become unruly or stop vehicles and threaten drivers, then we are forced to take action against them,” said Aloke Dasgupta, Inspector in-charge at Siliguri Police Station.

“We have arrested about 12 persons, who indulged in some sort of violence, and have sent them to the police station,” he added.

Gorkhas, who are ethnic Nepalese, have been demanding a separate state in Darjeeling hills, to help them protect their culture and heritage. (ANI)

Police will initiate action against Muthalik: Yeddyurappa

Bangalore / Belgaum, May 14 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday assured the State Police would initiate appropriate action against Sri Ram Sene chief patron Pramod Muthalik, who was caught by rent-a-riot sting operation.

On Thursday evening, a private news channel aired video clippings of a sting operation where some Sene leaders spoke about organizing a riot in return for money.

Yeddyurappa also categorically said neither his party not his government has any relationship with Muthalik and his organization.

Interacting with media, Yeddyurappa said he had never interfered in such matters and police are free to take action.

“I don”t know anything about Muthalik. I read about him in the newspaper. Police will take appropriate decision at appropriate time. We don”t interfere in such matters. Police is there, and according to law, they will take action,” Yeddyurappa said.

He also denied that the expose would have any impact on his government.

Denying charges of being soft on Muthalik, Yeddyurappa pointed that the government had taken action against the Sene after church attack incident.

In Belgaum, hitting back at the news channel for its sting operation, Muthalik filed a report at the Camp Police Station in the city on Friday.

Addressing media after filing report, Muthalik asked for a detailed inquiry into the sting operation either by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the Crime Investigation Department (CID).

He also alleged that the expose was an attempt to defame him and alleged criminal intimidation and extortion.

Muthalik said the rent-a-riot sting operation was part of a conspiracy to impose President”s rule in Karnataka.

He also denied of having any association with the BJP and the Karnataka Government.

He threatened to file a defamation suit.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister V.S. Acharya has asked the channel to submit unedited tapes of the sting operation to the state government.

Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) leader Ram Madhav has denied any organizational link with Muthalik and said there is no place for violence in the RSS system. (ANI)

Outcome of US-led ‘War On Terror’ hinges on ‘Battle Of Kandahar’ success

New York, May 12 (ANI): The slated US offensive against Taliban in Kandahar could be the defining moment in the US-led war on terror in Afghanistan. More than 20,000 US troops are being mobilized for the do-or-die operation that will see the US go all out to reclaim the nerve center of the Afghan Taliban.

According to Stephen Biddle, a civilian adviser to Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the outcome of the entire war is riding on it.

“If we fail to secure this population, it”s hard to see how the campaign could succeed,” CBS News quoted Biddle as saying.

The operation is already under way with more than a hundred Taliban operatives being reportedly captured or vanquished.

Operation Cooperation for Kandahar, the official name for the operation, is unprecedented in scale and far outstrips previous US attempts at weeding out the Taliban militia from Marjah.

Right now there are only 12,000 U.S., Canadian and Afghan troops in and around Kandahar, and according to Michael Semple, an Irish EU official who has spent more than two decades in Afghanistan and is a Taliban expert, that”s not enough to stop the Taliban”s reign of terror, the report said.

Between now and July, the number of troops will essentially double. American and Canadian troops will set up bases in the districts surrounding Kandahar and spread out into the villages where the Taliban have their safe havens, the report said.

At the same time, U.S. and Afghan forces will establish checkpoints – 40 in all – on roads leading into Kandahar. Inside the city, U.S. troops will man every police station alongside Afghan police, though Semple has his reservations about the Afghan Police’s ability.

“The weak point in the strategy is the Afghan police. They have yet to prove themselves,” Semple said.

“The operation in Kandahar is 100 times more important than the operation in Marjah, that was a sideshow; Kandahar is the real thing,” he added

The Marjah operation is still not over and U.S. officers do not expect the Kandahar operation to produce results until the end of the year. (ANI)

China admits man wrongfully imprisoned for ten years after being tortured to confess

New Delhi, May 12 (ANI): In a startling disclosure, a Chinese man who was jailed for ten years apparently for committing a murder has said that his confession was obtained as a result of torture during interrogation.

Zhao Zuohai who was wrongfully incarcerated for ten years, talking about the atrocities meted out by Shangqui authorities, told China Daily, “They beat my head with a long stick. They asked me to drink something that made me really sleepy and set off fireworks above my head.”

“They beat me in the police station and I had to admit to the crime then,” he added.

Shangqui authorities have admitted that Zhao Zuohai was tortured during interrogation before he pleaded guilty, the paper reports.

Wang Jianmin, Party chief of the political and legislative affairs committee of Shangqiu, said on Tuesday that the police, the procuratorate and the court that were involved in the case ten years ago are all responsible for this case of injustice.

“This is another sad, alarming case that strongly affects the credibility of our legal system”, Yang Shaogang, a lawyer from Shanghai told the paper.

“There might be more such cases with no ”victims” coming back. I hope the local government in Henan will provide a satisfactory answer to the public regarding this case and punish those who are responsible,” he added.

However his newfound freedom holds little meaning to Zuohai, and, according to the paper, the man was crying inconsolably upon being released since he returned home only to find that most of his house had been damaged.

His wife has also remarried and taken away two of their children, while his other two children were still in the village, but had been adopted by another family. (ANI)

Death sentence to Koli in Nithari murder case

Ghaziabad, May 12 (ANI): A Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Wednesday awarded death sentence to Surender Koli, who was found guilty of murdering seven-year-old Aarti in Noida”s Nithari village.

Earlier on May 5, the court had fixed May 12 as the next date for hearing to decide upon the quantum of judgement.

Special Additional District and Session Judge A K Singh had on May 4 convicted 38-year-old Koli for Aarti”s murder.

Aarti was the last of 19 victims in the Nithari killings. She disappeared about two months before the case was busted.

In a previous order on the Nithari killings, the special CBI court had on February 12 awarded the death sentence to Moninder Singh Pandher and Surender Koli for their roles in the Rampa Haldar murder case.

Just like in Haldar murder case, the CBI has given a clean chit to Pandher primarily on the basis of his cell phone records, while holding only Koli guilty of the crime.

Aarti had reportedly returned home from school on the afternoon of October 25, 2006 after which she went out to buy herself some toffees.

However, she never came back. A report about Aarti going missing was then taken down at the Sector 20 police station in Noida.

On December 29, 2006, Aarti”s remains were found buried behind Pandher”s home in Nithari.

Both Pandher and Koli are accused of killing and disposing off the bodies of 19 children and a young woman between 2005 and 2006.

The investigation of the case was handed over to the CBI on January 11, 2007. The CBI has filed charge sheets in 16 cases. (ANI)

Paris female pants law could be lifted

London, May 5 (ANI): The law that banned women from wearing trousers in Paris could finally be lifted more than two centuries after first being enforced.

The rule, which was first introduced in late 1799 by Paris” police chief, stipulated that any Parisienne wishing to “dress like a man” must seek special permission from the city”s main police station.

However, a group of ten French MPs has now submitted a draft bill to parliament to remove the law, which has survived repeated attempts to repeal it.

The latest attempt to remove the out-of-date rule was in 2003, when a Right-wing MP from President Nicolas Sarkozy”s UMP party wrote to the minister in charge of gender equality.

“Disuse is sometimes more efficient than (state) intervention in adapting the law to changing morays,” the Telegraph quoted the minister as responding then.

Already, the rule has been contradicted by legislation that has made men and women equal in the eyes of the French constitution since 1946.

But the MPs say the trouser ban is “obsolete” and should be “de-legislated”.

The development comes in line with Sarkozy”s recent announcement that parliament should be given a break in the second half of this year to look back over old French laws that need repealing. (ANI)

Nithari murder case: CBI court postpones hearing to May 12

Ghaziabad, May 5 (ANI): A Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Wednesday fixed May 12 as the next date for announcing the quantum of sentence on Surender Koli, who was found guilty of murdering seven-year-old Aarti in Noida”s Nithari village.

“The court has fixed 12th May as the next date for hearing to decide upon the quantum of judgement,” said Aarti”s lawyer, Sanjay Tyagi.

Earlier on Tuesday, Special Additional District and Session Judge A K Singh had convicted 38-year-old Koli for Aarti”s murder.

Aarti was the last of 19 victims in the Nithari killings. She disappeared about two months before the case was busted.

In a previous order on the Nithari killings, the special CBI court had on February 12 awarded the death sentence to Moninder Singh Pandher and Surender Koli for their roles in the Rampa Haldar murder case.

Just like in Halder murder case, the CBI has given a clean chit to Pandher primarily on the basis of his cell phone records, while holding only Koli guilty of the crime.

Unlike Rampa”s father, Aarti”s parents Durga and Neelam Prasad have never challenged the CBI”s contention that Koli alone was the culprit.

Aarti had reportedly returned home from school on the afternoon of October 25, 2006 after which she went out to buy herself some toffees.

However, she never came back. A report about Aarti going missing was then taken down at the Sector 20 police station in Noida.

On December 29, 2006, Aarti”s remains were found buried behind Pandher”s home in Nithari.

Both Pandher and Koli are accused of killing and disposing off the bodies of 19 children and a young woman between 2005 and 2006.

The investigation of the case was handed over to the CBI on January 11, 2007. The CBI has filed chargesheets in 16 cases. (ANI)