1. Man Arrested for Duping People Over Cryptocurrency
A 32-year-old man, who allegedly duped people by luring them into investing in a newly-launched cryptocurrency, "Kashhcoin", was arrested by Delhi Police's Crime Branch.
Narender alias Sonu Dahiya, hailing from Sonipat in Haryana, was arrested from Rithala following a tip- off, they added. Arun Kumar approached police with a complaint alleging that he was cheated to the tune of Rs 13.90 lakh by a gang, the police said.
He told police that they lured him into investing in 'Kashhcoin'. The coins were initially launched at a rate of Rs 3.50 per coin and the victim was promised that he would earn a huge profit, they added.
The investigators found that the accused organised lavish seminars in different places including Nepal, Mumbai, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Raipur and Nagpur for business promotion, said Alok Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).
At these seminars, they would lure people into investing in this coin for earning high profits by claiming that the rate of this coin will cross the cost of 'Bitcoin'. They used to invite eminent personalities to those seminars to attract more and more people, said the officer.
(Source: PTI)
2. Court Junks Indrani’s Plea for Peter Mukerjea’s Call Records
The special CBI court on Thursday rejected an application of Indrani Mukerjea, a key accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, seeking call data records of her husband and co-accused, former media baron Peter Mukerjea.
Indrani Mukerjea had alleged that her husband may have caused the disappearance of Sheena, her daughter from an earlier relationship, out of "greed and ill-will" and framed Indrani for the crime.
Judge JC Jagdale, while rejecting the plea, said Indrani Mukerjea had later withdrawn these allegations during the hearing on the application.
(Read full story on The Quint)
3. MP Girl Raped and Set on Fire, Dies at Hospital
A 15-year-old girl, who was gang-raped in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh seven days ago and set on fire, succumbed at a hospital, police said. The SP said both the accused in the case had been apprehended within 24 hours of the crime.
A case under IPC Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 376 (d) (gangrape) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was registered against them, he said. Now the Section 307 would be replaced by Section 302 (murder), Shukla said.
The girl was raped at Deval village, 100 km from the district headquarters, on the night of 7 December. Sarvesh Sen (21) and another person, a minor, entered the girl's house when she was asleep and raped her, police said.
When she cried for help, the accused poured kerosene kept in the house on her and set her on fire.
(Source: PTI)
4. Kerala Judge Sentences Man to Death in Jisha Murder Case
Drawing a parallel with the 2012 Nirbhaya case, Kerala court sentenced to death a 22- year-old labourer from Assam for the rape and murder of a 30-year-old Dalit law student in Kerala last year.
Ernakulam principal sessions court judge N Anil Kumar held that the brutal acts of the convict, Muhammed Ameerul Islam, definitely fit this case within the umbrella of "rarest of rare cases on par with the Nirbhaya case in Delhi".
The judge had on 12 December convicted Islam for the rape and murder of the woman at her home in Perumbavoor on 28 April 2016 and heard the defence and prosecution yesterday on the quantum of punishment.
Islam was found guilty of Indian Penal Code offences including murder, rape, house trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death and wrongful confinement. The woman, who hailed from a poor family, was raped and brutally assaulted using sharp-edged weapons at her house.
(Source: PTI)
5. Two Held for Demanding Levy by Impersonating as Maoists
Two persons have been arrested in Jamshedpur for allegedly impersonating as Maoists and demanding a hefty levy from an acquaintance of a senior JMM leader.
The arrest was made after an FIR was registered by Lakhan Mardi, a close friend of JMM MLA Champai Soren's son Babulal, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Musaboni) Ajit Kumar Vimal said.
Addressing a press conference here, Vimal, accompanied by the Deputy Superintendent of Police (CCR) Sudhir Kumar, said Mardi had been receiving threat calls from an unknown number on his mobile phone over the past few months.
The caller introduced himself as Deepak Munda, a commander of a Maoist outfit, and threatened to kill Mardi and Babulal if he was not paid a levy of Rs 20 lakh. The caller had also assured the Maoist group's help to the JMM in the next elections.
(Source: PTI)
6. Four Jailed in Singapore Over Forged Ed Sheeran Concert Tickets
An Australian, a Briton and two New Zealanders have been jailed for four weeks each in Singapore for selling forged tickets to an Ed Sheeran concert.
The Australian, 56-year-old Paul Cosgrove, was sentenced on Wednesday after admitting that he abetted Briton Martin Keane in a scheme to sneak fans into the British singer-songwriter's sold-out concert in the city-state using the fake tickets.
Keane, 60, was jailed last month after pleading guilty to his role in the crime, alongside two men from New Zealand, Scott Penk and Michael Hardgrave, who also admitted to selling forged tickets to the 12 November concert.
In the first case, Cosgrove gave fake passes to Keane, who used them to take fans past security into the stadium where the concert was taking place, charging them Singapore dollars 250 to Singapore dollars 300 (USD 185 to USD 220) each, according to court documents.
(Source: PTI)
7. Nitish Concerned Over Illicit Liquor Business in Dry Bihar
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday noted with concern that the illicit liquor business was thriving in the dry state and emphasised the need for community participation to check the "lucrative" trade.
On his state-wide 'Vikas Samiksha Yatra', Kumar told the people in Bakhri village of Sitamarhi district that those who report cases of violation of the alcohol ban to authorities would be protected, and also urged them to remain vigilant.
The identity of the complainant would remain secret, he said.
Banning the sale and consumption of alcohol – domestic and Indian Made Foreign Liquor – has been an issue close to Kumar. It was also one of his major poll campaign promises.
An anti-liquor law is in effect in Bihar since April last year.
(Source: PTI)
8. Rajasthan Govt Plans Law to Provide Death Penalty for Raping Minor
The Vasundhara Raje-led Rajasthan government may soon move a Bill to provide death penalty to those convicted of raping minors on the lines of a legislation passed recently by the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, a senior minister said.
"The government is currently studying the Madhya Pradesh model. The Madhya Pradesh legislation is awaiting the President's nod and we are waiting to know its fate. If it gets the nod, we will introduce a Bill in the Assembly," Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said.
On 4 December, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly had unanimously passed 'The Penal Law (Madhya Pradesh Amendment) Bill-2017' to provide for death sentence to those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 or below.
The legislation seeks to introduce Section 376 (A)(A) in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) under which a person convicted of raping a girl aged 12 years or below may be awarded death penalty, life imprisonment or a minimum imprisonment of 14 years with a fine.
(Source: PTI)
9. Bombay HC Pulls up ATS, CBI, NIA Over 2006 Malegaon Blasts
The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked how the findings of the NIA, which had absolved nine Muslim men in its chargesheet and instead named four members of a Hindu extremist organisation in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case, were so different from those of the CBI and Maharashtra ATS.
A bench of justices Naresh Patil and NW Sambre, which was hearing petitions challenging the discharge of the nine men in the trial court, pointed out that the Anti-Terrorism Squad, which probed the case first, booked them for the blasts which had claimed 37 lives, and the CBI, which took over the case a year later, endorsed it.
However, the the National Investigating Agency (NIA), to which the probe was transferred in 2011, filed a chargesheet absolving them of all charges, and instead named four others, who were members of a Hindu extremist organisation, as the accused.
(Source: PTI)
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