Deaths on US-Canada border: Gujarat man says four of the deceased are kin
Mehsana (PTI): A family in Mehsana district in Gujarat believes the Indians who were among the eight who died while trying to cross into the United States of America from Canada recently are their kin.
Jasubhai Chaudhary, a resident of Manekpur village in Vijapur taluka here, on Sunday said his brother, sister-in-law and their two children had left for Canada two months ago on a visitors' visa, adding reports of eight persons, including some Indians, being found in a marsh there had vexed kin here.
Canadian police has said the deceased, who were found on the banks of St Lawrence River near Akwesasne, a community which straddles Quebec, Ontario and New York State, are believed to be two families of Indian and Romanian descent and were crossing into USA.
"Two months ago, my brother, his wife and two children went to Canada on a visitors' visa. Yesterday morning I learnt about the death of members of a family from India in Canada. I tried to contact my brother but was not able to do so. This caused suspicion that they were our family members," Chaudhary told reporters.
A Mehsana district administration official said Malekpura village residents approached the collector with a request to make arrangements for the bodies of the four deceased to be brought back to their native village.
"It is confirmed that four members of a family from Manekpur village in Vijapur taluka of Mehsana went to Canada on a visitor's visa and tried to cross the river. The villagers approached us seeking help to bring back their bodies, which we have reported to the state government," the official said.
Chaudhary said the family's suspicion was confirmed after they found that the names of the victims circulating on Whatsapp groups of his relatives settled in Canada were that of his brother, wife and two children.
He identified the four who left for Canada Praveeni Chaudhary (50), his wife Diksha (45), son Meet (20), and daughter Vidhi (24).
Former state home minister Vipul Chaudhary told reporters the government should make arrangements for the bodies of the victims to be brought back here, and termed it a very sad and shocking incident.
If something untoward of this sort happens, then the government must ensure the bodies are brought back, the former minister added.
On January 19 last year, four members of a family from Dingucha village in Gujarat's Gandhinagar froze to death while trying to illegally cross into USA from Canada.
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Court can reject anticipatory bail but cannot direct accused to surrender: SC
New Delhi (PTI): A court can reject anticipatory bail of an accused but it has no jurisdiction to direct him to surrender before the trial court, the Supreme Court has said.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan made the observation while hearing a plea filed by a man accused of cheating and forgery.
"If the court wants to reject the anticipatory bail, it may do so, but the court has no jurisdiction to say that the petitioner should now surrender," the bench said.
The Jharkhand High Court had rejected anticipatory bail plea of the accused and asked him to surrender and seek regular bail.
In this case, a complaint had been filed before a magistrate alleging offences under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged document) and 120B read with 34 of the IPC, in connection with a land dispute.
The high court had dismissed the second anticipatory bail application of the accused on the ground that no new circumstances were shown.
It had relied on its earlier order rejecting his first anticipatory bail plea, in which the court directed the petitioner to surrender before the trial court and seek regular bail in terms of the decision in Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI.
The top court said such a direction was wholly without jurisdiction and said that if a court chooses to reject anticipatory bail, it may do so, but it cannot compel the accused to surrender.
