Two more held in Aligarh murder case, Lawyers refuse to fight case for accused men
Aligarh (UP), Jun 8: Police on Saturday arrested two more people for the murder of a toddler here and confirmed that one of the men held earlier for the crime is an alleged sex offender who targeted children in recent years.
Shagufta (32) and Mehndi Hasan, the wife and the brother of Zahid who was arrested Tuesday, were picked up this morning by the special investigation team formed to probe the killing of the two-and-a-half-year-old girl in Tappal township.
"They were later arrested," a senior police official said.
With this, the total number of arrests has gone up to four in the case.
Other than 27-year-old Zahid, police had arrested Aslam, 43, on Tuesday after the girl's decomposed body was found in a garbage dump around 200 metres from her home. The body was discovered on June 2, three days after she was reported missing. The girl's father had alleged she was killed because he failed to repay Rs 10,000 taken as loan from the accused.
Aslam was charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) in 2014 and 2017, police said. He also faced charges under Uttar Pradesh's Goonda Act.
The second POCSO case, in Delhi's Gokulpuri, also involved abduction of a minor.
Two separate cases of POCSO are pending against him and he had gone to jail in connection with an abduction case in Delhi, Aligarh Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Akash Kulhari said.
Meanwhile, Aligarh Bar Association announced that no lawyer would appear in court on behalf of any of the accused charged with the toddler's murder.
"We have decided that no lawyer will appear in the court for accused," Bar Association secretary Anup Kaushik said.
Anoop Kaushik,General Secretary, Aligarh Bar Association: We stand with the family of 2.5-year-old girl who was murdered in Tappal & no advocate will appear in Court for the accused. Advocate from outside will not be allowed to fight the case. We will fight for the child. pic.twitter.com/cwuiaQvwbz
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 8, 2019
Kulhari said officials probing the Aligarh case are looking into the phone records of all suspects.
"The police are in the process of building a water-tight case against the accused so that it stands all legal scrutiny and speedy justice is delivered through a fast-track court. We are checking phone records of all suspects to trace the crime trail," he said.
Kulhari, who camped in the area till late Friday, warned of strong action against anyone trying to spread rumours through social media.
Tension had prevailed in the area after the victim's family alleged that police officials delayed the registration of their complaint and the investigation. Five policemen have been suspended for negligence and Kulhari Friday assured locals that justice would be done in the case.
The SSP reiterated that the postmortem examination by a panel of three doctors found "no evidence of sexual assault", but police were taking no chances and forensic experts were examining vaginal swabs for any further evidence.
The incident has triggered massive outrage. Political leaders and celebrities have also tweeted their anger and disgust over the crime.
Candlelight protests over the murder were held in Aligarh city. Teachers and students at Aligarh Muslim University have demanded "exemplary and prompt" punishment for the perpetrators.
At a special meeting of its executive, the AMU Teachers Association demanded that a fast-track court be immediately set up to try the case.
AMUTA secretary Nazmul Hasan said in a press release that the teachers stood by the victim's family.
Former president of AMU students union Faizul Hasan said the law should be amended so that convicts of such crime face "punishment as stringent as that in Saudi Arabia".
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
