In Malegaon, cops want all local cows caught on camera

Mateen Hafeez I TNN





Mumbai: The Malegaon police, who last week registered the first case under Maharashtra's new law banning beef, have now issued a diktat to all owners of cows and bullocks in the township: submit to the local police station the photograph of each and every cow and bullock, so that police can keep the pictures in their files for reference just in case a criminal case crops up.
Mahesh Sawai, deputy superintendent of police (DSP), confirmed that the police have asked cow and bullock owners to send in the pictures. “The purpose is to carry out a census and keep a record. Besides, this will help to verify mattes if someone feeds us wrong information about pet animals or animals working in the field,“ he said.

However, neither the state government nor the top police authorities have issu ed any such directive for a `census' or for the purpose of keeping a record.

On March 25, the Malegaon police booked three persons--Asif Talathi, Hameed Landi and Rasheed Pandiya --under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995 after the local Azad Nagar police got a tip-off that they were selling beef. A total of 150kg of beef was seized.

All three accused have been arrested and sent to police custody till March 31. The slaughter of cows was earlier prohibited in the state under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976. The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 1995, which recently received presidential assent, bans the slaughter of bulls and bullocks as well.

Sawai defended the police order saying, “We are keeping the photographs for verification purposes only . If someone alleges that some illegal activity has taken place and if the owner has a photo, it will be easy to establish the truth. We have conveyed the message to the residents of Malegaon, including animal traders. We have also asked them to register their pet animals with the Malegaon civic corporation.“

Late Monday evening, the Malegaon police seized five cows. “The owner has said he would only sell the milk of these cows. We are busy corroborating the facts, and no FIR has been registered,“ Sawai said.

The police had detained the cows, but Sawai denied that any detentions had taken place. “We have not detained them but are just keeping an eye on them. The owners' men possess the cows,“ Sawai said.

A resident of the township said, “The practice of seizing animals in this manner will result in a lot of discomfort in this town. Cops are asking for photos of animals when there is no law that says we should send them pictures.“

The Times of India, March 31, 2015

2 explosives `suppliers' in ATS custody

13/7 BLASTS -





Mumbai: The state's anti-terrorism squad has secured the custody of two people suspected to have provided explosives that were used in the July 13, 2011 triple bomb blasts that killed 27 in the city.
Those taken into custody include Dr Sayyed Ismail Lanka (36) and Saddam Hussain Khan (28), both from Karnataka. They were first arrested by Bengaluru police, in a terror case last month.

State ATS chief Himanshu Roy said, “The two accused provided explosive material and detonators to Ahmed Siddibapa alias Yaseen Bhatkal, Akhtar Hussain alias Haddi and Waqqas Saad on several ocassions.“
Roy added that prior to the blasts, Waqqas and Akhtar had gone to Karnataka to collect the explosives from Lanka and Khan. “Their interrogation will help establish the source from where the duo got the explosives,“ said Roy .
The ATS has so far arrested several accused in the 137 blast cases. Those behind bars in this case include Indian Mujahideen's (IM) suspected Indian chief, Yaseen Bhatkal.

--Mateen Hafeez 


The Times of India, March 31, 2015





Amrohi case: EOW tries for extradition of Dubai bizman

Rs 21 CRORE FRAUD -

 

Mateen Hafeez





Mumbai: The economic offences wing (EOW) is in the process of issuing a red-corner notice (RCN) against a Dubai-based businessman, Harish Alisinghani, for allegedly cheating Shaheda Amrohi, the daughter-inlaw of film producer Kamal Amrohi, of Rs 21 crore.

 The procedure has been initiated for the extradition of Alisinghani to India.
The EOW had arrested his cousin, Amrit Manghnani (30), in the cheating case last month.Manghnani had allegedly lured Shaheda into his family business in Dubai and in the gold mines business, promising high returns. He allegedly mortgaged Shaheda's Bandra flat.

“We have issued a look-out circular (LOC) notice against Alisinghani to all the Indian airports,“ an EOW officer said. “Whenever he lands here, he will be detained by immigration authorities.“

Once the EOW sends the RCN request to CBI, it will be sent to Interpol wing. This will help Interpol locate Alisinghani in the UAE. Manghnani's mother Suman, father Ramesh and brother Amar are also accused in the case of cheating and forgery. The police said Manghnani was a childhood friend of Bilal, Shaheda's nephew.

“Manghnani used to spend hours at the Amrohis' place,“ the officer said. “He would address 65-year-old Shaheda as Ammi, plead for good non-vegetarian home-made food and eat with them.“ Shaheda's husband, Shaandar, passed away a few years ago. The police said that Manghnani had approached Shaheda with his business proposal in 2013, saying his family's company was doing well and she could double her money if she invested in it.


The Times of India, March 30, 2015





Police run ragged by `vague' alerts

 

Mateen Hafeez I TNN





Mumbai: Over 200 Yemenis entered India and we must look for them, stated one of the terror alerts issued by a security agency last month.This was one of over a dozen alerts issued to the Maharashtra police with no specific information or details.

 During 2014, various security agencies issued as many as 450 alerts, including 72 terror-related alone.
“We checked the records of foreigners' registration regional office, hotels where Yemenis stay , tourist places etc. However, we did not find a single `suspect' as mentioned in the terror alert,“ said a senior police officer, criticizing the way the central intelligence agencies issue such alerts.

Among the 450 alerts issued last year, 35 were issued by central agencies. Among the alerts issued last year, 13 were related to the underworld, while 72 were regarding terror attacksoperatives. A major chunk of these alerts was non-verified and vague.

The state police, in most of the cases, don't know which agency issued the alert since many times the alerts are filtered through the state intelligence department (SID). “After the 2611 terror attacks that killed 166, we take the alerts seriously .However, there are too many alerts to read and implement,“ complained a security officer.
Senior officials in the security establishment pointed out that since several agencies like the CISF, Intelligence Bureau, R&AW, National Technical Research Organization, Navy , financial intelligence, Railways, SID and the city's special branch are engaged into collecting intelligence they `try to prove their worth by generating alerts.' The officer said, “We are flooded by these alerts nowadays. There are many inputs and while a few of them are genuine, most of the alerts are unspecified, vague or not clear. “The agencies issuing terror alerts should demonstrate some kind of responsibility . They should verify some of the inputs before issuing the terror alerts. In other words, such alerts are like the mischief calls make to the police control rooms randomly .“





In Mumbai, the joint commissioner of police (law and order), chairs the `intelligence alerts review committee' meeting every month. The meeting is attended by officials of the ATS, special branch, crime branch, protection and security units. “The committee members discuss the various alerts and talk about action taken on them. It's more of an information sharing meeting,“ said an officer.
Rakesh Maria, city police commissioner, who had earlier headed the state anti-terrorism squad for nearly four years, said, “All terror alerts are welcome and important.They cannot be neglected and need a through probe and inquiry .“

A senior police inspector in the city said that most times they receive “copied inputs“ in the form of terror alerts. “These alerts don't speak about suspects' names, area, location or other details. In fact, we don't know how seriously the field soldiers, mostly constables, take it. If you ask me, I suggest there should not be general alerts at all. The alerts should contain specific information and the number of alerts yearly should be reduced,“ the officer said.


The Times of India, March 30, 2015

Sweeper rapes orphan, held

Mateen Hafeez I TNN





Mumbai: The JJ Marg police arrested a 24-year-old sweeper for allegedly raping an 11-yearold orphan at a civic school near Grant Road.

 The victim, who studied at the school, told police that Subhash Koli, a Tardeo resident, had been sexually abusing her for two months. “The girl's parents, residents of Kerala, died sometime back and her aunt brought her to Mumbai for studies,“ said a police officer.

The girl two days back complained of pain in her private parts and stomach. The aunt approached the police when she narrated the trauma. “We filed an FIR soon after we recorded the girl's statement,“ the officer said. “We invoked the criminal intimidation charge as he threatened her,“ said a police officer.

The police said they sent the girl for a medical examination to JJ Hospital and a report is awaited. “The accused was produced before court and remanded to police custody . Koli, unmarried, is a sweeper at the school for eight years,“ the officer said.

“Koli told us during interrogation that he had not done anything to the girl. But when we asked him why a young girl would make such a serious allegation, he had no answer.Statements of some school staff and children will be recorded,“ the officer said. The accused has also been booked under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

The Times of India, March 27, 2015

`Kalokhe giving various versions'





Mumbai: The Marine Drive police, interrogating constable Dharma Kalokhe in connection with possession of drugs, said Kalokhe has made several claims, including that the 12kg mephedrone found in his official cupboard was given by a customs officer.
Kalokhe was arrested by the Satara police on March 9 and 110kg of the drug was recovered from his hometown. A police team searched his official cupboard in the Marine Drive police station and found 12kg of the drug and two liquor bottles. Foreign currencies were recovered from Kalokhe.
He was produced before the Esplanade court on Wednesday and remanded in police custody till April 1.

“He has been changing his version. He said he came in contact with a drug peddler, Baby Patankar, in 1996, while he was with Worli police station and had a relationship with her,“ said an officer.
Kalokhe told investigators that Baby was in trouble with a customs official and wanted to hide a chemical, so she handed it to him a month ago. “He also named another constable, `Mane' from another branch, who was to originally keep the chemicals,“ the officer said.

Kalokhe had brought the 12kg consignment worth Rs 2.4 crore in instalments to the police station. “Last month, Kalokhe travelled with Baby to Goa and later transported the drugs to Satara. Kalokhe told police that Baby had fought with his wife and might have tipped off the police. We have also frozen four fixed deposits of Baby for Rs 1.4 crore,“ the officer said. -

 Mateen Hafeez

 

The Times of India, March 26, 2015

Garment dealer held for cheating infrastructure firm of Rs 4 crore

CHEQUES DISCOUNTED -

 

Mateen Hafeez I TNN





Mumbai: The economic offences wing has arrested a garment dealer in a cheating case where cheques of an infrastructure firm were discounted and the money siphoned off.

EOW officials have found that 43 cheques totalling to over Rs 4 crore were discounted illegally .The police are interrogating the accused, Ketan Bhanushali (38), who lives in Ghatkopar.

“Mahavir Road Infrastructure Pvt Ltd had filed a complaint with the Tilak Nagar police and the case was later transferred to the EOW. According to the complaint, the firm was to send some cheques to their clients and others were to be deposited in its account. But during an internal audit, the firm found that cheques were discounted and neither deposited into its account nor given to the clients,“ said a police officer. The prime suspects were the firm's three accountants--Jayesh Bhanushali, Tejash Shah and Manu Baria.

They approached the sessions court seeking anticipatory bail, but their pleas were rejected. Now, they have approached the Bombay high court. During investigations, the police found that cash was withdrawn and deposited in the account of Siddharth Constructions, which is owned by Shah. “We also found that around Rs 76 lakh was transferred from the construction firm's account to Bhanushali's. He is a beneficiary and hence, we arrested him,“ said the officer.

Bhanushali has been remanded in police custody till March 30. “We are scanning all the records and suspect that some more accounts were used in the crime.The cheques were discounted at different places and we may summon the persons concerned for questioning,“ said an officer.


The Times of India, March 25, 2015

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