POCSO case: Accused journalist remanded to judicial custody
Udupi, Dec 3: The principal district and sessions court remanded journalist Chandra K Hemmadi who was arrested on charges of sexually abusing 21 minor boys under POCSO Act, to 14 days judicial custody.
He was in police custody for three days from November 29 and as his interrogation was completed and his custody was ended on December 2, investigating officer Byndoor circle inspector Parameshwar R. Gunaga produced him before the court on Monday. Judge Venkatesh Naik remanded the accused to 14 days judicial custody and later, he was taken to district jail situated at Hiriyadka.
Following complaints from 21 boys, 16 cases were filed in Byndoor police station, three cases in Gangolli police station and one case each was filed in Kundapura rural and Kollur police stations under the POCSO Act. It is said that few more boys are likely to give complaints against the accused.
Being a singer, Chandra Hemmadi used to visit schools and colleges for giving programmes and later, he used to publish the news of those programmes in newspapers and thus gained the confidence of the teachers, parents and students. Under the guise of journalist, he used to take the students on motorbikes to show him the places of news and sexually exploit them. If any students oppose his act, he was threatening them with knife points and it was disclosed in the interrogation, said SP Lakshman Nimbargi.
First case in state
It is the first case in the history of the state that 21 cases were filed against an accused under the POCSO Act. Now, the investigating officers have been investigating the case in different angles and there are chances of filing few more cases against him. If the charges are proved against the accused, there is an option to impose life imprisonment to the accused, district special public prosecutor Vijaya Vasu Poojary said.
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Hyderabad airport receives three bomb threats for incoming flights
Hyderabad (PTI): Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has received three bomb threats to flights coming from different cities, including two international, sources said.
The airport received emails on late Sunday night targeting British Airways' (BA 277) from Heathrow, Lufthansa’s (LH 752) from Frankfurt and IndiGo's 6E 7178 from Kannur.
Airport sources said all the flights landed safely. The two international flights landed here during the early hours of Monday.
"Standard safety protocols were initiated for all three aircraft," sources said.
Standard safety protocols include isolation of the aircraft, screening of baggage and passengers, keeping fire engines ready and pressing sniffer dogs into services, among others, sources added.
Last week, the RGIA received bomb threat emails for the Dubai-Hyderabad Emirates flight and IndiGo's Madina–Hyderabad and Sharjah-Hyderabad flights separately.
Madina–Hyderabad was diverted to Ahmedabad airport.
