Zahida Parvez, the main accused in the murder case, created a sensation in the court premises by alluding to the “mastermind” in the case on Tuesday.

“There is the mastermind in the case …jiska pehle naam aya hai “, shouted out Zahida to scribes standing outside to get a byte from her.

“The investigation is shoddy and the truth is yet to emerge”, she shouted before she was whisked away by CBI sleuths out of media glare.

Zahida reiterated her innocence and indirectly accused CBI of framing her in the murder.

The special CBI court on Tuesday extended judicial remand of four accused in the RTI activist’s murder till April 11. They include Zahida, Saba Farooqui and two alleged shooters Shaqib ‘Danger’ and Irfan. They were produced before the special CBI court of judicial magistrate Dr Shubhra Singh.

Pradeep Gupta, the defence counsel of BJP MLA Dhruvnarayan Singh, whose name also figured in the murder case, filed a petition saying the court was misled by CBI on the polygraph test conducted on his client.

The CBI had to conduct a lie detector test on Singh twice on March 19 and March 24 as earlier lie-detector test could not be completed because of continuous fluctuation in his blood pressure.

Referring to the petition, senior public prosecutor Hemant Shukla told reporters that “the special CBI court has neither accepted it nor rejected it”.

In another instance the court dismissed the petition filed Shaqib’s wife Noorjahan. She alleged that the CBI was torturing her husband in custody.

She insinuated that her husband was innocent and the alleged murder weapon retrieved from their house in Bhopal recently had been planted.

The CBI had claimed it recovered the .315 bore country-made single shot pistol and empty cartridge stuck in the barrel from a pigeonhole in Shaqib’s house

The agency counsel also had nothing to say on yesterday’s development when alleged sharp shooter Tabish Khan refused filing statement. Reacting to the denial in making statement under section 164 of CrPc in connection with the murder of the 32-year-old activist, Shukla said, “It is the willingness of the accused…CBI can not force him to make a statement”.

Tabish Khan, an accused in the murder of RTI activist Shehla Masud, did a volte-face, refusing to record his statement under section 166 of Cr Pc before a special CBI court on Monday.

Tabish was produced in the court of special judge (CBI) Dr Shubhra Singh for recording statement. He had been presented before the court earlier too.

As statement given under Section 164 of CrPC can be used as evidence against an accused, the court asked him to inform within 48 hours whether he was willing to record his statement.

One of the prime accused and alleged contract killer Irfan Ali was produced before magistrate on March 24 to record his statement under Section 164 of CrPC.

On reporters asking him whether he had confessed to the crime, Irfan shook his head in negative. Earlier Zahida Parvez, the prime accused, already recorded her confession under section 164 CrPC while her friend and co-accused Saba Farooqui refused to do so.

Irfan is in judicial custody till April 3. Saba Farooqui and Shaquib Ali ‘Danger’ are also in remand till April 3. Tabish is in judicial remand till April 11.

Tabish is a cousin of another accused Bhopal- based Shaquib Ali ‘Danger’ who alleged to have orchestrated the murder at behest of prime accused Zahida Pervez.

A Congress leader’s son was shot dead over property dispute in Banganga area on Saturday afternoon. The shootout triggered dramatic episodes, wherein first the main accused fled the crime scene when a policeman tried to snatch rifle from him.

Half an hour later, a police inspector was injured in a scuffle with one of the relatives of the deceased who was rushing to the house of the accused with loaded gun. Panic prevailed in the area and heavy police force was deployed to avert any untoward situation.

The shootout occurred at around 1pm in Chhoti Kumharkhari of Banganga area, when a meeting was going on at Ramdas Patel Ki Madhushala to settle a plot dispute.

Sunny Yadav, the son of Congress leader and former corporator KK Yadav, was invited to settle the dispute. Assu Patel, Rajesh Patel and over a two dozen youths were also present from both the sides.

Fight for supremacy led to murder

Names of some youths of the area have surfaced during probe and a reward of Rs 10,000 has been announced for their arrest. However, it was not known what exactly provoked the firing. Residents of locality heard gun shots and informed the police immediately.

A posse of policemen reached the spot and found Sunny lying in a pool of blood in his car outside the Madhushala. Rohit Yadav, a constable of Baz Squad reached the spot in few minutes after the shootout and noticed that Sunny was shot in his groin while Assu Patel was reloading his rifle.

“I saw Sunny lying unconscious in his car while Assu was loading his 12 bore rifle,” Rohit told DNA.
He snatched the rifle from Assu and also caught hold of him. However, the accomplices of Assu managed to free him and fled from the spot, abandoning the rifle. Sunny was immediately rushed to Gokuldas hospital where he succumbed to bullet injuries. The news spread like wildfire in the area and a large number of supporters of the Congress leader came out on the main road.

“During preliminary investigation names of some youths of the area have surfaced behind the murder. A reward of `10,000 was announced for their arrest,” SP D Shrinivas Verma told media persons. Residents of locality said a dispute had erupted around a month ago over the same plot. Sunny wanted to prove his influence while Assu too wanted to retain his supremacy in the area. Soon a heavy police force arrived the spot.

Soon after learning about the incident, police noticed a Bolero jeep speeding towards the house of the accused. Sub-inspector SK Andhman of Banganga area intercepted the vehicle.

When police asked the persons travelling in the jeep, a man wielding rifle came out and argued with the police officer insisting to allow him to go. During the scuffle, the rifle went off. The sub-inspector was hit in his ankle.
Soon the other cops present on the spot overpowered the assailant and took him to police station and seized his rifle. Though police have yet to disclose details, the man was identified as Komal Yadav, a younger brother of the Congress leader KK Yadav.

SSP scolds subordinates: SSP A Sai Manohar also reached the spot and asked the subordinates why did not they open fire below waist if they saw someone daring to assault police personnel.
According to some eyewitnesses, a tiff ensued afterwards. Former Congress MLA Ramlal Yadav alias Bhallu Yadav objected to SSP’s remark, saying if he had already asked his relatives and supporters to refrain from taking law in hand there was no need to issue such a directive.

A CBI court on Thursday sent the accused tractor driver to judicial remand till April 11. The driver, Manoj Gurjar is accused of mowing down IPS Narendra Kumar Singh when he tried to stop the tractor, allegedly laden with the stone from illegal mining. Gurjar was driving the tractor.

He will be lodged in the Indore Central Jail.

Gurjar was brought to Indore from Morena and produced before the Special CBI Court of Dr Subhra Singh on Thursday by the Madhya Pradesh Police.

Narendra Kumar Singh (30), a Bihar cadre IPS officer, was killed in an attack by the mining mafia at Banmore in Morena district on March 8, 2012. He was posted as the Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP). State government has handed over the case to CBI after the Sigh’s wife, who is an IAS officer, sought a probe by the central agency into the incident.

According to the State government and police records, whopping 138 vehicles were set ablaze by miscreants during last three years. Answering to question in the State assembly on Thursday, Home Minister Umashankar Gupta told that police have arrested 269 people in connection with all these 138 incidents and police have also increased patrolling in the sensitive areas.

MLA Sudarshan Gupta has raised this issue after several such incidents in the recent past. Vehicles burning incident have become common in the recent past. Cars and the two wheelers parked outside are the soft target for miscreants, who mostly target during night.

In a similar incident, in the Sanyogitaganj area, a car parked in the empty plot was set on fire on Wednesday night. This is not the first such case; similar incidents have taken place in the past also in the same area. Police have recovered empty beer bottles from the spot.

On January 22, some unidentified miscreants had set ablaze 11 vehicles in the Vyasfala area.

The state government’s move to ban manufacture and sale of gutkha from April 1 has been welcomed by local activists who have been trying for a tobacco-free Indore for past three-years.

MP Tobacco Control Society convener and ex-dean of Government College of Dentistry Dr BM Shrivastav, while hailing the move, said, “The state government has taken a very brave and welcome step. Though a few states in the country had taken a similar initiative, the ban is nowhere effective in toto. If state government is able to live up to its words, it would be credited as the first.”

Madhya Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (MPVHA) anti-tobacco crusader Bakul Sharma said, “A campaign for tobacco-free Indore with support from International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) in collaboration with state administration, department of health, police, panchayat, education sector etc was started way back on January28, 2011. Former Union Health Minister and Minister of Parliament Shatrughan Sinha too had endorsed the programme .”

Gutkha and paan masala, two oral products used with or without tobacco, were first banned in Maharashtra on August 1, 2002. The ban covered the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and advertising of the products. However, the potential effectiveness was hindered as there were few officials to enforce it and at present users and illegal traders cross into neighbouring states to get it.

However, with Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh issuing similar bans and Rajasthan cabinet having decided in principle to ban gutkha, the net against gutkha traders is tightening. In addition, the high courts in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have also ordered bans, although in each case, implementation has been stayed by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds.

The district administration claimed on Wednesday that Zahida Parvez and Saba Farookhi are being kept according to the jail manual in the district prison.

Co-accused in Shehla Masood murder case, Parvez and Farookhi had told Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court that they were being kept separately in the jail. The court had asked Indore jail authorities to file a reply on the issue.

Superintendent of the jail Dinesh Nargave said inmates accused of serious crimes are kept separately according to the jail manual.

Zahida and Saba will be presented before the CBI court on April 3 after their judicial custody ends.

Unknown assailants attacked a B Pharma I-year student of IIST college here on Tuesday with sharp weapons. The victim is in a critical state, said police.

Ankit, a resident of Veena Nagar in Indore, had come to his college on Tuesday as usual. At around 1.15 pm, two of his friends Ashish Vaishno and Ashish Chaudhary found him bleeding badly with throat slit. They rushed him to nearby Cheithram Hospital and the informed the college administration accordingly.

Ankit is under observation at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital. His condition is stated to be very critical.

Police is yet to find out the motive behind the murder attempt. It's believed that he had some argument with someone in his college.

However, Ankit's father Laxman Nagaria refused to believe that his son had any enmity with any person. He said that Ankit even used his college bus to commute to his college daily.

A private company has launched air ambulance service from Indore to any place having air strip to fly patients in need of emergency medical treatment. The service will make super speciality hospitals across India accessible within hours fly.

The air ambulance will be equipped with modern medical equipments, life support systems, ground support system and expert doctors. The group is a partner with key hospitals in important cities across the country.

Company’s managing director Arjun Bafna told DNA that the ambulance service has coordination with 18 well known hospitals in the country. Several more hospitals would be added shortly, he added.

The group has base in 10 cities but the chartered flights could take patient to wherever an airstrip is available.

“Bhopal and Jabalpur would be added in the service within a month,” claimed Bafna.

Bhopal-based noted Urdu poet Manzar Bhopali narrowly escaped a shootout by unidentified gunmen at a Mushaira in Karachi on Sunday night. Indore’s well known Urdu poet Rahat Indori, who too had gone to Pakistan, however, had returned earlier.

Another Indian shair Iqbal Ashar, who was with Manzar Bhopali, too escaped unhurt.

“Khatam ho chuka hai ye mulk…yahan ke log khud ye kah rahe hain…hum log 2 April ko lautne waale the, lakin ab jald laut rahe hain. ( Pakistan is finished. People here themselves are saying that. We had to return on April 2 but we are planning to return earlier)” Manzar Bhopali told DNA over phone from Karachi (Pakistan).

They were just outside the venue of the Mushaira in Clifton area of Karachi when firing started.

“ We were stuck in middle of the firing from three sides. We had to take cover for some time before we were escorted to safety by the organisers,” Manzar said. Two persons died in front of them in the shootout.

The Mushaira was organised by a unit of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)— a party that draws its power from Urdu-speaking residents of Karachi. Two other Indian poets, Rahat Indori and Wasim Barelvi, too were in Karachi for the poet meet. They returned earlier, Bhopali said.

Bhopali and Ashar had just arrived at the venue of the Mushaira at about 11.30 pm when the firing began. Manzar recalled that there were around 4000 to 5000 people at the venue. The firing lasted for 18 minutes. They lay on the ground until the firing ended. Further Mushairas have been postponed as violence has escalated in Karachi. More than 40 vehicles were set on fire on Tuesday, Bhopali said.

But, he added, they are safely lodged in a 5-star hotel. In Bhopal, Manzar’s worried family members requested him to return India at the earliest. “He is safe but the situation is not good in Pakistan. I have asked him to return to home at the earliest,” Manzar’s wife Tabassum told DNA.

In Indore, 138 parked vehicles were set on fire and damaged in the last three years and police arrested 269 accused under various sections of the IPC. This was disclosed by home minister Umashankar Gupta in the state assembly on Tuesday while replying to a question raised by MLA Sudarshan Gupta, who represents Indore Assembly-3.

Gupta sought information about the total number of vehicles set on fire and damaged in the city and in how many cases police took legal action taken against the accused. The MLA stated that so far many incidents have been reported in the city where two-wheelers were set on fire while four-wheelers were damaged by some miscreants during night hours.

Gupta cited some incidents including one reported in Bajarang Nagar on January 29 in which some miscreants had vandalised three vehicles parked outside the houses and made away with music systems and other items while in another incident 11 two-wheelers were set on fire at Shani Mandir street under Raoji Bazaar police on January 22.

The home minister also informed the assembly about heavy night-patrolling, barricading and regular checking being conducted by the police force.

A case of rape was registered against one Sethi Kashyap, a resident of Banganga, on the complaint of a middle-aged woman of the same locality on Monday night.

The victim alleged that accused used to claim that he treats her like his sister and often helped her on various occasions for the last 6 years. However, when she was going to meet her daughter in Rajasthan around the fortnight ago, Sethi took her to Pithampur on some pretext and raped her after confining her in a house.

The accused also threatened her of dire consequences if she reported the matter to police. The accused recently brought her in Navlakha area and fled.