Out on bail, Vindu protests his innocence

Mateen Hafeez & Bharati Dubey TNN

Mumbai:A crowd of television crews and photographers gathered outside Arthur Road jail after Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan and actor Vindu Dara Singh were granted bail on Tuesday evening. Both had been arrested in connection with the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal. 

    By 6 pm, the crowd — now joined by curious onlookers — had reduced traffic outside the jail to a crawl. The jail authorities had to call in officers from the NM Joshi Marg police station to keep the traffic moving.
 

    At 6.45 pm, a BMW parked outside the jail. Soon Vindu stepped out of the jail and got into the waiting car, which sped off. Meiyappan followed Vindu out of the jail.
 

    On his way home, Vindu lashed out at the media and blamed them for showing him in a bad light. He said he was innocent and had never been involved in spot-fixing. 

 

The Times of India, June 5, 2013

Over 7k duped of 2,000cr in Ponzi scheme

EOW FILES FIR

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The economic offences wing (EOW) registered a cheating and criminal conspiracy case against a firm, MMMindia— also known as triple M for allegedly duping more than 70,000 people of nearly Rs 2,000 crore. 

    The EOW registered a case on Monday after a fourmonth-long probe. The FIR names more than 17 people, including five foreigners, as accused. While the foreigners, all Russian nationals, include promoters Sergey Mavrodi, Alexei Muratov, Michel Glukhov and Kilin Adery, the other accused are Indian nationals. Mavrodi is a convict in Russia in a multi-level marketing fraud, the police said. 

    In May, the Assam police had arrested Muratov, Adery and their three Indian accomplices. The EOW has also obtained a transfer warrant for their custody. A police team is likely to leave for Assam on Tuesday. Look-out notices too have been issued at airports across India.
 

    On March 18, TOI had reported that the EOW was probing a multi-level marketing scheme that promised unrealistic returns to investors.
 

    The complainant, a police officer, stated in the FIR, “Investors and consumers’ guidance society, Mumbai, complained that a Ponzi scheme had been floated on the website www.mmmindia.in. While going through the website, I noticed that this company is not registered at ROC Mumbai or as Non Banking Financial Company at RBI. The domain address of the website showed its server in Russia. An email has been forwarded to the administrator to find out the details of the domain registrar.” 

 

 

The Times of India, June 4, 2013

Cop candidate told to undergo sex test

‘18-Year-Old Has No Reproductive Organs’

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: In perhaps a first, an 18-year-old, who reportedly has neither male nor female sex organs,has appliedfor the postof a constable. While the candidate’sdocuments—birthcertificate, ration card,election card, photo identity proof and Class XII marksheet—record her sex asfemale,the policehave asked her to submit a sex-determination report from the state medicalboardbeforeher application isconsidered. 

    The incident occurred last week at the police ground in Naigaon when a woman sub-inspector spotted a 5.8-ft tall ‘girl’ named Radhika (name changed)standing in the queue to submit her application for the post of constable in the city police’s half-yearly recruitmentdrive. 

    As her facial features resembledthatof a male,thesubinspector gotsuspicious andinformed her senior officers. They checked Radhika’s documents and found that they all listed her sex as female. The sub-inspector was then asked to conduct a physical examination of Radhika. The officer noticed that Radhika had neither male nor female reproductive organs and informed her seniors who, later, questioned Radhika’sfather.Heconfirmed thatRadhika washisdaughter. 

    Realising the sensitivity of thecase,theofficialsinstructed the 18-year-old to undergo a sex determination test at the Nagpada policehospital.Doctorsof the police hospital examined Radhika, who hails from Wadgaon (Kopargaon taluka)in Ahmednagar district, and referredher casetoJJHospital.A reportis awaited.
 

    Police officers have asked Radhika to submit her medical reportby June5.   Shehassubmitted a letter to the police authorities stating thatif shefailstosubmitthe report on or before June 5, she won’t object to being denied a chance to participate in the recruitmentdrive.
 

    A police officer, on condition of anonymity, said, “Radhika was asked to undergo the sex-determination test as our recruitmentformslistonly two options for gender: male or female. There is no option for ‘Other’ or transgenders. JJ Hospital authorities are conducting four typesof teststo ascertain Radhika’s gender.Ifher reports state that she is a transgender, then her case will be referred to the state government for decision.”
 

    Additional commissioner of police (armed forces) Vijay Chavan, who is in-charge of the recruitment drive in the city, said, “Wehaveinformedsenior officers and police commissioner Satya Pal Singh about this and are awaiting the medical report.” 

 

 
THE CASE
Radhika’s documents—birth certificate, election card and Class XII marksheet—list her sex as female
 

The 18-year-old, who is 5.8-ft tall, wants to be a constable A physical examination reportedly revealed that she has neither male nor female sex organs
 

Cops are awaiting the report of her sex-determination test 

 
    THE RECRUITMENT DRIVE
    The Mumbai Police force conducts a recruitment drive for constables twice a year on the basis of vacancies. Right now, the drive is on to fill up 950 vacancies of police constables, including 350 women personnel. As many as 57,000 candidates have applied. While male candidates were asked to submit their documents from May 15, women candidates submitted their documents from May 25. The physical examination test, which includes running, long jumps and push-ups, will begin from June 24

The Times of India, June 3, 2013

Clips of terrorists displayed on TVs in BEST buses, rly stations

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Public service messages featuring Indian Mujahideen (IM) chief Yasin Bhatkal and three of his accomplices are being broadcast at railway stations, cinema halls and in BEST buses.
 

    The state anti-terrorism squad (ATS), which is on the lookout for Bhatkal in connection with the July 2011 Mumbai blasts, wants citizens to help them trace the elusive mastermind. 

    “The four suspects in these ads are Bhatkal, Tabrez, Waqqas and Tehseen Shaikh. Except Bhatkal all the three have been described as bomb planters,” said an ATS officer. In February, investigators started putting up the suspects’ photographs at railway stations, bus stations, shopping malls, cinema halls, eateries and temples. “We are searching for the suspects and publicizing it so that citizens can help us in tracing them,” said a senior ATS officer. “Those who provide information on any of the four suspects will be given Rs 10 lakh,” he added. Tabrez and Waqqas may be involved in the August 2012 Pune blasts, the police said. “Bhatkal, Tabrez and Waqqas took part in last year’s Pune serial blasts,” ATS chief Rakesh Maria had said earlier. 

 

 PUBLIC FOCUS
    ATS officers distribute more than 5,000 posters of the Mumbai and Pune blasts suspects (pictured) across Maharashtra
    Banners feature photographs of Indian Mujahideen chief Yasin Bhatkal, Tabrez, Waqqas and Tehseen Shaikh and information on how to contact the police if the four are spotted
    Investigators receive scores of text messages, emails and 300 calls as tip-offs 

 

The Times of India, June 2,2013

Labourer dies under crane at monorail site

The monorail construction site near Arthur Road jail where a labourer was crushed to death by a crane on Friday 

Fifth Mishap On Monorail Construction Sites In 3 Yrs

Chittaranjan Tembhekar & Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: A labourer engaged at a monorail construction site close to Arthur Road jail on Sane Guruji Marg was crushedtodeathby a cranebelonging to J Kumar Infra Projects Ltd, one of the contracting firms on the job, on Friday morning. This is the fifth mishap on monorail construction sites since 2009.
 

    The man was part of a team supporting crane crew. The Agripada police said the victim came under the crane after his slipper got stuck under the wheels. A similar mishap had occurred at the Wadala monorail site last year; a crane belonging to the same contracting firm crushed a drunk person latein the night. 

 
    Friday’s victim, Mohammed Hamid Sahee Alam (21), a native of Uttar Pradesh, died as his head came under a front wheel of the crane. The police said the incident occurred around 11 am. The driver, Shatrughan, fled the spot.  “We have registered a case of negligence against Shatrughan and have seized the crane,” said senior police inspector Kishore Baviskar of the Agripada police station.
 

    The crane was carrying a big concreting funnelfrom the Jacob Circle area to a location in Chinchpokli when the mishap occurred. The labourer was working as a helper to the crane driver and was showing him directions,said an official of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is building the monorail.
 

    “The concreting funnel was hung by a hook in front of the crane. It appears Alam, who was moving along with the funnel, slipped and went unnoticed by the driver,” said MMRDAjoint projectdirector and spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar. “A detailed investigation isbeing carriedout and itwillbeensuredthatcompensation as per rules is paid to the family of the deceased by the contractor at the earliest.”
 

    The MMRDA is constructing a 20-km monorail route between Jacob Circle and Chembur via Wadala and has engaged L&T and Scomi on the job. J Kumar Infra is a subcontractor engaged by L&T, said an MMRDA official.

The Times of India, June 1, 2013