Nejaru murder case: Accused Chowgale remanded in 14 days' judicial custody
Udupi: The Udupi Principal Civil and JMFC Court on Wednesday remanded in judicial custody for 14 days Praveen Chowgale, the man arrested for the murder of four members of a single family at Nejaru here.
The Udupi Police officers, who had presented Chowgale before court on November 15, took the accused into custody for a period of 14 days for further investigation, given the intensity of the case. While the court had instructed that the police present the accused again on November 28, the Udupi Police completed within a week's time the investigation related to the case, including crime scene investigation, witnesses, statements and identity of the accused.
Having completed the investigation, the officers decided that they no longer needed to keep Chowgale in custody and, therefore, presented him before court on Wednesday itself. The accused was brought to court under tight police security, led by Malpe Circle Inspector Manjunath, who was the investigating officer of the case.
Udupi Civil Court judge Deepa remanded Chowgale in judicial custody for 14 days, adding that the accused be presented before the court again on December 5.
The accused arrested was taken back to the Udupi District Prison at Hiriyadka, under heavy police security.
Senior Assistant Public Prosecutor H.M. Nadaf was present in court.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
