Chhattisgarh: SP, Collector of Kabirdham transferred following mob violence, custodial death
Raipur (PTI): The Chhattisgarh government has shunted out Kabirdham Collector and Superintendent of Police (SP) after incidents of mob violence and custodial death in the district triggered a row, an official said.
The Congress has given a call for a state-wide bandh on Saturday to protest against the "deteriorating" law and order situation in the state.
Gopal Verma will replace Janmejay Mahobe as the collector of Kabirdham, while Rajesh Agrawal will be the SP in place of Abhishek Pallava, the public relations department official said on Friday.
Mahobe has been appointed as the Managing Director of the state's Civil Supply Corporation, while Pallava has been made the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of the police headquarters in Nava Raipur, the official added.
Besides, 23 personnel attached to Rengakhar police station have been removed for thrashing residents of Loharidih village after the incident of mob violence, he said.
A probe in connection with the setting ablaze of a deputy sarpanch's house following the death of a man on September 15 headed by Additional District Magistrate Nirbhay Kumar Sahu has been ordered, he said.
On September 15, at least 69 persons were nabbed for allegedly setting on fire the house of Loharidih village deputy sarpanch Raghunath Sahu in Rengakhar police station limits, leading to the latter's death.
Police said a preliminary investigation suggested the attack on Raghunath Sahu was triggered following suspicion that he had killed a villager identified as Kachru Sahu, who was found hanging from a tree the same day in nearby Bijatola village in Balaghat district of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
Police rescued three members of Raghunath's family, including his wife, in injured condition and they were hospitalised.
Some police personnel, including Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava, were also injured when stones were hurled at them when cops were engaged in rescuing Raghunath's family.
Among the 69 who were arrested on Sunday for the arson, Prashant Sahu died in judicial custody on September 18.
His death triggered an uproar with the opposition Congress claiming that he was brutally beaten by the police, leading to his death.
State Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma admitted that Prashant Sahu was thrashed by the police, and suspended Kabirdham Additional Superintendent of Police Vikas Kumar in this connection.
A judicial inquiry has also been ordered to probe the custodial death, the police said.
Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, along with party leaders, visited Loharidih on September 19 and Congress shared pictures of the body of Prashant bearing major injury marks on it.
The opposition party has demanded deputy CM Sharma's resignation over these incidents. Sharma represents Kawardha constituency which covers Rengakhar area.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
