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The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the quashing of MCOCA and other criminal charges against alleged gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli...

Gawli: SC upholds MCOCA quashing

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the quashing of MCOCA and other criminal charges against alleged gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli in an extortion case. A Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan observed in a judgment that evidence on record showed that the Mumbai Police had pressed complainant Mohd Qureshi,a businessman,to lodge the cases against Gawli and his co-accused.

9 acquitted in Modi,Advani murder plot

AHMEDABAD: A court in Ahmedabad on Friday acquitted nine persons accused of hatching a conspiracy with Pakistans ISI to kill senior politicians,including Narendra Modi,L K Advani and Pravin Togadia,to avenge the 2002 anti-Muslim riots. The accused were booked under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act POTA,but the charges against them were dropped following recommendations of the POTA Review Committee. The nine were acquitted as there was no reliable evidence against them,said Khalid Shaikh,lawyer of some of the accused.

Shift Pragya to J J Hospital: Court

MUMBAI: A special MCOCA court on Friday directed the jail authorities to shift Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur,prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case,from Nashik Ayurvedic Hospital to the J J Hospital in Byculla.The sadhvi has been undergoing treatment for a tumour at the Nashik Ayurvedic Hospital since July last year.

BSF arrests Islamic militant in Assam

GUWAHATI: The Border Security Force BSF on Thursday night picked a member of an underground Islamic militant group called Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam MULTA in a village bordering Bangladesh,and recovered three crude bombs from him along with some incriminating documents. A BSF spokesperson at its Assam-Meghalaya Frontier Headquarters in Shillong said the MULTA cadre,identified as Hazrat Ali 35,was arrested in a joint operation with the Assam Police from Majar-Char village in Dhubri district.

Woman Naxal sent in judicial custody

SURAT: The first woman to be arrested in Gujarat for alleged Naxal links,Sujata Swami was sent to judicial custody after five days of her police remand on Friday. Sujata has reportedly admitted that she failed to get the support of tribals as they have a different mindset in Gujarat. Sujata was arrested five days ago from Mangrol Taluka in Surat district by the Surat Range Police.

10 injured in CPM,Trinamool clash

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress and CPM supporters clashed during the Kolkata Corporation polls at Baghajatin in South 24 Parganas district on Friday,leaving ten injured,police said. The supporters pelted stones during the elections to borough no 11 and 12 under the added area of the Kolkata Corporation,they said. Among the injured were Trinamool Congress leader Rupa Bachi and CPM leader Chandana Ghosh Dastidar. Police and Rapid Action Force personnel lathi-charged the rival groups to disperse them.