J&K sex scandal: 5 convicts get 10-year jail terms
Chandigarh, June 6: Five people, including an ex-Border Security Force Deputy Inspector General and a Deputy Superintendent of Police, were on Wednesday sentenced to 10 years in jail by a special court here in the infamous sex scandal that rocked the state in 2006.
Those convicted and sentenced include former BSF DIG K.C. Padhi, former DSP of Jammu and Kashmir Police Mohammad Ashraf Mir, and three others.
The sex scandal came to light in 2006 after the police recovered some video CDs of minor Kashmiri girls being sexually exploited by the police officials, ministers and other influential people.
The court, while convicting five people on May 30, had acquitted two persons named in the scandal, former Additional Advocate General Anil Sethi and Mehrajudin Malik.
The kingpin of the scandal, Sabeena, and her husband died during trial.
The then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
CBI investigations had found 56 people allegedly involved in the racket.
The CBI investigation found influential people, including ministers and others, also linked to the scandal.
The Supreme Court had transferred the case to Chandigarh later in 2006.
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US renews sanctions waiver for purchase of Russian oil
Washington (PTI): The United States has extended by a month a waiver from sanctions to allow countries to buy petroleum products from Russia, days after it ruled out renewal of the special measure.
The US Department of Treasury issued an order late Friday extending the waiver from sanctions on Russian oil that is already at sea on or before April 17 through May 16.
Earlier, the US had granted an exemption from sanctions to India for buying Russian oil for a month beginning March 5. A few days later, a similar waiver was extended to several other countries, which ended on April 11.
The general licence issued by the US on Friday does not authorise any transaction involving a person, entity or joint venture located in Iran, North Korea, Cuba, or parts of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would not be renewing the waiver for Russian oil and another for Iranian oil.
The previous waiver of sanctions had made available 140 million barrels of Russian oil already loaded on ships to global markets as prices soared against the backdrop of the US war with Iran.
"Effective April 17, 2026, General License No. 134A, which was dated March 19, 2026 and expired on April 11, 2026, is replaced and superseded in its entirety by this General License No. 134B," said the order issued by the Department of Treasury.
