1. RPF Rescued 203 Missing, Trafficked Children and 13 Women This Year
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Western Railway has rescued 203 children and 13 women from trafficking, missing persons cases and other crimes, on trains and at railway stations in Gujarat in 2019, as per a report released by the Railways on Wednesday.
According to officials, the RPF personnel have rescued 442 children and 45 women from Gujarat and Mumbai in Maharashtra, from January to July this year, and sent them to their families or shelter homes of NGOs.
“There were several children who ran away and were leading a destitute life at stations. Many were being taken forcefully by gangs of child-lifters, when RPF personnel apprehended the accused and rescued them. Similarly, many women who were mentally unstable and living at railway stations have been sent to shelter homes. Some were also rescued from human trafficking. We have already installed child help-desks at 15 railway stations with Child Protection Officers,” said Ravindra Bhakar, spokesperson, Western Railways.
(Source: Indian Express)
2. Vadodara: Four Get Life Term for Murder
The Vadodara district court on Thursday, 22 August, sentenced four people to life imprisonment for murdering a 30-year-old groundnut seller in March 2018 over old enmity.
Assistant public prosecutor Karan Chavan said he had demanded capital punishment for the four as the prime accused in the case, Raju Pawar (51), was an accused in three other murder cases as well. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of Dinesh Pathak in 1993, editor of a leading Gujarati daily.
District Judge, AC Doshi, however, observed that it was not a rarest of rare case and awarded life imprisonment to all the four convicts. He also fined them of Rs 1,04,400 of which Rs 1 lakh will be given to the mother of the victim, Vicky Kanojia.
In March 2018, Panigate police arrested Raju, along with his sons, Vishal Pawar (21) and Dhawal Pawar (19), and nephew Akshay Borade for murdering Vicky, a groundnut seller in Gajarwada area of the city, while he was playing cricket with his friends.
3. 119 RTI Applications Disposed of in Single Day at Weekly Meet
As many as 119 applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act were disposed of in a single day at a weekly video conference on Wednesday, 21 August, between the state information commissioner’s office in Gandhinagar and the district collector’s headquarters in Palanpur of Banaskantha, a state government release said.
State Information Commissioner Virendra Pandya said the number was unusually high as the number of applications disposed of at the weekly video conference averages about 10-15.
The applicants were present at the district collector’s headquarters at Palanpur, where they were heard by the state information commissioner in Gandhinagar. The applications, which were in the second stage of appeal when they were heard on Wednesday, had been sent to 119 individual Public Information Officers in Vadgam and Palanpur talukas of Banaskantha district earlier.
(Source: Indian Express)
4. Gandhinagar Cops Can't Probe Case Against Gaurav Dahiya: Gujarat HC
Suspended Gujarat IAS officer Gaurav Dahiya on Thursday, 22 August, got a major relief from the Gujarat High Court after it ruled that the Gandhinagar police cannot probe the case against Dahiya. The case against Dahiya was filed in Delhi by the aggrieved woman Leenu Singh.
The court also said that since the matter was under probe in Delhi, a simultaneous probe cannot be carried out by the Gandhinagar police. It, however, clarified that the Gandhinagar police can summon Dahiya in connection with the two complaints filed by the IAS officer against the woman.
Later, at a press conference held in the evening, Dahiya's lawyer Hitesh Gupta said that they have appeared before the Delhi police following summons from them. "But the case jurisdiction is in Delhi and Chennai. Gujarat has no role in it. The Delhi police had just marked a copy to the Gandhinagar police. That's why we had moved the petition," said Gupta. He clarified that they have been cooperating in the investigation and will continue to do so.
(Source: DNA)
5. Cyber Cell Helps Company Get Back Rs 24 Lakh
The Cyber Cell of the Gandhinagar police helped recover Rs 24.31 lakh that was stolen from a manufacturing unit in Chhatral GIDC. However, the cops are yet to nab the accused.
According to a complaint filed with the cyber cell, Chhatral GIDC-based AMI Refractrahold was in the business of manufacturing and sale of steel to various industries. Iran-based Amol Carborudom was one of its clients, and the dealings between the two companies were done over with emails.
The Iran-based company was yet to pay the AMI Refractrahold for one of its consignments. When someone got to know about this it, the person acted as a 'middle-man' to get the payment on his or her name, said the police.
(Source: DNA)
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