PANAJI: The alleged sex scandal in Curchorem has intensified days after the arrest of 20-year-old Soham Sushant Naik, with the case now transferred to the crime branch for a detailed probe. Three FIRs have been registered so far, and statements of two survivors have been recorded. Investigators have found that both the accused and the survivors were minors at the time of the alleged incidents, which reportedly took place around three years ago when they were in college. Naik, a resident of Madhegal in Cacora and son of a councillor of the Curchorem Cacora Municipal Council, was arrested following public outrage, with locals gathering outside the police station on Sunday demanding immediate action. South Goa SP Santosh Desai said that while one case was initially registered, two more FIRs were filed based on subsequent statements. The first FIR has been registered on behalf of the state. Police said Naik is being treated as the prime suspect and is currently under interrogation, while several others suspected to be linked to the case are also being questioned. Deputy inspector general of police Varsha Sharma, who reviewed the probe, said the additional FIRs were registered based on a survivor’s statement. She added that video clips recovered so far do not show the presence of survivors, and the accused’s mobile phone will be sent for forensic examination. Police said the investigation is being carried out from all angles and denied any political pressure in the case, maintaining that FIRs are being registered strictly based on complaints received. Naik has been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita, the Information Technology Act, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, and the Goa Children’s Act. A local court remanded him to four-day police custody on Monday.

‘Protecting such monsters is fatal for society’AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday slammed BJP over the Curchorem sex scandal, demanding the harshest punishment for the accused and justice for the survivors.

He accused BJP of shielding the son of one of its councillors, who allegedly sexually exploited 30 minor girls over three years, filming and blackmailing them. “BJP has turned people’s lives in Goa into hell. Everyone is living under the shadow of fear,” Kejriwal said.He demanded that the guilty be dealt with sternly and warned that those in office must not protect such offenders. “Protecting such monsters is fatal for society. No demon should even think of doing this again,” he added. TNN

KOLKATA: The beauty parlour owner who was hacked to death inside the salon at Mahamayatala near Garia on Tuesday, appears to have attempted to ward off the assailant with a blade before he managed to turn it on her and inflict fatal injuries. The assailant, a man from Haryana, thereafter turned the blade on himself, made a cut in his throat, and bled to death. Both bodies were found in the parlour on Tuesday.Cops said the fact that a blade from the parlour was used for the murder and suicide indicated that perhaps the killing wasn’t premeditated.Police said parlour owner Rupbani Das (50) had multiple slash wounds on her body and had bled to death. Blood spatters all over the parlour indicated a violent struggle. Cops suspect that Rupbani may have picked up a blade from the parlour to ward off Rohtak resident Pankaj Nath (44), whom she met on social media a couple of years ago. Sources said there were a couple of blade wounds on Pankaj, indicating that she possibly slashed at him before he managed to overpower her, grab the blade, and strike her, leading to gashes that caused her death. He then slashed his own throat. Even while attempting suicide, he tried to reach for the parlour shutter he had pulled down but was unable to. He was found in a pool of blood, lying against the shutter. An employee of the parlour who was turned out by Pankaj heard a heated exchange between the two.Police are also trying to find out if Rupbani told her husband Anup that she feared Pankaj as the former had started dropping her off at the parlour. For the 15 years that Rupbani has been operating the parlour, she has been travelling to and fro on her own. It was recently, after she returned from Haryana, that Anup had been dropping her off.Sources said that after the initial social media friendship between Rupbani and Pankaj, they developed a relationship. According to investigators, Pankaj was besotted and came to visit her in Kolkata some time ago. He then urged her to travel to Rohtak, where, he allegedly said her business would flourish and she could earn up to Rs 1 lakh a month. It isn’t clear if it was the lure of money or an affair that led to her travelling to Rohtak with him. But what is clear is that after a couple of months, the relationship turn sour and she returned to Kolkata.

MUMBAI: FDA minister Narhari Zirwal of NCP found himself at the centre of a fresh controversy on Thursday after a video showing him with a transgender person in a bedroom went viral. The video shows Zirwal asleep and the trans person sitting next to him. Another clip shows the person lying on the bed with Zirwal in the room.Ravi Yadav, claiming to be the brother of Pavan Yadav who’s allegedly in the video, told a TV channel, “She’s recorded videos and taken photos with powerful people. She blackmails and extorts them. She also wanted powerful positions like an MLC or a position on the transgender board. She was blackmailing me too.” Congress and activist Anjali Damania demanded Zirwal be sacked.Mumbai: NCP politician Amol Mitkari questioned the motive behind the video and said it was a conspiracy against his party colleague Narhari Zirwal, who had been the first to demand Dy CM Sunetra Pawar should replace her late husband Ajit Pawar as chief of NCP after his death in an air crash in Jan. This is the second controversy to besiege Zirwal, a politician from the tribal-dominated Dindori district. Just two months ago, the Anti-Corruption Bureau had caught a clerk in his office accepting a bribe of Rs 35,000. At that time too, the opposition had demanded his resignation. Both controversies emerged after Ajit Pawar’s death. After the air crash, Zirwal was the first leader from the party to say Ajit Pawar’s NCP should be merged with that of his uncle Sharad Pawar. State Congress chief Harshavardhan Sakpal said, “This govt should be dismissed. The Epstein files are infamous in the world. The Fadnavis govt has such ministers.” Damania said, “This is a shameful video. The same minister was earlier connected to a bribery case. Does the party want to showcase such leadership? He should be sacked immediately.” However, Mitkari said, “Why has this 8-month-old video surfaced immediately after the assembly session? It has probably been done because the SIT in the case of rape accused astrologer Ashok Kharat will expose powerful people. This will distract from that case.” Mitkari added, “This is a pre-planned conspiracy. Zirwal was the first leader to say Sunetra Pawar should succeed her husband as NCP chief. Then the bribery case surfaced. When that seemed to go cold, this controversy has come up.” Pressure, meanwhile, is mounting on Sunetra Pawar not only from opposition but from her own party members to take some tough decisions regarding state chief of NCP women’s wing Rupali Chakankar and Zirwal. The new Zirwal controversy erupted on a day Sunetra completed one month as NCP president. Some party office-bearers from Nashik, Ahilyanagar and other units have written to Sunetra Pawar seeking Chakankar’s removal as women’s wing chief after her name cropped up in the astrologer Ashok Kharat case. Prerana Balkawade, chief of Nashik NCP’s women wing said, “NCP’s image is getting tarnished after Chakankar’s name got linked to the Kharat case.” (With inputs from Anurag Bende in Pune)