US citizen gets court relief
The Andheri metropolitan magistrate’s court discharged a US citizen, Christopher Willis, who was arrested and charged with possessing a bullet at Mumbai’s Santa Cruz airport. Mr Willis can now return to his homeland.
Willis was travelling to India to work with a charity organisation that works on water preservation projects across Maharashtra. On January 11, 2013, the Santa Cruz airport police arrested the 28-year-old after the CISF found a 0.40 mm live cartridge in his bag when it was screened by an X-ray scanner. Willis was on his way to Pune.
He was immediately arrested and taken to the airport police station. He was charged under Sections 3 and 25 of the Indian Arms Act, 1958, and produced before the 66th metropolitan magistrate’s court at Andheri, which had remanded Willis in police custody till January 14, 2013. He was later granted bail and his passport seized.
Advocate Jay Bhatia, representing Willis, said, “The possession of the bullet was not a conscious possession as Willis was not aware that it was in his bag. Willis, who has acquired a licence for the gun, had mistakenly carried the bullet in his bag.”
Metropolitan magistrate G.P. Ghondalekar said, “One can understand that such type of small bullet can remain in the bag or pocket as a result of carelessness. Prima facie it is clear that the possession of bullets might be due to negligence. Evidence about conscious possession is absent and therefore, relying on two cited cases, this is a fit case to discharge the accused.”
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Marathi weekly Editor held for molesting niece
Parli Vaijnath (Maharas-htra), April 19: The editor of a Marathi weekly, who was absconding after allegedly molesting his minor niece has been arrested, a senior police official said on Friday.
The accused, who was arrested on Friday, is the editor of Maanpatra a Marathi weekly published from Parli Vaijnath.
“We have arrested the accused and registered a case against him under Section 354 (a) of the Indian Penal Code,” Parli Town’s senior police inspector Hanumant Gaikwad said. The accused, identified as 48-year-old Balasaheb Sopanrao Jagatkar, a resident of Bhim Nagar area of Parli Vaijnath city, allegedly molested his 17-year-old niece residing in his neighbouring house on Wednesday evening, the senior cop said.
Reportedly, Jagatkar had asked his niece to fetch him some drinking water and when she entered his house with a glass of water, he allegedly molested her.
However, she managed to escape from his uncle’s clutches and runaway from his residence, Mr Gaikwad said. Police sub-inspector Swati Kedar is investigating the case, he said. — PTI
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