Rape victim identifies textile heir

      New Delhi: The Mumbai police on Friday confirmed that the 52-year-old rape victim has identified Abhishek Kasliwal, the son of Shree Ram Mills owner Ambuja Kasliwal, in an the identification parade conducted here on Thursday. Twenty-six-year old Abhishek Kasliwal is facing charges of allegedly raping the woman on March 11 in his car in the Shriram Mills compound. He allegedly had offered her a lift to Bombay Central, but intead drove her to the Shriram Mills, where he raped her repeatedly. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate P P Suroshe while remanding Kasliwal to judicial custody till April 3 on Tuesday had granted permission to the police to conduct identification parade of the accused. The court had also allowed the Mumbai police to put Kasliwal to scientific tests which include polygraph and brain mapping tests, observing that these tests were necessary for effective investigation. Earlier, Kasliwal was in police custody and was remanded to judicial custody till March 20 by Metropolitan Magistrate S S Suroshe. On March 18, Kasliwal underwent brain mapping and polygraph tests at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Bangalore, the report of which are yet to be received. On March 12, police had arrested Kasliwal, following allegation of rape lodged by a woman. Later, Worli Police have also seized Kasliwal's car where the alleged rape had taken place and booked him under sections 325 (for causing grievous hurt) and 376 (for rape) of the Indian Penal Code. The woman in her complaint stated that she was waiting for transport near Churchgate while on her way to home around midnight on March 11. Kasliwal who was reportedly drunk, offered her a lift in his bottle-green Mercedes car. It has been alleged by the lady that Kasliwal drove her to the Sreeram Mills in Worli where he raped her four times. The police sent her to St George's Hospital and Nagpada police hospital for medical examination. Preliminary reports suggested of rape and assault.

No stay on warrant in Jessica case (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to nullify or grant an interim stay on the 'look-out notices' against all the witnesses in the Jessica Lall murder case. Justice Vikramjit Sen who heard the case, asked the Delhi Police to file a reply on the application moved by Bina Ramani, a key witness in the murder case. The hearing of the case will be held on April 5. On March 22, the high court issued bailable warrants against the nine accused in the case. The Court, having been convinced about the 92 points raised by the Delhi Police in its appeal, issued the bailable warrants. The next date of hearing has been fixed for April 18. The court also ordered the nine accused, not to leave the country until the next hearing. A division bench comprising Justice Manmohan Sarin and Justice Manju Goel heard the proceedings of the case. Mounting pressure by citizens forced the Delhi Police to file the case for hearing in the High Court. Police sought the conviction of the accused on the ground that the trial court had erred in acquitting them on "mere conjectures and surmises." The Delhi Police will also question a top East Delhi arms dealer for his alleged role in replacing the original cartridge of the weapon used to kill Lal. Additional Sessions Judge S L Bhayana had acquitted all the accused including Manu Sharma, son of Haryana Minister Venod Sharma and Vikas Yadav, son of D.P.Yadav, Uttar Pradesh politician, in the murder of Jessica. The appeal said that Manu, the prime accused, who shot the victim, was in possession of a licensed .22mm bore pistol but the trial court did not insist on the production of the weapon by the accused as it would have offered a vital link in establishing evidence against the accused. Jessica was shot at the restaurant owned by Bina Ramani on the night of April 29, 1999 by Manu Sharma.

Tainted ministers case referred to
Constitution bench  (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Supreme Court today referred the issue of 'tainted ministers' to its Constitution Bench in an attempt to check the inclusion of persons with criminal background in the Cabinet. The apex court has now left the decision, on whether a person with criminal background or chargesheeted on issues of moral turpitude could be appointed as a minister, to a five-judge Constitution bench. The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal issued notices to the Centre and all the State Governments and the Union Territories. But the bench deleted the names of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and some Union Ministers from the list of respondents, saying that it was not necessary to impale individual ministers as respondents. Among the names of Union Ministers deleted from the list of respondents are - Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Minister of State for Agriculture Mohammed Taslimuddin and Minister of State for Human Resource Development M A A Fatmi. The bench was hearing public interest litigation challenging the induction of some tainted persons in the Union Council of Ministers. The bench has also referred the matter on the issues of good governance, purity of system, equality and public perception to the constitution bench. The court has granted four weeks time to the Centre and the states to file their response to the petition.

Naxals kill two cops in Orissa (Go To Top)

     Parlakhemundi (Orissa): Naxalites attacked a police station and adjoining Orissa State Armed Police (OSAP) camp at Udayagiri in Gajapati district of the state in the wee hours today, killing two policemen. Not just aiming at the police station, the Naxalites attacked the sub-jail, thereby allowing prisoners to escape, sources said. The Naxals also disrupted the telephone lines in most offices and electricity in the town, sources said. The attack was probably to free the prisoners, as reports said around 50 prisoners, including Naxalites, were in the sub-jail. Although prisoners escaped, the exact number of escapees was not known. The Naxals also took hostage two people. First being an officer- in-charge Ranjan Kumar Mallick of the local police station and jailor Rabinarayan Sethi, the sources said. Over 80 ultras attacked the spot. Even women ultras were there. They also attacked the treasury, tehsildar's office and a telecom tower spreading terror throughout the town. Two policemen have been injured, District Collector Binod Bihari Mohanty said. In the gun-battle, police were able to kill three ultras, including a woman, said Mohanty. He escaped attack from the other side as he managed to take refuge in a house. But the naxalites succeeded in fleeing with the bodies of the three killed. Firing on the either sides continued for over two hours, Mohanty said, adding that the ultras succeeded in escaping with a huge number of arms. The ultras, entered the town from two different directions, retreated through Saralapadar route that led into the woods.

Clive's pet tortoise dies at age of 250 (Go To Top)

      Kolkata: Giant Aldabra tortoise nearing the age of 250 years died in the Kolkata zoo of liver failure on Thursday. The tortoise had been the pet of British military officer Robert Clive in the colonial India during the middle 18th century. Local authorities believe the tortoise, named "Addwaitya" meaning the "the one and only" in Bengali, was the oldest tortoise in the world but they have not presented scientific proof to back up their claim. Officials said historical records at the zoo show he was a pet of British General Robert Clive of the East India Company and had spent several years in his sprawling estate before he was brought to the zoo. On Friday, the tortoise's enclosure wore a deserted look, as saddened officials announced to eager visitors about the animal's death and his grieving keeper, proceeded on leave. Alipore zoo in Kolkata Director Sudhir Choudhury, said: "The tortoise was brought in 1875. Before this, it was in Barrackpore area and it is about 250 years old. The average life of a tortoise is 240-250 years. So this is the longest lived vertebrate in the world and perhaps oldest animal in India too".

     Choudhury showed pictures depicting that British sailors had brought Addwaitya from the Seychelles islands and presented him to Clive. The gentle animal, Choudhury recalled, was perhaps the zoo's most poised and well behaved resident and the one who rarely threw tantrums. He said, Addwaitya especially enjoyed his daily vegetarian diet of soaked grams, carrots, apples and Indian grass. "Absolutely, it is very very shocking because it was very old animal. It was christened by our minister last year as Addwaitya. 'Addwaitya' means there is no parallel, it is indispensable, it is a solitary animal. Actually we are very shocked by the sudden death of this very old animal," he said. Wild Aldabra tortoises are found in the Aldabra Island in the Indian Ocean Seychelles islands. They average about 120 kg and have a life span of nearly 100 years. Addwaitya, though believed to be a bachelor, has found a befitting heir with an 80-year-old red and blue Macaw taking on the mantel as the zoo's oldest inmate. Originating from the rain forests of South America, the Macaws are known to be extremely playful and intelligent birds but have in recent years been the prime target of poachers who sell them as exotic pets at exorbitant prices.

Gagan Narang bags 20th gold for India (Go To Top)

      Melbourne: India got its 20th gold medal at the Commonwealth Games when Gagan Narang won the men's 50m rifle competition in Melbourne on Friday. Narang also set a new record by firing 1261.4 points against the old mark of 1251.5 points, made by compatriot Charan Singh at the Games held at Manchester in 2002. Abhinav Bindra took the silver medal by scoring 1248.6 points in the same event. Australia's Ben Burge took the bronze with a overall score of 1238.2. India has won total 42 medals including 20 gold, 13 silver and 9 bronze till now and is on third place in medals tally. Australia is at first place with 67 gold and England on second with 24 gold medals. Meanwhile, the Indian Weightlifting Federation today officially announced that lifters Tejinder Singh and Edwin Raju, who had tested positive in a dope test at the Games, would face a life ban. IWF president H J Dora while admitting that two members of their weightlifting team had returned positive drugs tests, said in a statement that according to the federation's bylaws, any athlete found positive in an international competition would be subject to a life ban. The Commonwealth Games Federation also has referred the matter to the court of arbitration for sport. In the 85kg category, the Indian squad had two lifters - Tejinder and Sateesha Rai.

Lata Mangeshkar honours Tendulkar (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: It was kudos from one maestro to another in Mumbai on Thursday evening as the Nightingale of India Lata Mangeshkar felicitated batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar for playing the maximum number of Test matches for India with a gold plated bat. Tendulkar, who will miss the one-day series against England as he has to undergo shoulder surgery in London, was quite emotional though composed during the event. Dismissing reports that his fans attitude had angered him, he said: "I thought this is the right time to take a break for my injury, as it will not take long to recover. It is the best time when I can contain it and begin playing soon." Tendulkar said he was touched by the honour. "I think this function means a lot to me it has clearly shown the affection, the love and care that I have been showered with for so many years now. It is absolutely a special moment for me because it is hard to express in words what I feel but it will always be a memorable evening and it will be on my priority list when I sit back and look at my career, wonderful moments and this surely will stand out,' he said. The 32-year-old also holds the record for most centuries in Tests (35) and one-dayers (39).

Back to Headlines                  Go To Top