Cult leader was in Tihar on rape charge

Months before Sunil Kulkarni was arrested by Mumbai Police in a sex and drugs racket case, the Shifu Sunkriti cult leader had spent 19 days in Delhi’s Tihar Jail after. He was accused of repeatedly raping a 17-year-old girl who aspired to make it big in the film industry.

Kulkarni and one of his associates had allegedly been raping the girl at a flat in South Delhi’s Kishangarh for several months.

They had also captured the alleged crime on camera and used the footage to blackmail the girl, she had alleged.

A resident of Ghaziabad, the girl had enrolled in an acting school in 2014 when she was introduced to Kulkarni through a common friend. “Kulkarni had boasted of contacts in the film industry and shown dreams of making it big in films,” a senior Delhi Police officer said about the girl’s allegations.

But instead of taking her to Mumbai, he had advised her to stay in Delhi for a few months to work on her “looks” and put on some weight.

“He would keep her in a flat in Kishangarh in South Delhi and would allegedly offer her medicines that the girl said would make her feel sleepy,” said the officer.

In was during her stay in that Kishangarh flat that Kulkarni allegedly raped the girl and captured the act on camera. He allegedly continued with the crime, all the while threatening to send the photographs and videos to her parents if she complained about it to anyone.

Kulkarni finally took the girl to Mumbai in August 2015. There, he again kept her in a flat for six months during which he and one of his associates would allegedly rape her.

It was when she was brought back to Delhi in July 2016 that the girl decided to break her silence.

Since she was scared about revealing it all to her parents, she decided to visit the police directly.

A case based on her statement was subsequently registered at Vasant Kunj (North) police station on July 20 and Kulkarni arrested the next day. In her statement recorded before a magistrate, the girl also mentioned the role of his associate.

Kulkarni had spent the next few days in Tihar Jail before he was released on bail on August 8. “The other accused is still on the run,” said the police officer.

Asked if Modi was prepared to talk to the separatists, Mufti said, “We need to pick up from where Vajpayeeji left, otherwise the situation will never improve”.

There was no immediate confirmation of this from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Kashmir has remained largely paralysed since July when government forces shot dead a young militant leader, Burhan Wani, touching off months of deadly street protests. The government responded with force, leaving more than 100 people dead.

Violence spiked again this month after eight people were killed during an assembly by-election in Srinagar. Since then, several video clips purportedly showing alleged human rights abuses by security forces have also added to public anger, often manifested in large throngs of stone-throwing crowds taking small groups of well-armed security forces.

Mufti also met Union home minister Rajnath Singh. After the meeting she said the situation in Kashmir would improve in 2-3 months but did not spell out how.

The PDP became hugely unpopular after forming a governing alliance with the BJP in 2015, and much of Mufti’s rule has been spent trying to douse the violence. The chief minister has pushed the Centre for talks with the separatists in the hope of assuaging popular anger.

“Because of talks, many things had happened. These led to the opening of Muzaffarabad and Rawalakot roads, a ceasefire was announced on (the India-Pakistan) border, talks were held with the Hurriyat,” she said, referring to Vajpayee’s outreach to an umbrella organisation of Kashmiris separatists.

“Modiji has repeatedly said that he will follow Vajpayee’s footsteps. Modiji has always agreed with Vajpayee’s policy of talking to our own people but for that a conducive atmosphere needs to be created.”

She also appeared to draw a distinction between stone-pelters -- some young people who were “disillusioned” and others who were “instigated”, including through the use of social media sites.

Mufti said a meeting of the military’s unified command on Tuesday will discuss how to counter propaganda on social media.

The panel identified the reasons for smuggling of cattle and evolved a comprehensive future plan to stop it. Such incidents were said to be the highest in West Bengal and Assam which have borders with Bangladesh.

The idea to have unique tags came after the panel members learnt that the seized cattle heads, which get auctioned by the customs department, reach smugglers who re-sell them across the border.

The panel took a view that the responsibility of safety and care of abandoned animals was mainly of the states. Asking the government to make tamperproof identification of cattle mandatory, the committee suggested having a state-level data bank to be uploaded on government websites and linked to an online national database.

Setting-up of animal centres or kanji houses and dry dairies at district levels should be done for the production of organic gas and sold at minimum support price, the panel said. Every owner should maintain a registration card that should be transferred to the new one if there is legitimate sale.

A nodal officer may be appointed as registrar of cattle in each state and the Centre must increase the penalty under the law to punish those who are found to be cruel to animals were some of the other recommendations. At present a fine of ~50 is imposed on a person found guilty of cruelty.

Animal transportation should be done strictly as per the regulations under the Motor Vehicles Act and transports department may prepare a data of cases where people are booked for illegal transportation of cattle.

No animal should be allowed to be transported without a “fitness to move” certificate so that illegal movement of livestock across the state is curbed, the panel recommended.

On the concerns raised by the conservationists, Gul claimed it’s not necessary to kill the animal to extract its fur for the wool. But he admitted that poachers do kill chirus for wool.

PETA India’s chief executive officer Poorva Joshipura, however, rubbished the claim that animals need not be killed to collect fur.

“Those who peddle shahtoosh have long been attempting to fool consumers into believing that the animals are not killed,” Joshipura said.

Three to four chirus are killed to make a shawl that is allegedly sold for $1000 to $5000 and sometimes even up to $20,000 in the international market, according to research. There are other similar estimates too.

The animal is classified as “near threatened” under the IUCN’s red list as its population has dwindled to about 75,000 in recent years.

They are found mostly in the Tibetan plateau, all over China, and in smaller numbers in northeastern Ladakh. They have disappeared from Nepal, where they were earlier found.

Their underfur allows them to keep themselves warm in the chilly upper reaches of the Himalayas in India.

Environmentalists argue that even if it was possible to extract the wool without actually killing the animals, snatching their protective cover amounts to “cruelty.”

“Using chirus for the very product that have made them endangered is cruelty, not conservation,” Joshipura said.

Kashmiri traders said it was part of their traditions for centuries, sustaining many families who are now left in the lurch because of the ban.

The parliamentary panel echoed this view in its report.

“The committee feels that Jammu and Kashmir has been the conflict region for long and many women there are unable to leave their homes and go out for livelihoods,” it said.

“Livelihood opportunities are very low for the people of Jammu and Kashmir because of the extreme climatic conditions there and shawl making contributes a lot towards sustainable livelihoods of these people,” the report added.

Many in the state even viewed the ban as an anti-Kashmir move.

“Some people have an antiKashmir agenda and they spread this kind of propaganda about the animal being killed to take out fur without any basis,” said the KTMF spokesperson.

He said locals recognise the need to save the depleting chiru population. But it’s the government that should ensure there is no illegal hunting, he added in the same breath. “An ordinary Kashmiri cannot guarantee that,” he pointed out.

Sources in the Indian Air Force said they received a request to airlift victims at around 3pm, and dispatched two Mi-17 helicopters. “Immediately casualties were air-lifted to Raipur and shifted to hospital. One of the casualty succumbed to injuries in flight on the way,” a spokesperson said, adding that several choppers were subsequently sent for the evacuations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack in posts on his Twitter profile. “Attack on @crpfindia personnel in Chhattisgarh is cowardly & deplorable. We are monitoring the situation closely”, he tweeted.

“We are proud of the valour of our @crpfindia personnel. The sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain. Condolences to their families”, he said.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh cut short a visit to Delhi and rushed to Raipur, where he was said to have called an emergency meeting.

Home minister Rajnath Singh tweeted that he was “extremely pained” to hear about the deaths and said his deputy — minister of state for home Hansraj Ahir —is going to Chhattisgarh to take stock of the situation. At a press conference hours later, he said he too might go to Chhattisgarh.

“It is a very sad and unfortunate incident... We have taken the attack as a challenge,” Singh said in New Delhi.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi were among other leaders who condemned the attack.

Sukma is considered among India’s worst insurgency-hit regions that has seen several decades of bloody conflict.

On March 11, suspected Maoist rebels ambushed a similar CRPF road opening party and killed at least 12 troopers in Sukma.

At the centre of the fight is the under-construction stretch of the road where the Maoists were attacked on Monday.

Following the March attack, officials said the rebels know that their only way to maintain control over the area is to block construction of the road, which will let soldiers directly into the Maoist heartland.

Officials said as CBSE has decided to lead by example it will put pressure on other boards to follow.

“Some states are already doing it. This will bring greater transparency and it will provide a level playing field,” the official said.

“This could lead to slight dip in cut-off but it is difficult to quantify. Also, CBSE is not the only Board as we have many students from state Boards who apply to DU,” said a Delhi University official who did not want to be named.

The meeting was chaired by the education secretary.

There were a few states that expressed apprehension over mark-sheets reflecting the grace marks, saying it could be seen as a stigma but others argued that it will be unfair for those who pass without the extra marks.

States have also said they will continue with their own policy for grace marks.

“The lower the marks, the higher are the benefits of moderation. So it is unfair for those who work hard. Many states have been doing this to ensure their pass percentage remains intact. However, this unnecessarily increases the cut-offs,” said a senior official.

In the past, the CBSE and state boards have awarded up to 10% to 15% cent extra marks in various subjects such as mathematics and physics. However, these extra marks are subject to the ceiling of 95%, as far as CBSE is concerned.

The CBSE also decided that instead of the current All India Senior Secondary Examination, Rest of the World and a separate exam for Delhi, CBSE will have only one exam across the country to ensure difficulty levels are uniform.

It has also been decided not to include the marks awarded for extracurricular activities (ECA) in the final tally of marks. They would be reflected separately on the mark sheet, preferably in the shape of grades.

“To ensure students who participate in ECA are given benefits it has been decided that a credit system will be evolved in consultation with the higher education department so that universities give them preference over those who have got the same marks,” said a senior HRD official.

Kerala will not be able to do away with the practice of moderation from this year as the final marks that it awards include the extracurricular activities too and it will not be able to change the marking system.

To ensure greater parity in examination and syllabus, it has also been decided that states can progressively adopt NCERT syllabus for core subjects such as mathematics, science, and they can continue with their regional variations.