Maharashtra bandh: Bus services affected, shops closed in Mumbai and neighbouring areas
Mumbai (PTI): Bus services were affected in Mumbai and neighbouring areas on Monday and most of the shops and commercial establishments remained closed in the wake of the bandh called across Maharashtra by three partners in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to protest the killing of four farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district.
As buses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST- the transport undertaking of the city civic body) and many of the traditional 'black-yellow cabs' remained off roads, there were huge crowds on suburban railway stations to commute by local trains, which were running as per schedule.
The three ruling allies - Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, have appealed to people to wholeheartedly support the bandh, which began at midnight, to express their solidarity with farmers.
In the morning, shops and other commercial establishments, barring those engaged in selling essential items, remained closed in Mumbai.
While the BEST bus services were affected in the wake of the bandh, the local trains, considered as the lifeline of Mumbai, were operating normally, but running packed as road commuters shifted to suburban rail services.
"Our services are running as per schedule," Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer of the Central Railway, told PTI.
Most of the black-yellow cabs and auto-rickshaws were off roads in the metropolis, as per transport union leaders.
"The black-yellow taxis are operating, but their number is very less. The taxi operations outside the city airport are unaffected," said A L Quadros, general secretary of the Mumbai Taximens' Union.
The Metro rail services were also operating normally in the city.
Officials of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) said their buses from Mumbai to other places were plying as per schedule and no untoward incident was reported anywhere.
"Regional offices across the state have been informed to operate bus services in consultation with the district administration concerned and police after taking stock of the local situation," an MSRTC official said.
There was heavy police deployment across the state capital in the wake of the bandh.
Police personnel, including women, were on patrolling duty in every area of the city and no untoward incident was reported till now, a police official said.
There was extra traffic police deployment on the city roads, where people were mostly seen travelling in private vehicles. Many senior police officials were seen visiting the 'bandobast' points.
At railways stations also, extra police force was deployed.
The Mumbai Police earlier said they will deploy the maximum manpower at their disposal on the streets on Monday to prevent any untoward incident during the bandh.
Three companies of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), 500 Home Guard personnel and 400 men from the Local Arms units are already deployed as additional manpower for the ongoing Navratri festival security, an official said.
In neighbouring Thane district, shops and commercial establishments remained closed in the morning and roads at many places wore a deserted look.
Public buses remained off roads, while a few auto-rickshaws were seen plying in some places.
Heavy security was deployed in Thane city, rural parts of the district, neighbouring Navi Mumbai township and Palghar district, officials said.
Activists of the ruling allies, carrying placards and banners, took out morchas in Thane city, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan and Vasai towns and raised slogans to protest the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Local leaders were seen requesting traders in some places to keep their establishments shut.
The Thane Small Scale Industries Association in a release condemned the killing of farmers, but said the industries and small traders were not in favour of the bandh as they were already facing losses due to the COVID-19-related curbs.
Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut last week said his party will participate with full force in the Monday bandh in Maharashtra. He said it was necessary to wake people up against the "anti-farmer" policies of the Central government.
Eight people, including four farmers, died in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3.
The farmers died after being knocked down by vehicles reportedly carrying BJP workers, after which an angry mob allegedly lynched some people in these vehicles.
On Saturday night, Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra was arrested by the police in Lakhimpur Kheri in connection with the October 3 violence.
NCP spokesman and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Monday said the MVA demands that Union minister Ajay Misha be sacked.
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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.
