5th accused in Shakti Mills case held

Honey Trap Used To Nab Accused In July Case

S Ahmed Ali TNN

SEPTEMBER16,2013

Mumbai: A honey-trap finally led to the arrest of Ashfaque Shaikh (27), the fifth accused in the gangrape of a call-centre employee. Shaikh twice gave the slip to crime branch officials, but was nabbed on Saturday after he came to see his girlfriend at a secluded lodge near Girguam Chowpatty.
    Early this month when a call centre employee reported that she too was gangraped at Shakti Mill, police began to tail Shaikh. By that time he had fled to Karnataka. He was tracked to that state but before police could reach there, he fled to Ajmer. “We were tracking his cell phone but lost him as he switched it off. But his call records showed he was in regular touch with a commercial sex worker at Kamathipura. We questioned her and she promised to help,” a police official said.
    On Friday she told police that she had received a call from Shaikh who was then in Baroda. Crime branch officials insisted she ask him to come to Mumbai. Accordingly, she asked him to come to a lodge at Girgaum, where he was nabbed. Shaikh was on run since police arrested Salim Ansari, the last accused in the photojournalist gangrape.
    Shaikh is also accused in an attempt-to-rape case of a TB patient at Shakti Mills. While the survivor died of TB a few months ago, her daughter registered the case against Shaikh recently. Joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy said, “We will produce him before the holiday court on Sunday and will interrogate him to learn of his involvement in other cases.”
THE LAST ARREST Ashfaaque Shaikh alias Babu (27) is a resident of Mumbra but spent most of his time in Agripada. He was sentenced to three years in jail for a railway property theft case and was out on bail
Shaikh, wanted in the gangrape of a call-centre employee at Shakti Mill, is married with two kids
When cops were looking for the juvenile accused in the photojournalist’s gangrape, Shaikh pointed out his home to them and absconded
    Cops tailed him to Karnataka and Ajmer. Till Friday, he was in Vadodra when police laid a honey-trap to make him come to a Girgaum Chowpatty lodge, where he was held

No links with Pune blasts convict: Yasin

IM Man Bhatkal Busts ATS ‘Evidence’ Against Baig In German Bakery Case

Deeptiman Tiwary/September 15,2013

 

New Delhi: Indian Mujahideen’s (IM) key operative Ahmed Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal has not only denied knowing Himayat Inayat Baig — sentenced to death for the 2010 German Bakery blasts in Pune — but also busted the Maharashtra ATS’s evidence that ensured Baig’s conviction.
    Interestingly though, Yasin has given some credence to two other controversial arrests made by Maharashtra ATS in the 2011 Mumbai blasts. He has claimed to know both Haroon Naik and Naqi Ahmed, arrested by the ATS as financer and planter, respectively, in the case.
    Contrary to claims made by ATS chargesheet in the German Bakery blasts case, Yasin has told interrogators that the bombs used in the strike were assembled in Pune itself and even the timers and bags used carrying them were procured locally. The ATS chargesheet claims the bombs were assembled by Baig at his cyber cafe in Latur and that he traveled all the way to Mumbai’s Musafirkhana market to buy timers and bags to carry them. ATS investigations have also claimed that the bombs were carried by Baig from Latur to Pune on the day of the blasts.
    Yasin, however,has told interrogators that it was he who procured explosives and assembled the bombs. He has said that while he bought bags and timers locally, the explosives were procured with help of IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal. He has said he assembled the bombs in Pune, stuffed them in bags and gave one to his aide Qateel Siddiqui to plant it at Dagdusheth Halwai temple. While Yasin was successful in executing the blasts at German Bakery, Siddiqui failed to plant it at the temple and fled to Mumbai with it. Later dumping explosives in the Arabian Sea, he went to Jhansi where he met Yasin again. Siddiqui was later killed in Pune’s Yerwada jail.
    The NIA is still verifying Yasin’s claims. However, the revelation will come as a relief to Baig who has made a submission in the Bombay HC that his case be reinvestigated by the NIA.
    An officer from the security establishment said, “Baig may be linked to certain elements in the terror world but he is not involved in German Bakery blasts, it appears.”

Himayat Inayat Baig

HC slams state’s ‘soft’ approach in Lahoria case

Rosy Sequeira SEPTEMBER15,2013
IMPACT

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday lambasted the state for going “soft” on Suresh Bijlani, the prime accused in the murder of Navi Mumbai builder Sunil Lahoria. Bijlani had got himself admitted to a hospital after his arrest. TOI has been following this case, and on September 3, published a photo showing Bijlani speaking on a cellphone in hospital.
    Adivision bench of Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice Gautam Patel heard a petition by Lahoria’s son Sandeep challenging the Thane sessions court’s August 14 order to take Bijlani to hospital for treating his knee pain. His advocate Himanshu Kode argued that under the guise of treatment, Bijlani got himself admitted to the Thane civil hospital and “is enjoying all facilities like mobile phones, having meetings with office associates and travelling to court by Mercedes Benz”. He said due to police inaction on his complaint, Sandeep has moved the HC.
    Prosecutor Jayesh Yagnik said Bijlani’s medical record is before the sessions court, which is probing his health status.
    When Yagnik submitted written instructions, Justice Dharmadhikari remarked, “You are saying you will present to the sessions court how he is feigning illness. A person who has committed a serious crime gets admitted to hospital. You want the court to pass order enabling you to get the person from the hospital?”
    Yagnik said the lower court’s hearing on Bijlani’s medical condition is on September 21. “Simply put, it enables the accused to stay one more week in hospital,” said Justice Dharmadhikari. “Is it some special favour being done for this guy?” asked Justice Patel. Yagnik said interrogating an accused in hospital has restrictions. Justice Dharmadhikari said, “We are not suggesting you barge into the hospital.”
    To the court’s query, Yagnik said Bijlani has been in hospital for “one week”. But Kode said he has been admitted “since more than three weeks”. Justice Dharmadhikari asked, “You’ll wait with folded hands? You’ll not do anything? Or will you give the same facility to all citizens who get arrested?”
    The judges said they will make this a test case. “These are serious issues. Crime is against society. There is larger public interest at stake. It’s not an individual thing,” said Justice Dharmadhikari. “No more 5-star treatment for certain privileged people,” said Justice Patel. On September 16, the court will be told what steps cops will take on Sandeep’s plaint.

Shakti Mills gangrape chargesheet by Sept 19

S Ahmed Ali TNN september 14,2013

Mumbai: The city crime branchwillfile a chargesheet in the Shakti Mills gangrape case of a photojournalist by September 19. The police are alsolikely toconduct an identification parade of three accused in the call centre survivor case on Saturday.
    Sources said joint commissioner of police (crime) HimanshuRoy on Fridayhad a closed door meeting with crime branch officers probing thefirstcaseof gangrape. The police said they had almost completed investigations and were compiling the evidence.
    “CrimebranchinitIIIhas been exempted from Ganpati bandobast and will focus on investigations and wind them up by Monday. But we are not taking chances and have set a September 19 deadline to file the chargesheet,’’ an officer said.
    The police said that they were bound by the deadline as home minister R R Patil had last week announced filing of the chargesheet in 10 days and completion of investigations faster than the Nirbhaya case.
    The crime branch will also conduct the identification parade of accused Salim Ansari, Qasim Bangali and Vijay Jadhav in the call centre employee gangrape case.
    Sources said the three are in the Byculla women’s cell and arrangements have been made for the parade, which willbe presidedover by an executive magistrate.
    “Both cases are very strong andinvestigations are minutely being monitoredby legal experts. We are confident of securing conviction in both cases,’’ Roy said.

City couple hope love can heal rape trauma

S Ahmed Ali TNN

september 13,2013

Mumbai: “I was born in Mumbai and grew up in this city, but never felt unsafe here even for a moment. After that day, my faith is shattered,” said the teen survivor of the gangrape at Shakti Mills.
    A call centre employee, she visited the mill with her boyfriend on the evening of July 31 and was raped by five men, three of whom were involved in the gangrape of a 22-year-old photojournalist in the same mill in August. The traumatized couple fled to Chhattisgarh after the incident, where they got married. The crime was reported only after the couple returned to the city on August 31.
    “Not even once did I have any doubt about marriage. I love her. Besides, why should she have to suffer for no fault of hers?” said Raju (name changed), the survivor’s boyfriend and now, husband. “It was one of the most difficult situations in my life. I was desperate to avenge the heinous crime but I had to focus on counselling her first as she had turned suicidal,” he said. With no income, brave couple face bleak future
Mumbai: The teenaged call centre employee who survived the gangrape inside Shakti Mills on July 31 and her boyfriend, now husband, returned to Mumbai on August 31. They immediately went to the police station to cancel a missing complaint filed by the girl’s mother.
    The marriage has since been approved by their families, but with no means of income the couple is staring at a bleak future.
    Raju, who was employed as a cook in a catering company, lost his job as he was away for a month without informing his employer. The girl, who worked at a Bhandup call centre, is too traumatized to return to work. Sources said crime branch officials have assured them help to find jobs.
    Raju, who fought the accused, but was eventually overpowered and tied up, told TOIthat he and his wife didn’t intend to run away.
    “There was no plan to flee to Chhattisgarh and get married, but the situation prompted me to take her to a safer place where I could counsel her. First, I had to remove her feelings of guilt and insecurity and restore her
confidence. I decided to immediately marry her and thought of going to my childhood friend who lives in Chhattisgarh. Since I didn’t have any money, I called up my boss and asked him for an urgent loan of Rs 1,500. We bought some new clothes and took a train to Chhattisgarh the same night. In the train I didn’t allow her to move alone, even to the toilet,” said Raju.
    Three days after reaching Chhattisgarh, they got married in a temple there. “I loved him but now I love him more than my own life,” said the survivor.
    She was very agitated when asked about punishment for the rapists. “I feel those five should be hanged to death in public so that a strong message is sent to deter such crimes. We have vowed to testify against the accused and bring a logical end to this case,” she said.
    While three accused—Salim Ansari, Qasim Bangali and Vijay Jadhav—were already in custody for the August 22 case, Jadhav’s juvenile nephew is the only person technically arrested in the July 31 case. He has been sent to the Dongri remand home. The fifth accused, Ashfaque Shaikh, is still at large.

HORROR SCENE: Shakti Mills

Bullet fired from snatched police rifle

Murder Charges To Stay After Ballistics Report On Azad Maidan Rioting

S Ahmed Ali TNN

september 12, 2013

    The ballistics report from the forensic science laboratory (FSL) has confirmed that the bullet that hit one of the injured in the 2012 Azad Maidan rioting was fired from a rifle snatched from a policeman. Based on this report, the police now plan to retain the murder charges filed against “unknown persons” under Section 302 of the IPC.
    The city crime branch, which had been waiting for the report for nearly one year, will file the supplementary chargesheet next week, said sources. “While submitting the supplementary chargesheet we will include this report, which confirms that the bullet fired on one injured person was from the stolen police SLR,” said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police (crime).
    But the FSL could not confirm if the two men who died in the incident were victims of police firing as no bullets were recovered from the bodies. “We have not been able to conclude if they died in police firing or someone shot them with a rifle snatched from a cop,” said an officer. Police suspect that private firearms were used by the mob.
    On August 11, 2012, two died and 63 others, mostly policemen, were injured when participants of a rally assembled at Azad Maidan to protest the alleged atrocities on minorities in Myanmar and Asasam went on the rampage and attacked policemen and mediapersons. They mostly damaged BEST buses and vehicles of the fire brigade, police and media.
    According to the ballistics report, the bullet removed from Nazar Siddiqui’s thigh belonged to a self-loading rifle (SLR), which was snatched from a policeman. Siddiqui, who was arrested, had claimed that he and his friends were returning home after shopping, when he was shot at. The police later arrested Jogeshwari resident Salim Chaukiya, who was caught on cameras waving the SLR. Another cop had reported that someone from the mob had snatched his pistol and 10 rounds.
    The crime branch is yet to decide if Niyamtullah Noori, Rizwan Khan, Guddu Bhaiyya, Maulana Akhtar Ali, Maulana Amanullah Barkati and Gulam Kadri, who reportedly delivered provocative speeches before the mob turned violent, should be arrested. City collector Chandrashekar Oak had recently served notices to Saeed Noori of Raza Academy and Ahmed Raza of Madina Tul Ilm for recovery of damages of Rs 2.7 crores. Madina Tul-Ilm was the official organizer of the rally at Azad Maidan.
WHAT HAPPENED
    On August 11, 2012, Muslim organizations stage a rally at Azad Maidan protesting against the alleged atrocities against Muslims in Assam and Myanmar. Protesters turn violent, pelt stones and assault policemen and mediapersons, and vandalize public property and vehicles. Police lathi charge, then fire at mob
    Two die and 63 others, including 58 cops, are injured. Postmortem reports can’t verify if the two died in police firing or fell to bullets from SLRs snatched from cops
    Crime branch submits report stating protesters damaged property worth 2.7 crore, says collector should recover the money from organizers
    It claims Rizwan Khan of Madina Tul Ilm, which organized the rally, should pay the damages CASE STATUS
    At least 60 people have been arrested and charged with murder, attempt to murder, causing hurt, damage to public property, wrongful confinement, stealing and stopping a government servant from performing duty. Group leaders, who had made provocative speeches, yet to be held
    Four have been booked for molesting nine policewomen
    Chargesheet has been filed

Mill rape trial will take less time than Nirbhaya case: RR

ID Parade In Call Centre Employee Case This Week

Sanjeev Shivadekar & S Ahmed Ali TNN

september 11,2013
Mumbai: The state government said on Tuesday that it will speed up the investigation in last month’s Shakti Mills photojournalist gangrape case so that the trial takes less time than the Nirbhaya case.
    In the case of a previous gangrape at Shakti Mills in which a call centre employee was brutalized in July, the city crime branch plans to conduct the identification parade of the four arrested accused in a day or two.
    Home minister R R Patil said the chargesheet in the photojournalist gangrape case will be filed in seven to 10 days.
    “Our aim is to fast-track the case, and get the verdict at the earliest,” Patil said. “We are trying to do it in less time than was taken in the Nirbhaya case.”
    The conviction of the accused in the December 16 Delhi gangrape and murder case came in about nine months.
    Chief minister Prithiviraj Chavan had also said the government would ensure a speedy trial in the photojournalist case.
    Patil’s latest assurance came more than two weeks after a similar statement; on August 23, a day after the crime, the home minister had said the chargesheet would be filed “very shortly”.
    There are three common accused in the photojournalist and the call centre employee cases. The police said the gang of rapists had eight members.
    The call centre employee gangrape, which occurred on July 31, came to light when the survivor reported it a few days after the gangrape of the photojournalist.
    Initially, the police had planned to take the custody of the accused and then conduct the identification parade.
    “As the four accused are already in jail, we will conduct the identification parade without further delay,” an officer said. “We want to wind up even the other case as soon as possible. Once the identification parade is done, the police will move court to get the custody of three of the accused—Salim Khan, Qasim Bangali and Vijay Jadhav, who are yet to be arrested in the call centre gangrape case.”
    A minor who is in juvenile custody in the case will also go through the parade this week.
    The police are hunting for the fifth accused, Ashfaque Shaikh.
    Patil rubbished allegations that local police officers had been aware of the goings-on in the mill compound and the vicinity.
    “As of now there is no evidence of any such thing, but if something comes up, we will definitely look into it,” he said. “No one will be spared.”
    The police are yet to receive reports of the samples collected from the crime scene as well as medical exhibits from the Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina. Lab director Dr M K Malve said the “most important” DNA profiling report had been submitted. SCIENTIFIC TESTS TO NAIL ACCUSED
KALINA LAB SAMPLES | Biological-serological exhibits, blood samples of accused, clothes of both survivor and accused, nail clippings of survivor STATUS | Reports received establish DNA fingerprint match as well as DNA match from clothes samples HOW IT WILL HELP | DNA report is the most clinching and conclusive forensic evidence to establish the crime
GUJARAT LAB SAMPLES | Layered voice analysis (LVA), where psychologists study recorded statements of the accused frame by frame to detect deception and intention of deception STATUS | Report yet to arrive HOW IT WILL HELP | It is strong corroborative evidence
HYDERABAD LAB SAMPLES | Earth samples from the crime scene for comparison for pollen with clothes of accused and survivor STATUS | Report yet to arrive HOW IT WILL HELP | It is strong corroborative evidence; it helps establish that the offence took place at the said spot inside Shakti Mills
TIMES VIEW: All trials, especially in case of crime that shakes up society and becomes a talking point because of exceptional levels of cruelty and audacity, must be completed as soon as possible. And this should happen ideally when the crime has not gone off public memory. Only this can give a collective sense of catharsis.

LAHORIA CASE

‘How can a murder accused use phone in judicial custody?’

HC Orders Thane Jail, Hosp To Show Bijlani Case Papers

S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday came down heavily on the Thane jail authorities, asking them to explain how an accused could travel in a private car to court or use a cellphone while in judicial custody. The division bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel has asked the Mumbai crime branch as well as the jail authorities to produce all medical records of Suresh Bijlani, the main accused in the murder of builder Sunil Lahoria, and adjourned the matter for a week.
    The court passed the remark while hearing a writ petition by Lahoria’s son Sandeep. The Thane jail as well Thane civil hospital will have to give explanations and detailed medical reports of Bijlani’s treatment.
    Meanwhile, a Thane court, which was also hearing Sandeep’s allegation that Bijlani was enjoying “VIP treatment” in the hospital, has asked jail authorities to produce his medical papers and will hear the matter on September 11. U D Pawar, superintendent of Thane jail, was present in the court on Friday.
    In his plea, Sandeep had attached photos and videos of Bijlani using a cellphone. “We submitted all documentary evidence, including pictures and videos of Bijlani not only using a cellphone but even moving in a Mercedes from the jail to court,” said Sandeep’s advocate Himanshu Kode.
    Bijlani’s lawyer Ramesh Tripathi said, “These are wrong allegations to harass Bijlani. Sandeep had bribed a police officer who clicked a picture to show Bijlani speaking on a cellphone.”
    Last week, Thane magistrate K R Warrier had directed the Thane jailer to be present on September 6 to explain how Bijlani was admitted to Thane civil hospital without the court’s permission. Bijlani was caught on CCTV talking to his friends without any police security instead of being inside the Thane jail. Tripathi had said Bijlani was admitted to hospital as he was suffering from a knee problem.
    Lahoria was shot on February 16 outside his Navi Mumbai office. Shooters Venkatesh Shettiar and Wajid Qureshi, ex-encounter specialist Emmanuel Amolik, Bijlani, Bhupesh Gupta and five others were held. Another accused, Anuragh Garg, is absconding.

Suresh Bijlani was caught on CCTV talking over phone in the Thane civil hospital

Photojournalist, colleague identify other 4 accused

S Ahmed Ali TNN

september 7,2013
Mumbai: Two days after a photojournalist, who was allegedly gangraped in Shakti Mills compound, and her male colleague recognized the 17-year-old accused in an identification parade, the duo identified the other four accused in another identification parade on Friday.
    Also, the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) medical reports on Friday confirmed that the five accused had raped the survivor. The reports, confirming that the survivor’s vaginal swabs matched the samples of the five men, are the second crucial technical evidence to nail the accused. Last week, the DNA samples of the accused had matched those taken from the survivor.
    The photojournalist was sexually assaulted in the defunct Shakti Mills on August 22, when she had gone there on an
assignment with her colleague.
    Friday’s identification parade was held at Byculla women’s jail at 11am, and was attended by an independent executive magistrate, two panchas (witnesses), the survivor, and her male colleague. “The survivor and her colleague took no time in identifying all the four accused. The entire session was recorded on video, which will be very useful during trial,” said an officer. For the first time, police also conducted an identification parade of beer bottles and other material, such as dupatta, recovered from the scene.
    Police are awaiting other reports from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad and reports of each of the accused from the Gujarat FSL.
    While Qasim Shaikh, Siraj Khan, Salim Ansari, Vijay Jadhav and a 17-year-old boy are the accused in the photojournalist’s alleged gangrape on August 22; Qasim, Ansari, Jadhav, his juvenile nephew, and Ashfaque Shaikh have been accused of raping an 18-year-old call centre employee on the same premises on July 31. Except Ashfaque, all others have been arrested.
    The teenager claimed that she had gone to Shakti Mills with her then boyfriend for some privacy, when the five men bound his hands with belts, tied him up to a tree using her dupatta and raped her.
    The couple eloped to Chhattisgarh, got married and returned to the city. Police have sent her dupatta and his shirt recovered from the spot on Wednesday for forensic tests. The reports are expected by Monday. Now, a molestation case against Siraj T he Agripada police on Thursday registered a fresh FIR against Siraj Khan, one of the five arrested in the alleged gangrape of a photojournalist in Shakti Mills, after a woman filed acomplaint alleging that he had tried to rape her mother at the same spot. Police have registered a case of molestation and kidnapping against Khan. On August 19, when the complainant’s mother went to attend nature’s call on the tracks, Khan had dragged her into the mill and tried to rape her. The complainant rescued her mother, who later succumbed to TB. She also alleged that initially the cops had not entertained her complaint as her mother was an alcoholic. TNN Plan for self-defence classes in schools T he state on Friday told the Bombay HC that it plans to issue a government resolution to introduce self-defence training in health and physical education in school curriculum. Assistant government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani said initially 96,000 girls from class IX and X in state schools will receive training. TNN

hakti Mills gangrape accused targeted 10 women in 6 months

New Plaint Shows Not Just 5 Men In Gang, More On Loose

S Ahmed Ali TNN

September 5,2013

    The Shakti Mills gangrape accused had targeted at least 10 women in the same spot over the past five-six months, said police officials investigating the case. Earlier, they were believed to have raped four women.
    Also, with another gangrape survivor coming out, it is clear the gang that preyed on women in the mill was not limited to five members. She has spoken about two others, one of whom has been taken into custody. A hunt is on for the other. “We believe many survivors may not be coming out because of the fear of the gang members on the loose,” said a crime branch officer.
    “Each of them (the accused in custody) gave different dates and descriptions of rape survivors. After collating the information, we have roughly concluded that they raped 10 women,’’ said an officer of the investigating team.
    During initial probe, the accused had said they had first molested a girl after a couple entered the mill looking for privacy. A few weeks later, they gangraped a ragpicker and, lastly, a month before attacking the photojournalist, they had brought a sex worker to the mill, raped her and did not pay.
    Now, it has emerged that six more women were targeted. The rape accused have said most of them were residents of nearby slums who used to take the tracks to reach their homes.
    Salim Ansari, 27, who it seems was involved in all the assaults, has said that they made their first attack in March when they saw a woman walking by the tracks late in the evening. “The group, posing as policemen, threatened her and forced her inside mill where they raped her. Within a few days, they targeted another woman crossing the tracks. With these two assaults going unreported, they were emboldened. They often lurked in the mills in the evenings and lay traps for unsuspecting women,” added the officer.
    Police said the modus operandi was almost the same — whoever spotted a potential target would pose as a policeman/CID officer and under the pretext of inquiry take them deeper into the ruined mill. On the side, they would have alerted their other friends. If a man was accompanying their target, they would thrash him and tie him up.
    They also seemed to have made it a habit to click their target’s photo or the rape to threaten them to keep quiet.
    Another similarity that stands out is that they never robbed their targets. They did not touch the expensive gadgets the photojournalist who was attacked on August 22 was carrying. Police said the accused have said that they knew that they could be tracked easily if they stole cellphones or tablets.
MODUS OPERANDI SAME Gang member who spotted potential target would pose as policeman and take the women deeper inside the mill on pretext of inquiry
They would call in their other friends
If a man was with the target, they would thrash him and tie him up
They would click the rape survivor’s photo and threaten her not to complain
They did not steals cellphones to avoid being tracked down
Penal Sections Invoked
    The accused have been booked under sections of the IPC from 34 (common intention), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 376 (D) (gang rape under the amendment to the CrPC with a minimum punishment of 20 years) and 506 (II) (criminal intimidation) Evidence Courts Could Depend On
The Supreme Court has held that the statement of a survivor is a strong piece of evidence to nail an accused
Strong forensic evidence is unlikely in this case due to the time gap between the incident and the complaint
    But previous judgments upheld that the veracity and reliability of a survivor’s statement, if proved in court along with identification of the accused, would be adequate to secure a conviction, if corroborative evidence in the form of DNA tests or other forensic test results are unavailable
Consecutive Sentences?
    Criminal procedure laws under section 219 of Criminal Procedure Code read/with section 223 CrPC allows for a single trial in certain cases. But legal experts say a joint trial is not advisable in these two cases
    The maximum punishment for rape is life imprisonment, the minimum is seven years’ rigorous imprisonment
    The HC held in 2009 that a trial court can use its discretion to make sentences concurrent or consecutive. But life terms in two separate cases will run concurrently

ANOTHER HORROR AT MAHALAXMI MILL

1 The girl and her friend went to Shakti Mills on July 31. On the way out, they were stopped by Qasim Bangali and Salim Ansari

2 Qasim and Salim Ansari questioned them, posing as cops. Sensing trouble, the youth asked the girl to run while he fought them off

3 Vijay Jadhav, his nephew and Ashfaque Shaikh, joined Qasim and Salim to overpower the youth. The five tied him and raped the girl

4 The shaken couple then walked to the station, took a cab to Mumbai Central and took a train for Chattisgarh, where they later got married

Call centre staffer too was raped inside Shakti Mills

Three Accused Later Brutalized Photojournalist

S Ahmed Ali & V Narayan TNN

Mumbai: Identifying some of her tormentors in reports about the Shakti Mills gangrape case, an 18-and-a-halfyear-old call centre employee mustered the courage to tell the police on Monday that she too had been raped by five men inside the same mill. The revelation suggests that a much bigger gang was targeting women inside the abandoned mill in Mahalaxmi.
    The survivor told the Bhandup police that the gang had trapped them when she and her boyfriend—aged 21, and now her husband—went to the mill on the evening of July 31 seeking privacy.
    Two of them, Salim Ansari, 27, and Mohammed Qasim Shaikh, 19, first accosted them. Her friend, sensing trouble, challenged them and asked her to flee. But three others—Vijay Jadhav, 19, his nephew and Ashfaque Shaikh—had joined the gang and dragged them into the ruins. After tying up her friend with her dupatta, they took turns to rape her.
WHAT HAPPENED ON JULY 31
    An 18-year-old employee of a call centre and her boyfriend went into the Shakti Mills compound for some privacy. Five men threatened them, tied up the boy and raped the girl. The couple then went to Chhattisgarh and got married. She went to the police on Monday to cancel a missing FIR lodged by her mother. She also lodged a rape complaint, identifying three of the suspects Survivor’s boyfriend fought gang, but was outnumbered
Mumbai: The N M Joshi police have taken over the new Shakti Mills gangrape probe after a complaint filed by a teenaged call centre employee. On Tuesday, they arrested accused Vijay Jadhav’s nephew, who is said to be 17. A hunt is on for another accused, Ashfaque Shaikh. The others named in the new case, Salim Ansari, Qasim Shaikh and Jadhav, are in police custody till Thursday for the August 22 gangrape of a photojournalist. The juvenile involved in the August 22 case did not have a role in the earlier case.
    The survivor who has come forward now went with her boyfriend to Mahalaxmi on July 31. “It was around 6.30pm and they had to wait for two hours. So, they decided to go for a stroll along the tracks and entered the mill. Soon, two of the accused stopped them,” said a police officer. Ansari and Qasim, posing as officials, asked why they had entered railway property and asked the two to accompany them.
    “The survivor said in the FIR that her husband fought off the two assailants, but was overpowered when three others joined them. They tied him to a broken wall before raping her. After about one-and-a-half hours, the couple walked to the station. They hired a cab, bought new clothes and went to Mumbai Central and eloped to Chhattisgarh. They got married there,” said the police.
    The next day, the survivor’s mother lodged a missing complaint with the Bhandup police after her last mobile network location was tracked there. The survivor used to work for a call centre in Bhandup.
    The couple returned on August 31. The police then asked her to cancel the missing complaint. She visited the police station with her husband late on Monday and lodged the gangrape complaint.
    She will undergo a medical test on Wednesday. Police are collecting call records of the five accused to prove they were at the mill on July 31.
TIMES VIEW: The probe into the Shakti Mills gangrape and the skeletons tumbling out of the criminals’ closet indicate that such elements have come to enjoy a free run. It’s true that it’s not possible for cops to give round-the-clock security to all 1.4 million citizens of Mumbai. But what goes against our police force and the system is the type of confidence criminals seem to have in their invincibility. These men seem to have committed similar offences repeatedly, and each undetected offence has emboldened them. What’s scary is such elements don’t only inhabit unused mills; these are people are walking around the city and its railway stations and bus stops, forcing you and me to share the same space with them. This is where the policing system has to take blame; it now has to ensure criminals don’t feel so safe inhabiting our space.

THE ACCUSED

Vijay Jadhav (19)

Mohammed Qasim alias Bangali (21)

Salim Ansari (27)
Ashfaque Shaikh (20) A juvenile, a relative of Vijay Jadhav The three pictured above were arrested for raping a photojournalist inside Shakti Mills on August 22

Phones of all five gangrape accused found

S Ahmed Ali TNN

September 4, 2013

Mumbai: The city crime branch on Monday claimed to have recovered three mobile phones of the accused in the Shakti Mill gang rape case. Police had earlier recovered phones of two of the five accused, Qasim Bangali and Salim Ansari.
    Deputy commissioner of police Satya Narayan said the mobile phones were valuable as evidence to establish the fact that all accused were present at the scene of crime. Sources said police have already sought the CDR of all the accused. Ansari had clicked a picture of the survivor threatening to circulate it if she reported the crime. Police on Thursday said they will not pursue police custody of the five accused and will instead seek judicial custody. “We have almost completed the investigation,” said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police.
    On Monday, the crime branch wrote to the court requesting the appointment of a magistrate and independent panchas (witnesses) to carry out an identification parade of four accused inside Arthur Road jail. A similar procedure will be followed for the juvenile accused at Dongri remand home.
    A12-year-old boy who led cops to the first arrest is likely to be made star witness. “The witness is a minor but said in a statement that all the accused regularly frequented the place,” said an official.

Four of the Shakti Mill gangrape accused

One shooter arrested for firing at bldr in Malad

S Ahmed Ali TNN

September3,2013

Mumbai: The city crime branch on Monday arrested one of the three men involved in the alleged firing on bookie-turned-developer Ajay Gosalia alias Ajay Ganda (52) on astreet in Malad last week.
    The police also said they would provide security to Gosalia who is recovering at Zenith Hospital in Malad.
    The crime branch remained tightlipped about the arrest. “We have picked up a key accused and are now verifying his real name. Before making any announcement, we have to confirm
his role. We cannot reveal anything till we thoroughly interrogate him,” said an officer. But sources revealed that he had been identified as Chetan Tiwari.
    This is the third arrest in the case. On Saturday, the police had picked up two others, Kaushik Gaur, a close friend of an encounter specialist, and Abhay Shinde, who reportedly pointed out Gosalia to the three shooters.
    Investigations have suggested that the shootout was carried out at the behest of gangster Chhota Rajan over previous rivalry. Rajan apparently believed that Gosalia, who is close to another encounter specialist, had tipped off the police about a JNPT arms haul case and was also instrumental in framing his wife, Sujata Nikhalje, in an extortion case in 2006.
    The police believe that Tiwari could lead them to Rajan aides lodged at Arthur Road jail. The officers also plan to question two key suspects, Satish Tangappa alias Kalia and Dilip Bora alias D K Rao.

Ajay Gosalia was attacked on Link Road in Malad

Court: Why Lahoria murder accused in hosp?

Another Accused Too In Same Hosp: Builder’s Son

S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: The Thane court on Monday directed the Thane jailer to be present in court on September 6 to explain how Suresh Bijlani, main accused in the murder of Navi Mumbai builder Sunil Lahoria, was admitted to hospital without its permission. Bijlani has also been caught on CCTV camera talking “freely” on a cellphone without any police security in hospital.
    This is the second such incident in the last 24 hours. In Sunday’s edition, TOI published a picture of Malegaon accused Dayanand Pandey using a public phone to talk to his family and friends outside the city sessions court.
    On Monday, Thane magistrate K R Warrier seemd to be upset after Lahoria’s son, Sandeep, brought to the court’s notice that Bijlani had been admitted to the Thane Civil Hospital.
    On August 14, Bijlani had complained to the magistrate that his knees were hurting and he needed to be admitted to hospital for a particular injection. Denying permission for his hospital stay, the court directed the jailer in writing that Bijlani be taken to a government hospital, as and when he required the injection and that he should not be admitted. “But the Thane jail authorities hospitalized him 10 days ago without intimating the court about it. When I visited the hospital, I found Bijlani freely using a cellphone and no policemen were around,” said Sandeep.
    Bijlani’s advocate Ramesh Tripathi admitted to the court that he “has been hospitalized on doctor’s recommendation as he had a major knee problem”.
    Sandeep has reportedly found that another accused, Bhupesh Gupta, has also been admitted to the same hospital, and on the same floor as Bijlani. After his arrest in July, Gupta was sent to Taloja jail. “If he was unwell, he should have been admitted to a government hospital in Navi Mumbai. I fail to understand why he has been admitted to Thane where he can plan another criminal conspiracy,” claimed Sandeep.
    This is not the first time that the court has pulled up Bijlani. In the past too, a court had rapped him for not surrendering before the police. Subsequently, even the Supreme Court sought an explanation from the Indore high court for granting Bijlani a 60-days transit bail despite the fact that the apex court had rejected his plea for anticipatory bail.

Suresh Bijlani was seen using his cellphone at the Thane Civil Hospital