Belthangady Murder Case: Mangaluru court hands down life sentences to six people
Mangaluru, Jul 29: The First Additional District and Sessions Court here awarded life sentences to six people who were found guilty of murdering a 30-year old man and setting him on fire.
The convicted people are Anand Naika (39), Praveen Naika (39), Vinay Kumar (34), Prakash (35), Lokesh (38) and Nagaraj (43).
In his order, the judge T P Ramalinge Gowda also directed all the six to pay a fine of Rs 23,000.
According to a charge-sheet filed by Belthangady police, 30-year old Suresh Naika, a resident of Malavantige village of Belthangady, was to get engaged with a girl on April 30, 2017.
On April 29, 2017, Suresh Naika left for Ujire to buy a sari for the girl.
Suresh Naika received a call from Vinay Kumar stating that he can help him in getting relief under a government scheme.
Suresh Naika then went missing and the body was found burnt a week later at a secluded place in Alekki village.
Vinay Kumar and the other accused were arrested by the then circle Inspector K Nagesh.
The charge-sheet said that Anand Naika hatched a conspiracy to murder Suresh Naika as he did not want the latter to marry the girl he loved.
The judge sentenced all the six persons to life imprisonment and asked them to pay a fine of Rs 23,000 under various sections of the IPC.
The judge said Rs 1 lakh should be given to Suresh Naika's mother Girija from the fine amount.
He also directed the district legal services authority to pay adequate compensation to Girija under the Karnataka victim compensation scheme.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
