Union leaders among 120 held in Noida, looted goods recovered

The Noida police have identified leaders of an assortment of trade unions as “motivators” of the violence that wrecked hundreds of companies in sectors 83 and 84 on the first day of the nationwide strike called by trade unions on Wednesday.

Police said 122 people had been arrested till 6 pm on Thursday and some were union leaders of organisations such as Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS).

Offering to cooperate with the investigations, representatives of these trade unions said they wanted the protest to be “a peaceful protest march”.

Among those arrested are: Shyam Kishore and Ram Roop, national and state counsellors of AICCTU, Surinder Singh of BMS, and Om Prakash, secretary of CITU.

Eight other leaders have been named in a written complaint by the Noida Entrepreneurs Association, but are yet to be arrested. “We have appointed a judicial officer who is remanding the accused to judicial custody from the premises of the Noida Phase-II police station,” SP (City) Yogesh Singh said.

Ranjana Nirula, all India treasurer of CITU, said: “Members of CITU were part of the protest, but the violence was caused by others who joined in. There were lots of non-unionised workers. We have been targeted because we organised the protest, but our intentions were for a peaceful protest.”

ADG of UP Police O P Singh confirmed that “others” joined in the protests. “There were anti-social elements who joined in from adjoining areas, primarily seeking an opportunity to loot. A majority of those involved were youngsters, between the ages of 18 and 25.”

District Magistrate M K S Sundaram said so far 184 complaints have been received and more arrests are likely. He said more than 200 companies were vandalised.

A three-member fact-finding team has been set up under the Additional Commissioner, Meerut.

Police sources said villagers from Yakupur, Nayagaon and Ilawas joined the violence and were out “only to create trouble”, but there were a few who could have “intentionally egged them on”.

Residents of Yakupur and Nayagaon confirmed that several from their villages had been picked up by police after the violence.

“On Tuesday night, there were some people who came and talked to the tenants here about joining the protests. Those of us who didn’t go, found out about the violence when these tenants rushed back home around 3 pm,” Rahim Singh, of Yakupur village, said.

SP (City) confirmed that arrests have been made from the surrounding villages. “We have made some arrests. Some stolen property has been recovered from them,” he said.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/union-leaders-among-120-held-in-noida-looted-goods-recovered/1077891/0

‘Drunk’ men assault colony residents, cop

A brother-sister duo and a Delhi Police constable were assaulted by four men in New Ashok Nagar, East Delhi, on Tuesday morning. Eyewitnesses said the men were drunk and got into a fight with the brother for no reason.

Neeraj Kumar, a resident of Sonepat, was arrested from the spot. Police are looking for the others.In his statement to police, the brother said he was driving in to his colony when four men signalled him to stop the car. When he slowed down, the men banged their fist on the bonnet of the car and asked him to come out.

“As I came out of the car to ask them what was wrong, the accused punched my face. Before I could react, three of them held my hands and one of them started to punch me. When my sister came out of the car to rescue me, they slapped her too,” he told police.

After the duo cried for help, people gathered and overpowered the men. “The moment the crowd came, me and my sister sat in the car and left,” the complaint said. In the meantime, the beat constable, Mohit, reached the spot. Eyewitnesses told police that Kumar also got into a scuffle with a passerby. The beat constable, who tried to intervene, was also beaten up by the accused.

One of the men, an eyewitness told police, picked a board lying on the roadside and smashed it on the head of the constable.Lekhraj, who was present on the spot, said: “The accused entered into a scuffle without any reason. They were all heavily drunk.”

A case for attacking government employee on duty and damaging public property was registered against the men. Kumar has been sent to 14-day judicial custody, police said.

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-drunk–men-assault-colony-residents-cop/1073284/0

Mumbai: Police raid ‘gay’ party, 22 arrested

Malwani police raided a party attended by homosexual men for allegedly playing loud music without permission and indulging in obscene behaviour at a bungalow in Madh Island early Sunday morning. Police claimed that there was “indecent dancing” and “groping”.

Twenty-two individuals, including six eunuchs, were brought to Malwani police station and charged under Sections 33 (failure to get permission to hold a party in a public place) and 110 (indulging in obscene behaviour) of the Bombay Police Act. They were fined Rs 5,000 and Rs 1,200 respectively for violating each section and let off at 9 am Sunday. However, the police said that at least ten others who had attended the party managed to escape during the course of the raid.

At 2.25 am, Malwani police raided Sea Shells on Madh Island. Event manager Godawarish Nanda (27), three DJs and a care taker were charged under Section 33 of the Bombay Police Act, while 17 others were charged with obscenity.

“A call was made to the control room complaining about the loud music. We were alerted after 2 am. When we reached the bungalow, we found that the organiser did not have permission to hire DJs and play music. The organiser had also invited six eunuchs, who were dancing indecently and the men were groping them. Some 10-15 others fled when we came. The rest were taken to police station and charged. All of them had drinking licences for a day,” said inspector Phooldas Bhoye.

He added that Nanda, a Charkop resident, had rented the bungalow and hired the DJs. “He is a professional event manager who has organised several parties. The men who attended the party were all aged around 26-27 years and came from lower class families. One of them is a courier delivery boy,” said Bhoye.

Mahesh Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone XI, said a few homosexual men were among those who attended the party. “They were playing music late at night without permission, which is why the place was raided. Some gay men were also present there but no sexual activity had taken place,” he said.

Another party organiser told Newsline that usually for private parties, 20 permissions have to be sought. Sibi, who organises parties for the LGBT community frequently, said he generally tries to host parties at places that already have all permissions. The permissions include excise, photographic performance permit, licence for the dance floor and licence for the DJ.

“We also need to inform the police that we are having such a party. Police have been very supportive so far. We hardly faced any trouble at our parties. There was an issue a year ago when a local politician asked the police to raid our party for no valid reason. We had raised the issue and police drew flak, but since then there has been no trouble,” he said.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mumbai-police-raid-gay-party-22-arrested/1072396/0

Narendra Modi protest: Students allege molestation

A day after police used lathis and water cannons to disperse students protesting against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi University, several woman students complained they were molested and verbally abused by students who tried to stop them from protesting.

Police have received several complaints of harassment and molestation and are looking into the allegations. Students claimed they were molested by “miscreants” and that police personnel at the spot did nothing to stop them. They said policemen looked on while rival groups hurled abuses at them.

Reached for comments, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sindhu Pillai said: “We have received complaints and are looking into it. I was there at the spot with other senior officers. No one reported to me or other senior officials about any such incident. The press was also there right at the spot. We are conducting an inquiry into the complaints.”

Meanwhile, a case of rioting has also been registered against unidentified persons at the Maurice Nagar police station. The FIR states that around 3 pm on Wednesday, more than 100 people marched towards SRCC, protesting against Modi’s visit. It is alleged that students, who had been asked to conduct a peaceful protest, turned violent, broke a barricade and marched towards Gate No. 3 of SRCC.

“Those people used force to break the first barricade. The wooden sticks of placards were used to beat up police officials. A warning was given to protesters and they were asked to withdraw but they continued to be violent. The students managed to march towards the second barricade and water cannon was opened for 30 seconds,” the FIR states.

The students, on the other hand, demanded suspension of the Maurice Nagar SHO. A group also staged a demonstration outside the police headquarters on Thursday to protest against the alleged “high-handed” attitude of the police.

According to the protesters, the police instead of protecting those detained, dragged them through a crowd of ABVP activists.

Kopal Pokal, a member of the SFI who was outside the SRCC on Wednesday, said: “I don’t think policemen have learnt how to deal with protesters. They need to be gender sensitized. They dragged us from the barricades and took us through a crowd of ABVP members who hurled abuses at us, called us ‘besharam aurat’ and ‘deshdrohi’. Even the police personnel were laughing and jeering at us.”

The police told eight protesters whom they had detained to leave once Modi left the campus. But they marched to the police station and demanded that their complaints be registered. “We demanded that the police identify those who were abusing us and those police personnel who led us to the mob. Several TV cameras captured it. Why don’t they use that as evidence,” Piyush Raj, a member of AISA, said.

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/narendra-modi-protest-students-allege-molestation/1071240/0

Narendra Modi visit rocks DU: Jeers outside and cheers inside

Narendra Modi’s visit to the Shri Ram College of Commerce turned one end of Delhi University into a protest zone on Wednesday and police used water cannons and lathis to disperse students protesting against the Gujarat Chief Minister.

Waving black flags and shouting anti-Modi slogans, students led by Left-wing organisations assembled near SRCC and tried to get past police barricades on the stretch to the college from Patel Chest Institute. The students clashed with police after they got past the first barricade. Police resorted to a lathicharge and turned on the water cannons to break up the protest.

“We were told that some student organisations were planning to hold demonstrations. Barricades were put up to restrain the crowd,” DCP (North) Sindhu Pillai said. “Water cannons were used only for a minute or so. The crowd broke through first barricade and was trying to break the second one too. We had to take steps to restrain them.”

Piyush Raj of the All India Students’ Association said: “We were protesting peacefully when some students tried to climb over the police barricades. I moved to the front to pacify by the crowd. I also told the police that we were trying to keep the protest peaceful. But I was pulled down from the barricade and detained by police.”

Sunny Kumar, among the protesters on the street, said: “It is a shame that a person under whose leadership the Gujarat riots took place is being allowed to use the legitimacy of academic spaces like Delhi University for his prime ministerial ambitions. Progressive democratic voices in Delhi cannot let this happen, so we are protesting.”

But if there were anti-Modi protests outside SRCC, the crowd inside was rooting for the man. Students applauded, cheered Modi each time he paused after making a point. He shook hands and posed for photographs with students. SRCC student Preeti Mohan said Modi’s speech was “inspiring” and an “eye-opener”.

“We didn’t know details of the kind of work being done in Gujarat. The texts we study are so restrictive. The highlight of his speech was when he demonstrated how the state’s focus on agriculture can help put the country on the growth track,” she said.

Responding to queries on why SRCC invited Modi to a college event, principal P C Jain said: “In all honesty, I want to say that we sent out invitations to 11 persons. Narendra Modi’s office was the first one to reply to our invitation.”

However, there are speculations whether Vishwa Hindu Parishad will endorse Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate at the Maha Kumbh.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/narendra-modi-visit-rocks-du-jeers-outside-and-cheers-inside/1070436/0

E-fraud: Rs 46 lakh transferred to 12 accounts

Police on Friday arrested a man in connection with a fradulent electronic cash transfer from the account of a company director. The Mulund police is probing to find whether it was a racket that operated on a larger scale.

Investigations have revealed that the amount was transferred in a span 40 minutes to 12 separate accounts through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) from the account of 29-year-old Ankur Korane, director of a cosmetics company.

Police sources said the transfer was for Rs 1 crore but before a stop-payment request could be effected, Rs 46 lakh had already been transferred.

A man who walked to the bank’s Borivali branch Friday morning, allegedly one of the 12 account-holders, has been arrested by police.

Taking the help of banking officials police are now trying to understand the levels involved in this kind of transaction. Police have also tracked down the IP address used for the transfer. The probe so far revealed that the password Korane chose to net bank was compromised and hacked into. Police is now trying to ascertain at which stage the password was compromised.

Korane, who got text alerts of huge transactions, rushed to the bank and was told to approach the Cyber Cell. He was redirected to Mulund Police station, as the branch where he held his account was in Mulund.

“We registered a complaint and issued a stop payment order to the bank immediately. A total of Rs 1 crore had been shown as transferred by then Rs 46 lakh was actually withdrawn,” said Quaiser Khalid, Addl CP (East) Region.

The probe being conducted by three teams found a link between arrested man and the remaining account-holders. The case has been registered under the Information Technology Act under cheating and forgery using impersonation charges.

“All 12 had accounts with some amount in them. All of them have approached banks for withdrawal and all of them seem to know each other and about the transaction,” said Khalid. According to cops, one of the leads show that the 12 had opened accounts for such online transfer with a nominal commission also sought for usage of accounts.

Assistant Commissioner of Police N S Madne confirmed the arrest and added that a few more arrests are expected in the city. “The identity of all the 12 is the main focus for now and we are trying to bridge them and understand where the account was hacked,” he added.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/efraud-rs-46-lakh-transferred-to-12-accounts/1068624/0