The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the death sentence of Surinder Koli, prime accused in the Nithari serial killings case and domestic help of businessmen Moninder Singh Pandher, whose house in Noida was the scene of a series of horrific rape and killings of several young girls and women, nearly three years ago. A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice B S Chauhan, while staying the death sentence, sought a response from the CBI.
Three years after the gory Nithari killings rocked the country causing widespread outrage over the cannibalistic and necrophiliac traits of convict Surinder Koli, 18 out of 19 cases continue to linger on.
According to him, it was the media that had put Pandher on trial. He also denied that Pandher was being saved because of his political connections.
After warming up with a stunning 1-0 win over defending champions Japan, India will open their campaign in the women's Asia Cup hockey tournament against Singapore in Bangkok on Friday.
The Allahabad high court on Friday acquitted businessman Moninder Singh Pandher in one of the Nithari serial killing cases, setting aside the death sentence awarded to him by a lower court, but upheld the capital punishment handed down to his domestic help Surinder Koli
J P Sharma, the special public prosecutor who argued the case before the trial court that convicted Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Kohli, explains rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa about the circumstances that may have led to the acquittal of Pandher.
Describing Moninder Singh Pandher as "innocent", family members of the businessman accused media of influencing a special CBI court's verdict which found entrepreneur and his servant Surinder Koli guilty in the murder and rape of a 14-year-old girl.
Narottam Singh Dhillon alleged links came to light during interrogation of two drug smugglers, who were arrested four days back, Superintendent of Police, Muktsar, Surinder Pal Singh said.
The step was taken following questioning of another arrested functionary of the sect in connection with an alleged conspiracy to facilitate Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim's escape after he was convicted for raping two disciples, police said.
When his attention was drawn to the statements of Biju Patnaik, Sharad Yadav and other prominent leaders who have described Bajrang Dal as a violent organization, Prasad said that there was ideological difference but BJP does not agree with that perception.
Locals gathered in front of house number D-45 in Sector 31 of Noida soon after the verdict was pronounced and shouted slogans against police and the Central Bureau of Investigation. Rimpa's mother Dolly Halder was also among the protestors.
Two years after the ghastly killing of children and women in Nithari came to light, a special court on Thursday awarded death penalty for businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surendra Koli for rape and murder. While Koli was found guilty by the court under various sections of Indian Penal Code for murder and rape, Pandher was convicted on the same charges along with Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy).
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 21,000 each on Lal Bahadur, Ram Lal, Virender and Surinder Pal Singh after holding them guilty of rioting, murder and conspiracy.
At least 17 human skulls and bones were dug up from near the house of Pandher in Noida's Sector 31 in December last year. Co-accused Surindra Koli is reported to have confessed to the CBI to most of the crimes while the agency has not charged Pandher with the kidnapping and murder of the children and women, including Payal, an alleged sex worker.
On September 28, the high court had stayed the arrest of the three trustees of the Ryan group.
Even if the CBI has got the answers, it is not sharing them with the public.
A single judge bench granted stay on the arrest of group chief executive officer, Ryan Pinto, and his parents, founding chairman Augustine Pinto and managing director Grace Pinto.
Moninder Singh Pandher, at whose house the killings took place, has been charged with conspiracy to murder, destruction of evidence and providing shelter to the accused.
No charges were framed against co-accused Pandher in the document.
According to the chargesheet filed in the court of Special Judge Sapna Mishra in Ghaziabad, the CBI said Koli had lured nine-year-old Rachna Lal while she was on her way to play on April 10, 2006.
An armyman on Monday told a military court hearing the fake Siachen killings case that he in August last year demolished a fake "enemy target" at the behest of Major Surinder Singh and later posed as an enemy casualty.
The three-member committee of women police officers constituted to receive complaints regarding alleged rape of women at Murthal near Sonepat during the Jat stir on Saturday visited the site of the alleged incident.
The protestors broke the security barricades, pelted stones at the house and set on fire the effigies of Pandher and Surinder as a handful of Uttar Pradesh policemen looked on.
Till now, police had not found any parts from the torsos of the 17 people killed at Nithari, giving rise to speculation that Pandher and Koli might have been involved in illegal organ trade.
The chargesheet in the case was presented by police in the court on November 2003 and Badal and his son had lodged in jail from December 1 to December 9, 2003.
About 50 officers arrived at Parkash Singh Badal's residence in Chandigarh and began investigations.
Blood splattered compounds, smashed window panes and demolished roofs are all that are left of houses in border hamlets which have been battered in Pakistani firing and shelling in the last three days.
The case has been registered against the former Punjab chief minister for allegedly amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The Kapoors prayed for the matriarch at a chautha.
The IAF received a total of 13 awards including five Yudh Seva Medals and seven Vayu Sena Medal.
An army jawan was killed and three others injured in a blast triggered by an Improvised Explosive Device attack along LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
He said one civilian, Waseem Ahmad Mir, also sustained bullet injury 'in the nearby area' and later succumbed at a hospital on Friday.
Another FIR was registered on Friday against unknown persons following a complaint by a Delhi-based resident on the alleged gangrape by Jat agitators in Haryana's Sonipat district.
The chief minister said certain "leads" have been found which are being pursued aggressively and assured that culprits would soon be arrested. The chief minister has also announced a reward of Rs 50 lakh for anyone providing information on those involved in the blast.
There are many instances in the past where the top court sat through midnight to hear the special cases.
The BJP had made the land deals a major poll issue in 2014, alleging that Vadra benefited through questionable land use permissions granted by the earlier Congress government in the state.
Mired in corruption, politics and with a history of suicides by its hapless depositors, PMC Bank's revival is a challenge very different from Yes Bank and LVB, both for the regulator and the rescuer, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'The focus on countering terrorism brings to the issue Beijing's non-serious approach in this regard. India's permanent representative at the UN has raised in vain the issue of funding and the release of 26/11 suspect Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi. But China has blocked these objections since December 2014 at the UN even after 'highest levels' in India intervened,' notes Srikanth Kondapalli, reviewing the India-China military exercises in Kunming.
Former India cricketers Bishan Singh Bedi and Kirti Azad slammed the proxy voting system in the Delhi and District Cricket Association polls, saying it proved to be a major factor in their defeat.
In spite of being wounded in battle, Lieutenant Colonel A B Tarapore fought for six days before meeting a hero's death on the battlefield in the 1965 war. A legend in the Indian Army, he is the highest ranking officer to be awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
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