Karnataka HC rejects gangster Ravi Pujari's bail plea
Bengaluru, Jul 28: A single judge bench of the High Court of Karnataka headed by Justice Srinivas Harish Kumar has dismissed the bail plea filed by gangster Ravi Pujari alias Raviprakash in a case registered at a police station here.
Though the bail plea was rejected, the HC observed that the government prosecutor will be held responsible for the delay in the trial.
The government prosecutor has failed to cross-examine the witnesses even though the trial court framed the charges long ago. Witnesses were to be called and brought before the court by the government prosecutor, the judge observed on Thursday.
The trial court shall complete the trial within one year. If the trial is not completed within a year, the government prosecutor will be responsible, the judge said.
The advocate for Pujari argued before the court that "Despite the order of the High Court, the trial has not started. Even after two and a half years since the court order, not a single witness has been examined. If the trial is delayed in this regard, the public will lose faith in the judiciary.".
The government advocate pointed out that 107 cases were pending against Pujari in Karnataka, 20 in Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Rajasthan. As the accused was being taken to different states for investigation, there is a delay in the trial of the current case.
In the current case, it is alleged that on the instructions of Ravi Pujari, 17 of his henchmen tried to kill relator KS Samiullah and his friends of Shabnam Developers between January and February 15, 2007 with the intention of instilling fear in the real estate industry and extorting money from realtors.
A case was registered against the accused under IPC Sections 302, 307 and Arms Act Sections 3 and 25. The case was split as the five accused including Ravi Pujari were absconding. The rest of the accused in the case were acquitted. Pujari had approached the HC seeking bail in this case.
Ravi Pujari was extradited from Senegal and brought to India on 21 February, 2020 in pursuance of the order passed by the I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Bengaluru in the case filed by the Tilak Nagar police station. He has been in custody ever since and faces multiple cases in several states across India.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
