Cops to take SoBo man to Kerala in Brazilian rape case

Bhavani Srinivasan & Mateen Hafeez TNN

 

Mumbai: The police, probing the sexual assault of a 19-yearold Brazilian girl by a Cuffe Parade resident, Padmakar Nandekar (52), will take the accused to Kerala to corroborate the victim’s claim that the accused had booked a single room for both and had forced her to spend a night with him. He was produced before a court on Sunday and remanded in police custody till May 29.

The girl, who is on a yearlong youth exchange programme in  India, had lodged a rape complaint on May 20 against Padmakar Nandekar, district secretary, Rotary Club of Bombay Queen City, alleging that he raped her after spiking her drinks. Nandekar had initially hosted the girl at his home, where she stayed with his family for six months. It’s learnt that one of her friends had gone to the Cuffe Parade police station four to five days prior to the official FIR was lodged. However, the police sub-inspector at the station house took the complaint letter from the victim’s friend and stated that cops will inform whenever they register the case. There were reports that the FIR was registered only after the Brazilian consulate intervened. Senior police officers were tightlipped about the issue.

Ashok Saraogi, Nandekar’s defence lawyer, said, “We have CCTV footage of my client’s residence, which will prove what exactly happened that night.” He said, “My client had given his credit card to the girl to use for emergencies. On the day after the incident, she spent Rs 1 lakh using his card. I will prove that my client is innocent. He has a high rank at the Rotary Club and is also general secretary of Cuffe Parade Residents’ Association. It is due to dirty internal politics in these organizations that my client has been implicated.” He said students on exchange programmes get around Rs 6,000 per month for expenses, but Nandekar gave Rs 10,000 to help the girl.

The residents’ association has removed Nandekar from his post after the case came to light.

In her complaint, the girl told police that on April 15, Nandekar invited her for dinner. He took her to a five star hotel where he spiked her drinks after dinner and they returend to his Cuffe Parade residence where Nandekar allegedly raped her. Following her complaint, the police arrested Nandekar.

A Rotary spokesperson said a similar incident had occurred in Japan a few years ago. “Nandedkar was on the way to Korea for a Rotary convention and on the way, he spent a few days in Japan. There, he allegedly invited a Japanese woman to a hotel, where he spiked her drink. When he returned to Japan after the convention, the woman filed a complaint and he was jailed," said the spokesperson. “It was due to Nandedkar’s contacts at the Japanese consulate that he was released from jail.”

The Times of India, May 28,2019

Medical report confirms rape of Brazilian girl

TNN | May 25, 2019, 09.59 AM IST

 

MUMBAI: Police, probing the sexual assault by a 52-year-old Cuffe Parade resident on a 19-year-old Brazilian, said on Friday that the medical report had confirmed rape.

The girl, on a year-long youth exchange programme, had lodged a complaint on May 20 against Padmakar Nandekar, district secretary of Rotary Club of Bombay Queen City, alleging that he had raped her after spiking her drinks.

The girl told police that in January, while being hosted at his house for six months, he had taken her to Kerala for blessings of some sadhus. She told police Nandekar had booked only one hotel room. A police team is likely to leave for Kerala, police said. “He had told the girl not to speak to his wife about their trip,” added a senior police officer.

A court extended the police custody of Nandekar, who used to be general secretary of Cuffe Parade Residents’ Association, till May 26.


The Times of India, May 25, 2019

Brazilian teenager: SoBo residents’ body president conned, raped me

Bhavani Srinivasan & Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Cuffe Parade police probing a rape complaint filed by a 19-year-old Brazilian against Cuffe Parade Residents’ Association president Padmakar Nandekar have learnt Nandekar had invited her for dinner to his home and promised to drop her back to Bandra where she currently lives. But he took her to a five-star hotel, instead.

Nandekar, 52, was arrested on Monday on charges of rape. He has been sent to policy custody till May 24.

The survivor is a participant in a year-long youth exchange programme organized by a popular club. She arrived in India in August 2018. “The girl stayed with Nandekar’s family for six months and later moved in with another family in Bandra,” said an officer.

According to the police, on April 15, Nandekar’s wife was out of town when he took the girl for dinner to a five-star hotel near Gateway of India where he allegedly spiked her drink and raped her. The girl has told police she felt dizzy and when she woke up the next morning she found Nandekar in the room. The survivor has told the police she left the hotel and spoke to her mother in Brazil who told her to file a complaint. The girl, along with the Bandra family, then approached Cuffe Parade police. The police took the girl for medical examination and a final report is awaited.

Nandekar’s daughter is on a similar exchange programme in Spain.

A spokesperson said the exchange programme rules are strict and this is the first time such an incident has occurred. “As per guidelines, the exchange student has to return to the host family’s residence by 10 pm. However, since Nandekar had previously hosted the girl, he knew her new host family which is why she was allowed to stay out with him overnight,” he said.

“Nandekar is influential and so the girl’s host family first approached the club, which filed the FIR against him,” the spokesperson stated. The international organisation is likely to suspend his membership.

The Cuffe Parade Residents’ Association has not taken any decision yet on ousting Nandekar.

The Times of India, May 23, 2019

Double murder: Dad says he killed 3-yr-old for bringing bad luck

Mateen.Hafeez@timesgroup.com

 

Mumbai: More than a week after a Mahim zari unit owner and his girlfriend were arrested for allegedly murdering his wife and three-year-old daughter, he told the police that he slit his child’s throat because he believed that she brought him ‘bad luck’. The accused, Iliyas Sayyed (36), also told the police that he and Aafreen Bano (22) had tried to set his flat in Diamond Apartments in Mahim (E) on fire to cover up the killings.

The murders came to light on January 31 morning, when residents noticed smoke coming out of Sayyed’s 10th floor flat. They called him up and also informed the Shahu Nagar police. When Sayyed opened the door, the police found the bodies of his wife Tehseen and daughter Aaliya in the kitchen. Their throats were slit and bodies partially burnt. His elder daughter Samaana was in school at the time of the incident. The next day, the police arrested Sayyed and Bano, who works as a salesgirl in a private firm. Sayyed was having an extramartial affair since three years, said the police.

During interrogation, Sayyed told the police: “My younger daughter brought me bad luck. I have been suffering losses since her birth, so I killed her along with Tehseen. I wanted to marry Bano and live with her and my elder daughter Samaana.” Initially, he tried to mislead the police. “He claimed that his wife had killed Aaliya and so he slit her throat in a fit of rage. But after sustained interrogation, he confessed to killing them both,” said an officer. “We have recovered the knife and Sayyed’s blood-stained shirt and sent them for forensic analysis.”

After committing the crime, Sayyed left for work as usual and called up Bano. “A burqa-clad Bano arrived outside the building in a taxi and told the driver to wait till she returned. Her image was captured on the building’s CCTV cameras,” said an officer. “The plan was to set the flat on fire, but as Bano could not find kerosene, she poured edible oil on the bodies. But when she tripped on Tehseen’s body, she panicked and rushed out of the flat.”

The Times of India, February 11, 2019

Byculla jail death : Six women staff will not be lodged in city prison for trial

 

Six officials of the Byculla jail were arrested in connection with the death of a woman prisoner. (File Photo)

Mateen Hafeez | TNN | Jun 21, 2018, 05:01 IST

MUMBAI: The prison authorities on Wednesday said they don't have any plan to shift six female jail officials accused of killing a convict, Manjula Sheteye, from Thane central prison to Byculla women's prison for trial.
The crime branch had arrested the six officials, including jailer Manisha Pokharkar, and constables Bindu Naikade, Waseema Shaikh, Shital Shegaonkar, Surekha Gulve and Aarti Shingne, on July 1, 2017, for kicking and punching Sheteye to death in the prison. A day after special judge Shayana Patil of the sessions court framed charges against the six suspended women jail staffers, a senior jail official said, "They have been kept at Thane Central Jail and we don't have any plan to shift them to Byculla women's prison. They will be transported from Thane to Mumbai by the police escort in a van." Usually, inmates facing trial in Mumbai are shifted to Mumbai jails if lodged outside the city for security reasons and to save time.

All the accused were lodged at the Byculla women's jail where the incident took place. Sheena Bora murder case accused, Indrani Mukherjea, is also lodged in this prison and due to some security reasons, she was previously produced before a court through video-conferencing facility for her case hearing.

The jail authorities are still to decide on producing the accused jail staffers through video-conferencing. "If we get an order from court, we can do it," said the officer.

The Times of India, June 21, 2018

Police seek help to collect baby’s DNA in teen rape case

Mateen Hafeez | TNN | May 22, 2018, 06:03 IST

 

Representative image 

 

 

MUMBAI: Marine Drive police have sought expert opinion on collecting and preserving DNA samples of a newly-born girl whose mother is a rape survivor. The suspected biological 20-yearold father is on the run.

A 37-year-old beauty parlour owner had approached police on Saturday alleging that the youth had raped his 17-year-old daughter at Marine Drive. The girl had delivered a baby girl on May 16. The case was transferred to Marine Drive police station. 

 

 The accused has been booked for rape and under sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The DNA test can help make a watertight case, police said, as it is admissible evidence in court.

The Bombay HC had released a rape accused on bail after the DNA of the child born to the survivor did not match that of his in March. The Bhiwandi youth was arrested for allegedly raping his 16-year-old neighbour and spent two years in jail. The rape victim had delivered a baby. Justice Revati Dere had ordered that the accused be released on a personal bond of Rs15,000.

The Times of India, May 22, 2018

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Man in Pocso net as 17-year-old rape survivor delivers baby

Mateen Hafeez | TNN | May 21, 2018, 04:03 IST

 

Representative image 

 

 

MUMBAI: The mother of a 17-year-old girl filed a rape case against a 20-year-old youth for raping her daughter, which resulted in she getting pregnant.
The case was registered after the survivor delivered a girl on Wednesday. Marine Drive police have invoked sections of Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act against the accused.

The 37-year-old beauty parlour owner approached a police station near Bandra and narrated her daughter’s ordeal. She told them her daughter had delivered a baby on May 16. She claimed her daughter was taken to the tetrapods at Marine Drive and raped by the accused last September. The survivor has given police the youth’s first name description and details.

A police officer said she had been to Bandra and Santacruz with him. “But they mentioned Marine Drive as the crime scene so police registered a case and transferred it to Marine Drive police,” said an officer.
Marine Drive police are going through call data records of the accused and others connected to him. “We will soon track him down,” added a senior police officer, adding, “The survivor and accused were in love and would go to Vile Parle and Santacruz frequently.


The girl had been telling her family that she was suffering from stomach pain but they ignored it and later learnt she was pregnant,” added the officer. The youth has been booked under section 376 (rape) of IPC and sections 4 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault), 8 (punishment for sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment) of Pocso Act. The punishment under section 4 of Pocso is not less than 7 years which may extend to life imprisonment.

The Times of India, May 21, 2018

Two resto-bar waiters held for rape, murder of senior citizen

 

Picture for representational purpose only

 

Mateen Hafeez | TNN | May 15, 2018, 04:18 IST

MUMBAI: Two men who raped and killed a 64-year-old woman in Nadia district, West Bengal, on May 7 have been arrested by Mumbai police.
Sudhakar Sikhdhar, 35, and Govind Sarkar, 28, were apprehended on Saturday evening near Lions Gate, where they had come to collect money from a friend so that they could escape to Nepal.

Sikhdhar, a bachelor, used to work as a waiter at a popular Colaba resto-bar while Sarkar, a divorcee, worked as a waiter in a Khar restaurant. At the time of the crime, they were working as daily wage labourers in West Bengal.

The two were caught based on "specific information", said a police officer. "But we did not have details about the area where the offence was committed and who the deceased was. During sustained interrogation, the two admitted to killing a woman in West Bengal," said the officer.  

Senior inspector Sukhlal Varpe of MRA Marg police station said, "The two told us that on May 7, around 9.30pm, they had dinner at Cooper Camp, Nadia district, where they lived. Then they went to the woman's home to ask for water. But somehow a quarrel broke out and they started beating her up. They punched her in the mouth and the head. Eventually, the old woman fell unconscious. This was when Sarkar raped her."


Varpe said that soon, the woman regained conscious and started crying for help. "Sikhdhar told us he and Sarkar panicked. Sikhdhar said the woman bit him on the hand and furious at this, he, too, raped her. The duo then strangled her before fleeing."

When the woman's body was discovered, a case of murder was lodged by her daughter (who is married) at the nearest police station, said Varpe.


After their arrest, the duo was produced by the MRA Marg police station at a local court, which remanded them in police custody till May 14 (Monday). "Their custody will be handed over to a police team from West Bengal," said a police officer.

TheTimes of India, May 15, 2018

Minors' rape: Cops await DNA reports

Mateen Hafeez



Mumbai: Two months after a 34-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping his two stepdaughters, police are awaiting DNA reports from the forensic science lab. The two girls--aged 15 and 17--were pregnant and had to undergo abortions. The case came to light in March when the mother, along with the daughters, planned a outing. “The accused insisted that she leave behind one daughter. When the mother refused, he slit his wrist. He was rushed to hospital and given first aid,“ said Dilip Ugale, senior inspector at Kalachowkie police station.

When the police was called, the mother gave her statement, but the cops found the two girls were scared.“We spoke to them and the girl revealed that they were being raped by their stepfather. Their mother would go for work early in the morning and return by evening.The accused would rape the younger daughter in the morning and the older one in the afternoon. Both were pregnant,“ said the officer.

The Times of India, May 10, 2017

Vikhroli slum tense after 2-yr-old's rape

Mateen Hafeez





Neighbour Caught After Crime In Jungle, Thrashed By Locals

 

Mumbai: Ram Nagar, a shanty settlement on a hill in the suburb of Vikhroli, experienced a spontaneous bandh on Saturday and more than 500 people staged a protest after a two-anda-half-year-old girl was raped by her 23-year-old neighbour on Friday night. The locals caught Sushant Singh, an unemployed man, and thrashed him before handing him over to police.
JD More, assistant commissioner of police, said around 9.15 pm, Singh had taken the girl from her house on the pretext of buying chocolates for her. As she did not return after half an hour, her mother informed the neighbours, who immediately started a search. As the news spread, a local recalled seeing Singh taking the girl toward the stairs that leads to the jungle.

The child's father, a watchman, had gone for work when the incident happened.
More than a hundred youngsters entered the jungle to search for her. The girl was found unconscious on the hill around 700 metres away from her home.

“The locals found the girl lying unconscious near Khandoba Tekri, on the hill, around 10.30 pm. A few metres away , they saw Singh. As the girl was bleeding, they suspected somet hing fishy . Some youngsters became angry and started beating Singh who then admitted to having sexually assaulted her,“ said a police officer.

The girl was taken home and her father had, by then, returned home after hearing about her being missing. “She was rushed to Rajawadi hospital.The doctors operated up on the girl and she is now stable,“ said police inspector Prakash Chaughale.

A police team rushed the spot and took Singh in to custody. He has been booked for kidnapping and raping a minor.The girl's mother became unconscious after hearing that she was sexually assaulted. She was given first aid. On Saturday morning, all the restaurants and shops, including medical stores, were shut and over 500 people gathered at Ram Nagar to stage a protest. Police force was deployed in the area to maintain law and order.

“We want a speedy trial and fast conviction. It's a heinous crime. The man had assaulted a girl who cannot even speak properly ,“ an angry local said. “It's the police's job to ensure he is convicted. We want this case to be tried in the fast track court,“ said another resident.
Singh was produced before a court on Saturday and remanded in police custody .

The Times of India, August 14, 2016

STAIN 0N KHAKI - Suspended DIG charge-sheeted for model's rape

Mateen Hafeez





Paraskar Trial Slated To Start A Month From Now 

 

Mumbai: The Crime Against Women (CAW) cell of the city police on Tuesday filed a 724page charge sheet against suspended IPS officer Sunil Paraskar for allegedly raping a 29-year-old model.
“We have 59 witnesses in the case,“ said DCP Namdeo Chavan, head, CAW. The police had earlier served Paraskar a notice, asking him to be present in court during the charge sheet's submission. Accordingly , Paraskar was present in the Borivli magistrate's court on Tuesday . The FIR against him had been registered nine months ago. Senior police officers were tight-lipped about the contents of the charge sheet and also refused to say anything about the model's medical examination report. Her statement had been earlier recorded before a magistrate.

A source said that as evidence, the police have submitted the logbook of Paraskar's official car. Maintained by his driver, it mentions his movements, said a police officer.Then, there are records of Paraskar's text messages and emails. The police have also attached the statement of the caretaker of a Madh Island bungalow, who told the police he remembered a November 2013 visit of the model, along with Paraskar.

In July 2014, the model alleged that Paraskar (57) had sexually assaulted her on two occasions in December 2013.She said she met Paraskar first in 2012, when he was additional commissioner of police (north region), concerning a case. On the model's complaint, the police registered a case against Paraskar at Malwani police station and booked him under sections 376-2 (rape by a police officer), 376 C (intercourse by superintendent of jail, remand home, etc) and 354-D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Borivli magistrate has transferred the case to the sessions court. The trial will begin on June 12. Earlier, the sessions court had granted anticipatory bail to Paraskar, observing that “from the behaviour of the complainant and the accused, the matter appears to be consensual“.But in a departmental inquiry, Paraskar was found guilty of professional misconduct.





THE TIMES OF INDIA, MAY 13, 2015

MODEL'S RAPE - Chargesheet against Paraskar to be filed today

Mumbai: 



A chargesheet against Indian Police Service officer Sunil Paraskar (57), who has been accused of raping a 29-year-old model, will be filed on Tuesday before the special women's court. Evidence has been found against Paraskar, said a police source. Head of the crime branch, Atulchandra Kulkarni, said: “We will file the chargesheet on Tuesday before the court.“ The filing of the chargesheet assumes significance against the backdrop of the policemen from Saki Naka confining and molesting another 29-year old model last month.
Another police officer said that they have evidence that rape has taken place. In July 2014, the model had alleged that Paraskar had molested and sexually assaulted her on two occasions in 2013.
“We have several witnesses who names cannot be identified now,“ said the officer.Earlier, the police had taken statements of a caretaker of a bungalow in Madh who confirmed to the police that the model had visited the bungalow with Paraskar. The crime against women cell is probing the rape case against Paraskar who is now under suspension.--

Mateen Hafeez 

THE TIMES OF INDIA, MAY 12, 2015

`Lewd gestures at woman worse than 3rd degree'

Rebecca Samervel & Mateen Hafeez/ TNN





  Mumbai: A special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) court on Tuesday took strong objection against the alleged indecent conduct of a Satarabased senior police officer against a woman accused in a drugs case. The court was hearing the remand application of Sashikala Patankar alias Baby , arrested last week in connection with the seizure of 110kg mephedrone, also called meow meow. “Making indecent gestures at a woman is more than the third degree,“ special judge U B Hejib said. The court remanded Patankar in police custody till Saturday .
Following standard procedure, the judge had asked the accused if she had any complaints. The court's observations came after Patankar complained to the judge that while in custody deputy police superintendent Deepak Humbre had visited her cell and behaved inappropriately . “He made indecent gestures and also used indecent language. He was angry as I was the one who had acted as a mediator and had helped the police arrest head constable Dharma Kalokhe. He threatened me and said he would assault me just like he had thrashed my son,“ Patankar said.

The court also questioned the cops for letting the officer not connected to the case meet the accused. The court said that such vulgar gestures would not be tolerated by any decent woman.

“The police custody is extended, provided the accused should be medically examined every day and a report on the same should be filed before the court,“ the court said. The judge further said that the cops should ensure that at the time of interrogation, only officers connected to the case should be allowed.

While seeking extension of Patankar's police custody , the prosecution said huge quantities of drugs were found in her home in Khandala and Kalokhe's office and that the cops needed to find the link between the two.

The city crime branch took Maknan Samuel, an drug peddler, in its custody terming him the source of the 120kg drugs seized in March. Samuel was lodged in Arthur Road jail in another narcotics case since December 2014. The police had earlier arrested Kalokhe, Patankar and her son, Satish.

BABY PATANKAR


THE TIMES OF INDIA, APRIL 29, 2015

SALE OF WOMEN TO VILLAGERS

 - Rape arrest exposes buying of wives in Guj; 2 girls rescued

Mateen Hafeez

Mumbai: 



In a case of abduction and sale of girls for forced marriage, a 26-year-old Gujarat resident was arrested by the city police for buying and raping a 22-year-old city woman. The police also rescued two 17-year-old girls. The two girls were rescued from a village in Gujarat where the woman and the two minors were sold for Rs 1 lakh each. The village, Bakrana near Ahmedabad, has a shortage of women and cases of kidnapping from other places for marriage are common, said the police.

 All three victims were lured with the promise of jobs in Gujarat but were forcibly married to people they did not know. The arrested man was identified as Ganpat Patel. “The 22-year-old woman and the two girls were contacted by a Kalyan resident, Meerabai Salve, who promised to help them get a job in Gujarat in a catering firm,“ senior inspector Sunil Kavalekar of the Pydhonie police station said. “The trio was paid Rs 1 lakh each as advance payment.“

After being there for 15 days and being raped, the 22year-old survivor managed to flee. A team comprising assistant police inspectors Fareed Khan and Tukaram Nimbalkar, sub-inspector Smita Parab and five constables then left for Gujarat to rescue the two girls still there.

“The villagers gathered there and tension prevailed,“ one of the officers said. “We had to seek help from the local police.“ The police also invoked sections of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act in the case.





THE TIMES OF INDIA, APRIL 18, 2015

Yr after minor's rape, police yet to begin probe

Mateen Hafeez





 

Girl Died In Nov, Departmental Inquiry Ordered Into Cops' Delay

 

Mumbai: Nearly a year after a gangrape outside Churchgate station and over four months after the victim's death, police are yet to begin investigations. A 15year-old mentally unsound girl was allegedly gang-raped outside Churchgate station last April. The Churchgate GRP registered the case and sent it to the Marine Drive police, who sat on the file for eight months and returned it to the railway cops claiming it wasn't in their jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the girl died in hospital.
Police recently registered the case after a rap from senior officials, but are yet to begin a probe. Krishna Prakash, additional commissioner of police (south region), has recommended a departmental inquiry against some Marine Drive police personnel for the delay in registering the case. Any official found guilty in the report could be suspended.

According to the Churchgate GRP's FIR, a mentally unsound girl was gang-raped by four unidentified persons on the night of April 29, 2014, near the station's subway after being forced to drink beer. An NGO took the girl to the railway police who registered the case and sent the case papers to the Marine Drive police, in whose jurisdiction the crime was committed. The Marine Drive police did a spot panchnama and twice recorded the victim's statements.However, they did not register the case. The girl, a resident of Hanuman Nagar, Kandivli, died on November 17 in Nair Hospital, where she was being treated for asthma. But police still neither register the case, nor initiate an investigation.

In January 2015, police sent the file back to the Churchgate GRP , saying it was not their case. The papers were passed around two more times when finally railway DCP Deepak Dev raj wrote to the railway commissioner and Mumbai police chief, Rakesh Maria. Maria immediately ordered an inquiry and the then joint commissioner of police (law and order), D D Kamalakar, asked the police station to file a report on the case to senior officials. On January 3, 2015, the Azad Maidan ACP was asked to probe the matter and he suggested a departmental inquiry against the officer. Prakash, in his report, said the case papers were sent to the then senior inspector of Marine Drive police, who sent them back. Later, GRP sent the papers to DCP (zone 1) who sent them back to railway police and asked them to establish the jurisdiction.

The Times of India, April 15, 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

ALLEGATIONS BY SENIOR COP'S WIFE - `Ex-biz partner told me to sleep with govt officials'

Mateen Hafeez I TNN





Mumbai: The wife of an additional DGP , now posted in Delhi, has accused her former business partner of coaxing her to sleep with government officials. An FIR of molestation was registered at the Bandra-Kurla Complex police station and later transferred to the crime branch.

 The woman, an entrepreneur, in her complaint stated she and the accused planned to start a company , but the accused later asked her to sleep with senior government officials to get work done and would look at her weirdly , said a police officer. The accused, who has investments in several businesses, earlier floated a `farmers-to-consumers' scheme for buying and selling vegetables and fruits. “The complainant and the accused had planned to float a new business. She said in her complaint that she had chalked out the plans and came up with a new concept for the firm. The duo signed a memorandum of understanding, but the plan was not executed even after six months. However, the accused floated a firm in Jaipur using the same concept,“ said an officer. The businessman is also accused of passing comments at the complainant.

Looking at the gravity of the case, the investigation was handed over to the Crime Against Women (CAW) cell of the crime branch. “We have issued a notice to the accused to appear before the investigating officer,“ said the source. The CAW cell mainly comprises women cops and sensitive cases are transferred to this branch. “Our probe is at a crucial stage and we can't reveal much about it. We have summoned the businessman for his statement. An official of the rank of ACP is supervising the probe,“ added the source.





The Times of India, March 19, 2015

`Action only after footage scan in Zinta abuse row'

Mateen Hafeez





Mumbai: The Marine Drive police probing actress Preity Zinta's complaint of threat and molestation against industrialist Ness Wadia said they will complete scanning of CCTV footages of the alleged incident and then decide on action to be taken in a few days.

 Zinta has filed an FIR against her former boyfriend, Wadia, alleging molestation, threat and use of abusive words. “Since the said incident allegedly happened at Wankhede stadium, we have sought details of all the 230 CCTV cameras installed there and 19 cameras of the broadcaster channel. We have got most of the footage and will decide our next step based on it,“ said an officer.

The Times of India, June 29, 2014

Cops to summon Ness only after matching statements

Mateen Hafeez & S Ahmed Ali





Mumbai: Police will record industrialist Ness Wadia’s statement only after corroborating Preity Zinta’s statement with that of witnesses, said an officer. Ness is likely to be summoned next week, the officer added. Zinta in her June 13 FIR had alleged that Ness, her former boyfriend of eight years and co-owner of IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab, had humiliated, abused and threatened her at an IPL match on May 30 at Wankhede stadium. 

“We have recorded Zinta’s statement on Tuesday and we are waiting for camera footage of the incident from broadcasters. We feel the broad casters’ cameras might have captured some evidence. We are also calling other witnesses and corroborating the statements. We will then summon Ness,” said another officer.

“We also plan to send an email to one of the witnesses—Jean, an Australian national—that Zinta has named. We will be send him a list of questions as Zinta said he had intervened. Jean was Zinta’s guest,” said the officer. The Marine Drive police have, so far, recorded statements of eight witnesses. While the police are trying to get each and every details that could be part of evidence, some officials also speculated that the case may end up in mutual settlement inthe court. The police have done a spot panchnama at Wankhede stadium and are compiling reports.

Meanwhile, the crime branch probing into the alleged threat to Ness's father industrialist Nusli Wadia by Ravi Pujari, suspect that the fugitive gangster may have obtained Nusli's office number from the internet. “After calling up on the landline, he spoke to a woman staffer who did not know who Pujari was and passed on the call to the cellphone of Nusli's personal assistant. Pujari may have then called up the assistant and threatened her,“ said an officer.
A crime branch source said that they would record Preity Zinta's statement in this case.

The Times of India, June 26, 2014