Latest news with #Sohrab
Hindustan Times
08-07-2025
- Hindustan Times
Manhunt for serial killer Sohrab expands to Nepal border
A multi-state hunt has been launched for Sohrab, a notorious serial killer from Lucknow who was previously lodged in Tihar Jail, New Delhi, and went missing after failing to return following the expiry of his parole. Security agencies across Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and along the Indo-Nepal border are searching for the accused, said officials on Monday. Security agencies across Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and along the Indo-Nepal border are searching for the accused, sohrab, said officials on Monday. (Sourced) Sohrab and his brothers, Saleem and Rustam, both currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, are natives of Sadar Bazaar in the Cantt police station area. Police records link the trio to a string of violent crimes in the state capital, with Sohrab allegedly leading many of these operations. Acting on intelligence inputs suggesting Sohrab may be attempting to flee to Nepal, the Special Task Force (STF) has intensified operations in Moradabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad, and across the Nepal border. Raids are underway at multiple suspected hideouts, and teams from the UP STF, Delhi Police, and intelligence agencies are jointly coordinating the search. Sohrab's wife, Sanno, along with several other family members, has been questioned. STF sources indicated that during his absconding period, Sohrab allegedly extorted money from individuals across various cities. Three dedicated STF teams have been assigned to track him. 'Raids are continuing and operations will remain active until his arrest,' an STF official said, without disclosing further details. Sohrab's criminal record includes cases from 2005 and 2006, with police alleging his role in multiple murders. One such case occurred on Eid, when three people were allegedly gunned down by Sohrab and his aides, just a year after a similar killing was reported on Ramzan eve. Police officials claimed that before one of these murders, they received a threatening call from Sohrab warning them to 'stop if you can.' Amid growing concerns over his disappearance, Gopal Sharma, a key eyewitness in one of the murder cases, has sought protection from chief minister Yogi Adityanath. In a letter addressed to the CM, Sharma wrote, 'If criminals like Sohrab roam freely, we witnesses are under threat.'
Time of India
06-07-2025
- Time of India
Notorious serial killer Sohrab flees during parole; travels to Nepal
Lucknow: Sohrab, the notorious serial killer who was in Tihar jail for years, has absconded from parole and could have travelled to Nepal via Moradabad, according to intelligence received by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF). The Delhi Police, which was alerted after Sohrab failed to return to Tihar Jail post-parole, launched a manhunt and issued alerts to the UP STF and multiple state police forces. Sohrab, along with his brothers Salim and Rustam, has long instilled fear in Lucknow and other parts of the country. All three have been lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail for years. Sohrab was granted parole recently, which reportedly ended on July 1. However, he failed to return to prison, triggering a major security concern. Sources in the UP STF revealed that Sohrab, accompanied by his wife, visited Moradabad and then crossed into Nepal. The STF suspects he may be planning to expand or reorganise his criminal network, which already has deep links in Nepal. Investigators are now scanning call records of his close associates and tracking his movement in NCR and border areas. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo The trio has a long history of brutal crimes. In 2004, after their youngest brother Shehzade was murdered in Hussain Ganj during Ramzan, they avenged his death a year later by killing three individuals within an hour across different parts of Lucknow. Before executing the killings, they even called the then SSP Ashutosh Pandey, daring him to stop them. Their criminal record includes daylight robberies in Delhi jewellery showrooms, politically motivated killings, and extortion from businessmen in Lucknow under the guise of collecting "shelter money." The brothers are known to have run their criminal syndicate from inside Tihar Jail through video calls and encrypted communications. Several murders were reportedly executed on their orders through hired killers, said a senior officer in UP police.
Time of India
06-07-2025
- Time of India
Man, part of a serial killing trio that taunted cops, jumps parole; hunt on
New Delhi: A serial killer serving his sentence in Delhi's Tihar Jail escaped a few days ago after availing parole, according to sources. The convict, Sohrab, was granted a three-day parole to visit his wife in Lucknow. He was supposed to return to prison two days ago, i.e., on Friday, a senior officer said. Instead, he went underground, sending the jail officials and cops into a tizzy. The jail administration, along with the police officers in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, are currently searching for him, and raids are being conducted at more than a dozen places. According to officials, Sohrab's whereabouts are unknown, but a breakthrough is expected soon. You Can Also Check: Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi Sources said that Sohrab did meet his wife after getting parole but then went incommunicado and didn't return to jail afterward. Currently, an alert has been issued in Delhi and UP. Sohrab, cops said, is a notorious serial killer involved in several murder cases. Notably, while in jail, he orchestrated the murder of the grandson of former MP Shafiqur Rahman Burk in Lucknow's Adaitganj area. He also arranged the murder of a former councillor, Pappu Pandey, a BJP councillor in Lucknow's Aminabad area, through a contract killer, officials said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Is it legal? How to get Internet without paying a subscription? Techno Mag Learn More Undo According to police, three brothers — Salim, Sohrab, and Rustam — went on a killing spree to exact revenge for the murder of their younger brother Shahzada in 2004 during the month of Ramzan. Exactly a year later, on Eid day, the trio took vengeance by killing three people within an hour in the Husainganj, Khadra and Mariyaon areas. "The most shocking part was that before committing the crime, they themselves phoned the SSP office and issued a threat, warning them that they were going to take revenge, and challenging the police to stop them if they could," a senior cop recalled. According to sources, their court appearances began to take place via video-conferencing a few years ago as there were inputs about their escape plans. The three brothers then started running their operations from jail and gave instructions to their associates outside through different means, including smuggled phones and mulaqat sessions. "Their names have been linked to several high-profile cases, including the murders of social worker Saifi and BJP councillor Pappu Pandey, among others," said an investigator. The gang also allegedly carried out a daring daylight robbery at a prominent jewellery showroom in Delhi.
The Hindu
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
A land of djinns and poets: Iran in the crosshairs of history again
Iran has been in the news for all the worst reasons in recent times. It's as if the echoes of Paul E. Erdman's sensationally titled study, The Crash of '79, that heralded the fall of the short-lived Pahlavi dynasty is still being felt today. It was written in the context of who controlled the surge of the oil economy while waiting for the Iranian Revolution to begin. At that time, it was clear enough to Iran watchers that it was in the marketplace of Tehran, that the Bazaaris, sipping their glasses of black tea with lumps of crystalised sugar, were stirring the narrative of revolt. Being in the crosshairs of history the land has attracted countless invaders. It is rich in stories linked often to other cultures, as it is in the silk, gemstones, artefacts, dried fruits, prayer rugs, magnificent carpets and pelts of rare animals that are exchanged in its bazaars. Iran is an emporia of ideas and beliefs exchanged and exported through the centuries by its merchants, mercenaries and storytellers. Lightning strikes While travelling through the deeply ridged and folded countryside you might see the black robed vultures circling the mountain tops. They could be waiting to feast on the charred bricks and bones of yet another famous city on the plain of Pars attacked by the Mongols. Just as frequently armies of warriors have crossed across to loot and pillage their distant neighbours and return with the spoils. Who can forget Nader Shah taking over the Persian throne and first dismantling parts of the Ottoman Empire in the West and then turning his attention on north India. In lightning strikes and a reputation for a ferocious barbarity including the slaughter of women and children, he defeated the Mughal army in the Battle of Karnal in 1739. As a peace offering in exchange for further attacks, he demanded and received the peacock throne and the world-famous Golconda diamonds, one of which, the Darya-i-Noor, is at the Gulistan Palace Museum in Tehran. Rustam and Sohrab In the poet Ferdowsi's epic poem in 50,000 rhyming couplets, the Shahnameh, published in 1010 CE, it's the warrior kings of Persia that are celebrated. The most famous of these is the meeting between Rustam and his estranged son Sohrab on the battlefield. The image is one that has been reproduced in Persian style miniature paintings, on painted tiles and woven wall hangings. His poem stops with the last of the hereditary rulers Khosrow ll leaving the throne; that is to say before the Arab intervention. Ferdowsi introduces us to a land of djinns and poets with links to the early Zoroastrian priests tending their fire temples. The winged symbol of the 'Faravahar' with a figure of a man at the centre of a disc appears on the wall of the Fire Temple at Yazd in Iran; as it does at the Fire Temples of the Zoroastrians in India who fled from there across the seas with their sacred fire. Like the mythical fire bird, the Simorgh, the Parsi community of the Indian subcontinent kept their promise to add their special lustre to the country of their adoption, while keeping their faith alive. When the British came on the scene, the two cultures blended with an ease that is best described in the satirical The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan. It was written in English by James Justinian Morier, who lived in Qajar Iran as the British envoy. In his capacity as Hajji Baba, a Bazaari with a yen for travel, this is what he tells us: 'By the time I was sixteen it would be difficult to say whether I was most accomplished as a barber or a scholar. Besides shaving the head, cleaning the ears, and trimming the beard, I became famous for my skill in the offices of the bath. No one understood better than I the different modes of rubbing or shampooing, as practised in India, Cashmere, and Turkey; and I had an art peculiar to myself of making the joints to crack, and my slaps echo.' British entry There was an almost instant recognition between the scholars of the two nations that is explored in the two companion volumes by Sir Denis Wright who served as British Ambassador to Mohammed Reza Shah of Iran during his glory years. The English Amongst the Persians and The Persians Amongst the English are a glorious recapitulation of what was always a formidable relationship. As Wright mentions in his preface, 'nowhere in the world is British cleverness so wildly exaggerated as in Iran, and nowhere are the British more hated for it'. One of the reasons advanced for this analysis is that the British considered Iran as a decoy for India, against Russian advancements in the area; a Cold War thesis that we may now ignore. One of the most chilling accounts of what happened to Iran after the installation of 'Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution' is by Amir Taheri in his 1985 book The Spirit of Allah. As editor-in-Chief of Kayhan, the national newspaper of Iran in the 1970s, Taheri, an academic now in exile, has written several books since then. However, inexorable the trajectory of events that have led to the rule by the Ayatollahs, Taheri includes a ghazal by Khomeini written perhaps in the 1930s. 'It's spring and there is blossom on the almond tree/The bride in the garden is verily, the almond tree.' And yet after such gentle beginnings, the conclusion is abrupt and terrifying. One can only return to an earlier poet and the twelfth century Attar of Nishapur and the enchanting vision that he offers in The Conference of Birds. It's in the form of a journey, a quest through many different forms of attachment in search of the marvellous Simorgh, the female spirit of rebirth who rises repeatedly through several revolutions. It's a reaffirmation of life through fire. The journey starts within. Geeta Doctor is a critic and cultural commentator.
