No bail to accused in US woman gang-rape case
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed the bail application of one of the four men arrested for allegedly raping a US tourist in a 5-star hotel here last year.
Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kapoor denied the relief to accused Vivek Srivastava, who was working in the hotel when the crime was allegedly committed.
The court rejected the plea, moved by advocate Sandeep Kapur, saying that the allegations levelled by the US national against the accused were grave and his case was not fit for bail.
Srivastava, along with three other accused Aniruddha Singh, Omprakash and Maqsood, is at present lodged in judicial custody.
The police had on December 26 last year arrested all the four persons in connection with the alleged gangrape of the woman in April last year.
The US national arrived here in December last year to join the probe and recorded her statement before a judicial magistrate where she reiterated that she was gangraped by five persons in the five-star city hotel.
Four accused were arrested after the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) issued a notice to the police asking them why the Rape Crisis Cell of the panel was not informed when the victim’s statement was recorded.
Earlier, the complainant had said she was “not satisfied” with the probe and was ready to come to India to identify the accused.
The woman had alleged that she was raped by the men for two days and also threatened with dire consequences if she reported the matter to anybody. NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: The regional transport authority of Ghaziabad has reportedly allowed bike taxis to operate in four Uttar Pradesh districts including Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Hapur and Bulandshahr. After fulfilling 17 conditions at the RTO, the permit for registering a bike taxi will be given by the Ghaziabad RTA. Bike taxis are lighter on pocket and a faster mode of transportation for many people. The bike taxi or Baxi services is intended to boost last mile connectivity options as well. Startups like Rapido, Baxi, Ola and Uber are set to provide bike taxis.
The Baxi service will include bikes in blue colour with red stripes so that the taxis are easily recognisable by the commuters. According to the transport officials, the fees, taxes, fare charges and the conditions for registering a bike taxi has been finalised. Rs 300 has been fixed for the registration charges and Rs 100 as application fees. An additional Rs 1,500 will be taken as permit fees by the RTA.
The registration is subjected to fulfillment of 17 conditions which includes feedback book to be kept in the vehicle, full details of the person on whose name the bike is registered should be written on the body, the color of the bike should be blue and red in contrast, first aid box should be present in the vehicle, the seats should be comfortable, helmets should be there for both the driver and the passenger. There are some other conditions which are needed to be fulfilled to get the Baxis on the roads.
Mayank Jyoti, regional transport officer, Ghaziabad region, said: “The registration procedure for bike taxi services has been started. The RTA has finally given the green signal for plying bike taxis. Notices have been issued to the district transport offices. On successful completion of the conditions and submitting the fees, vehicles will be permitted to drive on the roads. Application forms have been sent to all the district offices.”
A Baxi service is not a new concept. Gurugram has already adopted the Baxi system and there are over 300 vehicles currently in operation. The tariffs are fixed at 8.60p/1st km and 8.10p/ subsequent km which were fixed by the government for motor cabs as per a 2010 notification.