Police complaints found filed against Bilkis Bano case convicts with good behavior
Bilkis Bano rape case convicts: Good behavior versus police complaints
New Delhi: The release of the 11 convicts who were released in the Bilkis Bano case has taken a turn with filing FIRs for harassment against them being revealed.
The convicts in the rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of her family members in 2002 case were released on August 15 and felicitated like heroes. The Gujarat government had cited ‘good behaviour’ of the convicts and the approval of the Centre for their release.
The government claim of good behaviour, however, appears to be broken down by FIRs of harassment found to be filed against the convicts, said NDTV.
Multiple FIRs as well as police complaints were filed against the convicts for threatening and harassing witnesses when acquitted. Both these contradict the claim of good behavior and the absence of evidence of wrongdoings by the convicts while serving time.
At least four witnesses in the Bilkis Bano case filed complaints and FIRs against the convicts between 2017 and 2021, said the source.
An FIR was registered against two convicts Radheshyam Shah and Miteshbhai Bhatt at the Radhikapur police station in Dahod on July 6, 2020. The FIR was filed by Saberaben Patel, and a witness in the Bilkis Bano case, Pintubhai, under sections 354 (assault or criminal force with intention to outrage modesty), 504 (intimidation), 506 (2) (threat to kill) and 114 (abetment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It said that three men, including two convicts and Radheshyam's brother Ashish, threatened Saberaben, her daughter Arfa and witness Pintubhai for implicating them with their statements on the case.
In another police complaint, filed with Dahod police against Sailesh Chimmanlal Bhatt on January 1, 2021, Mansuri Abdul Razzaq Abdul Majid, another witness, had alleged that he was being threatened by the convict while the latter was out on parole. It also referred to the felicitation of Bhatt by Limkheda MLA Sailesh Bhai Bhabhor and former minister of state and Lok Sabha MP Jaswantsing Bhabhor for Bhatt’s good deeds. The complaint, however, was not turned into an FIR.
In a third complaint, which was also not turned into an FIR, two witnesses Ghanchi Adambhai Ismailbhai and Ghanchi Imtiazbhai Yusufbhai, told the police on July 18, 2017, that one of the convicts, Govind Nai had threatened to kill them if they did not agree to "compromise", said the source.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court said that the Gujarat government justification of the release of the convicts prior to term had cited judgments, not factual statements. A bench headed by Justice Ajay Rastogi had called it ‘a very bulky counter’ that lacked factual statements.
Defending the release of the convicts for ‘good behavior’, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said, “When the government and the concerned people have taken the decision, I don't find anything wrong in it as it is a process of law.
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Canadian PM Trudeau admits he had no hard proof when he alleged Indian agents' involvement
Nijjar killing
Ottawa, Oct 16: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday acknowledged that he had only intelligence and no "hard evidentiary proof" when he alleged the involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.
Testifying before the public inquiry into foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions, Trudeau claimed the Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians who are in disagreement with the Narendra Modi government and passing it to the highest levels within the Indian government and criminal organisations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
"I was briefed on the fact that there was intelligence from Canada, and possibly from Five Eyes allies that made it fairly clear, incredibly clear, that India was involved in this... Agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil," he said.
He added that it was something that his government had to take extremely seriously.
'Five Eyes' network is an intelligence alliance consisting of the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It is both surveillance-based and signals intelligence (SIGINT).
"India had indeed done it, and we had reasons to believe that they had," Trudeau said, adding that his government's immediate approach was to engage with the government of India to work on this together to make sure that there was accountability.
Recalling the G20 summit hosted by India in September last year, he said it was a big moment for India, and Canada "had the opportunity of making it a very uncomfortable summit" for India if it went public with these allegations.
"We chose not to. We chose to continue to work behind the scenes to try and get India to cooperate with us," he said.
Trudeau said the Indian side asked for evidence "and our response was, well, it's within your security agencies."
But the Indian side insisted on the evidence. "And at that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof. So we said, well, let's work together and look into your security services and maybe we can get that done," he said.
He said he met Prime Minister Modi after the end of the G20 summit in Delhi and shared that "we knew that they were involved and expressed a real concern around it. He responded with the usual response from him, which is that we have people who are outspoken against the Indian government living in Canada that he would like to see arrested."
Trudeau said he tried to explain that there is freedom of speech in Canada to criticise governments overseas or indeed to criticise a Canadian government.
"But as always, we would work with them on any evidence or any concerns they have around terrorism or incitement to hate or anything that is patently unacceptable," he said.
"We launched investigations. The Indian response to these allegations and our investigations was to double down on attacks against this government, attacks against this government's integrity, attacks against Canada in general, but also to arbitrarily eject dozens of Canadian diplomats from India," he said.
"This was a situation in which we had clear and certainly now even clearer, indications that India had violated Canada's sovereignty," he said.
He alleged that the Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians who were in disagreement with the Modi government, passing along that information to the highest levels within the Indian government, and to criminal organizations like the Bishnoi gang.
"...It was the RCMP determination that that chain, or that sequence, that scheme, needed to be disrupted and going public on Monday as they did," he said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Monday said it has evidence that six Indian diplomats were involved in the alleged plot to murder Nijjar in June 2023.
The RCMP also alleged that the Bishnoi gang is connected to the agents of the Indian government, which is targeting the South Asian community specifically "pro-Khalistani elements" in the country.
On this, India strongly rejected attempts by Canadian authorities to link Indian agents with criminal gangs in Canada with official sources in New Delhi even saying that Ottawa's assertion that it shared evidence with New Delhi in the Nijjar case was simply not true.
The sources in New Delhi also rejected Trudeau's previous allegations that India was engaging in activities including carrying out covert operations targeting Canadian nationals in his country.
India expelled six Canadian diplomats and announced withdrawing its high commissioner from Canada after dismissing Ottawa's allegations linking the envoy to a probe into the killing of Nijjar.
Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia, in June last year.
