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Hindustan Times
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Ajnala police station attack: Court frames charges against 41, including 9 Amritpal aides
A local court in Amritsar on Thursday framed charges against 41 accused, including nine close aides of jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, in the Ajnala police station attack case. Supporters of Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh clashing with police personnel in Ajnala. (HT File) The accused, including nine aides of the jailed MP, were produced in the court of additional session judge Parinder Singh amid tight security. The radical Sikh leader, who heads Waris Punjab De (WPD), is still lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam after his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) was extended by a year. The rest of his aides have been brought back to the state to face trial in various cases after the Punjab government revoked their detentions under the NSA in March and April. Among those produced in court include Kulwant Singh Rauke, Bhagwant Singh alias Pardhan Mantri Bajeke, Amritpal's uncle Harjeet Singh Chacha, Gurinder Pal Singh alias Guri, Gurmeet Singh Bukanwala, Daljit Singh Kalsi, Basant Singh, Varinder Singh Johal and Varinder Singh alias Fauji. All nine were lodged in Assam. Charges were framed against 41 persons under section 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (assault on public servant), 186 (obstructing any public servant in the discharge of his public functions), 506 (Criminal intimidation), 332 (causes hurt to any person being a public servant), 333 (causing grievous hurt to deter a public servant from their duty), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 427 (causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees or upwards), 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25 of Arms Act, defence council advocate Rituraj Singh Sandhu said. In February 2023, Amritpal and his associates were booked under various charges for allegedly attacking the Ajnala police station to get one of his aides released from the cops' custody. Six cops were injured in the clash. A month later, on March 18, police began a crackdown against Amritpal and his aides. Police intercepted Amritpal's cavalcade near Mehatpur town in Jalandhar, but the WPD chief managed to give the cop a slip along with his close aide Papalpreet. What followed was a month-long manhunt which culminated on April 23 when Amritpal surrendered at Rode village in Moga district. Advocate Sandhu said the evidence trial would start from August 2 in this case. 'The prosecution will present evidence and witnesses in the court. The trial will be conducted daily as per the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. This case will have to be settled in two months,' Sandhu said. 'Amritpal will not be part of the trial as his NSA detention hasn't ended,' the lawyer added. Cops made us sign statements against Amritpal: Bhagwant While being produced in court, jail MP's close aide Bhagwant Singh denied that he made any statements which claimed that the radical Sikh leader 'consumes drugs' while being lodged in Dibrugarh jail. His statement came after police filed a challan in Ajnala court last week, submitting statements made by Bhagwant and Varinder, which mentioned 'allegations' against Amritpal. As the cops were taking Bhagwant to court, he started shouting, apparently making a statement for the media present that his statement had been taken under duress. 'The police have alleged that Amritpal consumes drugs based on my statement. They forcibly made us sign scores of papers and got our statements recorded. All these allegations are false,' he said. Amritpal's counsel, Imaan Singh Khara, said the statements had no legal value 'These were recorded under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act and could easily be challenged in the court. Statements recorded in police custody are not relied upon by the court,' he said. There was also a minor scuffle between the kin of the accused as the cops as the former tried to get close to them.
Boston Globe
25-07-2025
- Boston Globe
R.I. man falsely arrested twice settles lawsuit with Woonsocket for $550,000
'I am grateful and thankful to God for making everything successful and am happy and glad justice has been done,' Blackie said in a statement. Advertisement In an email, Woonsocket City Solicitor Michael J. Lepizzera Jr. wrote 'city is pleased that the matter is behind Mr. Blackie, the officer involved and the Woonsocket Police Department.' Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up 'The city wishes the best to both Mr. Blackie and its WPD officer,' Lepizzera wrote. Related : According to the ACLU, an apartment in Woonsocket was broken into in August 2022, and a resident there, William Grover, told authorities the person who entered was known to him by the name, 'Black.' 'Later, officer Hammond met with Grover and asked multiple times if Mack Blackie was the perpetrator. Mr. Grover — who knew both 'Black' and Blackie — explicitly stated it was not Blackie, a Liberian, and even described the differences in physical characteristics between the two men,' the ACLU said. Advertisement Hammond then failed to set up a photo lineup as he had promised so Grover could identity 'Black,' according to the ACLU. 'Instead, Hammond falsely wrote in his witness statement that 'Grover positively identified the suspect male as being Mack Blackie,'' the organization said in a statement. 'Additionally, he later falsely stated in his application for an arrest warrant that Grover told another Woonsocket police officer that Blackie broke into the apartment. Blackie was arrested soon after.' Blackie, who was homeless at the time and had a medical condition that required attention, was held overnight and collapsed in court, and then taken to a hospital for several days, the ACLU said. Several months later, he was re-arrested and charged with felony breaking and entering and assault, the organization said. 'Because he was on probation at the time, Blackie was incarcerated for 18 days without bail as a probation violator,' the ACLU said. 'When bail was finally set, he could not afford the $100 cash required for release, resulting in his continued incarceration for an extra 13 days, until an employee of a non-profit organization where he volunteered posted the money for his bail.' Grover realized Woonsocket police arrested the wrong man when he saw Blackie in a courthouse hallway in February 2023 and he alerted the prosecutor, the ACLU said. The charges were dropped and Hammond was later suspended for 10 days and demoted. 'This was an inadvertent mistake by one WPD officer who failed to follow defined WPD protocol and procedures,' Lepizzera wrote on Thursday. 'This however did not involve intentional misconduct. 'Notably, the officer in question quickly acknowledged the shortcomings of his investigation and readily accepted responsibility,' Lepizzera added. 'Not only did he accept responsibility, but he voluntarily agreed to a demotion from detective to patrol officer.' Advertisement City police leaders and officials have previously acknowledged Blackie was wrongfully arrested and apologized to him in 2023. 'I want to give credit to the officer for acknowledging his mistake and quickly resolving any personnel issues that arose from this event,' Lepizzera wrote. 'For so many years we have heard public outcry across the state with respect to long drawn out disciplinary disputes involving police officers invoking the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights (LEOBOR). To his credit, this officer did not invoke his legal rights under LEOBOR and stayed the course by not only accepting responsibility with words but also by his actions.' ACLU cooperating attorney Joshua Xavier said in a statement the case is 'a stark reminder that our government continues to fall short of living up to the promises guaranteed by our Constitution.' 'While this settlement brings some measure of accountability over the unlawful actions taken by the police against Mr. Blackie, nothing will ever remove the deep distress and psychological pain he suffered and continues to suffer as a result of being arrested twice, criminally charged, incarcerated, and prosecuted for crimes he did not commit, including a felony,' Xavier said. 'Mr. Blackie spent 31 days in prison — 31 days of his life that he will never get back.' Material from a previous Globe story was used in this report. Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Yahoo
Man pleads guilty in 2022 intentional crash, stabbing
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A man has pleaded guilty in connection with a crash and stabbing incident that happened nearly three years ago in west Wichita. Julian Gonzalez appeared in Sedgwick County District Court Monday, where he pleaded guilty to the following: Attempted second-degree murder Aggravated battery, a level 4 person felony Aggravated battery, a level 5 person felony Two counts of aggravated endangering a child Criminal possession of a firearm These charges stem from an incident that occurred on Sept. 28, 2022, at the intersection of Murdock and West Street. Gonzalez was accused of ramming a vehicle with his car with a 30-year-old man, a 28-year-old woman, and two children ages 4 and 5 inside. He then reportedly busted out the windows of the car with a pair of nunchucks and then stabbed the 30-year-old man as he tried to get the women and children to safety. One in critical condition after assault near downtown Wichita Two witnesses intervened to stop the assault, including a driver who drove towards Gonzalez to get him to stop, and another with a concealed carry permit who held him at gunpoint until police arrived. Other witnesses rushed to provide first aid to the victims. 'I'll tell you that one citizen at least took off their belt and a shirt and were applying tourniquets,' Lt. Jason Waite, WPD, said at the original crime scene. 'So, citizens of Wichita stepped up tonight, really helped the police department out and probably saved this guy's life, honestly.' Sentencing for Gonzalez is scheduled for Aug. 29. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Yahoo
Man Opens Fire into a Michigan Church, Deacon Runs Him Over with a Truck to Stop the Attack
A shooting at CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan, on June 22 injured one person The attack ended with a deacon running the male shooter over and a church security guard fatally shooting him The church's pastor said the shooter did not appear to be a member of the congregationAfter a man opened fire on a Sunday service in Michigan, a church deacon and security guard stepped in to stop him. On the morning of June 22, there was an active shooter at CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, a Detroit suburb, according to a spokesperson for the Wayne Police Department (WPD). A church security guard shot and killed the attacker before officers arrived on the scene, the spokesperson told PEOPLE. The security guard had time to take aim at the shooter — whom police identified as a 31-year-old White male — because a deacon ran him over, according to the pastor, who was on the scene. The attacker 'was run over by one of our members who saw this happening when he was coming into church," Senior Pastor Bobby Kelly Jr. told Detroit News. The deacon ran over the attacker in a Ford F-150 truck, the outlet reported. Only one person, whom Detroit News identified as a security guard, was injured in the June 22 attack. According to the local outlet, the shooter fired multiple shots into the church, but did not enter the building, where Kelly estimated that 150 people were gathered. Footage from a livestream of the service — which had more children in attendance than usual, per Kelly — shows the moment when those inside the church became aware of the attack. 'Get down,' someone can be heard saying, as people began to scramble. 'Everybody to the back. Please, everybody, come to the back,' a different church leader then states, directing the group to the rear of the building. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. In the wake of the attack, Kelly told Detroit News that CrossPointe Community Church members are supporting each other, and the children present for the June 22 attack are 'doing good.' As for the path forward, the pastor said, 'We will be convening our leadership to put a formal plan in place for the aftermath.' The pastor also said the attacker did not appear to be a member of the church. The investigation into the shooting is 'ongoing with multiple agencies on scene,' a spokesperson for the WPD told PEOPLE, adding that police will share more information in the evening of June 22. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
Two minors charged for incident with Waverly School Resource Officer
WAVERLY, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) — Two juveniles have been charged by the Waverly Police Department following an investigation into an incident involving the students and the School Resource Officer at Waverly High School on June 3. WPD did not provide details on the incident itself, or the charges brought against the two minors involved. 'The investigation is now complete, and the case is officially closed,' WPD said in a statement. WPD worked closely with Waverly School District officials in order to get to the bottom of the investigation, which involved a 'thorough and objective review.' 'The Waverly School District and the Waverly Police Department remain committed to working together to ensure the safety and well-being of all students, staff, and members of the community,' the statement said. The case officially closed on Friday, June 6. Jeffries declines to embrace Musk amid the billionaire's feud with Trump Trump administration faces growing bipartisan pressure over Job Corps Shark-freeing diver says Trump pardon surprised him Democrats call for halt of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac privatization Two minors charged for incident with Waverly School Resource Officer Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
