5 held after encounter in connection with Dalit man's murder in UP's Ballia
Ballia (UP) (PTI): Five men, including three named accused, were arrested following a police encounter in connection with the murder of a 30-year-old Dalit man in the Rasra area here, officials said on Sunday.
Two of the accused sustained bullet injuries to their legs during the exchange of fire, they said.
According to police, Satya Prakash Ram, a resident of Gurgujpur village in Rasra, was returning home on Saturday afternoon when he was allegedly stabbed to death by three men near a liquor shop in Sawara village following an argument.
Based on a complaint lodged by the victim's brother, Om Prakash, a case was registered against Sundaram Singh, Raja Singh, and Umakant Pandey -- all residents of Sawara village -- under section 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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Ballia Superintendent of Police Omvir Singh on Sunday said Pandey was arrested soon after the incident.
He said that around 4 am on Sunday, during a vehicle-checking drive near the Navapura-Mahatwar Road, police signalled four motorcycle-borne suspects to stop. However, they opened fire at the police team in an attempt to escape.
Police and the Special Operations Group (SOG) team retaliated in self-defence, arresting two named accused in the murder case -- Sundaram Singh alias Satya Singh, 21, and Raj Singh alias Raja Singh, 24, who were injured.
Sundaram was shot in the left leg, while Raj sustained a gunshot injury in his right leg, police said.
During the encounter, police also arrested Anuj Singh, 19, of Badi Pakwal in the Sarayalkhasni area of Mau district, and Ajay Kharwar, 18, of Chakia in the Ranipur area of Mau district. The two injured accused have been admitted to a hospital.
Police recovered a country-made pistol, cartridges, two motorcycles, and the knife allegedly used in the murder from the accused.
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Mumbai court discharges ex-vice principal of law college in forged degree case
Mumbai (PTI): A Mumbai court has discharged the former woman vice principal of a law college here in a 2007 case about the alleged use of a forged BA degree to get admission in the institution, noting there is no material to remotely suggest she tampered with the document.
The charge-sheet against the accused advocate is filed with the "presumption" that she prepared a false document. There is no sufficient evidence to frame the charges against her, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Esplanade court) Vinod Ramrao Patil said in the judgment on February 9.
The prosecution alleged that Chitra Salunkhe used a forged Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree while taking admission in the LLB and LLM courses in Siddharth Law College.
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Salunkhe, then being the college's vice principal, submitted a false and forged certificate to get admission. She did not pass the BA examination and hence committed cheating and forgery, the police charged.
The case had led to her termination as vice-principal of the college.
Salunkhe, through her lawyer, contended that the allegations against her were groundless. Some high-ranked police officers falsely implicated her in the crime, she submitted.
The defence also highlighted a report by a former DGP, which suggested Salunkhe had been harassed and prosecuted over the years by colleagues based on her gender and caste.
The court noted that the investigation officer failed to produce or seize the alleged forged degree certificate.
"There is no material on record to remotely suggest that the accused has tampered the document," it said.
The charge-sheet against the accused is filed "with the presumption that the accused prepared a false document", the court observed.
"It is settled law that while dealing with the discharge application, when the two views are equally possible and the judge is satisfied that evidence adduced before him giving rise to some suspicion but not grave suspicion against the accused, he will be fully within his right to discharge the accused," the magistrate said.
While accepting the discharge plea, the court also pointed out that the charges against the accused were not proved in the departmental inquiry.
