Hubballi, Aug 21: Three policemen have been arrested and booked for facilitating a murder accused to stay with a woman companion at a hotel in Karnataka's Hubballi district.
According to a police officer, Bachcha Khan (55) was brought from Ballari to Dharwad for trial on Saturday in connection with the murder of one Irfan Khan.
After producing him in the court, the policemen who accompanied him heeded to his request to allow him to spend some time with his companion, who had travelled to Dharwad from Bengaluru. During the period, the policemen stood guard outside the suit.
When the Gokul Road police learnt about it, they raided the hotel and arrested the police personnel, the murder accused and his friend.
"We have arrested five people in this connection including Bachcha Khan and his companion. Three policemen are among the arrested persons," a police officer said.
Further departmental inquiry has been initiated, he added.
Bachcha Khan has been in jail for over 20 years in a murder case, the officer said.
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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.
