HC glare on son for abusing parents

New Delhi (PTI): Delhi High Court has asked a man, who allegedly tortured his septuagenarian parents, to sort out his “differences” with them or face a police probe into his parents’ allegations.

A division bench of Chief Justice B.C. Patel and Justice B.D. Ahmed issued the warning to Naveen Arora after his father Suraj Prakash Kawatra narrated his plight to the court. “You sort it out or we will ask the police to investigate the matter,” the bench told Arora’s counsel Rajat Aneja and adjourned the case to April 26.

Kawatra told the court that Naveen forced him to execute a general power of attorney in his favour at knifepoint and used it to transfer his property in his wife’s name after he cancelled the power of attorney in 2000. “This cannot be done. It is not a valid transfer of property,” the bench observed last week.

The court had asked Delhi government counsel V.K. Shali, Kawatra’s counsel R. K. Saini and the son’s counsel Aneja to sort out the issue amicably. However, Shali informed the court that despite the best efforts of the lawyers, the issue remained unresolved.

Treating a letter from Kawatra and his wife Raj Rani as a PIL, the court had in December last year issued notices to Naveen, his wife Neeru and the police. It had also directed the police to provide protection to the two senior citizens.

9/11 film on Sikhs for UK screen

New Delhi (PTI): An award-winning American documentary on hate crime against Sikhs in the US following the attacks on the World Trade Center is being premiered in London next month.

he film, Mistaken Identity: Sikhs in America, made by Indian-American filmmaker Vinanti Sarkar and presenter Amanda Gesine, documents the impact of September 11, 2001 on the Sikh community. The period witnessed racial profiling, verbal assaults and even murder.

Mistaken Identity will be shown at the Royal Overseas League on St James Street. A separate show is being organised exclusively for British women in film and TV. There are also plans to show the film in Birmingham, according to asiansinmedia (AIM), a British-Asian media industry website.

“It is our first TV programme celebrating cultural diversity in America after 9/11. It triumphs in breaking down misconceptions and social barriers,” a report said, quoting producer-director Sarkar.

The film shows a white American student trying to demystify the enigma of Sikh Americans while sharing the hopes and desires of Americans from all ethnic backgrounds who seek to close ranks against bigotry and hatred, Sarkar said.

Militants killed in Kashmir

Jammu (PTI): Four militants were killed in two separate incidents when the army busted two hideouts.

In an encounter near Surankote tehsil in Poonch on Monday, security forces gunned down three Lashkar-e-Toiba militants. One of them was the area commander of the outfit, whose identity is yet to be ascertained.

Another Hizb-ul Mujahideen militant was shot dead by security forces in Doda district on Monday. An SLR rifle with its magazines and a wireless set were found on him.

Theft for wife

Ramanathapuram (PTI): A man was arrested on Tuesday for stealing jewels and cash to the tune of Rs 80,000. Police said he stole the money and jewels from different parts of Ramanathapuram to meet the treatment expenses of his mentally-challenged wife. The man, who is from Ooty, lived with his wife and mother-in-law, who helped him carry out the thefts. She, too, was arrested.

Criminal sadhu

Muzaffarnagar (PTI): An alleged criminal posing as a sadhu and living in a temple has been arrested with his accomplice here. Narendra had been living in the Hanuman temple for some years along with Dharmendra to evade arrest. Illegal arms and cartridges were recovered from him.

Woman murdered

Ahmedabad (PTI): In a mysterious murder, a woman with her throat slit was found by her husband, who was sleeping right beside her with their minor daughter. Sonal Patel’s husband, Bharat, told police that he “found his wife sleeping beside him in a pool of blood”, but had no clue about who killed her. He said he “remembered seeing somebody dressed in black fleeing in the darkness”.

Children buried

Ghaziabad (PTI): Three children of a family were buried alive under a heap of soil while digging in Dehra village in the district, police said. The incident occurred on Monday when four children were digging to collect soil to plaster their house. One girl, who was covered in mud to the neck, shouted for help, but by the time passersby rescued her, two boys and one girl had died.

A conservation project to the tune of Rs 1 crore is on at the Thirumalai Naicker Mahal in Madurai. The mahal, built during the period of Thirumalai Naicker between 1623 and 1659, is being renovated for the second time after cracks were found on the roof.