KOLKATA: A 12-year-old boy allegedly thrashed by the monitor of his class, who also happened to be his neighbour in Ultadanga, succumbed to injuries received during the battering late on Thursday.
Rupesh Poddar developed a black eye and sores in the kidney region after the classroom incident, which occurred a fortnight ago. Doctors said his kidneys were damaged. Rupesh's parents have lodged a police complaint against his 15-year-old attacker. A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been started against the boy, whose family left the neighbourhood after Rupesh's death.
Rupesh studied in fifth standard of Sarvodaya Hindi High School. The incident occurred on July 2. It was the fourth period and a Hindi class was in progress. Rupesh had gone out for some time without informing the class monitor. When he returned, the monitor, who was occupying the bench in front of Rupesh's, threatened him with dire consequences. There was an argument but teacher Vanita Singh intervened and brought things back to order.
Some time later, the teacher left the classroom for some work. The monitor sensed his opportunity and fell upon Rupesh and kept beating him till the teacher returned.
A classmate of Rupesh, said he stood no chance against the might of his 15-year-old accoster. "At one point of time, Rupesh fell from the bench. The monitor kept on beating him till the teacher returned," the classmate said.
During the recess, Rupesh narrated the incident to a Class-IX student who lived in the same locality as his. He returned home around 3 pm and said he was feeling unwell. Next morning, Rupesh's mother Manju Devi took her son to the local doctor. By this time, the boy had developed a black eye and sores in the kidney region. His legs were bruised. The doctor prescribed some medicines but Rupesh's condition did not improve. On July 8, he collapsed in his house and was taken to the R G Kar hospital.
"On Monday, I went to the school and spoke to the headmaster. He summoned the monitor and the latter admitted he had beaten up Rupesh," Manju Devi said. Doctors at R G Kar diagnosed that Rupesh's kidneys had been severely damaged due to the assault. As the boy had not received immediate medical care, his renal system had failed gradually. In spite of all efforts, Rupesh could not be saved.
After the incident, the monitor's brother told residents of Gurudas Dutta Garden Lane where Rupesh lived that his brother had beaten up the boy. The neighbours were angry over this and the family, fearing reprisal, left the area after coming to know of Rupesh's death.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Modi claims threat from underworld
KOLKATA: Suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner, Lalit Modi, who gave BCCI’s disciplinary committee hearing a miss in Mumbai on Friday, informed the Indian cricket board through his lawyers that he could not come to India because there was a threat to his life from the underworld.
When TOI got in touch with Modi’s lawyer Mehmood Abdi, he declined to comment. A senior functionary in the board, however, confirmed that Modi’s lawyer had indeed told BCCI that there was threat to Modi’s life from underworld don Chhota Shakeel.
“When the disciplinary committee members asked Modi’s lawyer about his whereabouts, the members were told he is not in India because there is a threat to his life from the underworld,” a top BCCI official said. BCCI was told that Modi has been out of the country since May 25 because of this danger.
Interestingly, Modi’s claim has come at a time when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is about to conclude its probe into the IPL mess.
Sources also told TOI that when the disciplinary committee — comprising IPL’s interim chairman Chirayu Amin, Arun Jaitley and Jyotiraditya Scindia — wanted to know when Modi would be available in India to appear before the board, his lawyers couldn’t give any assurance. “There is no commitment from Modi’s side. Even his lawyer couldn’t give any assurance,” the official said.
The committee then took the decision to allow Modi to be represented by his lawyer. This decision is in a departure from its memorandum of rules and regulations. The committee heard at length Modi’s second counsel Venkatesh Dhond’s arguments on an earlier plea raised for recusal of its members through letters sent to the board on May 25 and July 6. Modi has sought the recusal of Amin and Jaitley saying they would be biased against him during the proceedings.
It is learnt that Dhond also wanted to file an additional plea in this regard to substantiate the request for recusal of the panel’s members and the panel has decided to give him time till July 18. After allowing Modi to be represented by his lawyer, the disciplinary committee further took a stand that since Modi’s request has been granted, the board should also be allowed to be represented by its lawyer.
“We have considered submissions of Mr Dhond and are of the view that his pleas have substantial merit in them. There are complex issues relating to interpretation of documents involved. One of us (Jaitley) has a legal background. Additionally we feel that the outcome of the disciplinary enquiry impinges on the reputation of the person against whom the enquiry is being held. Even though BCCI’s memorandum, rules and regulations do not contain any stipulation for representation through lawyers of a person against whom the enquiry is being held, it is a matter of the discretion of the disciplinary committee.
“In view of the complex nature of certain issues involved, interpretation of documents required, and additionally that one of us on the committee has a legal background, we feel that it would be just and fair that Mr Modi be allowed to be represented through a lawyer in the enquiry,” the disciplinary committee stated in its minutes.
When TOI got in touch with Modi’s lawyer Mehmood Abdi, he declined to comment. A senior functionary in the board, however, confirmed that Modi’s lawyer had indeed told BCCI that there was threat to Modi’s life from underworld don Chhota Shakeel.
“When the disciplinary committee members asked Modi’s lawyer about his whereabouts, the members were told he is not in India because there is a threat to his life from the underworld,” a top BCCI official said. BCCI was told that Modi has been out of the country since May 25 because of this danger.
Interestingly, Modi’s claim has come at a time when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is about to conclude its probe into the IPL mess.
Sources also told TOI that when the disciplinary committee — comprising IPL’s interim chairman Chirayu Amin, Arun Jaitley and Jyotiraditya Scindia — wanted to know when Modi would be available in India to appear before the board, his lawyers couldn’t give any assurance. “There is no commitment from Modi’s side. Even his lawyer couldn’t give any assurance,” the official said.
The committee then took the decision to allow Modi to be represented by his lawyer. This decision is in a departure from its memorandum of rules and regulations. The committee heard at length Modi’s second counsel Venkatesh Dhond’s arguments on an earlier plea raised for recusal of its members through letters sent to the board on May 25 and July 6. Modi has sought the recusal of Amin and Jaitley saying they would be biased against him during the proceedings.
It is learnt that Dhond also wanted to file an additional plea in this regard to substantiate the request for recusal of the panel’s members and the panel has decided to give him time till July 18. After allowing Modi to be represented by his lawyer, the disciplinary committee further took a stand that since Modi’s request has been granted, the board should also be allowed to be represented by its lawyer.
“We have considered submissions of Mr Dhond and are of the view that his pleas have substantial merit in them. There are complex issues relating to interpretation of documents involved. One of us (Jaitley) has a legal background. Additionally we feel that the outcome of the disciplinary enquiry impinges on the reputation of the person against whom the enquiry is being held. Even though BCCI’s memorandum, rules and regulations do not contain any stipulation for representation through lawyers of a person against whom the enquiry is being held, it is a matter of the discretion of the disciplinary committee.
“In view of the complex nature of certain issues involved, interpretation of documents required, and additionally that one of us on the committee has a legal background, we feel that it would be just and fair that Mr Modi be allowed to be represented through a lawyer in the enquiry,” the disciplinary committee stated in its minutes.
Maha bans Facebook in Mantralaya
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has restricted access to the social networking site, Facebook, in Mantralaya. After receiving complaints, the IT department has put ban on the use of Facebook. "We decided to block the site as many employees were seen spending hours on it," said a senior Mantralaya official.
The move hasn't gone well with the employees, though. "The administration has wrong impression that work is getting affected due to Facebook. We log on to the site only during the lunch break or in case if there is less workload on a particular day," said an employee.
But A B P Pandey, principal secretary, IT department, said the internet connection was intended for office purpose.
The move hasn't gone well with the employees, though. "The administration has wrong impression that work is getting affected due to Facebook. We log on to the site only during the lunch break or in case if there is less workload on a particular day," said an employee.
But A B P Pandey, principal secretary, IT department, said the internet connection was intended for office purpose.
Militants kill five in Pakistan convoy ambush
At least five people have been killed after militants armed with assault rifles ambushed a convoy of civilian vehicles in a tribal area of Pakistan.
Several other people were wounded in the attack in the north west, where the army has carried out operations against Islamist militants.
The convoy, which was being escorted by security forces, was attacked in Char Khel village in the Kurram region.
Unconfirmed reports put the death toll from Saturday's attack as high as 16.
The convoy was heading to the main regional city of Peshawar when it was ambushed.
Naeemullah Jan, a senior government official, told Reuters news agency: "Five people have been killed in the attack on the convoy, which was being escorted by our forces to Peshawar, and several wounded are in critical condition."
Kurram has been hit by scores of attacks, many of which are robberies and kidnappings for ransom, in the past three years.
The army has reportedly killed nearly 100 militants in operations in the region, close to the Afghan border, in recent months.
Several major suicide attacks have hit Pakistan in recent weeks. An attack on Thursday killed at least five people in the Swat Valley, also in the country's north-west.
Earlier this month, a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Mohmand tribal region, killing more than 100 people.
Islamabad is under US pressure to crack down on the unrest in the border region.
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