Arrested Bihar native already a POCSO accused five years ago, says Kerala Police
Child rape-cum-murder case
Kochi (PTI): The accused in the sensational rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Kerala last week has a criminal history and was arrested in a POCSO case five years ago, state police said on Tuesday.
Ashfaq Alam had been in jail for one month in connection with the crime committed in New Delhi and later came out on bail, Aluva Rural Superintendent of Police Vivek Kumar told reporters here.
"He was arrested by Ghazipur police in 2018 for attempting to sexually molest a 10-year-old girl there," the SP said.
The state police came across his criminal history while conducting his background check, he said.
Police sources said they were trying to find out whether Alam, a Bihar native, had been involved in any other crimes before reaching Kerala as a migrant worker.
Meanwhile, the test identification parade of the accused was held at the sub-jail in nearby Aluva. Alam, who was arrested soon after the crime on Friday, was brought to the sub-jail on Sunday.
At least three witnesses reportedly attended the identification parade. The police, however, didn't divulge more details.
Thajudeen, a local labourer who had seen Alam going inside the market along with the girl before committing the crime, told reporters outside that he would give his statement against the accused anywhere to ensure maximum punishment.
He also confirmed that he identified the accused during the parade. "He should get maximum punishment... I saw him that day... I will say this anywhere," he said.
Meanwhile, police said they would proceed to get the custody of the accused.
"We have already filed the custody application of the accused. After the test identification parade procedure, we will step into that. The rest of the things will be decided by the court," a senior police officer said.
On July 28, the five-year-old girl was abducted, raped and killed allegedly by Alam who lived in the same building as the victim.
The child's family too hails from the same state. Her body was found dumped in a sack in a marshy area behind a local market in the nearby Aluva area here the following day.
The accused was arrested on Friday itself, but could not be interrogated as he was in an inebriated state, police had said.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
