STEP FATHER AND LANDLORD ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF RAPING 13 YEAR OLD MINOR VICTIM..........

An errant stepfather and landlord were arrested by the Delhi Police officials on Thursday afternoon on the grave and heart rending charges of continually sexually exploiting a 13 year old minor and subsequently threatening her with life and limb related dire consequences if she much as dared as to let out a whiff about her sexual exploitation to any third person.........
According to the investigating officer, the errant and sexually deviant stepfather, 35 and landlord, 40 have been without any gainful employment for an inordinately long period and were continually sexually ravishing the victim for more than a calendar year........
The duo were arrested after the mother of the victim who is gainfully employed at a thread manufacturing facility proceeded to lodge a complaint against the duo at the national capital's Gandhi Nagar (East Delhi) police station on Tuesday afternoon..........
To the duo's dismay and consternation their bubble of exploitation and devilishness burst on Tuesday morning when the victim complained of uneasiness, acute abdominal as well as nether region pains and was rushed to a nearby medical facility by her alarmed and concerned mother where medical tests performed on her by more than one doctor confirmed the incidence or occurrence of continual sexual assaults on her..........
On being relentlessly questioned about the same by her mother as well as the doctors treating her, the 13 year old victim broke down and sobbingly revealed the fact that her stepfather as well as landlord who had threatened her with dire consequences if she informed any third person had been forcing themselves on her even before she had turned 12 and she had cowed down to their deviant tendencies as she feared for her life.............
One wonders how many more such cases will have to hit the headlines before the collective conscience of a so called civilised nation that supposedly venerates it's women is galvanised into doing something concrete and lasting about a grave situation that has already gotten out of hand..............

DIVORCE SEEKING HUSBAND THREATENS TO UPLOAD EXPLICIT MMS OF HIS WIFE ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES........

Talk about sinister, diabolic and skewed ways of seeking divorce from your supposed life partner and then draw inspiration from this Durg (Chhattisgarh) based gent........
A male resident of Durg's Jawahar Nagar area allegedly threatened to upload a rather incriminating and explicit MMS starring his better half on various social networking as well as pornographic sites if she did not accede to hisdivorce related wishes and diktats.........
According to the statement of the victim recorded at an all women's police station in Durg, the accused one Tulsidas Manikpuri firstly sedated her with the help of some unknown agent added to or administered in her morning cup of tea and then proceeded to record a video clip of his sedated wife and a male accomplice in several compromising and intimate positions and situations..........
Furthermore, the victim also alludes to the fact that the accused had been holding out the explicit threat about loading the said video clip on various social networking as well as Indian pornographic sites for well over a fortnight now in her statement that was recorded before a senior female police officer late on Wednesday evening...........
Neighbours and other family members of the victim also pointed out the sordid fact that the accused Tulsidas frequently used to bring more than willing women home with him and fornicate with them in his wife's presence; they also said that Tulsidas also assaulted his wife on numerous occasions when she raised objections about his nocturnal tendencies and eccentric behaviour...........
Based on the victim's statement and initial investigations into the episode an FIR has been lodged against the absconding accused Tulsidas under all the relevant and applicable sections of the IPC.......
A massive manhunt has been initiated in order to nab him at the earliest and the state police's IT cell has been entrusted with the onerous task of tracing and eliminating all signs of the sordid video clip or MMS before it is uploaded on all the afore mentioned sites and avenues by the accused as threatened.............
And so the exploitation and domination of the hapless Indian woman any which way continues unabated...........

MAN HAILING FROM NORTH EAST ATTACKED BY IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOURS IN GURGAON.........

And the attacks with racial undertones on Indians hailing from the north eastern parts of the nation continue with gay abandon..........
40 year old Soijamuan Phiamphu who resides with his wife and two young children in Gurgaon's (Haryana) Nathupur Village was rudely accosted by two brothers Sujit 24 and Ajit 23 who also happen to be his immediate neighbours at around 11 pm or so on Tuesday night..........
Phiamphu who suffered grievous injuries on his head, stomach and chest areas was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was initially admitted in the ICU before being moved from the same to a late on Wednesday evening............
Highly placed police sources confirmed the fact that they received a call from the Neelkanth hospital's CMO informing them about Phiamphu's condition and also that the injuries inflicted on various parts of his anatomy/persona seemed to be inflicted by two or more armed assailants...........
In the meanwhile, Phiamphu's wife alleged that she had called up the neighbouring police station at around 11:30 pm or so on the fateful night when her husband was unceremoniously accosted by the two brothers who barged into their humble abode but the same (telephone call) was rudely and abruptly terminated by the person at the other end on tow separate occasions...........
Doctors attending on Phimaphu alluded to the fact that he seemed to be inebriated at the time of his admittance to the said hospital and also that the grievous wounds on his head, chest and stomach were inflicted with either a knife or then a similar sharp edged weapon..........
Phiamphu who was initially admitted to the hospital's ICU was later shifted to a private room/ward at around 7 pm or so on Wednesday evening after the doctors attending on him affixed 56 odd sutures on various areas of his body and also sent a report about his blood alcohol levels to the local police officials...........
According to the investigating officer ACP (DLF) Dalbir Singh, the two brothers Sujit and Ajit forcibly entered into Phiamphu's house at around 11 pm or so on the fateful night and attacked him with knives while continually showering him with the choicest of abuses...........
Phiamphu who was initially startled by the ferocity and abruptness of the unwarranted attack valiantly fought back and also succeeded in inflicting a few injuries of his own on the persona of Sujit who has since been arrested by the local police and is currently undergoing treatment at a local government run hospital...........
Ajit against whom cases have been booked under five disparate though thoroughly applicable sections of the IPC still continues to remain at large though police officials have exuded optimism about their ability to nab him within the next 48-72 hours as he could not have run too far away from his sibling who is staring at the dismal prospect of spending the next decade if not more of his life in prison as a result of his murderous tendencies.........

RAPACIOUS AND ERRANT FATHER ARRESTED ON GRAVE CHARGES OF CONTINUALLY RAPING OWN DAUGHTER..........

Young, naive and gullible Indian girls below the age of 10 certainly seem to be bearing the brunt of their elders rapacious tendencies what with male teachers, instructors, fathers, uncles et al growing them with nauseating regularity and growing impunity.........
In the latest such instance of debauchery, depravity and incest a 37 year old Nagpur based father was arrested by the Nagpur police from his residence on Tuesday evening on the grave charges of continually raping his seven year old daughter over a prolonged period..........
According to police sources, Ravindra Khobragade alias Ranjeet was apprehended after medical tests carried out on his daughter Shubhangi (name changed) a seven year old class II student of a local government school after she complained of severe pains in both her stomach as well as nether regions on Tuesday morning........
Startled and alarmed residents of Nagpur's Pandhrabodi area immediately rushed a moaning and dishevelled Shubhangi to a nearby government run medical facility where tests carried out on her by doctors in order to ascertain the cause of the acute distress in her stomach as well as private parts clearly underlined the diabolic fact that she had been continually raped over a prolonged period..........
However what got the neighbour's goat was the fact that Shubhangi's grandmother (Ravindra's mother) started bemoaning her fate and lamenting the fact that Ravindra was responsible for Shubhangi's sorry plight...........
Ravindra who earns his livelihood as a daily wage labourer also earned notoriety in his neighbourhood as a habitual drunkard who was ever willing to pick up quarrels with his neighbours on the slightest of pretexts and his lawfully wedded wife had also moved out of the house with Shubhangi's little brother in tow little over a year back..........
A female neighbour confided that Shubhangi's grandmother had tearfully told her that her son had forcefully locked her grand daughter in his room on Monday night and forced himself on his daughter at least three times if not more as she could continually hear Shubhangi whimpering and pleading with her father to spare her.........
Highly placed police sources have confirmed that cases of rape as well as other cases under the relevant and applicable sections of the POSCO act have been booked/registered against Ravindra who is currently confined to judicial custody.........
As for Shubhangi, she will be reunited with her doting grandmother, mother and younger sibling once she is discharged from the said hospital once her recommended course of treatment and counselling is over and done with.........
One only hopes that the love and care of a loving parent and relatives provide Shubhangi with the wherewithal to erase the heinous memories and indelible scars that have been inflicted on her psyche at this young and highly impressionable age...........

"KICK" delivers a resounding "KICK" to it's critics and naysayers..........

Little did the Hindi film impressario Randeep Hooda know that his now iconic dialogue pertaining to Salman Khan coming down to his domain in order to collect his "Eidi" would turn out to be both prophetic as well as clairvoyant.........
According to the Hindi film industry's box office return "Bible, Geeta and Quran", TRADE GUIDE is all set to rewrite box office records all over the country what with it having garnered a net sum of Rs. 127.03 crore within the first six days of it's release...........
"Kick" which was simultaneously released in more than 5,000 screens nationwide as well as 42 countries worldwide on July 25 has garnered box office collections amounting to a sum of a little over 19 crore from it's overseas release..........
Though the film was unanimously thumbed down by the critics and only garnered ratings varying between 0.5-2.5 stars out of 5 from the self styled intellegensia of the Hindi film industry; Salman Khan's legions of die hard and loyal fans did not let him down and set the cash registers ringing resoundingly much to Salman and Sajid Nadiadwala's untold delight........
Trade pundits also point out that the next big release Akshay Kumar's "that's Entertainment" releasing on August 8 gave Salman's Kick a clear two week run at the turnstiles and the godsend opportunity of bypassing "Ek Tha Tiger's" whopping box office collections that amounted to a little over 190 crore or so...........
Like it or leave it, but there is certainly no ignoring it; "KICK" is well on it's way towards becoming Salman Khan's greatest ever box office hit notwithstanding nitpicking critics and naysayers who had predicted it's "waterloo" within two days of it's release............

ONE MORE BUDDING AND PROMISING LIFE SNUFFED OUT IN IT'S PRIME...........

One has heard about a myriad of reasons for committing suicide or rather ending one's life prematurely, but this one surely takes the cake if not the entire bakery.........
A 19 year old Bengaluru based young woman who was to get married shortly decided to take the rather bizarre and unseemly decision of ending her life prematurely on Monday evening only because her father declined to accede to her request of going out for wedding related shopping........
According to grieving and inconsolable family members, Sirin Sabu the deceased was the daughter of one Syed Abdul who runs a rather modest painting (domestic and commercial) related business.........
The very same family members also confirmed or underlined the twin facts that she ended her budding life by hanging herself from a ceiling fan within the precincts of her room between 6:30 and 7 pm in Bengaluru's Banasawadi locality as she happened to be home alone at the time.......
They also repeatedly confirmed the fact that her marriage was slated to be held in the first week of August and her inexplicable reason to end her life in this grotesque manner has left them at the end of their collective tethers...........
Her mother who returned home at around 7 pm after running a few errands found her lifeless form hanging from the ceiling fan strategically placed in her room and her mother proceeded to alert their neighbours and fellow family members who cut her down and simultaneously informed the police personnel manning the local police chowki.........
According to Sirin's hapless mother, the only reason she can conjure up for her daughter's seemingly insane decision is that her father asked her to hold on for a couple of days after Eid so that the family could celebrate the festival in style before embarking on the arduous task of completing her wedding shopping..........
All one can say in conclusion is that one more budding and promising life bites the dust for no reason at all...........

FLEETING MOMENT OF INSANITY SCARS YOUNG WOMAN FOR LIFE..........

Mustering the guts and gumption to turn down unwarranted or unwelcome "friendship" or relationship proposals from domineering and disassociated suitors is not without it's perils as this Delhi University student learnt to her considerable cost and dismay..........
A 23 year old female Delhi University student was unceremoniously attacked with a pen knife by a wannabe suitor who wanted to become her "friend" for over a year and had been relentlessly stalking or pursuing her ever since he made the "indecent" proposal to her........
The victim who was gainfully employed (part time) at an Anand Vihar (East Delhi) beauty parlour was making her way back home from her place of employment at around 8:30 pm or so on the fateful Sunday night when the so called suitor since identified as one Wasim Akram (25) inappropriately accosted her while she was wending her way back towards home and hearth.........
A dark, desolate and deserted Kondli bridge proved to be the perfect spot for a seemingly impromptu rendezvous and the afore mentioned Wasim Akram deigned to block the victim's way and demanded that she accompany him to a place of his choosing...........
To his considerable dismay and disappointment, the 23 year old young woman proved to be made of sterner stuff and clearly told him what she thought of his unsavoury proposal following which Akram whisked out a penknife and proceeded to slash her with the same on her forearm.........
An alarmed and suitably chastened victim then began raising a cry for help and made an attempt to get away from the now seemingly perilous spot when Akram's friend one Wasim Khan grabbed her from her behind and subdued her so that his friend and accomplice could slash her at will on the face and head area of her anatomy.........
In the meanwhile, the victim's alarmed family who had launched a massive manhunt in order to trace her whereabouts, happened upon her and panicked upon seeing her bleeding copiously from various wounds all over her body, overcoming their initial shock, they somehow displayed the presence of mind to rush her to the adjoining Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital...........
A case of attempt to murder has since been registered at the Kalyanpuri Police station against both the Wasim's one of whom (Akram) was taken into custody from a hideout some distance away from his home and hearth on Monday morning while the second Wasim (Khan) is still at large...........
A fretful, fearful and agonising mother (victim's mother) has ever since been lamenting the fact that her precious angel who was a paragon of beauty in her motherly view will never look the same again and always continue to be an object of ridicule in a cruel and heartless society all thanks to a moment of insanity on the part of a demented suitor who knew no better..........

MOEEN ALI INVITES ICC'S COLLECTIVE WRATH...........

Wearing your political affiliations or then a statement of intent on your wrists could cost you dear as the ICC is watching and is hell bent upon crucifying conscientious cricketers who are out to make a statement.........
England's incumbent number six batsman Moeen Ali risked invoking the collective ire and wrath of the ICC as he had seemingly committed the "unpardonable sin" of sporting a couple of wristbands with slogans in support of a besieged Gaza and Palestine during his brief sojourn at the crease on the second day of the ongoing test match at South Hampton......
According to an ICC "fuddy daddy" Moeen Ali's actions are under investigation as the ICC's guidelines expressly prohibit international cricketers from either displaying or prominently sporting any political, religious or racial statements on either their clothing or equipment during the course of bilateral or any other series..........
27 year old Moeen Ali an English cricketer of Pakistani descent prominently figured in humanitarian efforts to raise funds for the beleaguered citizens of Gaza in his home city of Birmingham (Central England) a couple of days prior to the start of the third of a five match test series between India and England............
High time the ICC authorities grew up and got a life instead of wasting their time and efforts on meaningless banalities methinks; what do you think about it all???????

WOMAN SETS HERSELF ABLAZE IN FRONT OF DELHI POLICE HEADQUARTERS...........

Official apathy, indifference, neglect and absurdities can often reduce a long suffering victim to this.........
A 45 year old woman doused herself with kerosene and set herself ablaze right outside the Delhi Police Headquarters right in the midst of hundreds of passers by and bystanders on Monday evening.........
According to shocked, bewildered and utterly shaken eyewitnesses Sushila a resident of the Durga Park locality in West Delhi's Sagarpur area poured an inflammable liquid on herself (suspected to be kerosene) all over herself lit a matchstick and lit one end of her saree before stunned bystanders could either react or dissuade her from doing so........
This heart rending incident occurred at around 4:15 pm or so on the fateful Monday evening right outside the Delhi Police Headquarters located in close proximity to the eternally busy and densely populated ITO complex in Central Delhi.........
Police personnel on duty within the Headquarters rushed to her aid doused the flames and rushed her to the nearby government run Lok Nayak Jayprakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital where she is battling for her life with more than 55% or so burns.........
According to a concerned police official; the woman and her daughter had made a beeline towards the police headquarters in order to register their complaint in the presence of senior police officials and their inability to meet the desired officials might have prompted the woman to resort to this desperate measure...........
"We are waiting for the woman to regain some semblance of coherence and stability in order to record her statement and ascertain the reasons for her resorting to this life threatening stance", the very same police official signed off..........

IS THIS HOW A SO CALLED "CIVILISED" SOCIETY TREATS IT'S ORPHANS............

Orphans who cannot fend for themselves certainly seem to be at the receiving end of our so called civilised society's largesse what with them being dragged out of foster care homes and raped with growing impunity............
A minor female inmate of a state run orphanage was temporarily extricated from the supposedly safe and secure confines of the same with the express consent and willingness of the so called child welfare committee; harassed and beaten up by her "aunt" who so thoughtfully extricated her from the orphanage and later brutally raped by her aunt's wild and wanton male neighbour who ardently believed that the orphan deserved no better.........
This grotesque, diabolic and shambolic crime was committed in Gwalior city (Madhya Pradesh's) Sanjay Nagar area and according to both poiice sources as well as incensed neighbours; the 17 year old orphan's aunt one Parvati Bai initially beat up and tortured the hapless neighbour on the evening of July 6 and her neighbour one Karu Yadav compounded her misery by sexually exploiting her on July 7, 9, 11 and 12 with her aunt's consent and willingness..........
According to her aunt's neighbours, the 17 year old girl's father had passed away a little over seven years ago and she was living in a state government run orphanage ever since as the same aunt who brought her to her dwelling for the first time in April........
The now concerned, devoted and caring aunt then started bringing the 17 year old orphan to her home and hearth periodically and had brought her back from the orphanage on the fateful morning of July 6 and facilitated the calamitous events that tore the 17 year's old pithy life ever since........
Summoning the last reserves of her failing courage and ebbing strength; the traumatised, bruised and battered victim managed to wend her way back to the state run orphanage and narrate her tale of woe to the initially disbelieving officials who then summoned the local police officials and lodged a complaint against the victim's demonic aunt and equally devilish male neighbour...........
Local police officials have duly registered rape, wrongful confinement and harassment cases against the errant duo who have been on the run since July 12...........
One wonders whether a society and nation that treats it's orphans in this heinous, deplorable, despicable and utterly reprehensible manner has any right whatsoever to call itself civilised and urbane..........

LUIZ FELIPE SCOLARI SACKED AS BRAZIL'S SOCCER BOSS??????

In what would come as no surprise to football lovers around the world; Brazil's beleaguered manager has been fired within hours of Brazil's humiliating loss to the Netherlands in the match for third and fourth place..............
According to Brazil's leading sports daily O Globo Scolari who led Brazil to the last of their record five World Cup triumphs way back in 2002 was held almost unilaterally responsible for the team's back to back 7-1 and 3-0 losses against two European sides that were supposedly inferior to their team according to legions of Brazilian football fans.........
On his part, Scolari had maintained a brave face and said that he would be submitting a detailed and exhaustive report outlining the reasons for the team's debacle to the Brazilian Football Confederation and his ultimate fate would only be decided once the CBF had received his report and minutely scrutinised the same.........
However O Globo called his bluff and quoted high ranking Football Confederation officials who confirmed the fact that Scolari had been sacked from his post with immediate effect on Sunday night and that an official confirmation of the same would be put out by the Confederation on Monday morning and the same is eagerly awaited..........
Tite the so called magician who led Brazilian domestic club Corinthians to the Libertadores Cup title recently as well as the Club World Cup in 2012 and Muricy Ramalho, the current boss of club side Sau Paulo are being touted as Scolari's possible replacements even though there is an increasing clamour for the appointment of a foreigner as the boss of a thoroughly disgraced Brazilian soccer team..........

HUSBAND DROWNS LAWFULLY WEDDED WIFE IN DRUM OF WATER...........

Where are Indian women safe and secure????, they are not safe within the confines of home and hearth, the less said about their safety and security in the open the better; is there any place left where women can really feel safe and secure.............
The lawfully wedded husband of a Rohini (Delhi locality) based woman has been arrested for allegedly drowning his better half in a tub within the confines of their bathroom, the victim's father-in-law has also been taken into custody for aiding and abetting his son (victim's lawfully wedded husband) as well as continually harassing her for additional dowry.........
Though the victim Kirti was found dead within the confines of her bathroom on the morning of July 11, her husband and father-in-law were only arrested on the evening of July 13 as the investigating officer initially bought or accepted the victim's husband's version of events about Kirti having accidentally drowned in the drum of water after acceding to her husband's entreaties of having a bath together in the said drum.........
What however rose the shackles of suspicion in the investigating officer's mind was the fact that the bathroom was locked from within and also the fact that the husband and other family members made no effort whatsoever to break down the door of the bathroom and rescue the victim from her watery grave,,,,,,,,,,
Sustained and relentless interrogation of the victim's husband Inderjit revealed or threw up the fact that Inderjit had summoned Kirti into the bathroom on the fateful morning on the pretext of having a bath together in the said drum and that he proceeded to hold her head under water till she breathed her last...........
According to a meticulously laid out plan he firstly dressed up the scene of the crime in a manner befitting a suicide and then proceeded to make his way out of the bathroom through it's window after having duly completed the diabolic act of getting rid off his increasingly nagging wife who repeatedly accused him of having a torrid affair with her close friend behind her back...........
According to the victim's sorrowful family, Kirti was being harassed by her in-laws as well as husband for an additional amount of Rs. 10 lakh in addition to the cash, jewellery and house hold goods that were handed over to them at the time of the wedding; they also went on to say that Kirti and her husband had increasingly heated arguments between themselves about his alleged affair off late and that Inderjit had slashed his forearm with a knife recently in order to prove his fidelity towards his better half.......
Cases of murder, aiding and abetting as well as aiding and abetting have been registered against both Inderjit and his father and the area police are expeditiously probing the role of other family members in the dowry harassment case as well.........
A gory and shoddy imitation of a "C" grade Hindi potboiler methinks, what do you think about this unsavoury episode that ended up costing yet another long suffering Indian woman her life..........

TIHAR JAIL AUTHORITIES LAUNCH A FIRST OF IT'S KIND RESTAURANT...........

In a first of it's kind initiative, the national capital's Tihar Jail authorities have ventured to set up a restaurant where a few select inmates who have passed a hotel management course with flying colours will rustle up scrumptious delicacies and serve the same to you with a smile on their visages.........
Located on the city's Jail Road, the said restaurant is partially operational at present and will go whole hog within the next few days with it's expressed aim of serving quality and delectable food at prices that you can never even begin to imagine.........
A few selected inmates of Tihar Jail's semi-open jail underwent a hotel management course last month as part of an initiative launched by the ministry of tourism and will now be putting those hard learnt lessons to prudent and delectable use........
Most people who have thus far visited this unique restaurant serve by the quality and taste of food served there and said that they would certainly visit the restaurant many a time as long as it keeps up the good work and continues serving those delicacies with which it has come to be identified............
With a restricted seating capacity of 50 persons as of now, the restaurant is currently operational between 10 am and 10 pm and the same also provides home deliveries within a one kilometre radius.........
Ten to twelve of the 45-50 inmates who underwent training in hotel management, cooking, house keeping and food service are currently employed in the restaurant and the number of people employed will increase substantially once the restaurant begins it's operations on the scale that it is meant to...........
What is even more heartening is the fact that all the earnings from the restaurant go towards a fund earmarked for the welfare as well as imparting of vocational and life sustaining skills to the prison's inmates.............
Here's wishing this first of a kind restaurant unprecedented success in very venture and hoping that other jail authorities would take a leaf out of Tihar Jail's prison manual and make efforts towards setting up similar ventures within their domains and spheres of influence.........

"THE PRICE YOU PAY"...........

Just put down my very own copy of Somnath Batabyal's magnum opus "The Price You Pay" and must surely say that it not only invigorated my mind, sent my pulse racing, caused me a sleepless night but did a lot more besides..........
An ambitious and conscientious rookie reporter, a veteran news editor with a dark, sinister and conscience curdling secret, a trigger happy senior policeman who loves bragging about his so called conquests and encounters, and last but not the least a sensational kidnapping that threatens to tear the entire country asunder.........
"The Price You Pay", is the story of Delhi told through the eyes, hearts and souls of the journalists who frame it and add substance to it, the policemen who supposedly protect and nurture it and last but not the least; the so called outsiders who want to lay siege to the city and claim it as their very own...........
Rookie reporter Abhishek Dutta of both Kolkata as well as Benares fame joins the Express as a trainee journalist/intern little knowing or suspecting how his lstaid, mundane and orderly life is going to take a complete somersault as well as 360 degree turn..........
Initially assigned to the crime beat at his own behest by the crusty veteran (chief reporter) Amir Akhtar.; Abhishek encounters or rather stumbles across a motley crew of characters: DCP Uday Kumar, the self styled "DIrty Harry" of the Delhi Police, ACP Crime Branch Mayank Sharma who goes on to become a close friend, confidante, soul mate and confessor...........
Samir Saxena channel head of News Today as well as the country's numero uno news anchor, who mentors and facilitates Abhishek's move from print to electronic journalism and last but not the least, Babloo Shankar, a dreaded and feared gangster who runs the Delhi mafia from his abode in Singapore..........
Riding his beginner's luck with gay abandon, Abhishek begins unearthing one sensational scoop after the other and soon stumbles upon the irresolute fact that in the dog-eat-dog world of crime and politics there are neither permanent friends or foes but only resources that you cultivate and discard depending on their expediency and your desired end..........
Abhishek soon discovers that it is every man for himself and that he can depend on none other than his heart and head to extricate himself from precarious situations and circumstances that threaten to drag him under or then engulf him principles, beliefs et all.........
With a plot that twists and turns likes Old Delhi's notorious and infamous Gallis; Somnath Batabyal's debut novel carries you into the dark and sinister underbelly of India; a world where common lives are mere pawns in deadly and self serving power games where corruption and a rotten system lie at it's very core........
Priced at a rather steep Rs. 350/- and published in India by Harper Collins Publishers, this crackling read is available at a whopping 30% discount off it's cover price on Flipkart.com so do go ahead and lay your hands on the same without any further ado on what is arguably the debut novel of the year.........
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Somnath Batabyal spent a decade and more being a journalist and creditably covering crime and criminality, hobnobbing with both politicians as well as crooks and policemen.........
Somnath currently resides in London and teaches at the School of Oriental and African Studies; "The Price You Pay" is his first novel..........

YOUNG MAN HAILING FROM NORTH EAST SHOT AT BY BIKE BORNE MISCREANT........

In yet another savage, senseless and utterly despicable act a young man hailing from the north eastern part of our motherland was shot at and grievously injured by a masked assailant on Friday morning........
According to both police sources as well as scores of bystanders, this horrific incident took place at around 8 am or so in the vicinity of the bustling Sarai Kale Khan Bus Terminus when a masked motorcycle borne miscreant wantonly fired at least two shots at the young man said to be in his twenties and made good his escape from the spot as soon as he saw his victim falling to the ground in a pool of blood.........
Concerned good samaritans hailed a passing by auto and rushed the young man to the Max Hospital in the Saket area where the doctors operated upon him and extricated two bullets from his shoulder and neck area.........
The victim's condition is stable according to the doctors attending on him and he is said to be weak and groggy owing to the amount of blood lost on account of the injuries inflicted on him by the masked shooter.........
Police sources have confirmed that they will be recording the young man's statement sometime on Saturday and subsequently proceeding with their investigations into the incident in a professional, timely and expeditious manner once the victim's statement is recorded...........
We have recovered two bullet casings from the spot and sent the same to the forensics laboratory in an effort to match the bullets with the gun that they were fired from and have also begun probing whether or not the shooting was the result of some deep rooted personal animosity between the shooter and victim; a senior police official said........

LOVE IN HASTE; REPENT AT LEISURE..........

One has heard about the police asking residents of colonies to get a police verification done before employing any new servants but they may have to ask women to get the same done in the case of their lovers too if the following incident is any parameter to go by..........
A 32 year old man later identified as one Jitendra Patil allegedly slashed his married paramour's body with a cutter and then proceeded to slit his own throat when she raised an alarm in Mumbai's Kandivili (West) area on Friday afternoon.........
Patil who is a daily wage labourer by profession and his profusely bleeding paramour were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital by concerned and horrified neighbours where doctors attending on the duo declared Patil brought dead on arrival..........
According to a petrified and dazed female neighbour, Patil and the victim who is recovering from the injuries inflicted on her in the said hospital were involved in a relationship for the last five years or so; the two of them were neighbours and got involved with each other after the victim's husband deserted her and her two young children..........
On the fateful Friday afternoon, the two of them got into a particularly heated and acrimonious exchange and incensed by the same, Patil picked up a vegetable chopper/cutter lying in the kitchen and started slashing the woman thereby inflicting considerable damage on various parts of her anatomy..........
The startled and petrified woman starting shouting out for help at the top of her voice and concerned neighbours who rushed to her aid began efforts to kick in the door that was locked from inside; fearing that his game was up and that he would surely be handed over to the police as soon as the neighbours broke down the door, Patil slashed his own throat and bled to death in an instant..........
Violence and love have never ever made a congenial or then convivial couple , yet one cannot seem to exist without the other in a majority of cases in the Indian milieu; height of intolerance or then simply a case of loving in haste and repenting at leisure??????

GOODS AUTO CLIMBS TREE IN EAST BENGALURU LOCALITY............

In an incident right out of the annal's of Ripley's "Believe it or not", residents of Bengaluru's G.M. Palya (off C.V.Raman Nagar) locality found that a goods laden auto that seemed to have a mind of it's very own had deigned to partially climb atop a tree trunk on it's very own.........
According to bemused residents, they were initially taken aback by the bizarre spectacle but soon began to see the lighter side of it, a few enterprising youths even deigned to click photographs of the "eccentric" goods auto and post the same on their facebook pages..........
According to one long standing resident of the area; vehicles begin to develop certain odd and inexplicable mannerisms on entering this east Bangalore locality and goes on to mention a similar incident when a helicopter had landed on the roof of a block of apartments in the area in the year 2012..........
While the pilot of the said helicopter had cited a technical glitch as the reason behind his seemingly insane decision of landing his helicopter on the roof; the driver of this tree climbing auto Abhi seemed at his wit's end in order to conjure up a reason for his auto's unwarranted and unseemly behaviour...........
"All I know is that the auto seemed to have developed a mind of will of it's very own as soon as it saw the tree, I am still trying to make sense of the bizarre situation as everything is one huge blur in my mind, the only thing that registered is the fact that I found the top atop a tree and that I forced open the driver's side door with great difficulty and shimmied down the trunk of the said tree"............
In the meanwhile a massive crowd soon gathered around Abhi and his tree climbing auto and ascribing their very own reasons for the auto's inexplicable behaviour, Abhi and his colleague who are employed with a retail chain in Marthahalli were in the process of delivering the goods in the back of the auto to a store in the area at around 1 pm or so when this happened.........
Abhi's colleague had gotten off in front of the store while Abhi had driven a little ahead to take a U turn as reversing the auto was an almost impossible proposition on the narrow road; Abhi had neatly executed a U turn and just about began heading in the direction of the shop when the auto careened of the road and climbed on top of the tree........
According to a bystander, the roof of the auto brushed a low hanging branch and the panicked driver applied his brakes post haste; this abrupt and unexpected action may have pushed the goods in the back of the auto towards the back of the auto and the sudden concentration of weight at the rear end caused the front wheel to rear up and climb the tree in question........
Well whatever might have been the reason for the auto's moment of fame; the end result was that the auto was extricated or brought down from it's precarious perch after about two hours or so without any damage to it's being and persona; a harried Abhi and his colleague then delivered the sixty odd kilograms of dosa batter lying in the back of the auto to the store and drove back to their depot in Marathahalli after causing much confusion, mayhem, mirth and raucous laughter........ ,

18 YEAR OLD DELHI UNIVERSITY STUDENT REPEATEDLY RAPED BY BOYFRIEND.........

It happens almost every time yet gullible women give into the carnal demands every single time the carrot of marriage is dangled in front of them..........
In more incident bordering on the ludicrous; an 18 year old female student from the prestigious Delhi University has alleged that she was repeatedly raped by her boyfriend on the pretest of marrying her.........
The 18 year old first year B.Com student of a well known South Delhi college has alleged that she was raped for the first time by her boyfriend within the precincts of his house for the first time several weeks ago and a minimum of five times thereafter...........
According to her she became pregnant as a result of her boyfriend's sexual piccadiloes but her wild and wanton boyfriend refused to marry her and even went to the extent of besmirching her reputation by alleging that she was trying to foist somebody else's unborn child on him.........
Left with little choice in the matter, the 18 year old victim then approached the doctors at the government run LBS hospital on Wednesday afternoon for an abortion and the doctors in turn proceeded to inform both her parents as well as the Delhi police officials.........
Her statement was then recorded by the concerned police officials and her errant boyfriend was arrested on the very same evening from his residence; he has since been produced before a judicial magistrate who remanded him to police custody until July 17, 2014...........
When will they ever learn, oh! when will they ever learn...........

HOME ADVANTAGE: WHATEVER'S THAT??????

Whatever happened to the stereotypical and age old "home advantage" and where on earth is the grassy pitch that will send the home (English) bowlers into raptures; former English captains and stalwarts Sir Ian Botham and David Gower lament..........
Messrs Dhoni and company were in for a pleasant and welcome surprise when they were confronted by a Trent Bridge pitch that was almost bereft of all grass apart from a cursory sprinkling of the same and hence proceeded to make the best of the almost sub continental pitch by winning the toss and notching up a creditable total of 259/4 at the draw of stumps at the end of the first day of the ongoing five test series..........
Murali Vijay who manfully battled the wiles of the English bowlers for a little over six and a half hours emerged as team India's unsung hero and ended up notching his first ever century outside the sub continent and fourth of his nascent test career while captain Dhoni was providing him with admirable support; remaining unbeaten with a fifty plus score to his credit.........
Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli fell to the age old predilection of not moving one's feet well enough to account for the prodigious swing that is customary in English conditions while Pujara fell into the trap set for him by Messrs Cook and Anderson duly obliging them by scooping a slower ball that hung on to the pitch that instant longer into the waiting mitts of an over eager Ian Bell who made no mistake in snapping up the gilt edged opportunity............
Ajinkya Rahane engineered his own demise after spending an inordinately long time at the crease for seemingly meagre returns by swivelling across a little to early in an effort to pull the ball towards square leg and his sorry attempt at the same only ended up with the ball in the gleeful mitts of a gully fielder who could scarcely believe his luck.............
Team India certainly seem to have their noses ahead thanks to the century plus partnership notched up by Messrs Dhoni and Vijay and should be able to pile up a 400 plus total if the afore mentioned duo weather the storm that should be coming their way during the first hour or so on the second morning of the test match as the home team's bowlers would be refreshed and raring to go after a night's rest........
Here's looking forward to a rampaging and resurgent team India..........

YET ANOTHER SENSELESS, NEEDLESS AND FUTILE DOWRY DEATH..........

An absconding man allegedly killed his legally married wife buried her mortal remains in an agricultural field and then proceeded to till or plough the same in an attempt to obfuscate all signs of the gruesome crime in Bihar's Muzzafarpur town........
Local police extricated the woman's highly decomposed mortal remains from the said field on Monday evening and confirmed that initial estimates point towards the fact that the body was buried at the said spot at least four to five days before it's exhumation.........
Locals who had not seen the woman for the best part of a week or so alerted the local police personnel as the lady in question one Pramila Devi and her legally wedded husband of little over a year Lal Babu Ram of Dakshin Tola Village were conspicuous by their absence from the nondescript village.........
According to police sources, initial investigations strongly point towards this crime being yet another senseless and needless dowry death though the same is yet to be confirmed with any degree of certainty and a post mortem will help in establishing the exact cause of death, a senior police official said.........
Lal Babu Ram and his family members who are absconding allegedly buried the body under the cover of darkness and then ploughed their field in an effort to eliminate all signs of their crime but the growing stench emanating from their field raised the villager's heckles of suspicion and the ultimate exhumation of the woman's body from within their field........
Further investigations are on and a massive manhunt has been launched by the local police in order to arrest Lal Babu Ram and his other family members so that they can be made to face the due process of the law........ .

KOHLI AND PUJARA HOLD KEYS TO INDIA'S SUCCESS..........

I am sick and tired of repeating myself but have little option in reiterating my statement about Messrs Kohli and Pujara being the corner stones or bulwarks in team India's success against a struggling English team in the test series that gets underway in Nottingham later today.........
Saddled with a largely under performing and half baked bowling attack headed by a dithering and profligate who still seems uncertain about his role in the side despite having represented the country in 55 odd test matches; the onus will certainly be on India's batsmen to put enough runs on the board every single time so that the bowlers can come to the party...........
And that is precisely why Messrs Kohli and Pujara will have to perform out of their skins in seemingly hostile and unfriendly conditions in order to give their team a fighting chance of salvaging a tattered reputation following their 4-0 drubbing when they visited English shores the last time around.........
One may do well to recall the fact that Kohli had a less than stellar home series against the visiting Englishmen in the 2012-13 season; the Englishmen repeatedly set fields abounding with close catching men on either side of the wicket and enticed Kohli into their well set trap by bowling juicy half volleys well wide off the stumps........
To his credit it must however be said that Virat Kohli did show the guts, gumption and wherewithal to better the Englishmen at their own game in the concluding test of the four match series in Nagpur and notched up a memorable century that ended up embellishing his growing reputation and credentials as one of the finest batsmen of this generation........
On the other hand Cheteshwar Pujara emerged as the finest Indian batsman during the same series and ended up with a whopping 438 runs at a phenomenal average of 87.60 and his sojourns at the crease included two centuries with one of them being a monumental and memorable double century at Mumbai's iconic Wankhede stadium..........
What makes their task even more difficult this time around is the fact that they will be confronted with alien conditions where the ball will disconcertingly swing and seam around depending on the over head/climatic conditions and also be confronted with a pace bowling attack that has it's tail up despite losing the recently concluded home series to the Sri Lankans by a 1-0 margin............
No, I have not forgotten or overlooked the presence of Messrs Dhawan/Gambhir (if Dhawan does not completely recover from the injury sustained during a warm up game), Vijay, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, but then I am a staunch realist and cannot for the hell of me see any of these batsmen getting the better of marauding English pace bowling attack and notching up huge scores.........
As for captain Dhoni, the less said the better, the fact has been conclusively established that he is far more comfortable in the shorter forms of the game and struggles to come to terms with bowling attacks and conditions that cruelly expose his abject lack of footwork as well as the pronounced inability to deal with balls that swing or seam away at the last moment.......
And that is precisely why I conclude that Messrs Kohli, Pujara and their sparkling efforts at the crease are the keys to team India's success and if either or both these batsmen fail to get going and set the stands alight, we might well be confronted with the sorry and ignonimous spectacle of yet another 5-0 whitewash.............

77 YEAR OLD LADY BRUTALLY MURDERED FOR PERSONAL GAIN...........

Our national capital (New Delhi) certainly seems to be living up to it's dubiously acquired distinction of being South East Asia's "crime capital" what with it's residents penchant to murder almost destitute 77 year old women for personal profit........
A 77 year old woman who reside on her own in a modest dwelling in outer Delhi's Narela area was found murdered within the same by neighbours on Monday morning.........
Shanti Devi's lifeless body was found when a concerned neighbour who had not seen her moving around the area in her customary manner deigned to check up on her; local police personnel suspect that the 77 year old lady was murdered in order to extricate the large amount of cash she had withdrawn from her bank account on Friday morning........
According to police sources, the Rupees 2.5 lakh that she had withdrawn from her bank account as well as some property related papers were found to be missing when they carried out a minute search of the humble dwelling in Delhi's Bagmer Village..........
Shanti Devi's partially decomposed body was found on her bed with a dupatta wrapped around her scrawny neck in a manner highly suggestive of strangulation, her one room dwelling had been completely ransacked by her alleged murderer or murderers who made away with the afore mentioned sum of money and property related papers..........
According to neighbours the old and infirm woman had been living on her own in the same dwelling for the last twenty years or so ever since her husband had left for his heavenly abode; they also alluded to the fact that the said lady also owned a plot of land in addition to the house in which she lived and that she planned to bequeath the same to her grandson Sonu who resided in Haryana's Rohtak town..........
In the same breath they also mentioned the fact that the aged lady's brother-in-laws family was vehemently opposed to her prospective plans of making Sonu the sole inheritor of all that she possessed.........
Local police personnel suspect a long standing property dispute to be the trigger behind the gruesome murder but are also investigating the role of a yet to be identified local youth who allegedly accompanied Shanti Devi to her bank when she withdrew the large sum of cash on the fateful Friday morning.............
A case of murder by person/s unknown had been registered at the local police station and investigations are on in order to identify the culprit/s and bring them to book at the earliest.........

13 YEAR OLD LUCKNOW BASED BOY RAPES 6 YEAR OLD GIRL FROM SAME LOCALITY..........

What is it with India's teenagers and their growing inclination to inhumanly rape and sexually devastate victim's either of their own age or then considerably younger to them.........
A 13 year old boy brutally raped an innocent, naive and gullible 6 year old girl in a modest settlement located off Lucknow's Ring Road area on Monday afternoon; the sexually deviant and seemingly obsessed rapist only let his victim escape from his clutches when she started bleeding profusely from her private parts...........
Though initially shocked out of her wits at her daughter's pitiable condition, the victim's mother soon recovered her composure, rushed her daughter for the badly required treatment at a nearby government run medical facility as well as lodged a police complaint against the alleged rapist who is said to be absconding ever since he committed this heinous crime........
According to her friends, the victim was merrily playing on the street with a gaggle of friends when she inadvertently happened to stray or rather wander off in the direction of a shop owned by the victim's family; the 13 year old accused who was manning the shop at the time lured her into the shop on the pretext of giving her a Cadbury's chocolate and then proceeded to sexually violate her.........
As mentioned her, he only let the victim out of his demonic clutches when she began weeping piteously as well as copiously bleeding from her nether regions; the harassed and grievously wounded girl somehow managed to wend her way home and inform her mother about the sordid episode........
According to police sources, the victim's father is a nondescript daily wage labourer and the accused lives in the very same slum locality as the victim; the police officials also exuded confidence about their ability to nab the accused post haste and produce him before a designated juvenile court............
Time to speed up the process of making the long overdue amendments to the current or existing laws pertaining to crimes committed by juveniles methinks as the same could prove to be an efficacious deterrent in arresting this disturbing and steadily growing trend........

DELHI BASED WOMAN SHOT DOWN BY BIKER IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.........

Women of all ages certainly seem to be getting off the wrong side of the bed every single day of their lives what with them being shot down in cold blood in broad daylight while returning home from work.........
A 40 year old woman was shot down like a wild beast in south west Delhi's Najafgarh area while on her way back home from her workplace at around 12:30 pm or so on a balmy and bracing Monday monsoon afternoon.......
Vidya (the victim) had legally terminated her marriage of many years very recently and was currently residing in the capital's Dichao village area along with her ailing father whom she used to attend to........
According to police officials who were summoned to the crime scene by a conscientious Delhiite, Vidya was on her way home after having completed her day's work at around 12:30 pm or so when she was callously and seemingly insanely shot down by an unidentified biker who subsequently made good his escape from the spot.........
Preliminary investigations have shed light on the fact that VIdya was involved in a long standing property dispute with her very own brother Khalendra and also that the very same Khalendra was vehemently opposed to his sister's legal separation as well as her living with their parents..........
Police officials have since launched a massive manhunt for both the elusive Khalendra and the yet to be identified biker as the needle of suspicion not only points at them but also because they are of the informed opinion that Khalendra's sustained interrogation would go a long way towards solving this seemingly barbaric crime........

17 YEAR OLD DOUBLE AMPUTEE PASSES SSC EXAMS WITH FLYING COLOURS.........

Fellow Indians meet Pune based Sahil Shaikh a 17 year old double amputee who is a living embodiment of the never say die nature of the human spirit and a source of inspiration to 130 crore plus Indians.......
Sahil appeared for his SSC exams a little earlier this year and surprised everybody including himself by clearing the same with a rather modest 55%; but his real triumph lay in the fact that he had written or then answered every question posed to him by holding up a pen with the thumbs of his two feet as he had lost both his hands in a tragic accident a little over four years ago........
It was on this fateful day (July 5) exactly four years ago to the day when Sahil who was preparing or then rehearsing for his role as one of Shivaji Mahraj's "mawlas" or trusted aides when the iron rod being brandished by him came in contact with a high tension wire and both his hands had to be amputated from a little above his elbows as he had suffered more than 60% burns on them as a result of the contact with the high tension wire...........
His parents had forsaken all hope and even began treating Sahil as an invalid and a burden that had to be borne; but Sahil who was made of much sterner stuff refused to give up hope; put mind over matter; steeled and trained himself to write with the aid of his thumbs (thumbs of his very own two feet) cleared his SSC exams in his first attempt and thereby made every naysayer who had marked him down as a failure and burden on his parents eat their words and utterances.........
Despite many a Shivaji Maharaj Mitra mandal coming forward to felicitate him on his sterling achievement :Sahil remains modest and his eternally smiling self; "anybody and everybody is inherently capable of achieving what I have achieved he says, all you need to do is to keep believing in yourself, hold your head high and most importantly never ever let the legions of doubters and naysayers cower or subdue your indomitable spirit"...........
"Keep believing in yourself, remain resolute and steel yourself against the barbs and utterances of pity and you will surely end up reaching the stars and moon as I did", the indomitable achiever and living embodiment of the triumph of the human will signs off..........
Ladies, gentlemen and fellow Indians, I give you 17 year old Sahil Shaikh; a proud yet simply unassuming Indian who is a living example for every able bodied Indian who keeps doling out countless reasons for their abject failures instead of girding their loins and reaching for the sun........

NEWLY BORN GIRL CHILD FOUND ABANDONED IN GARBAGE DUMP.........

Woe befall a so called "civilised" society that forsakes newly born girl children without as much as a backward glance........
A newborn girl child was found callously dumped in a dustbin/garbage bin in a south east Delhi locality early on Saturday morning........
According to senior Delhi Police officials a group of street urchins and children of local residents of the are noticed a bag lying atop a heap of garbage in the Madanpur Khadar area slum colony........
The kids then proceeded to inform their panic stricken parents who surmised that the said bag might contain a bomb that could prove to be injurious to their safety and duly proceeded to inform the local police about the abandoned bag found by their children......
An alarmed and chastened bomb disposal, dog squad as well as other police personnel from the Jaitpur police station made a beeline towards the said spot; sealed or cordoned of the entire area and then proceeded to isolate and make their way towards the bag that supposedly contained a bomb within it..........
Officials from the bomb squad lifted up the bag from it's original location and begun a minute and painstaking examination of the same only to find that the said bag contained a few clothes under which the newly born girl child had been confined and contained........
One of them proceeded to extricate the now wailing girl child out of her confines and rushed her to the city's super speciality AIIMS medical facility where she has since been admitted and is said to be doing quite well.......
In the meanwhile the concerned police personnel have begun heaven and earth in an effort to trace the elusive parents; they also have sent the bag to a forensics laboratory for tests in order to gain some inputs about the identities of the parents of the abandoned girl child........
Doctors attending on her have said that the girl child who is only a few days old seems weak and undernourished and will be shifted to a Shishu Vihar within the next week or so once she gains a little weight and stabilises if her parents fail to trace her parents by then.........
Like I said earlier, woe befall a callous and indifferent society that gives birth to children out of free will and choice and then dumps the same without a second glance if the said child is found to be a female.......

TENDULKAR AND WARNE TO CLASH SWORDS ONCE AGAIN............

The iconic and universally worshipped duo of Messrs Tendulkar and Warne will renew their legendary mutual rivalry one more time during the course of a 50 over a side cricket match being held to celebrate 200 years of existence of the iconic and revered Lord's Cricket Ground........
Come 3:15 pm; Saturday afternoon (Indian Standard TIme) and the two players who have lorded over the cricketing firmament for two decades and more will lead their respective teams the Marleybone Cricket Club and Rest of World XI.........
Tendulkar will lead a MCC side comprising of such superstars and icons of the game like Rahul Dravid, Saeed Ajmal, Brett Lee, Brian Lara, Daniel Vettori and Shivnarine Chanderpaul; while Warne will enjoy the rare honour of leading a side choc a bloc with proven talents like Pietersen, Afridi, Sehwag, Muttaiah Muralitharan, Yuvraj Singh and Adam GIlchrist........
Former English stumper Ian Gould and former county cricketer Richard Kettleborough will be the two officiating umpires while Michael Gough will don the television or third umpire's mantle and for the first time since 1987 avid fans of the game will be allowed to watch the game from close quarters in between the perimeter fence and boundary ropes on the Grand Stand side of this hallowed piece of cricketing turf.......
I for one am licking my lips in anticipation at the prospect of viewing one more titanic struggle between two of the finest cricketers to have ever graced the world stage and do hope that the same holds true in your case as well...........