August 2019

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
WORLD
August 2019
23
CBI TO QUIZ TRUCK DRIVER, CLEANER IN
UNNAO RAPE SURVIVOR'S ACCIDENT
Lucknow : A
court here on
Saturday remanded
to three days
CBI custody the
driver and the
cleaner of the
truck involved in
Aurangabad : In a shocking incident, a 19-
the accident of the
year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by four
Unnao rape survivor
and her famday
party in a Mumbai sub-
of her friends after she had celebrated her birthily
on July 28.
urb last month, police said
The CBI will
here on Saturday. The incident
came to light after the
quiz driver Ashish
Kumar Pal and
victim suffered severe pain in
cleaner Mohan for
her private parts and was
three days to
admitted to a hospital in
unearth the conspiracy
behind the
of Aurangabad for treatment.
Begumpura in her hometown
accident. Based on their statements, the investigating
agency will decide its next move. The Earlier today, the Unnao District Magistrate could be a case of rape and
ness to the crime -- were killed in the accident. The doctors suspected it
CBI is also likely to approach the court seeking ordered cancellation of Sengar's arms licenses. informed the police.
permission for the custodial interrogation of Sengar owned a single-barrel gun, a rifle and a The girl, who had kept the matter secret from
expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and revolver. Licences for all three have been cancelled.
The CBI had on Friday urged the top incident. It was on July 7, when the victim had
her family, finally revealed the details of the
others in the case. On July 28, the rape survivor,
who had accused Sengar of raping her in 2017, court not to transfer the accident case related to come to Mumbai and her four male friends,
was travelling to Rae Bareli with her lawyer the Unnao rape to Delhi as an arrested accused whose identities are not yet clear, insisted on
Mahendra Singh and two aunts when a truck had to be presented before a Judicial Magistrate celebrating her birthday at the home of one of
being driven on the wrong side hit them. in Lucknow. Accepting the agency's submission,
them. That evening, after cutting the birthday
While the girl and her lawyer were critically the top court postponed transferring of the accident
case to Delhi for 15 days.
cake, the four friends allegedly overpowered
injured, her two aunts -- one of whom was a wit-
and gang-raped her, and the victim, in deep
Punjab CM for countering
false 'propaganda' on
JALLIANWALA BAGH Srinagar : Former J&K Chief Minister and
Chandigarh : Taking
strong exception to Union
Minister Harsimrat Badal's
remarks on the Jallianwala
Bagh massacre, Punjab Chief
Minister Amarinder Singh on
Friday called upon Congress
legislators to aggressively
counter the false "propaganda"
being spread by the opposition
Akalis. Addressing a meeting
of the Congress Legislative
Party (CLP) here, Amarinder
trashed Harsimrat's criticism
of the Congress' protest
against the Centre's Bill seeking
to remove the party's president
as permanent member of
the Jallianwala Bagh trust.
"She is a habitual liar," he
said, adding that she would lose
the propaganda war against
him, just as she had lost the war
on Twitter a few months ago.
After a fierce debate, a Bill
seeking the removal of the
Congress President as a trustee
from the Jallianwala Bagh
National Memorial, was passed
in the Lok Sabha on Friday,
with the opposition accusing
the government of trying to
"rewrite" history.
During the meeting, convened
to discuss the floor strategy
for the ongoing monsoon
session, the Chief Minister also
urged the Congress legislators
to aggressively counter the
opposition in the Vidhan
Sabha. Given the huge amount
of work done by the government,
the party legislators need
not be on the defensive in the
House, he added. The Chief
Minister, in particular, cited the
work done by his government
in combating drugs and moving
actively towards bringing the
culprits in the Bargari sacrilege
case to book.
The Special Task Force and
Punjab Police had made huge
strides in the eradication of
drugs, while the Special
Investigating Team set up to
probe the Bargari case was
closing in on the guilty
with speed, he added.
The CBI closure
report in the Bargari
cases was totally unacceptable
as it had ignored
many vital aspects of the
investigation, which the
Special Investigating
Team would soon
expose, said Amarinder.
Pointing to the
marked improvement in
law and order since his
government took over in
the state, the Chief
Minister said most gangsters
had been eliminated
and the blanket of fear
that had shrouded the
people during the SAD-BJP
rule had disappeared.
Earlier, senior party leaders
and Cabinet ministers Brahm
Mohindra and Manpreet Badal
underlined the need to strengthen
the Punjab Pradesh
Congress Committee infrastructure
to prepare the party
even more effectively for the
2022 polls.
Manpreet also assured the
legislators that funds would be
made available to them for the
much-needed development
works in their constituencies,
despite the financial crunch
faced by the state.
Aurangabad girl gang-raped at
19th birthday party in Mumbai
Mehbooba Mufti 'requested'
to clarify role in J&K Bank
backdoor APPOINTMENTS
President of Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP),
Mehbooba Mufti, has been asked by the Anti-
Corruption Bureau (ACB) to clarify her role in
the backdoor appointments made in Jammu and
Kashmir Bank on references of some of her former
ministers. ACB Senior Superintendent of
Police (SSP) has sent a communication to Mufti
which said
that during the
investigations
into the backdoor
appointments
made in
the J&K
Bank, it has
surfaced that
some ministers
had sent
recommendations
to the
J&K Bank
Chairman and
on these references
backdoor
appointments
were made. Mufti has been 'requested' to
clarify whether such references had her endorsement,
verbal or otherwise. Whem asked if her
explanation was found to be unsatisfactory, what
would be the next legal move by the ACB,
sources said, "In that case, she would be summoned
to appear before the investigators".
Dozens of backdoor appointments in the J&K
Bank came to the surface during the ACB investigations
into the working of the bank's sacked
chairman, Pervaiz Ahmad Nengroo. Unearthing
of backdoor appointments and virtually unsecured
loans to influential businessmen or kith
shock and trauma, quietly returned home the
next day without informing the Mumbai police
or her family.
However, it was only in
the third week of July when
she complained of severe
pain in her private parts that
she was taken to the hospital
where the matter ultimately
came to light on July 30.
"We have immediately registered
a 'Zero' first information
report (FIR) on July 30
and dispatched the entire
case file to Chunabhatti
police station in Mumbai which will now investigate
the matter," an official of Begumpura
Police Station told IANS.
The victim's condition has been described as
"very serious" by the police and she is suspected
to have suffered multiple internal injuries due
to the gang-rape and is under continuous observation.
A police team has left for Aurangabad to
take the victim's statement.
and kin of the then ministers had jolted the reputation
of the bank as the state government and the
Reserve Bank of India stepped in quickly for
course correction in April-May this year.
Assurances to shareholders and depositors
have steered the bank out of a crisis situation and
efforts are on to sustain and strengthen the
largest financial institution of the state.
Mufti has
been spearheading
the
creation of a
joint front of all
mainstream
political parties
in Kashmir "to
protect the
state's special
status".
She has convened
an allparty
meeting
at her high
security
Gupkar Road
residence in
Srinagar at 6 p.m. on Sunday for the purpose.
She told reporters that since the National
Conference President and MP Farooq Abdullah
was not keeping well, his son Omar Abdullah
would attend the meeting. She also said the
scheduled meeting was to take place in a hotel,
but the police had told her that such a meeting
would not be allowed there.
In a related development, former legislator
and President of Awami Ittehad Party (AIP),
Engineer Rashid, is in Delhi after the NIA summoned
him to appear before the investigating
agency on Sunday.