Investigating 39 cases of rape, attempt to rape during Bengal post-poll violence: CBI to High Court
Kolkata(PTI): The CBI has, in a report to the Calcutta High Court, said it is investigating 39 cases of alleged rape or attempt to rape during post-poll violence in West Bengal, and has not found any basis in 21 such complaints.
All these allegations were mentioned in a report submitted by a fact-finding committee set up by the National Human Rights Commission.
The NHRC panel was constituted on a direction by a five-judge bench of the high court, which heard a batch of PILs that sought an independent probe into incidents of alleged violence after the 2021 assembly polls.
The ruling TMC won the elections by an overwhelming majority.
The Central Bureau of Investigation was entrusted by the five-judge bench to probe into serious allegations of murder, rape or attempt to rape brought forward by the fact-finding committee.
Of the 52 murder cases, it has already submitted charge sheets in 10 and is probing 38 such alleged incidents, the CBI said in the report, submitted to a division bench headed by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava on Monday.
It is still verifying claims in two such instances and two other cases have been sent back to a special investigation team of the state police, set up by the five-judge bench to probe other alleged crimes.
FIRs were filed in the 39 cases of alleged rape or attempt to rape during the post-poll violence in the state, the central agency said, adding that it found no basis in 21 such claims and had sent these to the special investigation team.
The CBI also mentioned that it is in the process of verifying allegations of sexual assault in two more cases.
The special investigation team reported to the division bench that it has submitted charge sheets in 573 of 689 cases.
The SIT also stated that it has submitted closure reports in 63 cases after probing the allegations and finding no basis in those, while in the rest, investigations are going on.
The division bench directed the state government to file a report in the form of an affidavit on the return of people who had allegedly been left homeless due to political vendetta by the next date of hearing on January 24.
The five-judge bench headed by the then Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal had on August 19, 2021 ordered the CBI investigation into all allegations of murder and rape or attempt to rape during the post-poll violence in West Bengal and constitution of the SIT comprising three IPS officers of West Bengal cadre to probe all other cases.
The bench had also directed that both the investigations would be monitored by the high court.
It had ordered the West Bengal government to pay compensation to the victims of crimes as per the policy of the state, after due verification.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
