Screening panel set up to curb drug trafficking in Chandigarh
According to an official notification, the committee will be chaired by the inspector general of police (IGP), Chandigarh. Other members will include the legal advisor, superintendent of police (Crime), zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) or their representative, a representative from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The committee has been empowered to examine proposals received from various agencies and assess the seriousness of the alleged offence and the potential threat posed to public safety. Based on its assessment, the committee will forward its recommendations to the detaining authority.
The administration has clarified that the committee will meet as and when required and may also seek additional information or clarification from any agency if needed. The final decision will rest with the detaining authority, based on its satisfaction. The order has come into immediate effect and will remain in force until further notice.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
Probe custodial torture of J&K cop, arrest culprits, SC tells CBI
NEW DELHI: Taking strong exception to a J&K police constable being subjected to barbaric torture by his colleagues at Joint Interrogation Centre in Kupwara, and being named as an accused to shield the perpetrators of the crime, Monday directed CBI to take over the case and immediately arrest the culprits. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now It also directed the Union territory govt to pay Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the victim. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said the way in which the constable was tortured for six days in 2023 had shocked the conscience of the court and expressed lack of confidence in the UT police conducting an impartial probe, given that they tried to shield the perpetrators of the offence by naming the victim as an accused. "The injuries caused to the appellant during his illegal detention, particularly the complete mutilation of his genitalia, use of pepper/chilly powder and electric shocks on his genitalia, are grave reminders of the inhuman torture meted out to the appellant while detaining him illegally. The cumulative effect of all these facts is deeply shocking to the conscience of this court," the bench said. "The entire material collected in enquiry conducted so far, including all related documents, medical records, CCTV footage, forensic evidence, and case diary, shall be immediately handed over to the competent officer of CBI. The director, CBI, shall constitute a SIT headed by an officer not below the rank of superintendent of police to investigate this matter. The police officials found responsible for the custodial torture shall be arrested forthwith and not later than a period of one month from today. The investigation shall be completed within 90 days of the date of registration of the RC," SC ordered. The court said the case was a classic example of institutional abuse and perversion of the criminal justice machinery to shield the perpetrators while victimising the complainant. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now It said the transformation of a torture victim into an accused through a concocted theory of attempted suicide, based on manifestly implausible medical opinion and glaring procedural violations, reflected institutional malice of the highest order. "This is not merely a case of investigative error or overreach; it is a calculated effort to fabricate charges, distort the narrative, and shield the real perpetrators of crime of custodial torture. The use of state machinery to invert the roles of victim and offender represents a grave subversion of the criminal process," it held. "... We hereby direct the UT of J&K to pay compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the appellant. The said amount shall be recoverable from the officer(s) concerned against whom a departmental proceeding shall be initiated upon conclusion of the investigation by CBI. CBI shall submit its status report to this court by Nov 10."
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Indian Express
Chandigarh furniture market demolition today: Before sledgehammers, steal deals
A day before the scheduled demolition of the furniture market at Sectors 53-54, Chandigarh, buyers flocked to the market, hoping to buy furniture at discounted prices. Functioning illegally on 'encroached' land since 1985, the furniture market is set to suffer demolition on July 20, with Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav announcing the deployment of more than 1,000 police personnel for the demolition drive, beginning at 7 am. As the market opened on Saturday, a large number of buyers from the Tricity — Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali — reached there to get 'good discounts'. A Haryana government employee, on condition of anonymity, told The Indian Express that he purchased a seven-seater sofa for Rs 25,000 at a good discount. 'The actual price of the sofa was Rs 35,000, but I got a discount of Rs 10,000, because shopkeepers are clearing their stocks,' he said. Rampal from Kharar also bought a pair of wooden chairs for his home at a discounted price of Rs 6,000 instead of the actual price of Rs 8,000. Sanjeev Bhandari, president of the market association, said, 'We have been doing business here for the past 36 years, and are paying taxes, electricity bills, GST, etc. We are not encroachers… we are businessmen. Our case is pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In January, the Deputy Commissioner and the UT Administrator had promised rehabilitation, but now bulldozers will demolish our livelihoods.' Shopkeepers claimed that there had been multiple occasions in the past when the UT administration gave them written assurances that they would be relocated. 'We had prepared ourselves mentally to shift legally by paying a rightful amount, but the Chandigarh administration broke our trust. We are businessmen, not land grabbers. We appeal to the government and the BJP to stop this injustice,' shopkeepers told The Indian Express. The furniture market has 116 shops spread over nearly 15 acres of agricultural land on the busy road connecting Chandigarh and Mohali. The market is a major choke point for traffic, with no parking facility for customers. Visitors park their vehicles on the road, creating traffic snarls. In 1993, the Chandigarh Administration had carried out a similar demolition drive to remove shops from the area, but the shopkeepers approached the high court and the drive was stayed. Officials said that the administration had purchased a portion of the encroached land in 2002, and they had been making efforts to clear it of all encroachments. However, the shopkeepers again approached the high court. The case went on for several years, and their petitions were eventually dismissed in September 2023. Since then, the administration has made multiple efforts to get the land vacated. Several rounds of talks with the shopkeepers were also held, but to no avail. Demolition drives were announced earlier, too, but not carried out due to the negotiations between the shopkeepers and the administration. The administration has been asking the shopkeepers to participate in the open auction of shops in the upcoming Bulk Material Market at Sector 56, but the shopkeepers sought assured allotments in Sector 56 instead of their existing shops.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Time of India
In a first, 9 sentenced to life by court in Bengal for ‘digital arrest' fraud
Representative photo KOLKATA: In possibly the first such sentencing in the country for cybercrimes, a trial court in Kalyani, in Bengal's Nadia district, Friday awarded life imprisonment to nine scammers who had extorted Rs 1 crore from a Ranaghat resident by threatening him with 'digital arrest' last year, reports Dwaipayan Ghosh. It agreed with the prosecution's charge that such crimes were nothing short of 'economic terrorism'. Arrested from Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat, the nine convicts, including a woman, were part of a larger gang that has allegedly amassed Rs 100 crore by cheating 108 people across India. They are also likely to face trials elsewhere in the country. Kalyani additional sessions judge Suberthi Sarkar, who had convicted the nine on Thursday, sentenced them to life imprisonment under BNS 338, which involves forging of documents, and 10 other penal offences under both BNS and Information Technology Acts. Digital arrest is economic terrorism: Spl prosecutor The defence indicated they would appeal against the conviction in the HC. IGP (CID) Akhilesh Chaturvedi said the nine cybercriminals were tripped by strong digital evidence. 'Probe revealed the fraudsters were siphoning money through multiple bank accounts spread across different states. Police seized numerous passbooks, ATM cards, SIM cards and mobile phones during the operation. A detailed analysis of beneficiary accounts and phone numbers led us to uncover this sophisticated network,' the IGP said. During the five-month trial, 29 witnesses from four different states testified physically before the judge. They included SHO of Andheri (West) PS and branch managers of SBI, PNB, Canara Bank, Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank, and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, from four states. The chargesheet ran into 2,600 pages. Special prosecutor Bivas Chatterjee said they highlighted the ordeal of other victims of the gang and stressed that such frauds amounted to economic terrorism. 'We told the judge how hard-earned money of two victims — one a retired professor and the other a retired state govt engineer — had been transferred outside the country. This was their life's entire savings,' he told TOI.
