Good To Be Back": Pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, Captured By Pak, Returns

Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has returned today. His return was delayed twice by Pakistan.

Attari-Wagah Border: 

Captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman returned to India at 9.20 pm on Friday, after nearly 60 hours in Pakistan's captivity. The pilot was smiling and had a black eye as he crossed into India through the Attari-Wagah border, hours later than expected.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthamanwas shot down on Wednesday in a dogfight with Pakistani aircraft and captured. His first words were "it is good to be back in my country", an official told reporters.

He Will be taken for a detailed medical checkup. The officer has had to eject from a plane which would have put his body under immense strain," said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, reading out a short statement and refusing to take questions.

As Abhinandan Varthaman's homecoming was delayed, "documentation" was cited as the hold-up. But the Press Trust of India quoted sources as saying the handover was delayed as he was forced to record a statement on camera by Pakistani authorities before he was allowed to cross the border.

The pilot, who inspired many hashtags on social media, finally appeared on the Pakistani side of the Attari-Wagah crossing around 9.15 pm. He was whisked away by Indian officials.

Abhinandan Varthaman spent almost three days in Pakistani captivity.

By the time he crossed over, a crowd that had waited for hours holding flags, dancing and cheering, had thinned.

To restrict the crowds, an elaborate flag-lowering ceremony at the Wagah crossing between Indian and Pakistani soldiers, which draws thousands of spectators on both sides, had been cancelled.

The government wanted to avoid frenzy around the pilot, for many a symbol of hope and the easing of tension between India and Pakistan after their biggest standoff in years. New Delhi had asked for permission to send a special IAF flight to bring back the captured IAF pilot from Islamabad, say sources, but Pakistan 

Images of the pilot's capture and questioning, circulated from Pakistani accounts, left millions of Indians stricken and worried. The 38-year-old was blind-folded, his eyes bleeding over his handlebar moustache and his hands tied behind his back. A video showed him dragged from a pond, surrounded by locals.

The alarming videos were taken off as Pakistan was accused of violating the Geneva Convention.

video later showed Abhinandan Varthaman sipping tea, his eyes swollen. He calmly answered questions, refusing to speak on his mission while praising his treatment by the Pakistan Army

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's announcement that he would be released helped lower the temperature after rapid escalation this week

The announcement marked a dramatic shift in mood after the two countries engaged in an aerial clash for the first time in nearly 50 years on Wednesday.

World leaders had urged both countries to step back as hostilities peaked over the past few days as India sent fighter planes to strike a terror training camp in Pakistan and Islamabad tried to target Indian military installations in response

The confrontation erupted in the days following the February 14 Pulwama attack by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, in which over 40 soldiers were killed. India's air strikes on Tuesday targeted a huge Jaish training facility in Pakistan's Balakot, around 80 km from the Line of Control

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Heavy Shelling Along LoC As Pak Violates Ceasefire, 5 Soldiers Injured

The Indian Air Force bombed a huge Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Balakot, killing a "very large number of terrorists" according to government officials.

• Pakistani troops fired mortar, small arms across Line of Control
• Sharp escalation of ceasefire violations underway
• Pakistan Army targeted some 55 civilian hamlets

Srinagar: 

Pakistani troops fired mortar shells and small arms across the Line of Control at several areas in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday in a sharp escalation of ceasefire violations that have been underway for the last three consecutive days. Five Indian soldiers were injured in the Akhnoor sector by Pakistan's shelling. The Indian Army said it was retaliating strongly and had destroyed five Pakistani posts, causing a number of casualties. 

Pakistan stepped up ceasefire violations after the Indian Air Force's strike on a terror camp in Balakot.

Pakistani troops were also seen firing mortars and missiles from civilian houses, using villagers as human shields. However, Indian Army targeted the Pakistani posts away from civilian localities," an army spokesperson said.

The shelling began hours after the Indian Air Force bombed a huge Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Pakistan's Balakot, across the Line of Control, killing a "very large number of terrorists" according to government officials.

The Pakistan Army used heavy weaponry, firing heavy calibre weapons targeting 12 to 15 places in Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch districts since 6:30 pm, the army said in a statement. The sectors targeted include Krishna Gati, Balakote, Khari Karmara, Mankote, Tarkundi in Poonch district, Kalal, Baba Khori, Kalsian, Laam and Jhangar areas in Rajouri and Pallanwala and Laleali in Jammu.

Pakistan had shelled forward posts in the state's Poonch, Mendhar and Nowshera sectors earlier in the day too, prompting a firm response from the Indian forces.

Government officials in Rajouri said because of the heightened tension, schools within 5 km of the Line of Control will be closed and exams will be postponed.

The Pakistan army has resorted to firing and mortar shelling on forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch districts on seven of the last eight days.

Last year saw the highest number of ceasefire violations - nearly 3,000 - by Pakistani troops in the last 15 years along the Indo-Pak border.

Pakistan continues to violate the ceasefire understanding of 2003 despite repeated calls for restraint and adherence to the agreement during flag meetings between the border-guarding forces of the two countries, the officials said.

Amid rising tension between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack and increasing ceasefire violations, the people along the Line of Control and the international border in this region are living under constant fear, they said

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India Strikes After Pulwama Terror Attack, Hits Biggest Jaish-e-Mohammed Camp In Balakot

IAF Balakot Strike: India carried out the strikes in Balakot across the Line of Control (LoC) two weeks after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama.

• India struck the biggest camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed: Government
• Some 300 terrorists were killed in the Air Force strike: Sources to NDTV
• 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets dropped 1,000 kg bombs on the camp at Balakot.
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India carried out "non-military, pre-emptive air strikes" across the Line of Control in a pre-dawn operation targeting the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which was planning more attacks in the country after Pulwama, the government said on Tuesday. Indian Air Force fighter jets struck the biggest camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, killing over 300 terrorists including Jaish chief Masood Azhar's brother-in-law, sources told Aapkasamachar.

Hours after India confirmed the air strikes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a rally in Rajasthan's Churu: "I assure you, the country is in safe hands."

Around 3.30 am, 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets crossed the Line of Control and dropped 1,000 kg bombs on the vast terror training facility at Balakot, which was the hub of suicide attack training, said government sources. Several terrorists, trainers and Jaish commanders planning terror strikes in India were killed, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired an emergency meeting, after which Islamabad said in a statement: "India has committed uncalled for aggression to which Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing." 

The Balakot camp, located in the thick forests and on a hilltop, was headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar, or Ustad Ghouri, the brother-in-law of Masood Azhar. Yousuf Azhar was one of the terrorists involved in the 1999 IC-814 hijack.

The Jaish-e-Mohammed was responsible for the February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, in which 40 soldiers were killed. A day later, at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by PM Modi, it was decided that India needs to send a strong message. 

Credible intelligence was received that Jaish-e-Mohammed was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country and fidayeen jihadis (suicide bombers) were being trained for this purpose," the Foreign Secretary said.

India has given proof many times seeking action against Jaish-e-Mohammed and others at terror camps so big, that they can train hundreds of jihadis and terrorists at any given time. But due to Pakistan's inaction, this step was necessary and had to be taken," he asserted.

The strikes were "100 per cent successful" and went on "exactly as planned", sources said, adding that the planes returned without a scratch. Pakistan tried to scramble F-16 but could not engage the Indian jets.

India has started the process of briefing major world powers about Tuesday's air strikes.

Soon after the Pulwama terror attack, India had appealed to the international community to back the naming of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a "UN designated terrorist".

On September 29, 2016, the army had carried out surgical strikes on seven terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in retaliation to an attack on its base in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri earlier that month.

This morning, the Indian Air Force crossed the Line of Control for the first time since 1971.

- IAF air strike in Pakistan live updates: Govt confirms air strike by Indian Air Force on Pakistan terror camps

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IAF air strike in Pakistan live updates: Govt confirms air strike by Indian Air Force on Pakistan terror camps

Hours after a dozen IAF jets pounded terror camps across LoC, India confirmed the action, saying it had targeted the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad, the terror group involved in the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy that claimed over 40 jawans

Army has shot down a Pakistani spy drone in Gujarat

Indian Army has shot down a Pakistani spy drone in Abdasa village, in Kutch, Gujarat. Army and police personnel present at the spot.

Doval along with Indian Army Chief and IAF Chief review the security situation: 

NSA Ajit Doval along with Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat and IAF Chief BS Dhanoa is reviewing the security situation on the borders after Indian Air Force strikes at JeM terror camp in Balakot across LoC.

When 4 young IAF pilots hit a Pakistani airbase 50 years ago

The daring raid inside Pakistani territory was carried out by the IAF during the Bangladesh war in 1971.

Today's surgical air strikes on the terror camp at Balakot deep inside Pakistan is unprecedented because it is the first time Indian AIr Force (IAF) has penetrated so deep into Pakistani territory in a peace-time operation. IAF jets crossed the LoC (Line of Actual Control), the entire Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and then hit the target inside Khyber Pakhtukhwa.

Another daring raid inside Pakistani territory was carried out by the IAF during the Bangladesh war in 1971. Though it can't be called a surgical strike, the 1971 raid was an equally bold operation by four young Indian fighter pilots who penetrated into the enemy airspace. They were tasked to hit the enemy planes parked at Murid airbase in Pakistan.

On December 8, 1971, Squadron Leader RN Bharadwaj, Flying Officer VK Heble, Flying Officer BC Karambaya and Flight Lieutenant AL Deoskar flew Hunter jets to the Murid airbase located 120 kilometres inside Pakistan.

We were a four-aircraft formation. Aircraft 1 and 2 went ahead on schedule. 3 and 4 were asked to delay their attack by a minute and a half. There was lot of ack ack fire in the sky. We broke radio silence and the lead aircraft told me 'I just clobbered a four-engine aircraft in the pen," BC Karambaya, who won a Vir Chakra in 1971 and retired several years later as a Wing Commander, was quoted as saying in an Aapkasamachar report.

There was black all round. I saw what I thought were MiG-19s [infact, the Chinese F-6, a copy of the Russian MiG-19] in a blast pen. Deoskar spotted another. I fired a small burst - a refuelling bowser caught fire. I kept on firing and was at a height of only 300 feet and the aircraft started rocking - I had clearly been hit by ack ack fire. I said, 'I am ejecting.'

We were a four-aircraft formation. Aircraft 1 and 2 went ahead on schedule. 3 and 4 were asked to delay their attack by a minute and a half. There was lot of ack ack fire in the sky. We broke radio silence and the lead aircraft told me 'I just clobbered a four-engine aircraft in the pen," BC Karambaya, who won a Vir Chakra in 1971 and retired several years later as a Wing Commander, was quoted as saying in an NDTV report.

According to the Aapkasamachar report, what Karambaya or the other pilots in the attack on Murid didn't know at the time was that they had just participated in perhaps the greatest offensive counter-air operation in the history of the IAF, the success of which has been highlighted in a new book 47 years after the 1971 war.

In his new book, 'In The Ring and On Its Feet - Pakistan Air Force in the 1971 Indo-Pak war', Pakistan's premier military aviation historian Air Commodore M Kaiser Tufail (retd.) has stated that IAF Hunters belonging to 20 Squadron destroyed 5 PAF F-86 Sabres on the ground in Murid. The F-86 wasn't just any fighter - the Sabre was the premier fighter of the Pakistan Air Force and the single biggest challenge for the Indian Air Force in air battles in both the 1965 and 1971 wars, a jet that shot down several IAF fighters in air-to-air combat and inflicted heavy damage to ground targets in Indian territory.

Ironically, the official Ministry of Defence commissioned history of the Indian Air Force, published after the 1971 war, makes no claim on the destruction of the Sabres, claims the report.

According to the report, the only reference to the December 8 mission is attributed to a book written by a former Pakistan Army Major General and says, "In two counter-air missions by the IAF, five aircraft were destroyed on the ground at Murid and Chaklala".

Surgical strikes not possible due to difficult terrain, dense forests, steep hills (Source: ET NOW)

Pakistani drone shot down near Gujarat border

Debris of the UAV was seen near Nanghatad village in Abdasa taluka of Kutch, police sources said.

BHUJ: A Pakistani unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) was on Tuesday shot down near the International Border in Kutch district of Gujarat, police sources said.

Debris of the UAV was seen near Nanghatad village in Abdasa taluka of Kutch, they said.

On hearing a loud sound around 6 am, villagers went to the spot and found the debris of the UAV, the sources said.

On hearing a loud sound around 6 am, villagers went to the spot and found the debris of the UAV, the sources said.

Asked if a Pakistani UAV had been shot down by the Indian armed forces, a police official, on condition of anonymity, said, "Such an incident has happened, we are investigating the matter."

The official, however, refused to elaborate further.

Earlier, government sources said that in a pre-dawn strike, combat jets of Indian Air Force bombed terror camps at multiple locations across the Line of Control on the Pakistani side, 12 days after Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group carried out the dastardly Pulwama attack in Kashmir.

They said the IAF's Mirage 2000 fighter jets pounded the terror camps in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakoti in the well-planned strike destroying Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camps.

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14-year-old Boy Stabbed to Death by 3 Teens Over Friendship with Girl

The juveniles told police that the girlfriend of one of them became friends with victim. Even after the boy was asked not to speak to the girl but he continued to do so, which led to the conspiracy.

A 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death allegedly by three juveniles in central Delhi over his friendship with the girlfriend of one of the accused, police said on Saturday.

The three accused have been apprehended, they said. 

When the boy was standing near his house on Friday night, four boys called him to discuss some matter. However, the discussion led to a quarrel following which they allegedly stabbed him multiple times, a police official said. 

As the victim screamed for help, the accused fled from the spot. He was rushed to a nearby hospital by his mother where he succumbed to his injuries, a senior police officer said.

During interrogation, the juveniles told police that the girlfriend of one of them became friends with victim. Few weeks ago, the boy was asked not to speak to the girl but he continued to do so, the officer said.

Enraged over this, the accused hatched a conspiracy with his three friends and killed the boy, he said, adding police are still trying to trace another accused involved in the incident.

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PUBG Mobile ban in India

Trouble in paradise

PUBG Mobile ban in India is a hot topic, and recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a mother's concern over the popular battle Royale game's influence on her kid. Since many efforts to ban PUBG in India have hit a dead-end, the 11-year-old kid decided to take the matters in his own hands and penned a four-page strong-worded letter seeking a ban on PUBG Mobile.

In the letter, the boy has appealed to the ministers of respective departments to ban PUBG Mobile linking the game to immoral conducts such as violence, murder, aggression, addiction to gaming, looting and cyberbullying.

Recently, Jammu & Kashmir Students body and medical doctors association urged the governor to enforce a ban on the popular game, while Gujarat became the first state to ban the game across all primary schools. PUBG Mobile has also been banned in a few academic institutions, including Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). And it is being done so with good intent as medical experts have linked the game to mental imbalance.

Which side of the world are you? Do you wish to see PUBG Mobile get banned or you cannot wait for the zombie mode like millions out there? Share your thoughts with us.

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After Baby's Body Split Into 2 During Delivery, Rajasthan Nurse Arrested

The nurses were earlier suspended as the two did not call the doctor and decided to go ahead with the delivery.

Jodhpur: 

The male nurse Amrit Lal who botched the delivery in Rajasthan by splitting the baby's body into two was arrested on Friday evening. The other nurse Jhujhaar Singh who helped in the cover-up of the crime is on the run. Murder charges have been added to the criminal complaint against the two nurses.

The nurses were earlier suspended as the two did not call the doctor and decided to go ahead with the delivery. During the "difficult" delivery, in which the position of the foetus was tricky, the nurse pulled so hard at the tiny body that it split and the head was left in the womb.

After the tragedy, the nurses did not inform any one and deposited the baby's body in the mortuary. They asked the woman's husband to take her to a hospital in Jodhpur saying her condition was critical.

The family reached the Umaid hospital in Jodhpur where the doctors induced labour to start the birth. They were shocked when the woman delivered only the head and placenta.

The family was informed and her husband filed a complaint against the Ramgarh hospital staff.

The woman is doing fine and does not seem to be under any kind of trauma, Dr Ranjana Desai, Superintendent at Umaid hospital, told Aapkasamachar.

Dr BL Bunkar, Chief Medical and Health Officer of Jaisalmer said that the doctor on duty Dr Nikhil Sharma, who was not called for the delivery, has been removed and put on APO (awaiting posting orders). He will submit the report in the case within a week.

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Uttar Pradesh shocker! Juvenile rapes 13-year-old in the presence of his sister; family later thrashes girl

The victim is in a critical condition. According to Ratan Kant Pandey, the Kanpur Dehat deputy inspector general (DIG), the accused, who is the victim’s neighbour, allegedly committed the heinous crime in the presence of his sister. The incident took place in Shivli town.

Kanpur: In a shocking incident, a 13-year-old girl was on Sunday allegedly raped and then beaten by a 16-year-old juvenile in the Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh. The victim is in a critical condition. According to Ratan Kant Pandey, the Kanpur Dehat deputy inspector general (DIG), the accused, who is the victim’s neighbour, allegedly committed the heinous crime in the presence of his sister. The incident took place in Shivli town. Later, the juvenile and his parents allegedly beat up the girl, leaving her seriously injured.

As per Pandey, the family threatened the victim of dire consequences if she told anyone about the incident. They then allowed her to go to her home. She was later admitted to a district hospital, from where she was taken to Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital in Kanpur. The DIG said that the condition of the girl is critical. Despite the injuries, the girl narrated her ordeal to her parents, who reported the matter to Shivli police station on Tuesday, said the officer.

The Uttar Pradesh Police have filed an FIR under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The DIG said that police have detained the juvenile and arrested his father and mother on Wednesday. Relevant sections of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act will reportedly be slapped against the accused. The incident comes around the time President Ram Nath Kovind okayed an ordinance to award death penalty for those convicted of raping minor girls.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, promulgated by the President after the approval of the Cabinet, aims to provide effective deterrence against rape. The ordinance amends the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

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Congress’ ‘Save the Constitution campaign’: Rahul Gandhi vows to protect Dalits, Amit Shah dubs speech as ‘hatred for India’

Rahul Gandhi said PM Modi justified manual scavenging by calling it a "spiritual experience" for the Valmiki community. This speaks volumes about his anti-Dalit mindset.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, on Monday, took on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over ”atrocities on Dalits” and assured he will not let BJP and RSS destroy the Constitution. Gandhi,  launching a nationwide ‘Save the Constitution’ campaign in support of Dalits and weaker sections of society, said, “This government has no place for Dalits and backward classes among their ranks. While the atrocities against Dalits continue to rise, the PM does not speak a word.”

Gandhi said the Prime Minister was only concerned about how to become the PM and said, “Narendra Modi is only interested in Narendra Modi. Electoral victory is his only focus.”

The Congress president went on to add that the institutions were gifted to India by the Constitution, by the efforts of Jawaharlal Nehru and BR Ambedkar, but the Modi government is now destroying these institutions by appointing RSS ideologues on important positions.

Reacting to Gandhi’s accusations, BJP president Amit Shah,  in a Facebookpost, said, “The Congress party has yet again taken the only path it knows very well- of spreading hate and divisions in our society. Rahul Gandhi and his party should stop their theatrics and aggression at the earliest. It is becoming increasingly clear that their Modi hatred is fast turning into India hatred.”

The Congress’ nationwide campaign will run for the entire year and conclude on April 14, 2019, just before the general elections, on the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar.  The party is aiming to mobilise support from the SCs and STs and OBC communities at the village level. The country has faced violent protests after the dilution of the SC/ST Act by the Supreme Court and the Congress has blamed ruling party for the current situation.

Mocking the PM, Gandhi began his address by quoting Modi from his book ‘Karmayogi’ and said, “In his book “Karmayogi”, PM Modi justified manual scavenging by calling it a “spiritual experience” for the Valmiki community. This speaks volumes about his anti-Dalit mindset and said  it is their thinking (BJP), not ours.”

While both the BJP and Congress have exchanged blows over the washout of the Budget Session in Parliament, Gandhi addressing the gathering said that “Government was responsible for crushing the Supreme Court and shutting down of the Parliament.”

Gandhi during his speech challenged Modi for a 15-minute debate and claimed that he will make the prime minister speechless on the issues being raised by the opposition surrounding the Rafael deal, Nirav Modi and the increasing criminal cases around the security of women in the country.

In a bold remark, the Congress scion said “there is a need to save girls from BJP MLAs and MPs” as he referred  to the Unnao incident where a BJP MLA is alleged to have raped a girl and murder her father.  “Earlier this government said Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao but now the only thing left is Beti Bachao.”

In an all-out attack on Modi’s global outreach, Gandhi said it took Congress 70 years to build India’s image, but it has been badly hurt in just four years of Modi governance.

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UP man rapes 35-yr-old daughter along with friends

Police said the man took the woman to a fair where he called another friend. The three then reportedly made way to another friend’s house where the woman was locked up for 18 hours and raped repeatedly.

Police said while one of the accused has been arrested, the woman’s father and the third accused is on the run. (Pictured) A rally against rape in Mumbai. (HT/Bachchan Kumar)

A man has been booked for raping his 35-year-old daughter along with two of his friends in Sitapur city in Uttar Pradesh, police said on Thursday.

Additional SP (South) Martand Prakash Singh said the woman was raped in Kamlapur area on April 15. She filed the police complaint the next day.

While one of the accused has been arrested, the victim’s father and another accused are absconding, he said.

The woman has a son. She married almost 20 years ago. However, she separated from her husband and was living with her father,” the additional SP said.

On April 15, the man took his daughter to a fair, an annual feature in Kamlapur, around 70 km from state capital Lucknow. There, he called up his friend Maan Singh and asked him to join them, police said.

According to police, Maan Singh has partnered the woman’s father in a number of crimes.

The two men then convinced the woman to ride with them on a motorcycle to the residence of their friend Meraj. There, the men locked her up in a room for nearly 18 hours and took turns to rape her, police said

The victim somehow managed to escape and reached home. She narrated her ordeal to her mother and the complaint was registered, police said.

In November last year, the victim’s father was accused by the village panchayat of having an illicit relationship with his daughter. He was arrested but released on bail in February.

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Rape of call centre woman: Cops seek withdrawal of case against accused who spent 16 months in jail

After making a person spend nearly 16 months in jail for rape, Chandigarh Police has decided to withdraw the charge against him. So, it has filed an application with the UT Home department in this regard.

After making a person spend nearly 16 months in jail for rape, Chandigarh Police has decided to withdraw the charge against him. So, it has filed an application with the UT Home department in this regard.

A local resident, Wasim Malik (27), is currently out on bail in a case registered in December 2016, accusing him of raping a woman employee of a call centre. However, swabs taken from the victim’s clothes did not match the DNA samples of Malik. All this while, police also could not recover the autorickshaw from Malik in which the call-centre employee was allegedly raped.

Malik, an auto driver by profession, came out of jail on April 9, this year, on a surety bond of Rs 50,000.

Rape charges were framed against Malik by the Additional District Judge and trial had commenced. But, on March 13, 2018, Chandigarh Police arrested another auto driver, Mohammad Irfan, in another rape case. His accomplice, Kamal Hassan, also Irfan’s cousin, was arrested a day later. Although they were arrested for the case wherein they allegedly raped a Dehradun woman in November 2017, they confessed to having raped another woman in December 2016 as well during interrogation.

Police took Irfan’s DNA samples and sent those for matching the swabs taken from the clothes of the call centre employee, which finally matched. The DNA samples of Kamal Hassan were also sent for matching, the report of which is awaited. Both Irfan and Kamal were also arrested in the case of raping the call centre employee. The two accused were also identified by the call centre employee. Her statement was again recorded before the magistrate under Section 164 CrPC and she identified both Irfan and Kamal.

“In her previous statement in court, though the victim had identified Wasim Malik, she later retracted during cross-examination and said that she took Malik’s name because she was in trauma,” Chandigarh SSP Nilambri Vijay Jagdale told Chandigarh Newsline

As the legal proceedings against Malik had reached the stage of trial, Chandigarh Police cannot file any application to discharge him from the case. Speaking to Chandigarh Newsline, the SSP said, “Application to withdraw the prosecution has been moved by the Chandigarh Police, which has been forwarded to the UT Home department for approval. After the approval is received, the application will be filed in the district court for further proceedings.”

The SSP added, “The accused Malik was earlier arrested after the victim had identified him in the TIP (Test Identification Parade) in front of the magistrate in 2016. Since the victim had identified the accused in TIP, Chandigarh Police arrested him and filed a chargesheet against him. But now, after the victim has identified the other two accused, Irfan Mohammad and Kamal Hassan in court and have also stated the same in her Section 164 CrPC statement, saying that these two had committed the crime on her, we have thus initiated the proceedings of withdrawing the case against Wasim Malik.”

Kathua rape and murder case LIVE updates: Trial to begin today amid nationwide outrage over Jammu, Unnao incidents

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