QChennai: 17 Held for Raping Girl; Rs 163 Cr, 100 kg Gold Seized
Here is your roundup of the top stories from Chennai.
1. In Chennai Court, Lawyers Thrash Men Accused of Raping 11-Year-Old
A number of lawyers in Chennai’s High Court campus took law into their own hands and thrashed a few of the 17 men accused of raping a 11-year-old Chennai girl with disabilities. The hearing-impaired girl was allegedly raped multiple times over the past seven months, 17 of her suspected tormentors were arrested, with some beaten up and dragged down the stairwell of a court on Tuesday, 17 July, by angry lawyers, police said.
Those arrested included a liftman, security guards, plumbers, electricians and other maintenance staff working at the apartment complex in Ayanavaram locality where the girl lived with her family and where she was allegedly sexually assaulted several times.
(Source: The Quint)
2. I-T Dept: ‘Operation Parking Money’ Biggest Among All Raids
In one of the biggest hauls in its raids, the income tax (I-T) department has seized Rs 163 crore and over 100-kg bullion, following raids at multiple premises of SPK group, a longtime highways contractor with alleged political links, in Tamil Nadu.
The raids, code named ‘Operation Parking Money’ at the SPK group and other road and national highways contractors for alleged tax evasion, commenced early on Monday, at about 20 plus locations connected to Nagarajan Seyyadurai in the state. On Tuesday, an additional amount of Rs 4 crore cash was seized and some more jewellery was being tallied with records. The firm evaded tax by adopting measures like inflating expenses on awarding sub-contracts, labour work and on procuring bitumen and conversely projecting scaled down profits, it was alleged.
(Source: Deccan Chronicle)
3. Water Level in Mettur Crosses 100-Ft Mark
The continuous and extraordinarily voluminous inflow of water surplussing from the upper riparian state Karnataka’s reservoirs, aided by heavy rains in Cauvery’s catchment catchment areas, has enabled Mettur reservoir touch the magical level of 100-ft, against its full level of 120-ft, late on Tuesday evening.
Karnataka had been releasing excess waters from Kabini and Krishnaraja Sagar reservoirs from since 14 June this year and the water level, which was at 40-feet level in Mettur then, had started to raise from 17 June. It was another historic milestone crossed for the Stanley reservoir at Mettur, as the water level edged past 100-ft, much to the joy of agrarian Tamil Nadu.
(Source: Deccan Chronicle)
4. MK Stalin Questions CM’s Silence on I-T Raids
Launching a frontal attack on Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, DMK working president MK Stalin has demanded explanation for CM's silence on the massive seizures of cash and gold in the IT raids on the road construction contractor Nagarajan Seyyadurai. He also reiterated his charge that the CM's relative is linked to the raided firm.
Pointing out that the raids related to the roads and highways department falling under CM's portfolio, he demanded that the CM step down to allow transparent investigation into the seizures of cash and gold. Hitting back, senior minister D Jayakumar said the IT raids had nothing to do with corruption charges and only related to tax evasion by the concerned persons and their firms.
(Source: Deccan Chronicle)
5. Solution to Flooding Ready, Funds Are Not
Last monsoon, teams led by 15 senior IAS officers, as part of a study, visited various parts of the city on 4 November 2017, compiled photographs and collected information from residents. The study continued for several days and a report was submitted to the Chief Secretary. As this year’s monsoon season approaches, work on these suggestions has not taken off.
Officials have pointed to a delay in implementing the projects worth Rs 250 crore recommended for flood mitigation, owing to lack of funds. The corporation has been unable to allocate huge capital because of low rates of property tax in the city for the past two decades.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Petition Seeks Restraint Order Against Thoothukudi Police over Anti-Sterlite Stir
A public interest litigation petition was filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday seeking a direction to the Thoothukudi police not to continue registration of multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) pertaining to the Thoothukudi riots. The petition also sought a court-monitored investigation into the case.
The petitioner said, the investigation into the cases was transferred to the CB-CID but, the Sipcot police have been registering FIRs pertaining to vehicle damages. The charges being invoked by the police were similar to those that are cited in cases already transferred to the CB-CID and most of the vehicles damaged were already shown under the seizure mahazr report. There was no need to file subsequent criminal cases against the same occurrence, he charged.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Formalin Found in Samples
A few samples of fish lifted from a couple of hotels in the city have tested positive for formalin. Hotel industry sources, which confirmed the findings, said they had informed their vendor, and had asked him to check with his source. “We returned the contaminated fish and have asked him not to source from that person again,” the sources said.
Most hotels have tie ups with laboratories or have in-house testing facilities to check for quality of items used in cooking. A source at one laboratory said that of 30-odd samples collected, 5 to 6 showed traces of the chemical. After reports of formalin in fish surfaced, hotels have been on the watch.
(Source: The Hindu)
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