Rajasthan diary: Can cops catch bookie Jupiter again?

By Ragini Shree Jupiter chase: The man who gave cops the slip Jaipur: With the spot-fixing scandal causing a quake in the cricket establishment with local team Rajasthan Royals as the epicentre, it was only expected that the Rajasthan Police would be in the thick of action involving the investigations. However, things are a bit dull on that front. While the police have been on their toes since the controversy became the national talking point, they have made no significant contribution in terms of big catches or startling revelations.[caption id=“attachment_822617” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Wrong money. Andrew Middleton/Flickr[/caption] Curiously, their counterparts in Delhi and Mumbai have still not approached them for any help or sharing of information so far. In fact, it was the Jaipur police which had arrested bookie Chandresh Jain alias Jupiter, a key actor in the spot-fixing episode, in April 2012 on charges of betting on the IPL matches. The police claimed Jupiter and his employees were in touch with Dubai based bookies. The accused were booked under Rajasthan Prevention of Gambling Ordinance and section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. They were let off on bails. Thereafter Jupiter shifted base to Delhi. “Jupiter made many foreign trips and learnt tricks of betting on matches from his uncle in Mumbai. Later, he started his own racket and operated from Jaipur having links with other bookies in Dubai, Mumbai, Delhi and other cities,” said an officer who was close to investigations. Right now, the Jaipur police are after two top jewellers of the city—Pawan Jaipur and Sanjay Jaipur—who are allegedly into booking and have been booked in the recent scam. It is learnt that Vindu Dara Singh, arrested in connection with spot-fixing, was close to these jewellers. Jupiter happens to be a crucial link among them. If the state police manage to nab the former before either the Mumbai Police or the Delhi Police, it would be their big moment. With some luck, they could hog the national limelight too. Social networking: Neta log in alien world Not known to be exactly friendly with modern communication systems, political parties and leaders in Rajasthan have started taking to social media with unusual gusto. Of course, elections are not far away and they are smart enough to understand that the users of this media are a constituency that need to be addressed too. Leading from the front from the Congress is Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. He recently launched his blog in Hindi. Others in the party are in the process of starting their own. Gehlot has logged into Twitter also. Sources in the Congress party claim, Gehlot’s presence on the net is due to the fact that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has told the leaders to make maximum use of web world. “Besides Facebook and Twitter, we have presence on 12 other social networking sites including YouTube, StumbleUpon, and others. Extensive use of social media and net is being made after directions from the party high command,” said a party leader. Apart from Facebook pages of Gehlot and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, the yatras of both Congress and BJP are being uploaded on all social networking sites, including YouTube. Going a step ahead of his political rival, Raje has also launched a mobile app where details of Suraaj Sankalp Yatra are regularly updated. The BJP has also prepared a separate website for the yatra. A study by IRIS Knowledge Foundation has stated that in 2009 general elections the Congress used social media more effectively than the BJP did. The study claims that social media made an impact on elections results in five parliamentary seats - Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Tonk-Sawai Madhopur and Bikaner. BJP’s media cell in-charge Vimal Kataria believes youth are more associated with the web world and presence on the net influences their mind set. Meanwhile, political leaders like forest minister Bina Kak, independent Member of Parliament Kirori Lal Meena, BJP leader Ramdas Agarwal, and a few others are also making the most of social networking sites, especially Facebook. Shelter homes, hell on Earth The rape of two deaf and mute girls and mistreatment with a number of others has exposed condition of girls’ shelter homes across the state. The state government tried to be responsible by announcing compensation of Rs3 lakh each to two rape victims and suspending two officials but improvement in condition of these shelters remains a big question. The plight at shelter homes came to light when Jaipur city police arrested five employees of a non-governmental organization (NGO) Awaaz Foundation which operated a residential school for speech and hearing impaired girls at Kanota area of Jaipur district. The five employees were charged with raping, beating and misbehaving with five of the inmates. But when state women commission and BJP Mahila Morcha inquired deeper into the condition at shelter homes, it was revealed that majority of inmates were mistreated and threatened not to reveal anything to outsiders. “We will take cognisance of the incident and undertake a survey of shelter homes in the state,” said Rajasthan state women commission, Lad Kumari Jain. BJP Mahila Morcha president Suman Sharma said the inmates of Girls’ Home at Gandhi Nagar locality revealed gory picture of mistreatment with girls. “We were not allowed to meet with girls. When we insisted and met the inmates they cried while telling their woeful tales,” said Sharma. After scandal at Awaaz Foundation, chief secretary CK Mathew directed the officials of social justice and empowerment department to ensure stricter implementation of norms including regular counselling with the inmates of shelter homes. A similar incident in March, where 50 girls were rescued from an illegally run shelter home, has raised question over policing and surveillance by social justice and empowerment department. The police and representatives of an NGO had rescued a group of 51 children in the age group of 5 to 17 from two shelter homes run by a person Jacob John. After John’s arrest it was revealed that children were sexually abused and given medicines for their early physical growth. Jungle tales: Relief in stripes The sighting of a new tiger cub has brought some relief to the staff at Ranthambhore National Park which was harried for last two months due to disappearance of tigress T-17 fondly called Sundari. The staff have been on toes ever since Sundari went missing in mid April. Forest and environment minister Bina Kak was especially disturbed over disappearance of Sundari which is the second most famous tigress of park after her mother Machhali. A new tiger cub was spotted at Bakola area of the park on 23 May. The forest officials said tigress T-41 fondly called Laila was spotted along with a cub by tourists. This area was deserted by tigers due human interference and construction activities. The tiger again started roaming in the area after construction activities were stopped and a forest guard post was removed, Kak told media. Seven-year-old mother of three 11-month-old cubs, Sundari was last seen with her cubs in mid April. Her cubs were also missing which forced the forest officials to install trap cameras on directions of Kak. The cameras trapped images of the cubs but no clue of the mother was found. The officials could not even trace her pug marks, giving rise to suspicion of her poaching or death in territorial fight. A few days later, Kak called in more cameras from other forest offices and from National tiger conservation authority. But all efforts have so far proved futile as no trace of Sundari has been found. The number of cubs has now increased to 23 while there are 26 adult tigers in the park.