Vachathi atrocity: HC upholds conviction of over 200 persons, directs compensation for rape victims
Chennai (PTI): The Madras High Court on Friday upheld a lower court order convicting and sentencing 215 persons, including Forest and Police personnel for atrocities on tribals, including sexual assault of women, during a raid for smuggled sandalwood in Tamil Nadu's Vachathi village.
The HC dismissed the appeals filed against the order of a lower court in Dharmapuri which held the 215 men guilty. It had sentenced them to prison terms ranging from 1 to 10 years.
On Friday, Justice P Velmurugan also directed providing an immediate compensation of Rs 10 lakh to 18 women, who were victims of sexual assault during the infamous incident in Dharmapuri that sent shockwaves across the state. Of this amount, the court directed recovering Rs five lakh from those accused of rape, the counsel for the victims said.
The Dharmapuri court had held as guilty 126 forest personnel, including four IFS officers, 84 men from police and five from the revenue department in connection with the 1992 incident which was probed by the CBI later.
Out of the 269 accused, 54 died during the pendency of the trial.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
