Delhi police appeal against Manu's acquittal

     New Delhi: The Delhi police, which has been facing criticism over its 'inept handling' of the Jessica Lall murder case, on Monday filed an appeal in the High Court against the lower court's judgement acquitting all the nine accused including the main accused Manu Sharma. A sessions Court last month had acquitted Manu Sharma and Vikas Yadav, sons of Congress politicians, along with seven other co- accused in the case due to lack of evidence. The verdict raised a hue and cry both outside and inside the Parliament with MPs and general people demanding the reopening of the case. Following the controversy, Delhi police registered a new case in the Mehrauli police station under the Indian Penal Code for "destruction of, tampering with and fabrication of evidence" and common intention to commit the crime and conspiracy charge against "unnamed persons".

     Model Jessica Lall was shot at point blank range on the night of April 29, 1999 while she was working as a celebrity bar-maid in the Tamarind Court Bar owned by socialite Bina Ramani. It was alleged that Jessica Lal was murdered by Manu Sharma alias Siddharth Vashist, son of Congress politician and former Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Vinod Sharma, after she refused to serve him a drink since the bar had closed for the evening. The Delhi Police in its primary investigation had also indicted Vikas Yadav, the son of former Rajya Sabha Parliamentarian D P Yadav, along with ten others on the charge of destroying evidences. The sensational murder case had a high profile list of accused which included names like Amardeep Singh Gill, Coca-Cola company officials Alok Khanna, Shyam Sunder Sharma, Amit Jhingan, Yograj Singh, Harvinder Chopra, Vikas Gill, Raja Chopra, Ravinder Krishan Sudan and Dhanraj. The verdict came after a long hiatus of six years in which the case saw numerous twists and turns with a large number of witnesses turning hostile. Deepak Bhojwani, socialite Bina Ramani, her husband George Mailhot, and her daughter Malini had testified that they had seen prime accused Manu Sharma with three other co-accused at the party.

Shriram Mills' owner's son remanded (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: Abhishek Kasliwal, son of the owner of Shriram Mills, accused of raping a woman, has been remanded to police custody till March 17. The judgement was declared by the Bhoiwada Metropolitan Magistrate Court. Police arrested the 26-year old Kasliwal, son of the owner of Shriram Mills yesterday following a complaint lodged by a 52- year-old woman and a mother of two. The woman in her complaint stated that she was waiting for transport near Churchgate while on her way home around midnight on March 11. Kasliwal offered her a lift, in his bottle-green Mercedes car. Instead of dropping her to her place, he drove her to the Sreeram Mills in Worli where he raped her. The police sent her to St George's Hospital and Nagpada police hospital for medical examination. Preliminary reports suggested rape and assault. Ambuja Kasliwal, his father, had denied all the charges against his son and alleged he has been framed.

Parliamentarians compliment Anil Kumble (Go To Top)
by Pankaj Yadav

      New Delhi: The Lok Sabha today congratulated leg- spinner Anil Kumble, who became the fifth bowler in the world to take 500 or more Test wickets, saying "the nation is proud of you". Extending his compliments to the bowler, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said, "We are very happy over his extraordinary feat". He also complimented the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, Sharad Pawar for this great achievement. Lauding Kumble's feat, Member of Parliament from Karnataka's Kanakapura (Bangalore-Rural) constituency, Dr. Tejashwini See Ramesh, said that Kumble should be invited to the Parliament and be honoured for becoming the first Indian to take 500 wickets in the longer version of the game. She also praised the spinner for his social works. Kumble created history by taking his 500th wicket on Saturday, as he snared five for 76 before England's bowlers struck back in the second Test match, which Indian won today by nine wickets at Mohali. Kumble is the third spinner to join the 500-wicket club.

India wins Mohali Test against England (Go To Top)

     Mohali (Punjab): Opener Virender Sehwag cracked 76 to guide India to a nine-wicket victory over England in the second Test at Mohali on Monday, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. After seamer Matthew Hoggard trapped fellow opener Wasim Jaffer (17) leg before soon after lunch, Sehwag and skipper Rahul Dravid (42 not out) took over, putting on an unbroken 105-run second wicket partnership. Sehwag typically mixed slashes and drives to score his 11th Test fifty, striking nine fours and a six from 89 balls to spur India to the modest target of 144 at tea on the final day. Indian captain Rahul Dravid, while lavishing praise on debutant paceman Munaf Patel and spinner Anil Kumble for the victory over England, said the five-bowler combination could make an impact on the strength of the team. "We went into this game looking to take 20 wickets, looking to be positive. As I have said earlier, England has shown that by playing five bowlers in the Ashes that what impact and difference it can make, they become a stronger team with that combinations. I think we want to beat good team and have consistent results, we have got to be flexible and take a few chances. And I think we backed ourselves well in the game when we needed some contribution from the lower order," he said at a post-match news conference.

     Leg spinner Kumble turned the game on its head, finishing with a match haul of nine for 146. The 35-year-old took five in England's first innings to reach 500 Test scalps and dealt three quick blows after tea on day four when England batted again. However, Dravid warned his players against taking the injury- depleted England lightly for the third Test to be played in Mumbai. He expressed the hope that the wickets for the final Test should be a good cricketing wicket. "I am not very sure. But we have got and seen what kind of wicket it is. If it is the like the wickets in Australia, then probably we do not need five bowlers. I expect it to be a good wicket. The One-day game we played against South Africa, so it should be a good cricketing wicket. We have the options of playing three spinners or playing an extra quick. We could use the formula... some thing that we have been thinking for a while and something that would make us a better team," Dravid added. Andrew Flintoff lamented the second innings collapse that helped India win the match, but said England's performances on the tour hinted at a bright future. "As a side, I think I could not have asked for anything more. The seamers are running all day with good number of overs. Probably, it was just the batting as if one of us had made enough in the first innings, scored a big 100. Last night was a tricky session, especially when you are facing Anil Kumble bowling with 500 test wickets on a pitch which was spinning probably there was bounce, it was tough and it was unfortunate we lost the first five. It was hard," said Flintoff, who is leading the side in the absence of the injured Michael Vaughan. "We have shown signs in this game that we can compete with India. In Mumbai next week, we are going to ask the guys there to rally around. We can sit collectively, show our qualities that this side, we fight hard we show our character and hope to come to the party next week in Bombay," he added. England were down to 112 for five overnight before being all out for 181 on the final morning, leaving India needing only 144 runs for victory on Monday. Flintoff played a captain's part, scoring 70 and 51 and taking four wickets to restrict India's first innings lead to 38 runs. Flintoff also backed his young side to step up in the final test in Mumbai. India leads the three game Test series 1-0.

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