Assam Police file chargesheet against 48 in lynching case
Guwahati, Sep 1 : Nearly three months after two youths were lynched by a mob, Assam Police on Saturday filed a chargesheet against 48 persons allegedly involved in the killing of the youths on June 8 this year.
Assam Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia while addressing a press conference in Guwahati said over 70 witnesses were examined during the investigation. The DGP said the police will seek fast-track trial in the case.
"The chargesheet submitted in the Chief Judicial Magistrate court of Diphu in Central Assam's Karbi Anglong district included 48 accused. Besides the 46-page chargesheet, over 800 pages of supplementary documents, including forensic reports, have also been submitted," Saikia said.
The accused were charged under various sections the IPC, he added.
"The chargesheet is filed within a short span of 90 days, which is a big step," he said, addng the police had formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the lynching.
The two youths, Nilotpal Das and Abhijit Nath, who had gone to the Kathilangso waterfalls in Dokmoka area of the Karbi Anglong district on June 8, were lynched by a mob suspecting them to be child snatchers.
Police had earlier stated that the main accused Alphajoz Timung, after an altercation with the two, spread a mobile message to some locals saying that two child lifters were escaping the area with a child on a vehicle.
Some of the locals intercepted the vehicle and lynched the two despite their repeated appeals that they were not child snatchers.
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11 Indian nationals charged in US over visa fraud
New York (PTI): Eleven Indian nationals, living illegally in the US, have been charged with visa fraud for conspiring to carry out staged armed robberies of convenience shops, according to US federal prosecutors.
Authorities said the suspects are accused of organising fake robberies for the purpose of allowing the store clerks to falsely claim they were crime victims on immigration applications towards getting a Green Card.
Jitendrakumar Patel, 39, Maheshkumar Patel, 36, Sanjaykumar Patel, 45, Dipikaben Patel, 40, Rameshbhai Patel, 52, Amitabahen Patel, 43, Ronakkumar Patel, 28, Sangitaben Patel, 36, Minkesh Patel, 42, Sonal Patel, 42 and Mitul Patel, 40 have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud.
They all were living unlawfully in various US states such as Massachusetts, Kentucky and Ohio.
Dipikaben was deported to India after unlawfully residing in Weymouth, Massachusetts, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Jitendrakumar, Maheshkumar, Sanjaykumar, Amitabahen, Sangitaben and Mitul were arrested in Massachusetts and released following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston on Friday.
Rameshbhai, Ronakkumar, Sonal and Minkesh were arrested and made their initial appearances in Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio. They will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
According to the charging documents, in March 2023, Rambhai and his co-conspirators set up and carried out staged armed robberies of at least six convenience/liquor stores and fast food restaurants in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
It is alleged that the purpose of the staged robberies was to allow the clerks present to falsely claim that they were victims of a violent crime on an application for a U non-immigration status (U Visa).
A U Visa is available to victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and who have been helpful to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity. The U visa offers an immigrant work authorisation and a path to a Green Card within 5–10 years.
Authorities said that in the course of the alleged staged robberies, the “robber” would threaten store clerks or the owners with an apparent firearm before taking cash from the register and fleeing, while the interaction was captured on store surveillance video.
The clerks or the store owners would then wait five or more minutes until the “robber” had escaped before calling the police to report the “crime.”
The “victims” are alleged to have each paid Rambhai to participate in the scheme. In turn, Rambhai allegedly paid the store owners for the use of their stores for the staged robbery.
Rambhai, the “robber,” and the getaway driver were previously charged and convicted.
The 11 defendants charged on Friday are alleged to have either arranged with the organiser to set up each robbery, or paid for themselves or a family member to participate as a “victim.”
The charge of conspiracy to commit visa fraud provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of USD 250,000.
