LSR Students Protest, Demand Safe Streets, Working Pink Booths After Kalkaji Rape

The investigation into the alleged suicide of IIT Bombay second-year student Sahil Vakode is centering on his locked iPhone. Mumbai Police are attempting to access data protected by a pattern lock to review digital activity surrounding the September 18 examination. Officers are reconstructing a 47-minute window between Sahil exiting the exam hall and arriving at the hospital, alongside forensic analysis of his laptop and campus CCTV footage. More than 20 students, faculty, and staff have been questioned. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Commission for Scheduled Castes has launched an inquiry, while Sahil's parents are staging a hunger strike at Azad Maidan demanding a fair CBI probe and the arrest of Professor Suryanarayan Dula. The case was transferred from Powai Police to the Mumbai Crime Branch after the family alleged caste-based harassment under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, claiming Sahil was targeted prior to being caught allegedly using a mobile phone during the test.

A major political confrontation erupted across multiple states over the Election Commission of India's decisions regarding Special Intensive Revisions and voter rolls. Congress workers staged nationwide protests, burning effigies of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and demanding his resignation alongside leaders across the opposition spectrum. Defending its processes, the poll panel clarified that its ECI NET platform operates with decentralized, secure access limited to authorized officials. However, the opposition has taken the battle to the judiciary and Parliament. A court petition seeks the invalidation of the SIR decisions, restoration of the original Form Six, and prosecution of the CEC, Deputy Election Commissioner, and IT head. Concurrently, opposition parties are preparing a third impeachment notice against the CEC after previous motions were dismissed or held up by parliamentary hurdles. Discussions also touched upon historical dissents within the commission and the political implications currently playing out between the ruling party and the opposition.

A chargesheet in the Ram Mandir Chanda Chori case has been submitted to the anti-corruption court, naming eight accused who were entrusted with responsibilities at the temple. The chargesheet details a nexus and cites over 200 incidents captured on CCTV footage as primary evidence. Police allege that offering money was systematically removed or aided in removal, noting that accused Avinash Shukla allegedly removed money 85 times and assisted four times, while Karunesh Pandey removed money twice and assisted 68 times.

In a major breakthrough in the murder case of Kanpur businessman Vineet Manocha, police investigations have revealed that his son, Subrat Manocha, was the mastermind behind the killing. Manocha was brutally stabbed to death at his residence by hired assailants. While his daughter-in-law, Shalu, was initially arrested after being named by the alleged killers, subsequent inquiries uncovered that Subrat orchestrated the crime and intentionally framed his wife. Subrat confessed to hiring goons and instructing an accomplice to name Shalu if apprehended. He cited severe financial constraints imposed by his father and concerns over property transfer as motives for the crime. Subrat expressed resentment over his father's lifestyle and claimed he intended the death to appear natural rather than a stabbing. Following sustained interrogation and cross-questioning, Kanpur Police apprehended Subrat Manocha, establishing his direct role in orchestrating the fatal conspiracy.