SC bail to Bangalore woman Shubha in Girish murder case

August 12, 2014

New Delhi, Aug 12: The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Shubha Shankaranarayan (32), who was found guilty of murdering her fiancé B V Girish, a software engineer, in 2003 along with three others, to kill her fiancé B V Girish in Bangalore in 2003.

Shubha, who is a law graduate, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court in 2010 after being held guilty in the murder case. The Karnataka High Court confirmed her conviction and sentence in 2010.

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Taking up her bail plea, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and V Gopala Gowda noted that the accused has been in custody for more than 52 months.

Since it would take further time to hear her appeal challenging the conviction and sentence, there was no point in putting her behind bars, the court said, while granting her bail.

According to the police, Shubha was the mastermind and the prime accused in the murder of Girish, a software engineer, to whom she was engaged in November 2003. They were to be married five months later.

Her alleged boyfriend Arun Verma, her junior in B M S College of Law, his cousin Dinakar alias Dinesh and Venkatesh are the co-accused. All of them were also sentenced to life term by the trial court.

A murder that shook Bangalore

It was a well-planned murder, executed to precision on December 3, 2003. Seven years later, law student Shubha Shankaranarayan was sentenced to life imprisonment by a fast track court in July 2010 for killing her fiance BV Girish.

The victim, Girish, 27, was a software engineer with Intel and got engaged to Shubha, then 21 and a final-year student of BMS College of Law, on November 30, 2003. The wedding was fixed for April 11, 2004. The two families were neighbours in Banashankari II Stage knew each other for 15 years.

Four days later, on December 3, 2003, Shubha convinced Girish to take her out for dinner and made him stop his bike near the Jumbo point on Ring Road, between Indiranagar and Koramangala, on the pretext of wanting to watch aircraft take off and land at the HAL Airport.

While Girish was busy watching an aircraft in motion, a man attacked him with a blunt object from behind and sped away on a bike that was waiting for him.

Shubha took Girish to Manipal Hospital, where he succumbed. In her complaint, Shubha said an unidentified man assaulted her fiance and fled.

Not convinced with her version, police collected call details of her mobile phone, prior to and after Girish's murder that night. Records showed numerous calls made to a number belonging to Arun Verma, then 19 and Shubha's junior in college.

Cops picked up Arun and confronted him with the evidence. He confessed to the murder and, based on his statement, Shubha, and two others, Venkatesh and Dinakar, were arrested.

Investigations revealed Shubha was in love with Arun and was engaged to Girish against her will. The lovebirds then hatched a plan to eliminate Girish. Arun hired Venkatesh to kill Girish; his cousin Dinakar helped him plan the murder.

A sessions court held all four guilty of murder, and sentenced them to life term in jail. The Karnataka high court upheld the judgment.

"Though the prosecution has not placed any evidence as to the actual conversation that had taken place between the accused, the call details, call history sheets extracted in this judgment would clearly indicate that they were in close association with each other. The accused had entered into a criminal conspiracy to do away with the deceased, and they were co-conspirators. The conduct of the accused before the incident, at the time of incident and after the incident is compatible with their guilt and incompatible with their innocence, and no other hypothesis except hypothesis of guilt of accused can be drawn," the high court had observed.

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News Network
November 3,2024

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada MP Capt. Brijesh Chowta has called for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the alleged embezzlement of Waqf properties. This demand follows findings from the Anwar Manippady committee's report, which reveals that while 54,000 acres of land are registered with the Waqf Board, approximately 29,000 acres have been misappropriated.

Capt. Chowta emphasized the need for a thorough investigation, stating, “A comprehensive probe should be conducted based on this report. Those who have illegally encroached on these properties must be held accountable.”

He challenged the Congress party, suggesting that if they genuinely care for the Muslim community and underprivileged women, their members should actively participate in the Joint Parliamentary Committee discussing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024. This participation is essential to ensure that Waqf properties are used effectively for community welfare.

The MP criticized the notices served to farmers in Honvada village, Vijayapura, which stated that nearly 1,200 acres of their ancestral land was being reassigned to the Waqf Board. He expressed that this issue arose while the NDA government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is working on amendments to the Waqf Act. He accused the Congress-led state government, particularly Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, of trying to enforce outdated 50-year-old notifications about Waqf properties. After the farmers raised concerns, Minister M. B. Patil clarified that the confusion was due to an error in the gazette.

Chowta alleged that Congress members in the Joint Parliamentary Committee are obstructing proceedings and causing disruptions. He expressed suspicion that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah might have instructed Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan to implement these outdated notifications regarding Waqf properties. As a result, he demanded the Minister's resignation.

He accused the Congress party of exploiting Muslim voters for the past 75 years without making substantial efforts for their welfare. Furthermore, he highlighted that the BJP is launching a campaign against land jihad, pointing out that the Waqf Board controls one of the largest land banks after the Defence and Railways sectors. Finally, he urged citizens to check the revenue records (RTC) of their land ownership to verify its status.

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News Network
November 3,2024

Mangaluru, Nov 3: A quiet morning turned perilous for a farmer in Elathur, near Kinnigoli on the outskirts of the city, as a leopard attacked him while he was cutting grass. 

Ligori, a resident of Kalkare, was startled by the sudden assault and suffered injuries to his face but managed to escape and reach safety. He was promptly taken to the hospital for medical care.

Residents in Elathur have been on edge for over a week following reports of leopard sightings in the area. Today’s incident has heightened concerns among the local farming community, who now fear for their safety.

With a significant population of farmers in the region, villagers are demanding immediate action from the forest department to capture the leopard and ensure their safety. 

The community awaits a response, hoping for swift intervention to prevent further attacks.

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News Network
November 10,2024

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has warned that disciplinary action will be taken against those officials who change the land mutation records and serve eviction notices to farmers under the Waqf Act.

In a letter, the Revenue Department Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar Kataria reminded all regional commissioners and deputy commissioners in the districts that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently had a meeting following complaints about certain land properties being made in favour of the Karnataka Board of Waqfs.

In the meeting it was decided that all the directions issued previously by any government office or authority to change the mutation records has been withdrawn, the letter said.

It added that all the notices served in the past have also been withdrawn and no action should be taken against the farmers who are cultivating on the said land.

On the directions of the chief minister, the previous letters and the latest reminders served on November 7 to the farmers and land owners have been withdraw, the letter said.

"The officials who served reminder-2 despite the chief minister's direction will face appropriate disciplinary action," Kataria said in his letter.

He said he has been instructed to strictly implement the chief minister's direction.

The fresh direction was issued in poll-bound Karnataka, where bypolls to three crucial assembly segments are due on November 13.

Some farmers in Honwad village in Vijayapura in north Karnataka had alleged last month that they were served eviction notices as the Waqf Board claimed rights over it.

Subsequently, complaints started in pouring in from some other parts of the state.

BJP leader Tejasvi Surya on October 25 alleged that Karnataka Waqf Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan directed the deputy commissioners and revenue officials to register lands in favour of the Waqf Board within 15 days, which resulted in confusion.

On Surya's request, the Chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Jagdambika Pal visited Karnataka on November 7 and met farmers in Hubballi, Vijayapura and Belagavi districts who had alleged that their lands were marked as Waqf properties.

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