Gujarat: Five senior cops among 19 booked in kidnapping, extortion case of Kutch firm staffer
Bhuj, Feb 17: Two superintendents of police (SPs) and three other senior policemen are among 19 persons against whom a case has been registered in connection with the kidnapping and extortion of an employee of a firm in Gujarat's Kutch district, police said on Saturday.
The Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Thursday registered an FIR against two SPs, three DySPs, a sub-inspector, and owners of Electrotherm Limited, among others, nearly a month after the Supreme Court lifted the stay on the Gujarat High Court order directing the probe agency to do the same, they said.
According to a release issued by the CID, Parmanad Seerwani, a resident of Gandhidham in Kutch district, lodged a police complaint against two company owners and 11 others for kidnapping and extortion committed in December 2015.
The probe agency, in the release, did not disclose the exact roles of the accused police officers, citing that it would affect the investigation.
Former Kutch (East) SPs GV Barot and Bhavna Patel and DySPs RD Desai, DS Vaghela and VJ Gadhvi, and sub-inspector N K Chauhan have been named in the FIR, the release stated.
The complainant worked at Electrotherm Limited in 2011 and later tendered his resignation, which was repeatedly rejected by company owners Shailesh Bhandari and Anurag Bhandari.
The Bhandaris were accused of allegedly kidnapping the complainant when he refused to become the firm's director after trying to resign unsuccessfully, the release said.
In December 2015, Seerwani was allegedly kidnapped and held captive in the company bungalow in Ahmedabad, where he was forced to sign blank papers to give away his properties, along with cash and gold worth lakhs, it said.
A case has been registered against the accused under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 347 and 348 (wrongful confinement and extortion), and 364 (kidnapping to murder), among other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act, the release said.
The complainant and his wife had approached the concerned authorities between December 6, 2015 and February 4, 2016 to get an FIR registered against the accused, it said.
However, when no action was taken, they moved the high court for directions to register an FIR, it said.
In its order dated October 10, 2019, the high court directed the authorities to register an FIR, but the accused got a stay from the Supreme Court. The stay was lifted on January 16 this year, the release said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bird flu: Karnataka completes 10-day H5N1 surveillance, containment operation
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has successfully completed a 10-day intensive surveillance and containment operation following the detection of the H5N1 Avian Influenza outbreak here, officials said on Saturday.
The outbreak was reported in the State Poultry Rearing Training Centre in Mathkuru village, Hesaraghatta, on April 14, they said.
The surveillance was conducted by the Department of Health and Family Welfare of the state government in coordination with the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department, officials said.
According to an official statement, once the outbreak was confirmed, following laboratory reports from the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD-Bhopal), State and District Rapid Response Teams along with Hesaraghatta and Sonnenahalli PHC (Primary Health Centres) teams were immediately deployed.
An infected zone of 0-3 km and a surveillance zone of 3-10 km radius was established. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, culled all the birds and safely disposed of eggs and of contaminated feed, adhering to national and international biosecurity protocols, it said.
The health department said the surveillance zone from the infective focus in the 10 km radius, a total population of 28,172 across 22 villages was surveyed from day 1 to day 10. Multiple rounds of surveillance were conducted and sanitation activities were completed as per protocol.
During the surveillance period, nasopharyngeal samples collected from all quarantined staff on Day 5, sent to NIV-Bengaluru, were found to be negative for H5N1, it said.
On day 10, nasopharyngeal samples were collected and the results are awaited. No human case of H5N1 infection has been detected in the infected or surveillance zones, the health officials said.
"All healthcare facilities in Bengaluru have been instructed to continue ILI/SARI (Influenza-Like Illness/Severe Acute Respiratory Infection) case surveillance, and ensure adequate stocks of PPE, triple-layer medical masks, oseltamivir, viral transport medium, and throat swab kits," it said.
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services issued a Sanitization Certificate on April 21, officials said.
"No poultry activity will be undertaken for a period of 90 days as a precautionary measure. During the three months of surveillance, the entire area of the farm will be repeatedly disinfected by fumigation (indoors) or sprays (open place) every 15 days," it further stated.
The public has been advised to avoid handling or consuming meat or eggs from sick or dead poultry and report sightings of sick or dead birds promptly to local veterinary or health authorities.
Ensure poultry meat and eggs are thoroughly cooked before consumption, as proper cooking effectively inactivates the virus, they said.
"The public is advised to follow official health advisories and avoid spreading unverified information," the department added.
