Tabrez Ansari lynching case: Murder charge back on all accused
Ranchi, Sep 18: Eight days after the Jharkhand police dropped the murder charge against 11 accused in the mob lynching case of young Muslim man Tabrez Ansari, they brought back the same charge on the accused on Wednesday after obtaining a fresh medical report, an official said here.
Ansari was seen on national television being beaten up with rods while tied to a pole and forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' over alleged theft in June.
Based on a fresh medical report, the police on Wednesday filed a supplementary charge sheet before a court in Seraikela-Kharsawan district, retaining Section 302 of the IPC (murder) against the 11 accused, the official said.
The police also filed charge sheet against the remaining two accused charging them with murder after completing investigation against them.
The police had on September 10 dropped murder charges against all the 13 accused in the mob lynching case and converted it into one of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 of the IPC) on the basis of postmortem, medical and forensic reports which said 24-year-old Ansari died of cardiac arrest.
While the quantum of punishment under Section 302 is death or imprisonment for life and fine, the penalty under Section 304 is imprisonment for life or imprisonment for 10 years or fine or both.
The official said, as the previous medical report stating that Ansari's death was caused due to cardiac arrest was not clear, the police took a second opinion of specialist doctors from the MGM Medical College and Hospital in Jamshedpur.
"On the basis of main findings, we opined that (1) The fracture of bone is grievous injury caused by hard & blunt object. (2). The combined effect of fracture of bone, pale organs and heart chambers full of blood resulting into cardiac arrest," the report by fresh board of doctors said.
The police also did not find any distortion in the viral video showing Ansari being beaten up by the accused, the official said.
The 13 accused were arrested in connection with the death of 24-year-old Ansari.
Ansari worked as a labourer and welder in Pune and had come home to celebrate Eid when he was captured by locals at Dhatkidih village on the night of June 17 over suspicion of trying to steal a motorcycle.
He was tied to a pole and assaulted by a mob with sticks and iron rods. A video of the scene that went viral and was flashed across tv networks showed he was forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Jai Hanuman' by his tormentors.
Though there was no evidence of the perpetrators' link to any Hindu right organisation, Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists had protested their arrest.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was set up to look into the case after Ansari was declared "brought dead" by doctors at the Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur on June 22.
Two policemen were suspended in connection with the incident.
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MP: 40 years after Bhopal gas disaster, toxic waste leaves Union Carbide factory for disposal
Bhopal, Jan 1: Forty years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, the shifting of some 377 tons of hazardous waste began from the defunct Union Carbide factory on Wednesday night for its disposal, an official said.
The toxic waste is being shifted in 12 sealed container trucks to the Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district, 250 km away from Bhopal.
"12 container trucks carrying the waste set off on a non-stop journey around 9 pm. A green corridor has been created for the vehicles which are expected to reach Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district in seven hours," said Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department Director Swatantra Kumar Singh.
He said around 100 people worked in 30-minute shifts since Sunday to pack and load the waste in trucks.
"They underwent health check-ups and were given rest every 30 minutes," he added.
Highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, killing at least 5,479 people and leaving thousands with serious and long-lasting health issues. It is considered to be among the worst industrial disasters in the world.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on December 3 rebuked authorities for not clearing the Union Carbide site in Bhopal despite directions from even the Supreme Court and set a four-week deadline to shift the waste, observing that even 40 years after the gas tragedy, authorities were in a "state of inertia".
The high court bench had warned the government of contempt proceedings if its directive was not followed.
"If everything is found to be fine, the waste will be incinerated within three months. Otherwise, it might take up to nine months," Singh told PTI on Wednesday morning.
Initially, some of the waste will be burnt at the waste disposal unit in Pithampur and the residue (ash) will be examined to find whether any harmful elements are left, Singh said.
The smoke from the incinerator will pass through special four-layer filters so that the surrounding air is not polluted, he added.
Once it is confirmed that no traces of toxic elements are left, the ash will be covered by a two-layer membrane and buried to ensure it does not come in contact with soil and water in any way.
A team of experts under the supervision of officials of the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Board will carry out the process, Singh said.
Some local activists have claimed that 10 tons of Union Carbide waste was incinerated on a trial basis in Pithampur in 2015, after which the soil, underground water and water sources in surrounding villages became polluted.
But Singh rejected the claim, stating that the decision to dispose of the waste at Pithampur was taken only after the report of the 2015 test and all the objections were examined.
There would be no reason to worry, he said.
A large number of people had on Sunday taken out a protest march in Pithampur to oppose the disposal of Union Carbide waste in the city which has a population of about 1.75 lakh.
12 trucks carrying 337 tonnes of toxic waste from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, stored for 40 years, left at 9:05 p.m. for Pithampur near Indore. The waste is expected to arrive early on January 2nd, following a 250-km green corridor with heavy security.
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