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Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Journalist

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Use of Aadhar or Ration Card May Land a Criminal in Police Net

Do you know how many offenders reside in the city? According to a new report prepared by the city police, there are around 1.37 lakh offenders in the city and they include those who committed petty to serious offences like murder, attempt to murder, robbery, communal strife, sexual assault and kidnap. To keep a vigil on the offenders’ movement, the city police are likely track the use of their Aadhar and ration cards. The new plan will be implemented shortly and all police stations will have a new software containing the Aadhar and ration card numbers of offenders. Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahender Reddy has recently directed all the deputy and assistant commissioners of police to submit a comprehensive report on the crime scene and the total number of offenders residing in the city. He has received a report from all DCPs, who collected information from 60 police stations of law and order including Central Crime Station (CCS). It that revealed that as many as 1. 37 lakh offenders who involved in various offences are residing in various places.
The report that was submitted to Police Commissioner revealed that of the 1.37 lakh offenders, majority of the criminals were involved in repeated offences of chain- snatching, theft, communal flare-up and robbery. Besides, more than 80 per cent offenders have ration and Aadhar cards, and bank accounts with debit cards. Interestingly, offenders residing at a place in a particular police station limits commit offences in other police limits. After Mahender Reddy received the report, the city police have planned to keep vigil on the movements of offenders by tracking their Aadhar and ration cards, and bank and ATM transactions. “Police officials are busy collecting offenders’ Aadhar and ration card, and bank account numbers and other useful details for incorporation in to the new software being developed. The software will be installed at all police stations,” highly placed sources said. As per the plan, if any serious offence such as murder, communal riot and chain- snatching takes place in a particular area, police will find out the modus operandi of the offence and will identify the suspects as per their previous modus operandi.

By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com

First in India: TS Police to Take Complaints on Facebook

In a first of its kind initiative in the country, the Telangana police will soon receive complaints through the social networking site, Facebook. In a couple of days, every police station in the State will have an official page on Facebook. An officer of the rank of deputy commissioner of police (DCP) would monitor the pages of the police stations under Hyderabad and Cyberabad whereas a Superintendent of Police (SP) would oversee the pages of police stations in each district across the State. Telangana Director General of Police (DGP)  Anurag Sharma directed the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police commissioners M Mahender Reddy and CV Anand respectively to implement this system as a pilot project. Following this, Mahender Reddy on Saturday night convened a meeting with deputy commissioners of police (DCPs), assistant commissioners of police (ACPs) and technical teams to implement the project. In Hyderabad city, 60 police stations are functioning. Each police station will have an official page on Facebook. The Station House Officer (SHO) concerned, will be responsible for receiving complaints posted by people on the page. The ACP concerned will coordinate with all inspectors in redressing public issues. If the complainant does not get any proper response from the inspector or ACP, the complainant can reach out to the DCP concerned  directly through this page and bring the issue to his/her notice. DCP, west zone, V Satyanarayana told Express that they would open official pages on Facebook for all the police stations in his zone to accept public complaints. “It will help the public to reach the police to lodge their complaints online through Facebook. Not only does it create awareness among the police to be friendly with the public, it will also create an impact on public issues after the people start interacting with the police directly online,” the DCP said. In Cyberabad, 42 police stations are located in five zones and Cyber Crime. As many as 14 ACPs including Cyber Crime and five DCPs would monitor their teams in implementing the new project. The technical team of commissionerate concerned is busy in creating pages on Facebook with user IDs and passwords. The new IDs will be provided to police stations concerned in one or two days. Police are also taking steps to create awareness among the people not to violate rules by posting indecent or irrelevant messages. If anyone is found posting such content on the Facebook pages, police will not hesitate to take stern action against them under the IT Act.

By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com

Monday, October 6, 2014

3 of a Family Killed as SUV Rams Truck on ORR

Three members of a family died when the SUV they were travelling in hit a stationary truck on the outer ring road (ORR) at Tondupally under Shamshabad police limits early Monday. One more, identified as a techie, is battling for life. The victims were identified as - A Naga Ramalakshmi (53),  her brother Adiraju Mahidar (50) and Ramalakshmi’s  daughter Sindhura (19), an MBBS student. Mahidar’s daughter Aparna was hospitalised with serious injuries. Naga Ramalakshmi’s husband MVV Suryanarayana is a Joint Commissioner of Central Excise and Customs in Hyderabad and stays at the Gachibowli quarters. His family members live in Vijayawada. According to police, Ramalakshmi and her family members were on way to Hyderabad to be with Suryanarayana for Dasara. Mahidar was at the wheel of their Mahindra XUV. He lost control of the vehicle on the ORR near the Tondupally railway bridge and rammed it straight into a parked truck laden with tiles. As the SUV was in top speed, three of them died on the spot. Aparna, who was trapped amid the mangled vehicle, suffered severe injuries. “Our ORR patrolling staff received information around 8.40 a.m. The traffic and law and order police rushed there and found three dead. Aparna was unconscious and trapped inside the vehicle. We arranged a crane and rescued Aparna and shifted her to a nearby hospital,’’ said Shamshabad inspector K Uma Maheswar Rao. He blamed Mahidar for the accident. ‘’He might have been sleepy while driving the vehicle and over speeding was also one of the reasons,’’ he added. 

Her Cries for Help were Ignored : It was a nightmare for Aparna Adiraju, a 20-year-old techie with Infosys, after she got trapped inside the wreckage of the vehicle on the outer ring road. For about an hour,  she lay writhing in pain and bleeding profusely beside the dead bodies of her family members - her father,  Mahidar Adiraju, who was the Managing Director of Veridian Energy Solutions Private Limited in Vijayawada, her maternal aunt Naga Ramlakshmi and cousin Sindhuja. It appears Aparna’s cries for help fell on deaf ears as none stopped by to help her. Finally, after about an hour, one car driver noticed her and immediately alerted the police. “Aparna was seated in the back seat and therefore, survived with injuries. The impact was more on those seated in the front. In fact, before entering the city, her father had stopped the car for a moment during which Aparna, who was till then seated just behind him, shifted to the last seat (towards the rear of the car),’’ a police official said. The ORR patrolling team traffic sub-inspector Raghu told Express they had a tough time rescuing Aparna. A huge crane was brought to the spot to dismantle the wreckage.  Police battled for more than one-and-a-half hours to disengage the vehicle from the truck.  Aparna is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Shamshabad. 

Negligence, Speed Leading to Deaths on ORR, Says DCP: 
Q. What kind of measures are being taken up to prevent accidents on ORR?
A. We have four patrolling vehicles. Traffic policemen keep monitoring the movement of vehicles. If anyone is found violating traffic rules, a penalty is imposed. We completely banned two-wheelers from plying on ORR. Besides, we segregated ORR into four parts on each side and no vehicle should not park on ORR. Accidents have come down on ORR by at least 30%.
Q. Any plans to introduce more patrolling vehicles?
A. Yes, I prepared a comprehensive report suggesting increase in the number of patrolling vehicles on ORR from four to eight or 10 for patrolling round-the-clock. I have submitted the proposal to my higher ups.
Q. Even as police are implementing new rules, why are accidents still taking place on ORR?
A. In a majority of cases, driver’s negligence or overspeeding are the key reasons. Accidents on ORR take place at morning or night.

By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Dead IPS Officer’s Mother Urges PM to Order CBI Probe

The Cyberabad police, investigating the death of 30-year-old trainee IPS officer Manu Mukt Manav who drowned in a swimming pool under suspicious circumstances at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, failed to ferret out the truth, the victim’s family members said in their memorandum to the Prime Minister. Four days after the death of the officer, his 55-year-old mother Kanta Bhardwaj shot off a letter to Prime minisiter, Home Minister and CBI Director to for a thorough probe into the incident. Bhardwaj told Express: “I have been told that the NPA has ordered an internal inquiry and an FIR has been lodged at a local police station. However, I do not trust these investigations. They will not be fair.” Express collected a copy of the letter sent by Bhardwaj. She said in the letter that on August 28, she  received a phone call from NRK Reddy, joint director, NPA, at approximately 1.45 am, informing her that her son had died around 11.30 pm by drowning in a swimming pool on the premises of the (NPA). “To save their skin, the officials may not only tamper with facts, but also influence investigation. I have also heard several contradictory accounts of what happened on the night my son died and I do not know whom to believe. Therefore, I request you to order the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to immediately conduct an independent investigation into the death of an able officer of the Indian Police Service, who was soon to start his career,” Kanta Bhardwaj pleaded with the Prime Minister. Manu Mukt was her only son and his tragic death has devastated the family. “It is not only my loss but also that of the Indian civil services, Himachal Pradesh cadre, your government and the country. While nothing can make up for what I have lost, an honest investigation into what transpired on the night of August 28 will go a long way in giving me some satisfaction. My intention is not to make allegations against anyone, but I want the truth to come out,” she added. The death of an officer should be taken seriously and Manu Mukt deserves justice, she said. Meanwhile, the NPA officials are likely to hand over the postmortem report to Manu Mukt’s family members on September 5.

By Moule Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com

Monday, September 1, 2014

Manu’s Kin Cry Foul as NPA Claims Officer was Drunk

Did poolside party claim the life of 30-year-old trainee IPS officer Manu Mukt Manav at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy? An internal inquiry headed by a senior officer of the NPA has more or less come to the conclusion that Manav, who was in a state of inebriation on that fateful night, slipped and fell in the swimming pool and drowned. Three days after Manu Mukt Manav’s death at the NPA, his family members wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking a thorough probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). “Even though Manu Mukt’s friends and other trainees noticed him falling into the swimming pool, they could not find him because it was very dark. It took 20 minutes to find him in the pool,” the other trainee officers who attended the party that night reportedly told the inquiry team. The investigating officers are likely to submit their report to the NPA director shortly. Meanwhile, Manu Mukt Manav’s father Ram Niwas Manav, a retired professor, told Express over phone from Hisar in Haryana on Sunday that Manu Mukt was a teetotaller and that he did not even have the habit of drinking tea. Mukt was a professional swimmer and he had a membership in Punjab swimming pool. “A day before Mukt’s death, I spoke to him. The next day, I received a call from NPA officials that Mukt was not well and was shifted to hospital. I suspected something went wrong, but the officials did not tell me the truth,” said Ram Niwas. He wrote to Prime Minister and Union Home Minister seeking a CBI probe into the incident to ferret out the truth. The final rites of Mukt were performed by his father at Hisar. “It was very painful to perform the final rites to my son who was a trainee IPS officer. I am a retired man and wanted to spend time peacefully. But I have lost my son. It is very difficult to come to terms with reality,” Ram Niwas said. Mukt’s sister S Anukriti, who is working as an assistant professor, Department of Economics, Boston College in USA, was shocked upon learning of her brother’s death. “There is something fishy. I don’t know what happened at the party at the poolside. But,  NPA officials are responsible for my brother’s death. We will fight for justice. We are from a freedom-fighter’s family. Fighting runs in our blood. I got in touch with NPA officials, who promised to conduct a thorough probe without any loose ends. We will bring the issue to the Indian government’s notice too,” Anukriti told Express. 

By Moule Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com

Trainee IPS Officer Drowns

A 60-year-old retired professor Ram Niwas Manav’s dream to make his son an IPS officer that he had earlier promised to his father, a freedom fighter, was shattered after an young trainee IPS officer Manu Mukt Manav drowned in a swimming pool under suspicious circumstances at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad two days ago. An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer trainee, Manu Mukt Manav, died at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy at Sivarampally near here on Thursday night  after he entered the swimming pool on the academy premises. According to NPA officials, Manav along with another officer, entered into the pool after a get-together on Thursday night. But was drowned. He was shifted to a corporate hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. It was not clear how Manu drowned. NPA director Aruna Bahugana ordered a  probe into the incident. Rajendernagar police registered a case and launched an investigation. When NPA officials found Manu Mukt in swimming pool, he was clad in plainclothes instead of a swimming suit. Are trainee officers at the academy allowed to swim in the pool late in the nights? NPA officials have to clarify this.  The body was handed over to his family after postmortem was conducted at the Osmania hospital.  Manu Mukt hails from Tigra village in  Haryana. He secured 180th rank in the UPSC exam in 2012-13. Manu did his graduation from a college in Hisar and post-graduation from Punjab University. Manu Mukt’s grandfather Pandit Matadin was a freedom fighter. He wanted his son Ram Niwas Manav (Manu Mukt’s father) to become a police officer. However, Ram Niwas Manav  chose a different profession. To fulfill his father’s promise, Ram Niwas encouraged his son Manu Mukt to become an IPS officer.

By Moule Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com

These Snakes Held 'Local Darbars' Right Under the Nose of Police

Almost a month after an 18-year-old girl was gang-raped by the Faisal Dayyani gang at Pahadishareef, new details have emerged of the culprits’ audacity and strong-arm tactics — it appears they used snakes to intimidate people and settle land disputes at ‘local darbars’ in Jallepally. They had similarly threatened the girl with a snake before sexually assaulting her. Now, it has come to light that the gang members had also offered a bribe of `2 lakh to the Pahadishareef police to get the case against them scrapped. An internal police report on the gang-rape case revealed the key accused, Faisal Dayyani, with the help of a local political leader, offered the bribe to the Pahadishareef police. This has led to the immediate transfer of inspector Bhaskar Reddy. Officials, however, are still investigating whether the police accepted the bribe. It’s said that the police had initially refused to take the gang-rape victim’s complaint. Finally, they did take into custody two of the accused a few days after the incident of July 31 but let them off later. The case was taken up again after a senior police officer directed the local police to take it seriously. Cyberabad Police Commissioner CV Anand, who transferred Pahadishareef Inspector for alleged negligence in registering cases on time against the gang-rape accused, said Tuesday that they were trying to dig up past criminal records of the Faisal gang members. The police found some leads that one of the gang members Salam Hamdi, 24, a resident of Bismillah colony, Venkatapur village, Saroornagar, is a snake charmer and supplies snakes to gang leader, Faisal Dayyani. It has also been found that Dayyani and his fellow gang members were involved in organising local darbars — for settling land disputes — in Jallepally by threatening the parties concerned with snakes. Investigation revealed that they used to record the proceedings on their cell phones. The gang members were also allegedly involved in extortion cases, targeting local businesses. Though their weapon was a snake, the gang was tech savvy enough to use WhatsApp to exchange information and coordinate their criminal activities. With their dreaded activities now coming to light, residents of Cyberabad are questioning police inaction in general and with regard to the gang-rape at Pahadishareef in particular. The police, on their part, have requested the angry residents of Jallepally to cooperate with them in exposing all the previous offences of the Faisal Dayyani gang.

By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com