QCrime: Sapphire Int’l Case, Muzaffarnagar Riots & More

Read the top crime stories on QCrime.

A teacher from Sapphire schools in Ranchi has been arrested for allegedly killing a student. (Photo Courtesy: Sapphire International School, Ranchi)

1. Tracker Dog Solves Sapphire International School Murder Case, 4 Arrested

A girl, her elder brother and their parents, one of whom teaches Hindi in Sapphire International School was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the murder of 12-year-old Binay Kumar Mahto who was found dead outside teachers’ quarters on February 5.

Police said that Binay was killed for his boyhood crush on a junior.

The girl’s 16-year-old brother who studies in class XI in the same school had invited Binay to a soya chilli treat at their campus quarters and then allegedly bludgeoned him with knuckledusters till the Class VII boy lost consciousness.

Sapphire’s Hindi teacher Nazia Hussain allegedly helped her son throw the 12-year-old off the first-floor balcony. Nazia’s daughter may have helped tamper with evidence while her father Arif Ali Ansari, who teaches mathematics at another nearby school, allegedly masterminded “the clean-up” over telephone.

A police tracker dog had led investigators to the first-floor quarters of another teacher whose next door neighbours were Nazia and her family.

Read the full story on The Telegraph.

2. Muzaffarnagar Riots: Four Accused in Gangrape Acquitted

Another case related to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots has ended in acquittal.

Four men, accused of gangraping a woman during the riots in the Fugana police station area, were acquittedby a Muzaffarnagar fast track court on January 21 after the victim and key witnesses were declared hostile and did not support the prosecution during the trial.

The key witnesses included the victim’s husband, mother-in-law and a neighbour.

When asked why he turned hostile, the victim’s husband told The Indian Express that seven months after they had lodged an FIR, “people on behalf of the accused would approach us, even threaten us with dire consequences”.

He said they were told to retract the gangrape charge and the police never took the complaint seriously.

According to police records, the victim alleged in her FIR that she was gang-raped by 16 persons, all residents of Fugana village.

However, the Special Investigation Team concluded that 12 persons named in the FIR were not involved in the crime.

Read the full story on The Indian Express.

3. Salman Khan Hit and Run Case: Victim’s Family Moves SC

The widow of the pavement dweller Shaikh Noorulla Shafik who was crushed to death by Salman Khan’s SUV in 2002 and her labourer-son have moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday as the “forgotten victims” of his alleged crime.

The Hindu reported that Shafik’s widow, Begumjaha Haroon Khan, and son Firoz Shaikh, represented by SC advocate Vipin Nair, said that as victims, they were “an integral part of the justice delivery system and that they are not to be forgotten and left high and dry.”

The Maharashtra government has called Salman Khan’s acquittal “a complete travesty of justice.”

4. Kolkata Hit and Run Case: Police to File Chargesheet by Mid-March

Kolkata Police is planning to file charge sheet by mid-March in the Red Road hit-and-run case. An Air Force official was killed by a speeding car during Republic Day parade rehearsal.

Quoting the Test Identification Parade (TIP) report, a highly-placed source in Kolkata Police told PTI that preparations are on to frame the chargesheet. At the identification parade, witnesses identified 24-year-old Sambia Sohrab as the person driving the Audi on 13 January.

Read the full story on The Quint.

5. Stalker Burns Girl After Failed Attempt at Molestation

A 17-year-old girl was burnt alive, allegedly by a youth who had been stalking her, when she resisted his rape attempt in Aurangabad village of Mathura, reports The Indian Express.

The incident occurred on Tuesday when the accused who has been identified as Bhola barged into the house of the girl when her parents were away and tried to rape her.

An FIR against the youth, Bhola, has been registered. Efforts are on to nab him as he is absconding.

Mukul Dwivedi, SP

The girl was a student of Class XI.

He came to the house when my brother had taken the goats out for grazing and his wife had gone to pick firewood. He molested my niece and when she resisted, he poured kerosene on her and set her afire.

<b>Deceased Girl’s Uncle</b>

6. Key Member of MBBS Admission Racket Arrested

Delhi Police arrested a key member of a gang running a medical studies racket in which aspirants were falsely promised admission to MBBS courses under the management quota of any institution in India for a fee of Rs 15-60 lakhs.

The member has been identified as Sandeep Gupta, a 30-year-old resident of Vasundhara in UP.

The Times of India reported several arrests are likely to occur in this week as the crime branch is now looking for his associates, among them doctors, MBAs and engineers.

Gupta had twice been arrested on similar charges — in May last year by the Dehradun police and a year earlier by the Varanasi police.

Several cases have come to our knowledge of students being duped of lakhs of rupees. Police stations have been informed about Gupta’s arrest.

<b>Ravindra Yadav, JCP (Crime Branch)</b>

7. Gang of Cyber Criminals Busted, Three Arrested

Police busted a gang — allegedly involved in online frauds — by arresting three of its members in Chandigarh.

The accused were identified as Vansh Arora, Ashish Mehta and Ravi Sharma, residents of Sector 17, Rohini, New Delhi.

According to The Indian Express, all the three are well-qualified young men who had allegedly been running a fake customer care centre in Delhi. The three accused would pose as verification agents of banks and allegedly steal the database of bank account holders from the unauthorised online shopping websites and then identify their targets.

The three would make fake verification calls to people posing as staffers of a customer care centre to get the details of their debit and credit cards.

8. Dalit Man Killed Over Land Dispute in Gurgaon

A 55-year-old man from a Dalit community was killed while his son was critically injured when half a dozen men attacked them at Kambakshpur village in Gurgaon, reports The Hindustan Times.

According to the police the incident resulted out of a land dispute. The incident occurred when the deceased, identified as Jagdish Singh, and his younger son Dharmender, 20, were on their way to the district court to seek legal aid over some issue.

Police said that a case was registered and teams were formed to lead the investigation.

The incident also triggered a violent protest and the police had to resort to firing in the air and use mild force to disperse the mob which tried to block the Greater Noida expressway by placing the body over the road.

9. Drunk Woman Creates Ruckus In Delhi’s Connaught Place

Remember Anjali Ramkissoon–the drunk doctor who assaulted an Uber driver in Miami, US? A similar case occurred in New Delhi’s Connaught Place on Tuesday nightwhen a girl who was allegedly inebriated created a ruckus after her car rammed into a bike.

The Indian Express reported that the bikers, who were hit by her car, alleged that she was under the influence of alcohol. For about three hours in the inebriated state, she created public nuisance and ruckus in the police station.