COVID-19: Court denies bail to murder case accused saying they are safe in jail than outside
Mumbai: Observing that the accused lodged in jails are in a "secure situation" compared to the daily working people in society who are exposed to the "outside social atmosphere", a court here had rejected the interim bail plea of Chintan Upadhaya, arrested in connection with the murder of his artist wife and her lawyer in 2015, and another accused who had sought the relief citing the COVID-19 pandemic.
A detailed order of the court was made available on Tuesday.
Chintan Upadhaya and Pradeep Rajbhar had sought temporary bail citing a surge in COVID-19 cases, coronavirus variants and the pandemic.
Hema Upadhyay, a Mumbai-based artist, and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani were killed on December 11, 2015 and their bodies disposed of in suburban Kandivali.
Denying them relief, additional sessions judge D D Khoche said jail authorities are taking care of inmates "at their level best and therefore the pandemic could not effectively spread in the prison".
"Rather, as compared with the daily-working people in the society who are usually exposed to the outside social atmosphere, applicants/accused can be observed as comparatively in a secure situation in the jail," the judge noted.
He further observed that the second wave of the pandemic is now under control.
"Though this court may understand the feelings of the accused, even pains that they are kept in jail under this fearful situation of COVID-19, in view of the proceeding of the trial and for want of the recommendation to release the accused in a murder case on interim bail. (But) the court cannot consider their situation, because it is the case beyond its limitation," the court added.
The court on Tuesday directed the prosecution to produce witnesses to testify before the court from the next hearing which is scheduled on July 27.
However, the trial couldn't progress due to the pandemic.
Chintan Upadhyay was arrested on December 22, 2015, for the murders and is currently in judicial custody.
The other arrested accused are Shiv Kumar Rajbhar, Pradip Kumar Rajbhar, Vijay Kumar Rajbhar and Azad Rajbhar. Another accused Vidhyadhar continues to be absconding.
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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.
