Heinous Crimes

NARKOPI (BIHAR), SEPT 17: For Bihar, the story was sickeningly familiar. As villagers in tiny Narkopi went around doing their shopping on the afternoon of September 13 at the weekly bazaar, around 50 armed men struck. The shootout lasted hours, by the end of which six were dead and many grievously injured. The villagers turned to the police, and the latter "turned away". "We requested the police to open fire to disperse them, but the police remained mute," says a villager, Mohammed Ismail.
If the police wanted to take action, there had been many warnings. The men who attacked the village on September 13 are believed to have been members of the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), which has targeted Narkopi Muslims at least twice in the recent past. In the first incident in June, suspected MCC ultras had set afire three trucks of Ali Akhtar. Last month, the grocery shop of Kurban Ansari, another villager, had been burnt.
A village of around 210 huts - 80 owned by Muslims, 40 by Dalits and 90 by tribals - Narkopi has become a battleground ever since the Ali Sena was set up as a private army of Muslim youths in the neighbouring Lohardaga district in 1998 to fight the MCC and PWG. Its chief Shahabuddin is in jail facing more than a dozen cases of murder, dacoity, rape and looting. In his absence, the Sena is reportedly being run by two residents of Narkopi - Mohammed Usman and Mohammed Ismail - against whom too there are a dozen cases of murder, looting, dacoity and extortion.
"Usman collects levy (tax) for the Ali Sena from all those who sell goods at the bazaar in Narkopi, where his supporters gather every Wednesday. Aware of this, the MCC launched the attack that day," says a senior police officer. "The Ali Sena is a gang of criminals," the Ranchi SSP adds, talking to The Indian Express
at the site of the carnage.
Before last Wednesday's attack, posters had come up in the village, believed to have been put up by the MCC, declaring: "The Ali Sena activists are criminals, reactionaries, dacoits and looters of property...If they don't mend themselves, they would be lynched."
On Wednesday, the MCC's attack had been repulsed by members of the Ali Sena. Six Muslims and an equal number of tribals had died in the incident, with three bodies being recovered on Thursday. Three of the tribals who died have been identified as MCC activists and were residents of the neighbouring Patratoli village.
If Muslims drew the MCC's wrath, the tea shop of a tribal, Saku Oraon, was set ablaze by Ali Sena activists, reportedly before the very eyes of the police. Says Ismail: "Oroan paid as he was suspected of being an MCC sympathiser."
Another villager, Mohammed Idris, recalls how his friends were told to sit down quietly by suspected MCC men and then shot, at point-blank range, before his eyes. Among the six Muslims who died, many belonged to a neighbouring village.
A deceptive calm prevails at Narkopi now, with the police camping at the site and the atmosphere between the Muslims and tribals tense. If a trembling Oraon, visibly scared even in the presence of the police, says, "The MCC never ever harasses innocent people in this village," Mohammed Umar is equally assertive that there is no Ali Sena. "There is no problem among the people here," Umar insists. "The RSS activists in the guise of the MCC have left the village divided and devastated."
The sad part is, whoever the culprit, it's Narkopi that will continue to pay.

New Delhi: Crime against women is rising in India, with the number of cases jumping by 12 per cent over two years, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau.
The crimes range from rape to kidnapping, dowry deaths, mental and physical torture, sexual harassment and molestation. Statistics show the crime rate went up from 121,265 cases in 1997 to 131,475 cases in 1998, an increase of 8.4 per cent, and to 135,771 in 1999, a further rise of 3.3 per cent.
Molestation and torture accounted for 56 per cent of all crimes in 1999, followed by kidnapping (11.7 per cent), rape (11.4) and sexual harassment (6.5). While in 1997 121,265 cases were registered, in 1999 it went up to 135,771.
Madhya Pradesh reported the highest incidence (12.6 per cent) of crimes against women, followed by Uttar Pradesh (12.5) and Maharashtra (10).
Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi reported the highest number of rapes.
Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan led in kidnappings, and Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in dowry deaths. Maharashtra recorded the highest number of torture cases, followed by Rajasthan.
"More then one-fourth (25.5 per cent) of (sexual harassment) cases were reported from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (each 20 per cent) of cases," it said.
A total of 16,807 cases against women were reported from 23 major cities The maximum incidents were in Chennai (21.2 per cent), followed by Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The Indian capital, which maintained its status as the country's crime capital, registered 32.9 per cent of rape cases among the cities, 43.2 per cent of kidnappings, 17.4 per cent of dowry deaths and 23.3 per cent of molestation cases.
The report said changes in personal lifestyle, varied living standards, urbanisation and social ethos all contributed to an increase in violence against women.
India Abroad News Service

The Murthal police today claimed to have solved the alleged murder of Luxman an employee of a biscuit factory on September 9 at Larsauli village and arrested three persons in this connection.
Superintendent of Police A S Chawla said that the arrested persons have been identified as Anil and Krishan of Sanpera village and Parveen of Lalehari village. The police found a scooter and knife allegedly used in the murder from those arrested.
The SP disclosed that the victim belonged to Bhagwan village in Bihar. He was waylaid and assaulted, he later succumbed to his injuries. According to the SP, after the murder the culprits went to Canaur town and assaulted a 16 year-old youth while he was asleep.

A REPRESENTATIVE of the Delhi Cantonment Board has been arrested by the South district police on charges of attempting to rape an Army officer's wife.
The accused, identified as Anil Mitter, has been remanded in 14 days' judicial custody. The woman, wife of a Lieutenant Colonel, suffered scratches on her body during the incident. The Malviya Nagar police have registered a case of attempt to rape, illegal confinement and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The incident occurred last evening. At about 4 p.m., Mitter telephoned the Colonel's wife and fixed an appointment with her as both were known to each other, said a police official. The victim, a mother of two, agreed to meet him about half an hour later.
At the designated time, Mitter arrived in his Maruti WagonR car at a beauty parlour run by the woman in Malviya Nagar area. The duo then drove away. "They were meeting in connection with the transfer of her husband, who is presently posted in Jammu and Kashmir. The accused told her that they had to go to a certain place to meet someone in this regard," said P. Kamraj, DCP South.
Mitter then reportedly drove towards Gurgaon and tried to outrage her modesty, following which she panicked and asked him to stop the car, said the police. Paying no heed to the Colonel's wife, he parked the car at an isolated spot in the area and attempted to rape her. Furious, she struggled with him and sustained injuries in the process.
Mitter, rebuffed in his advances, attempted to placate the woman. She, however, insisted that she be taken to the nearest police station.
“Initially, a zero FIR was lodged at the Delhi Cantonment police station. Later, it was transferred to the Malviya Nagar police station," said Mr Kamraj.
“The victim was sent to Safdarjung Hospital and it was revealed that she had suffered some scratches on her body”.

WITH THE arrest of two persons, the West district police claimed to have solved the murder of a Sub Inspector. The accused have been identified as Rajiv Chaudhary and Rajneesh Yadav.
SI Ram Phal was last seen on the night of September 6, when he left the Punjabi Bagh police station in an Esteem car. He was scheduled to attend court the following day in a case, where gangster Brij Mohan alias Birju was shot dead during a police encounter.
According to the police, the SI had received some threats by members of the Birju gang and he had reported the matter to the court and also the police station. Following this, the SI was provided with a guard of five to six policemen for his appearance in court.
After he went missing, a report was lodged by his wife, Jayanti Devi. On September 9, his body was recovered in Jassor Khedi.
Investigations revealed that he had received threats from the Birju gang. Gangster Jitender Sharma of Bhiwani had also threatened him.
He had problems with the lawyers at the Tis Hazari on September 4. This was reported in the court and the Punjabi Bagh police station.
There was also a dispute in a house in East Punjabi Bagh in which the SI had taken action against the buyers of the property — Hawa Singh, Kaptan Singh, Baldev, Ram Chander and Surinder. The youth, who had last been seen with the SI, was Rajiv Chaudhary alias Rajiv Ohlan.
He was interrogated and he disclosed that he had dinner with the SI on September 6, and he returned home later. Enquiries by the police revealed that they were seen leaving together.
It was revealed that Rajiv had made a number of calls that night. Later, he disclosed that he and his friend, Rajneesh, killed the SI and disposed of his body. He also said that he hit the body with his vehicle thrice to make it appear like an accident. The motive was the disputed property in East Punjabi Bagh.

Two criminals, who were trying to escape after robbing a trader, were lynched by an angry mob of local residents in Brahmpuri locality on Saturday night. Their third accomplice, however, managed to escape with the looted cash.
The courage shown by the residents amid rising crime in the city in recent days has given the police a sense of relief as it does demoralise the criminals.
According to reports, three motorcycle-borne criminals attempted to rob rice trader Nandkishore, alias Tinku, in Brahmpuri colony while he returning home after collecting cash. The miscreants were, perhaps, well-informed about his movements and the cash he was carrying. As soon as Nandkishore came near them, they tried to snatch the bag containing Rs 2.5 lakh. As the trader resisted their attempt, a scuffle ensued.
In the meantime, one of the criminals fired at and injured Nandkishore. Hearing the gunshot, local resident came out from their houses even as the criminals, sensing danger, fled on their motorcycle with the looted cash. But they while fleeing they found themselves trapped at the dead-end of a street. The chasing mob soon after closing in on the criminals started pelting stones. In their last-ditch attempt to escape, they also fired upon the mob. But, finally, the angry people overcame them and thrashed them badly.
Thereafter, police officials reached the spot and asked the people to hand over the criminals to them so that the identity of other criminals could be known. But the mob bluntly refused to do so and started preparation to set the injured criminals ablaze. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, police officials warned the people of stern action following which the criminals were handed over to them. The miscreants were then sent to a hospital immediately. After examination, doctors declared them brought dead.
The deceased criminals have been identified as Satendra and Harendra of the Khatauli area of Muzaffarnagar. The absconding criminals has been identified as Bedu of the Brahmpuri area.