Year-ender 2020: Crimes in Mumbai, across India that dominated headline

Photo for representational purpose

With the announcement of coronavirus-induced lockdown on March 24, 2020, which was subject to multiple extensions, street crimes in India saw a sharp decline. Around 94 police stations in Mumbai did not see a single case of chain snatching in the month of April. Another crime that drew a blank in the Maximum City was dacoity.

However, there was a rise in cases of domestic violence and crimes against women. From March 25 to May 31, 1,477 cases of domestic violence were registered across India - highest in these months in the past 10 years.

Statistics aside, there were some crimes that dominated the headlines this year. Let's have a look:

CRIME TALES FROM MUMBAI

Death of Sushant Singh Rajput

On June 14, Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging from the ceiling in his home in Bandra, Mumbai. The case which was initially registered as "accidental death" spiralled into murder, abetment to suicide and money laundering.

Although Sushant's post mortem report suggested no instances of foul play, struggle or external injuries, Sushant's father KK Singh filed a case in Patna against his partner Rhea Chakraborty and her family, including brother Showik Chakraborty, for abetment of suicide.

What followed was a political slugfest with Bihar and Maharashtra governments in a tussle over quarantine of IPS officer Vinay Tiwari who had come to Mumbai with a police team to investigate the case.

Other central agencies also joined the investigation with the Enforcement Directorate ED filing a money laundering case against Rhea Chakraborty and five other accused over alleged mishandling of Sushant's funds. The Central Bureau of Investigation CBI also lodged an FIR in the case and began probe after the Supreme Court transferred the FIR filed in Patna by Sushant's father to them. CBI also roped in AIIMS for a detailed forensic report.

Meanwhile, ED found a drug angle in the case when they inspected the WhatsApp chats between Rhea and her manager Jaya Saha allegedly discussing ‘hard drugs', this led to the Narcotics Control Bureau NCB to jump into the pool and led to a crackdown on various other celebrities.

On the other hand, AIIMS report ruled out murder or abetment of suicide in the case. Rhea got bail and her brother Showik was also granted bail in December.

Bollywood drug nexus

During the course of the investigation into the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, ED found a ‘drug angle'. A certain TV anchor opening WhatsApp chats of Bollywood actors also added fuel to the fire.

As a result, Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh were summoned by the NCB to depose before them. Deepika's manager Karishma Prakash was also grilled by the anti-drug agency. She was questioned specifically about the WhatsApp chats with Deepika. Karishma Prakash, as per a WhatsApp chat in 2017, allegedly provided -hash- to the actress as per her demand.

Rakul was also questioned by NCB for four hours, but denied consuming any narcotic substance or having a direct link with any peddlers.

During the probe, Actor Arjun Rampal's Mumbai home was also searched by the NCB. The agency summoned Rampal and his partner Gabriella Demetriades to appear before it after they seized some tablets banned under the NDPS Act. Rampal had then produced the prescription, issued by Delhi-based psychiatrist Dr Rohit Garg. Probe, however, revealed that the prescription was backdated. Garg, in his statement to the NCB, said that he was approached by a relative of Rampal through a common friend. The relative said that she has anxiety and requested a backdated prescription.

Earlier, the NCB had arrested Gabriella-s brother Agisilaos Demetriades in connection with the drugs case, but he was granted bail by the magistrate court on November 6.

Another celebrity caught in the drug net was comedian Bharti Singh and husband Harsh Limbachiya. NCB raided the home and offices of the couple in Andheri West-s Lokhandwala Complex and Versova, from where 86.50 grams of marijuana was seized. Both were arrested for consumption of the drug but were later granted bail.

A lynching in Palghar

On April 16, two ascetics, 70-year-old Mahant Kalpavruksha Giri and 35- year-old Sushilgiri Maharaj, who stayed in an ashram in Kandivli, decided to go to Surat to attend a funeral. The two subsequently hired a car driven by Nilesh Yelgade 30 to travel from Kandivali till Surat.

In an attempt to avoid being stopped on their journey, the three appeared to have taken the back roads of Palghar district to enter Gujarat rather than the Mumbai-Gujarat highway. The three were, however, stopped by a sentry of the forest department close to Gadchinchle village. While they were speaking with the sentry, the three were accosted by a vigilante group and assaulted.

The group lynched the three, suspecting them to be child kidnappers and organ harvesters. Total 110 people were arrested in connection with the case, 9 of them were minors.

Woman strangulated and burned by partner

On November 14, a 22-year-old woman and her 25-year-old partner were riding on a motorcycle from Pune to their home in Shelgaon village in Nanded, district, for Diwali celebrations. Around 2 am, accused Avinash R Rajure stopped the bike at a desolate stretch in the Yellamb Ghats region and attempted to strangulate Savita D Ankulkar but she fought back. Then he removed a bottle of acid and threw it on her as she screamed for help. Not stopping at this, Avinash removed petrol from his vehicle, poured it on her, set her ablaze and pushed her into a deep ditch beside the road. He then sped off.

It was only around 12 hours later, a shepherd tending to his flock heard her agonizing whimpers from the ditch and alerted the Neknur Police.

A police team rushed Savita to the Beed Civil Hospital where she was diagnosed with over 50 per cent burn injuries. She succumbed after battling for 16 hours.

Probe revealed that Savita had ditched her husband and had eloped with Avinash. It was also found that the woman reportedly wanted a child which the accused opposed and that may have soured relations as he was apparently not ready for any long-term liaison with her. Avinash was arrested and was sent to police custody by a court in Beed.

TRP scam

Television Rating Points TRPs are the basis on which television channels rake in the moolah. Advertisers put their campaigns on a channel with high TRPs, programmes are shut or extended while weighing in these ratings.

The Broadcast Audience Research Council BARC has installed "Bar-O-meters" in over 45,000 empanelled households. While watching a show, members of the household register their presence by pressing their viewer ID button - every person in household has a separate ID - thus capturing the duration for which the channel was watched and by whom, and providing data on viewership habits across age and socio-economic groups.

In October, the Mumbai Police said they unearthed a "major racket" of gaming TRPs, by at least three channels, including Republic TV, and arrested four people, contending that the manipulated audience numbers were crucial because they directly translated into advertising revenue.

The police filed a 1,400 page chargesheet in the fake TRP case. The crime branch has so far arrested 14 accused, including distribution head of Republic TV Ghanshayam Singh, in the case.

Arnab Goswami arrest

Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami was arrested on November 4 in connection with the abetment of suicide case of architect Anvay Naik and his mother Kumud Naik on May 5, 2018, for alleged non-payment of his dues by Goswami. He was sent to 14-day judicial custody by a lower court later that day. Goswami moved the Bombay High Court for interim bail. The Bombay HC rejected Goswami-s plea and observed that the victim-s rights are as important as that of the accused.

Goswami finally moved the Supreme Court and was granted bail in the case. "If we as a constitutional court do not lay down law and protect liberty then who will? You may not like his Arnab ideology... But if a citizen is sent to jail, if high courts don-t grant bail. We have to send a strong message," Justice Chandrachud said while granting bail to the Republic TV head.

Major Crime News from the rest of India

Hathras gangrape and murder case

On September 14, a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly gangraped by 4 men when she was out with her mother in the fields. The woman was later found to be brutally injured with her tongue cut as she bit it while the accused tried to strangle her. She was also left paralysed with her spinal cord severely injured.

On September 29, the woman succumbed to her injuries and around 3 am she was cremated by the UP police. Her family alleged they were not allowed to be present at the cremation, but the UP police claimed their permission was taken. A forensic report in the case stated that as no semen was found in the woman's body hence ‘she was not raped'.

The hurried cremation of the woman sparked protests across the country. The Yogi Adityanath government maintained its stance of ‘conspiracy to stir caste-based aggression' in the state by ‘international forces', ‘dalit activists' and even some journalists.

The CBI filed a 19-page chargesheet in a Hathras court on December 18 raising questions on the handling of the alleged case by the UP Police and alleged that the latter ignored allegations of sexual assault and did not get the victim-s medical examination conducted on time. The chargesheet alleged that the police did not take down the woman-s oral statement at the Chandpa police station when she went there on September 14 to report the crime. Police twice ignored her allegations of sexual assault, which led to loss of forensic evidence, the agency said.

Kerala gold smuggling case

On July 5, 2020, 30 kg of gold worth around Rs 15 crore was seized by the customs department at Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala. The gold was found in a diplomatic luggage meant for delivery to the United Arab Emirates UAE consulate at Kerala's capital.

A former PRO of the consulate, Sarith Kumar, had come to claim the bag. When the consulate was asked, they said they had not authorized Kumar to make any claims on their behalf. Kumar was arrested and he pointed fingers at Swapna Prabha aka Swapna Mohammed, a former consulate employee who was fired in 2019.

The can of worms opened, Swapna was recommended for the job by M Sivasankar, the principal secretary for the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Sivasankar was suspended. The BJP and the Congress trained its guns towards Vijayan and demanded his resignation and questioning by the Enforcement Directorate. The CM dismissed the charge saying, "The Opposition is trying to foist the doings of officials on the government."

Woman shot dead by classmate

A 20-year-old woman was shot by her classmate in Haryana because "she wouldn't reciprocate his advances". Nikita Tomar was shot dead outside her college in Ballabhagarh, allegedly by her former classmate Tauseef. Her family told the police that the accused had a one-sided affection towards her. The woman's father alleged the accused had been pressuring his daughter to marry him, "asking her to convert to Islam so they could get married, but she was not willing".

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a state government event in Karnal, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said: "Since the Ballabhgarh woman's murder case is linked with love jihad, the Centre and state government are looking into it, and considering legal provisions so that those guilty are not able to escape…"

Five BJP-ruled states are planning to bring in laws to curb ‘love jihad' - a conspiracy theory allegedly coined by right-wing activists, who believe that "innocent" and "gullible" Hindu women are tricked into marriage by Muslim men for conversion to Islam. These states are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana and Assam. Uttar Pradesh is the only state to pass a ‘love jihad' law recently, with its first case being registered in Bareilly. Yogi Adityanath in a speech at UP's Jaunpur had said, "We will bring an effective law. It-s my warning to all those who play with the honour and dignity of our sisters and daughters by not revealing their real names and identities. If they do not mend their ways, their -Ram Naam Satya- journey will start."

Rajasthan woman abducted, raped for 14 days in jungle

Police in Rajasthan-s Baran district registered a case against a 22-year-old man for allegedly abducting a 20-year-old woman and raping her in captivity for two weeks. In her complaint to the police, the woman said she had gone to her maternal uncle-s village to attend a wedding on November 9. This is when the accused, Phorulal Odd, spotted her answering nature-s call in a field and abducted her on his motorcycle. He then took her to a jungle near Mandana in Rajasthan-s Kota district. She further alleged that the accused, a resident of Kapren in Bundi district, raped her repeatedly for 14 days before she was able to call her father for help. Her father rescued her, after which she approached the police and registered a complaint.

Techie burned over black magic suspicion in Telangana

A 38-year-old software engineer in Telangana was burnt alive by his relatives on the suspicion that he was practicing black magic. The incident occurred in Balvantapur village in Jagityal district of Telangana, police said. Pavan Kumar, a resident of Hyderabad, was tied to a chair and set afire in his brother-in-law Jagan-s house in the village.

Man kills pregnant partner, buries her body at father's farm

A man was arrested for killing his pregnant live-in partner and burying her body in Gujarat-s Bardoli town. The body of the pregnant woman was found 22 kms away from where she lived with the accused at farmland owned by her father. When she could not be located for several days, her family lodged a complaint and it was revealed that she was five-months pregnant. They also said that she had been in a live-in relationship with a man named Chirag Patel for the past five years. When police questioned Chirag, he confessed that he had strangulated her to death and took the body to her father-s farmland. There he dug a pit using a JCB excavator and buried the body to avoid detection.

Mumbai woman found living with mother's corpse

Mumbai Police recovered the corpse of an 83-year-old woman from her home in Bandra west. Officials said that the woman died in March of this year and her 53-year-old daughter had been living with her corpse all this time without informing anyone about her demise. The matter came to light only on Saturday when neighbours of the woman in Chuim village in Bandra west approached the police as the daughter was throwing garbage outside her window. Police personnel reached the woman-s home, only to find that the daughter had been living with her corpse throughout the lockdown.

UP engineer held for filming, sexually abusing minors for over 10 years

The CBI arrested an engineer for sexually exploiting minors, recording videos of the act and circulating them on the dark web. Identified as Rambhawan, the accused is a resident of Chitrakoot and works as a junior engineer for the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department. In addition to the sexual exploitation of minors, the accused were also suspected of recording these heinous crimes using their mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices.

6-year-old girl gangraped, lungs taken out to perform black magic

A six-year-old girl was gangraped and her lungs taken out by the killers in Uttar Pradesh-s Kanpur, police said. The lungs were removed to perform black magic, believing that it will help a woman give birth to a child. The girl was missing since the night of Diwali from the Ghatampur area. Following the recovery of the corpse, police arrested the killers Ankul Kuril 20 and Beeran 31. The accused said the girl was killed and her lungs were taken out and given to key conspirator Parshuram Kuril to perform black magic.

Woman raped, set on fire in Jaipur

A woman was allegedly burnt by a man accused of raping her in Jaipur. She was admitted to Jaipur-s Sawai Man Singh SMS hospital and was undergoing treatment. She suffered over 50 per cent burn injuries. The woman filed an FIR in April, alleging she was raped by the accused - Lekhraj, who had given her some intoxicating substance before raping her. The accused had allegedly made videos of the crime and used them to blackmail her.

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