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Irate Pakistanis attack Dawn newspaper for reporting that London jihadist had Pakistani origins

OpIndia Staff
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Irate Pakistanis attack Dawn newspaper for reporting that London jihadist had Pakistani origins

The office of the Pakistani newspaper ‘The Dawn’ came under attack as hundreds of angry Pakistanis swelled around the office premises, blocking the entry and the exit, for reporting that the accused involved in the London Bridge attack had Pakistani origins.


The disgruntled people contended that the Dawn Newspaper has incorrectly claimed that the perpetrator of the London Bridge attack had Pakistani roots. Many on Twitter too hailed the attack on the Dawn claiming that Usman had no connection with Pakistan and the newspaper was simply besmirching the reputation of the country by linking the London Bridge attacker with Pakistan.

According to the report published in the Dawn, Khan is a British citizen born in the UK and of Pakistani origin. He left school with no qualifications after spending part of his late teens in Pakistan, where he lived with his mother when she became ill.​ After returning to the UK, he partook in promulgating extremism on the Internet and garnered a significant following.

Read- London: Pakistani mob led by British Labour MP attacks Indian High Commission, smash windows

However, this intricate detail was lost on indignant Pakistanis who claimed that since Usman was born and brought up in England, he cannot have Pakistani origins. Some other Pakistani Twitter users claimed that the Dawn is a propagandist media house that stands with the enemies of Pakistan.


If attacking the newspaper ‘The Dawn’ wasn’t enough, incensed Pakistani Twitter users identified the journalist who reported that Usman Khan had Pakistani roots and unleashed an online mob on her. The user insinuated that the journalist worked on someone else’s payroll and there should be an investigation commissioned to find out from whom did she take the instructions to paint a British citizen as Pakistani.


Pakistanis have been embarrassed by the fact that any terror incident that happens anywhere across the globe inevitably finds its roots to Pakistan. It is to avoid this embarrassment that the Pakistani Twitter users, instead of taking their government to task for facilitating terrorists and their activities, have indulged in attacking the newspaper that acquaints them with the uncomfortable truth about their country.

If you were ‘ashamed as a society’ after the Hyderabad rape and murder, you are part of the problem

THE SKIN DOCTOR
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If you were ‘ashamed as a society’ after the Hyderabad rape and murder, you are part of the problem

The nation has been mourning the brutal rape and murder of Dr Preeti Reddy (name changed) in Hyderabad. The grief has given way to insurmountable anger and many have come out to say that they are ‘ashamed as a society’. While the sentiment is understandable, is this reaction justified?

When people say that they are ‘ashamed as a society’ when a gruesome incident like this happens, they are intentionally or unintentionally diluting the crime of those who committed it. Why should society share the burden of a crime? Crores of people all over the world face social inequality, injustice, unfair circumstances and hardship. How many of them turn criminals? From Abdul Kalam to Oprah Winfrey to a ragpicker’s son who cleared AIIMS last year in Madhya Pradesh, we’ve lakhs of examples of people using their hardship as strength to achieve success in life. Did Jews or Kashmiri Pandits became terrorists after what they faced?

Read: The Quint continues their ‘humanising’ project by whitewashing and creating sympathy wave for Hyderabad rape and murder accused

Be it terror attack or rape or murder, every time a crime happens, our media goes into socio-economic detailing of criminals to project them as victims. From Headmaster’s son Burhan Wani to Pulwama attacker was told to do push up by Indian Army during his school days to London attacker was bullied in school, the list is endless. This is how communists dilute a crime and portray the perpetrator of a heinous crime as a victim of social circumstances through their ecosystem for political gains.

The Quint wrote a very emotive article about Hyderabad rape case’s main accused Mohammad Arif. They wrote at length about how he is the sole breadwinner for the poor family, how he worked hard to pay for his mother’s illness, how his father is disabled, etc etc. All these are conscious attempts to create public sympathy the main accused. Same people will later file mercy petition for him and his other four accomplices.

Read: Reports suggest she was raped even after she was killed, chilling details of the Hyderabad gang-rape case emerge

The first reaction of the “woke” when a heinous crime happens is equally problematic. While the rage is justified, instead of having a nuanced discussion and trying to figure out the solution to the problem, their first reaction is to blame the patriarchy. While patriarchy is undoubtedly an issue, mindlessly connecting to rapes in the country is counterproductive. There are several countries like the middle east where the patriarchy is more embedded in the society than in India, however, the rapes in those countries are fewer.

So what causes rapes? Imagine this hypothetical situation, take 100 kids and make them grow in the same society under the same hardships and injustice and away from the influence of each other. Will all 100 of these turn criminals when they grow up? Some may, most won’t. Only those who are unfit to adjust to society resort to crimes and hence such people are not fit to be a part of the society and there comes the need for a robust and prompt judicial system.

Read: Legalising prostitution or pornography will not bring down rapes. This is why the argument is flawed

Think about yourself for another example. Suppose you lose everything that you have. The job, bank balance, house. You go bankrupt and live off the streets. Will you still even think of behaving indecently with a woman, leave aside rape? Probably not. I won’t. Can never even think of it. But if someone has a mindset of a rapist, he’ll rape even if he gets all the luxuries a man can possibly possess.

To bring social circumstances into crimes is turning the criminal into the victim. Crimes are individual responsibility and society should not share its burden. The society, on the whole, does need to change to facilitate principles like respect for women, equal responsibility and the mindset that women are in no way inferior to men. However, the burden of guilt needs to rest with the criminal and his family. The burden of guilt, once shifted to the society, almost lessens the burden the criminal himself must carry for the rest of his life. The culprit should be punished in the worst possible manner so that other potential criminals think thousand times before attempting one themselves.

Meet Shanmuga Subramanian, a Chennai-based IT professional who helped NASA detect Vikram lander on Moon

OpIndia Staff
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Meet Shanmuga Subramanian, a Chennai-based IT professional who helped NASA detect Vikram lander on Moon

Almost after three months since it went incommunicado during the final stages of the Chandrayaan 2 mission on September 7, the NASA has finally located ISRO’s Vikram Lander on the moon surface. And the man behind the unravelling of the biggest mystery in India space history is a 33-year-old space enthusiast who worked independently and found the debris of the Vikram lander on the surface of the Moon, that several scientists have been painstakingly looking for.

NASA has credited Shanmuga Subramanian (Shan), a mechanical engineer and a computer programmer based in Chennai, for helping it find ISRO’s Vikram Moon lander debris on the lunar surface.

In a post on its website early on Tuesday, NASA has said its moon mission has discovered the remains of India’s Vikram Lander and identified the debris spotted by Subramanian with an “S” on its image.


According to NASA, it’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) had released the first set of pictures of the Vikram lander contact site on September 26 and many people had downloaded the mosaic to search for signs of Vikram and Shanmuga was one of them.

Shanmuga Subramanian, hailing from Madurai in Tamil Nadu, works as an app developer at engineering company Lennox India Technology Centre in Chennai. He is an engineering graduate from the Government Engineering College in Tirunelvelli.

The techie from Chennai told IANS on Tuesday: “It was something challenging as even NASA can’t find out so why can’t we try out? And that’s the thought that led me to search for Vikram lander.”

Equipped with just his laptop, Subramanian said he worked for up to seven hours every day in his Chennai apartment in his mission to locate the lander. “I narrowed my search to 2 square kilometres. I used only a laptop and searched all the images,” he said.

During the random searches at his spare time, Shanmuga noticed a white speck around the Moon touchdown site pictures released by NASA. This bright pixel, he said, was not visible in earlier images released by the space agency.

“Is This Vikram Lander? (1 Km From The Landing Spot) Lander Might Have Been Buried In Lunar Sand?” Mr  Subramanian had tweeted on October 3, tagging NASA and ISRO.


On November 17, he tweeted more details with two images of the crash site.


“I had a side-by-side comparison of those two images on two of my laptops… on one side there was the old image, and another side there was the new image released by NASA,” he told a news agency. Subramanian also said that he was helped by other users on Twitter and Reddit.

Subramaniam was the first person to come up with positive identification. The Chennai-based technologist discovered debris about 750 m from the main crash site of the lander and informed NASA from whom he got a ‘good response’ said the engineer. “I did send a tweet to NASA and ISRO. I sent emails to a couple of NASA scientists. They were in charge of the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) images. I got a good response from them,” said Subramaniam.

Read: ISRO plans to launch spy satellite RISAT 2BR1, India’s ‘eye in the sky’ to boost surveillance

Finally, almost after 3 months, NASA confirmed the Vikram lander debris location by comparing before and after images and credited Shanmuga for the same.

LRO Project Scientist Noah Petro said: “The story of this really amazing individual (who) found it, helped us find it, is really awesome,” adding that “He (Subramaniam) went through the image, looking pixel by pixel and found that spot.”

Thanking Subramanian for an interesting observation, Nasa’s deputy project scientist (LRO mission) John Keller said its LROC team confirmed that location did exhibit changes in images taken before and after the day of landing. “Using this information the LROC team did additional searches in this area and located the site of the primary impact as well as other debris around the impact location,” Keller wrote to Subramanian.

He also appreciated Shanmuga for his efforts. “Congratulations for what I am sure was a lot of time and effort on your part. You will probably get some enquiries from the press on your discovery.”


The Chandrayaan 2 mission, besides carrying an orbiter, had a rover and a lander, targetting safe touchdown on the surface of the moon through a controlled descent. Pragyan, the rover, was slated to roll out of the Lander onto the surface of the moon to conduct experiments and gather data.

On 7th September, Chandrayaan-2’s landing module had gone silent after Vikram Lander lost connection when it was merely 2 KMs from the landing surface of the moon. While ISRO was able to locate the lunar module in one piece, it had tiled a little because of the hard landing. On September 10, ISRO had announced that it had located the Lander but no communication has been established yet.

Robert Vadra equates ‘security breach’ at Priyanka Vadra’s home with sex crimes, claims security in entire country compromised

OpIndia Staff
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Robert Vadra equates ‘security breach’ at Priyanka Vadra’s home with sex crimes, claims security in entire country compromised

Robert Vadra, son-in-law of the Nehru-Gandhi Parivar, in a shocking display of insensitivity, has compared the brutality of sex crimes with an alleged security breach at his wife Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s home. In a Facebook post, Robert Vadra engaged in the politicization of sex crimes and appeared to blame the central government for the crimes although law and order is a state subject.

Robert Vadra’s Facebook post comparing ‘security breach’ to sex crimes in India

Priyanka Gandhi’s husband wrote on Facebook, “Its not about the security for Priyanka, my daughter and son or me or the Gandhi family.. It’s about keeping our citizens especially the women of our country, safe & secure. Security throughout the country is compromised… Girls are being molested/raped, What society are we creating…? Security of every citizen is the Government’s responsibility. If we are not safe in our own country, our homes, not safe on roads, not safe in the day or at night, where and when are we safe ?”

The alleged security breach at Priyanka Gandhi’s home involved a car with five passengers managing to enter her residence and going up to her to click pictures. As serious as it might be, and a complaint has been lodged with the CRPF in this regard, it is extremely insensitive to compare it with sex crimes happening around the country. Moreover, Priyanka Gandhi does have a Z-plus security cover that includes CRPF commandos in her security detail. Incompetence on the part of the men responsible for her security cannot and should not be used to target the government.

Read: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra continues to stay in govt accommodation despite removal of SPG cover

Quite clearly, contrary to what they might claim, the government had very good reasons to withdraw SPG cover. The alleged breach at Priyanka Gandhi’s home is now being used to claim that it happened because the SPG cover was withdrawn although there’s no good reason to claim such a thing.

On top of it, Robert Vadra, whose stature within the Congress party keeps changing between ‘private citizen’ and ‘Official Daamad’, has gone ahead and equated the matter with crimes as heinous as rapes and molestation. The Congress party appears to have lost its moral compass and is clutching at straws. In recent times, most of their attacks on the government have been a consequence of opposition for the sake of it. And now, it appears that they are willing to politicize even rapes in the most indecent manner imaginable in order to settle personal scores with the government.

Worst of all, as it turns out, it might not even have been a ‘security breach’ as claimed by the Congress party and their daamad. Times Now reported that the occupants of the car were long term Congress loyalists. Not merely that, a woman who was among the occupants had even contested elections on Congress ticket. Furthermore, it was the Personal Assistant of Priyanka Gandhi who reportedly summoned them to her residence. Under such circumstances, the bogey of ‘security breach’ that was created appears to be standing on extremely thin ice.

Thus, in equating such a dubious incident with sex crimes, the Congress party has only revealed the moral depravity that has taken over the party. It also demonstrates perfectly why the party has suffered devastating electoral defeats in recent times and is under serious threat of becoming irrelevant in national-level politics. The party needs to engage in some introspection over the sort of politics it is practising, otherwise, it’s future looks even bleaker than it does now.

Priyanka Gandhi’s ‘security breach’: Occupants of the car long time Congress loyalists, woman fought elections on Congress ticket

OpIndia Staff
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Priyanka Gandhi’s ‘security breach’: Occupants of the car long time Congress loyalists, woman fought elections on Congress ticket

Hours after Congress targeted the BJP Government over the alleged security breach at Priyanka Gandhi’s residence and put the blame on removal of SPG security cover, it has been revealed that the people involved are, in fact, long-time Congress loyalists.


The owner of the car, Chandrashekhar Tyagi, told Times Now that they are loyalists of the Congress party and went to seek some time for themselves from Priyanka Gandhi whose responsibilities within the Congress party have increased manifold in recent times. She is also considered by some as the potential successor to interim president Sonia Gandhi.

Furthermore, one of the occupants of the car is reportedly a woman member of the Congress party and has even contested elections on the party’s ticket. Thus, while the security was indeed lapse in allowing the the car to enter Priyanka Gandhi’s residence without any security-check, the possibility that the occupants’ membership of the Congress party contributed to the lapse in security cannot be rejected entirely.

Read: New Delhi: Congress party leader chants ‘Priyanka Chopra Zindabad’ instead of Priyanka Gandhi

It also raises questions on whether the entire controversy was created on purpose by the Congress party in order to target the government over their decision to remove the Nehru-Gandhi Parivar’s security cover. Times Now has also revealed that the occupants personally talked to Priyanka Gandhi’s personal assistant two days prior to the incident and they were summoned to her residence. As Times Now correctly points out, the fact that the occupants of the car had contact details of Priyanka Gandhi’s personal assistant shows that people close to Priyanka Gandhi were well acquainted with them.


The only thing that remains to be investigated now is why was the car not checked by the men charged with Priyanka Gandhi’s security. Was it because they were told not to check the particular car by Priyanka Gandhi or her close associates? Or was it a consequence of a lapse in security? Such questions remain unanswered. However, the Congress party’s charge at the government appears to be on thin ice at the moment.

Karnataka: 35-year-old arrested after body of 9-year-old found near canal, police suspect sexual abuse

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: 35-year-old arrested after body of 9-year-old found near canal, police suspect sexual abuse

Days after the country was shaken by the horrific rape and murder of the veterinary doctor in Hyderabad, another horrifying atrocity involving a 9-year-old girl has come to the fore. The girl, who was studying in the second standard, was found murdered after allegedly being raped in Yakapur village in Chincholi Taluk of the district on Monday.


The 35-year-old accused, Yallapa, was arrested by the police. Locals had reported that he was seen with the girl before she went missing. The accused had allegedly lured the victim by promising to buy chocolates. The girl had reportedly left for school but remained absent.

However, when the girl did not return home, anxious parents started searching for their daughter. When they asked Yallapa about their daughter’s whereabouts, he dodged the question saying he was not aware of her. The parents filed a complaint at the Sulepet police station following which they launched a search operation to locate the girl.

The villagers found the body of the girl late evening in the canal of Mullamari irrigation project located behind the Anganwadi centre of the village. The police have sent the body for post mortem. Besides, the innerwear of the accused was recovered from the site which bore the marks of bleeding.

The police believe that the victim was allegedly raped before being murdered. They have launched an investigation into the matter and arrested the accused who was last seen with the victim. From the preliminary investigation, it had appeared that the girl may have been strangulated, but the police have said they will confirm after the post-mortem report.

The recent incidents of rape and murder have created a lot of outrage nationwide, especially after the Hyderabad rape and murder incident. There are demands to ensure stringent and immediate punishment in such cases.

Uttar Pradesh: Four minors arrested and sent to Juvenile Home for attempting to sodomise a 12-year-old boy

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Four minors arrested and sent to Juvenile Home for attempting to sodomise a 12-year-old boy

The Uttar Pradesh police have apprehended four juveniles in Shamli district for attempting to sodomise a 12-year-old boy. All the four accused are aged between 12 to 15, confirmed UP police.

According to the report by PTI, the minor victim was playing outside his house when the accused, who were his neighbours, approached him and asked him to come with them. The accused, then took him to a vacant plot where they tried to sodomise the victim. They fled after the boy fell unconscious. Later, the boy was found by his family, the police said.

The Shamli police confirmed that a case has been registered against the four juveniles and they were apprehended. They were sent to a juvenile home after medical examination, they said.

Read: Legalising prostitution or pornography will not bring down rapes. This is why the argument is flawed

In October this year, a 13-year-old boy was murdered in Bareilly by someone who attempted to sodomize him. The police had started investigating after his family lodged a missing complaint. A few hours later, his body was recovered at a deserted spot outside his village.

Similarly, in July, 34-year-old Sikandar Khan alias Kale Khan alias Jeevanu has been arrested by Jaipur Police from Kota for raping a seven-year-old girl in Jaipur. His interrogation has revealed that he has earlier sodomised at least 25 minors in the past.

Aaditya Thackeray and his cousin Varun Sardesai, who is not even an MLA, attend Maharashtra CM meeting, netizens question their presence

OpIndia Staff
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Aaditya Thackeray and his cousin Varun Sardesai, who is not even an MLA, attend Maharashtra CM meeting, netizens question their presence

Less than a week since the Maha Vikas Aghadi nominee Uddhav Thackeray assumed the Chief Ministership of Maharashtra, questions are already being raised over the functioning of the state leadership, especially the Chief Minister. Thackeray drew criticism for espousing vindictive politics by abruptly canceling the metro car shed project and putting under scanner a host of other projects commissioned by the previous government.

Now, the presence of Aaditya Thackeray and his cousin Varun Sardesai, who is not even an MLA, in the meeting of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra has attracted flak from many netizens. An image of Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray presiding over a meeting with officials was shared by a journalist following which many on Twitter questioned the capacity in which Aaditya Thackeray and his cousin Varun Sardesai, were attending the meeting.


One Twitter user highlighted the presence of Aaditya Thackeray, who holds no position in the government of Maharashtra, saying that it sends a wrong message.


Calling it a wrong thing, another Twitter user questioned if Aaditya Thackeray is holding any ministerial position in the cabinet to be a part of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra’s meeting.


One Twitteratti took a dig at Aaditya Thackeray saying that if Aditya wants to attend all the meetings in an official capacity, he should rather tender his resignation as an MLA and the CM should appoint him as his OSD/PS/PA.


Many others raised eyebrows over the inclusion of Varun Sardesai in the CMO meeting. Varun Sardesai, who calls himself a “wannabe neta”, is a leader and a core committee member of the Yuva Sena, Sena’s youth wing headed by party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s elder son Aaditya. Varun is the first cousin of Aaditya and has been politically active from his days at the Datta Meghe College of Engineering in Airoli, where he headed the Yuva Sena’s unit in his first year.

Read: NCP MLA asks Uddhav Thackeray to release Bhima Koregaon accused, who once compared Balasaheb Thackeray to Hitler

However, Varun is neither an MLA nor holds a position in Chief Minister’s Office or the government. Many Twitter users expressed their disapproval with Sardesai attending the Chief Minister of Maharashtra’s meeting.

One Sanjay Gaikwad questioned stature of Varun Sardesai for attending the meeting, given that he is not even an elected MLA.


BJP too questioned the presence of Varun Sardesai in the Chief Minister’s meeting. BJP spokesperson, Suresh Nakhua asked the journalist Sudhir Suryawanshi, who shared the picture of the meeting extolling the new Chief Minister for choosing formal attire for the meeting, as to in which capacity was Varun Sardesai attending the meeting.


Earlier, the NCP-Shiv Sena-Congress alliance government in Maharashtra was accused of pursuing vendetta politics as key projects envisaged and set in motion by the Devendra Fadnavis’ government were put on hold by the CM Uddhav Thackeray. Regarding the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train project, Thackeray said, “We will review the development projects happening across the state and determine if some projects that are done on priority are really needed. We will review the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train project,” Uddhav said.

Azamgarh: ‘Sex maniac’ Naziruddin attacked family, killed 3, sodomised mother’s dead body and 9-year-old child

OpIndia Staff
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Azamgarh: ‘Sex maniac’ Naziruddin attacked family, killed 3, sodomised mother’s dead body and 9-year-old child

In a shocking and gruesome incident, a 28-year-old man named Naziruddin was arrested by the UP police on Monday days after a gruesome triple murder in a family and rape on a mother-daughter duo that resulted in the woman’s death. The incident had occurred in the Mubarakpur police station limits in Azamgarh.

As per a report in Hindustan Times, Naziruddin had attacked the family, in his own neighbourhood on the intervening night of 24-25 November. As per the police, he had first attacked the husband, and the family’s two sons, aged five years and four months respectively.


Naziruddin’s attack had killed the husband and the baby, while grievously injuring the five-year-old boy. He had then attacked the mother, a 30-year-old woman and her 9-year old daughter. The accused had allegedly sodomised the corpse of the woman and the unconscious child and had raped and tortured them in a brutal manner. Naziruddin’s torture and the attack caused the woman’s death and had grievously injured the girl.

Triveni Singh, the SSP of Azamgarh has stated to the media that the accused showed the behavioural symptoms of a ‘psychotic sexual offender’. He allegedly had raped and sodomised the woman and her child multiple times in a span of three hours.

The police have stated that the accused also went on to sodomise the woman’s dead body for hours.

The 9-year-old girl and her 5-year-old brother are admitted in a hospital where their condition is said to be ‘stable’.

The police have further stated that Naziruddin had attacked and hit all family members with the blunt object, possibly a stone. He had allegedly become fascinated with the woman and had entered their house in a planned manner at the night. Some reports have also stated that the victim family was related to Naziruddin.

The police have revealed some chilling details of the crime and the extreme brutality and psychotic behaviour exhibited by the accused Naziruddin. He had allegedly purchased virility pills from a nearby town and consumed them before sexually assaulting the mother-daughter duo.

Not just that, Naziruddin had allegedly video-recorded the entire act and had even shown the video of the crime later to a woman of his family. The police have stated that the crime was ‘executed in the most gruesome manner with no display of mercy or human dignity’.

The police had nabbed the accused after analysing cellphone data. The accused’s past behaviour towards women had pointed the police towards him. The barbaric incident had created panic in the area. It is being reported that the accused had committed sexual crimes in Haryana and Delhi too.

Naziruddin has reportedly confessed to the police that he had first conducted a recce and made certain that the woman’s house was located at some distance from other houses and their screams won’t be heard by villagers.

Naziruddin had allegedly scaled the boundary wall on the night of the incident and had immediately attacked the woman’s husband with a blunt object, expecting maximum resistance from him. The man had died immediately. He had then attacked the woman and her daughter, before attacking the two younger boys.

The police have also revealed that the accused Naziruddin displays symptoms of a violent and deviant sex maniac. His wife had reportedly left him recently after being fed up of his deviant behaviour. Even the prostitutes in the area had banned the accused from entering their premises due to his perverted and abusive sexual behaviour.

SSP Singh has stated that the police have been carefully collecting all forensic, electronic and physical evidence and they will try to fast-track the case. Naziruddin will face multiple charges of murder, rape, and attempt to murder under the IPC. He will also face charges under the POCSO Act.

As per reports, the victim husband of the family was a 35-year-old poor weaver and was living with his family in the Mubarakpur area. The crime scene on the next morning had stunned the villagers and the police due to the sheer level of brutalities inflicted upon the family. While Naziruddin was a suspect from the beginning, he had denied involvement. The police team had carefully followed all clues, analysed cellphone data, and had arrested Naziruddin several days later.

Naziruddin was identified by the dog squad too. The girl child had also allegedly identified Naziruddin as their attacker when she gained consciousness.

As 2019 comes to an end, here are the 10 most unforgettable cricket moments of the decade

Ritesh
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As 2019 comes to an end, here are the 10 most unforgettable cricket moments of the decade

The decade is about to over. A decade full of records, full of controversies. 3 World Cups, 4 World T20s, 2 Champions Trophy and the beginning of the first Test championship. It’s hard to pick 10 most important cricketing moments of the decade but we manage to pick few and they are mainly based on history makers.

2010 – First ODI Double Hundred

February 24: History was created in Gwalior. After 2961 ODIs, Sachin Tendulkar of India became the first man to score the double hundred in ODIs. Tendulkar scored 200* in the 50th over of the innings against South Africa. Several players in the past came close to breaking the barrier of 200 runs in an ODI but none deserves the accolade as much as Sachin Tendulkar, who scored more runs, hundreds, the fifties in ODIs. Cricinfo’s server crashed after 45 million page views that particular day. Since then 7 more double hundreds have been scored, 3 alone by Rohit Sharma.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwWnsEpioxo

2011 – Dhoni finishes off in style

April 2: A World Cup Title after 28 years for India, when they made history at Wankhede. India became the first team to win the World Cup at home. The hero of the World Cup, Yuvraj Singh was struggling with cancer during the tournament yet gave his best performance and won the ‘Player of the Tournament award’. Tendulkar’s dream of winning the World Cup finally achieved when MS Dhoni hit the six to win the title. The whole India celebrated, came on the roads of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, etc with drums and DJs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAtfMy9UvU8

2012 – England’s Test Series Win in India

November/December: The greatest test series victory away from home of the decade. England finally won a Test series in India after almost 30 years. This was India’s only series defeat of the decade at home. Other than India all the teams have lost more than once at home in this decade. Even after losing the first test of the series in Ahemdabad, England came back strongly and won the series 2-1. Kevin Pietersen played his greatest test knock (186) at Wankhede with Panesar and Swann taking 19 out of 20 Indian wickets. England went on to win the 3rd Test in Kolkata and then a draw in Nagpur confirmed their first test series win in India since 1984-85.

2013 – Tendulkar retired

November 16: The day when India wept. The last day of Sachin Tendulkar’s illustrative career. Playing in hometown, Tendulkar scored 74 in his last test innings. The farewell speech was one of the best speech by a cricketer who brought tears in the eyes of everyone present in the stadium. And as if that was not enough to moist the eyes of his fans, Tendulkar walked back to the pitch for one last time to pay his respect, made it more memorable. Tendulkar retired with the most number of Tests, ODIs, Runs, Hundreds and many other several records.

2014 – Philip Hughes’ Death

November 25-27: When the whole cricketing world came together. On November 25, Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes was hit by a bouncer in a domestic game and was air-lifted to a hospital. Fans across the globe prayed for his speedy recovery, but Hughes succumed to injury on November 27. The Test match in Sharjah between Pakistan and New Zealand was suspended for a day. Boards, cricketers, and fans started trending #PutOutYourBats as a tribute for Phillip Hughes all over the social media.

2015 – The First Day-Night Test

November 27: Exactly after a year of Phillip Hughes’ death, the first-day night test was played at Adelaide Oval between Australia and New Zealand. Australians are known for bringing new ideas and changes to the game to keep it interesting for the fans. They started the concept of Day-night cricket along with colour kits, brought snickometer, Hotspot, and DRS into the game and now the pink ball test to bring more crowds to the stadium for test matches. Before the decade got over, India too made their pink-ball Test match debut. A welcome change to keep the test matches interesting even if they are getting over in less than 5 days.

2016 – Caribbean Music in India

April 3: West Indies was the first team to win the World Cup twice (in 1975 & 1979) and in 2016 they became the first team to win the World T20 cup twice. Braithwaite’s 4 consecutive sixes to in the final over to win the title was the most majestic moment of the World Cup. Samuels, like in 2012, played another crucial knock in the finals. It was a great year for West Indies cricket as they not only won the WT20 in males cricket but also of female cricket along with U-19 World Cup.

2017 – Pakistan’s Champions Trophy

June 18: Pakistan qualified as the last team in the Champions Trophy. The most unpredictable team of every generation somehow manages to win the spot of final against India at Lord’s. An Indian-Pakistan contest is always known as the ‘mother of all battles’ and if its a tournament final then nothing like that. On that sunny day, except the toss, everything went in Pakistan’s favour. Fakhar Zaman nicked a ball to the keeper off Bumrah when he was at just 3 but it was found that the ball was a no-ball. Riding on luck, Zaman thrashed Indian bowlers all over the park. He made 114 and added 128 runs for the 1st wicket which set up the game for Pakistan. Chasing 339, India’s top order was derailed by Mohammad Amir. He picked the top scorers of Indian batting line up of the tournament in the span of 4 overs. With Rohit, Kohli, and Dhawan back in the dressing room with just 33 onboard, the match was over much earlier than expected. Pakistan won the tournament despite being the last team to qualify is not surprising for cricket fans because Pakistan’s cricket is full of uncertainties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjLt_u5t9ek&t=19s

2018 – The Sandpaper Gate

March 24: As if match-fixing was not enough to destroy the reputation of the game, the best players of the game involved in the greatest controversy of the decade. Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft were found tampering with the ball with sandpaper (which cricketers generally use to maintain their bats) in the third test against South Africa in Capetown. Smith, who was also the captain, later admitted that he knew the plans of changing the condition of the ball. The vice-captain David Warner also accepted the charges by ICC. Australian Cricket Board later banned all three players from International cricket for a year. In the absence of Smith, Tim Paine got the responsibility to lead the Australian team.

2019 – England finally winning the World Cup

July 14: The Greatest Match of ODI History. A nail-biting finish in World Cup final. A tie followed by a super over, followed by another tie but England won the title because of boundary rule. Yes, a World Cup final was decided by a rule which says whichever team hits more boundaries in the final will win the match in case of a tie in super over. England had been playing the most exciting and aggressive form of cricket since its early exit from World Cup 2015. This is certainly England’s best ODI team of all time. After losing the previous three World Cup finals, they finally overcome the tag of chokers in World Cup finals. A World Cup win for the creator of the game.

What are yours? Do comment and let us know.

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