courtesy gb ================= Lucknow arrests
Here are some snippets from other news reports and information not included in the TOI article that has been posted as well as Sangama's posting about the press reporting. It should give us a clue what we are up against with the police and the Press. According to Arif of NFI, they and their lawyer have been in touch with the family of one one of the arrested men. The story appears to be totally different from the one put out to the press. Apparently the cops had picked up Nihal the night before from his home and interrogated him and them made him call the three others with whom he was in regular touch and made him invite them at around 3:00 pm when they were all arrested. They have been charged with Sec 377 for having profiles at the website. Of serious concern is the possibility that widespread blackmail of other members that they have identified might ensue. My apologies for the hurried translations. All the reports cited appeared on Jan 5th. 1. Pioneer: "After three homosexual gangs in Talkatora, Manak Nagar and Ashiyana were exposed in quick succession, the police came across a novel way of the use of Internet chatting sites by homosexuals to meet other like-minded people." "The cops also got over a hundred telephone numbers, which included over two dozen local contacts belonging to gay men." "...the site had over one lakh members out of which 1600 chatted at one time to promote the cult." "...that over hundred telephone numbers belonging to rich and spoilt brats indulging in unnatural sex were also found. The numbers were being verified the SSP said" The report mentioned that the police had laid a trap after being tipped . 2. Hindustan Times: "...the police were hunting for one and a half dozen other identified members of the groups based in Lucknow, Delhi and other cities of the country. The four have been sent to jail under Section 377 IPC (sodomy.) "An informer had sent an email to the SSP sent by Nihal to all the gay members inviting all on Dec 17 for a get-together and introduction of members to each other." "In the course of interogation , Nihal...confessed to have been involved in the trade for less than two years. ....Nihal revealed that he had intimacy with gay members at Jhansi, Delhi, Hapur. Bareilly and Chennai." 3. Dainik Jagran "The SSP said that were more than 100 other similar men, most of them employed, in Lucknow who were in touch with this gang." "Nihal would chat with people on the net, then invite them to meet him.... and when his family wasn't at home he would take them there or he would take them to the homes of friends to have sex.. The report mentions the names of 18 people whose cell numbers were taken from Nihal. 4. Hndustan: "The police have issued a list of 18 other members of the club." The report mentions that there were 40-50 members of the club that Nihal had formed in Lucknow. 5. Rashtriya Sahara "It is worth mentioning that before this club was busted, Rashtriya Sahara had alerted the administration by publishing a news report about homosexuals." "The police released a list of 19 members of the club as well as their cell numbers.....the records of their cell phones were being examined as part of the investigation." 6.Jansatta The four were caught "red handed." "The police are searching for the nearly two dozen members of the club in Lucknow." "According to the SSP in one year Nihal had made a hundred members in Lucknow alone. Among these were many who were know to Nihal personally with whom he had unnatural sex either in his house or in the house of other members." "According to the SSP other members of the club will be arrested after further investigation." The report quotes the SSP that the four were caught engaged in the sexual act at the picnic spot. 7. Dainik Jagran "In the first week of December senior police officer Ashutosh Pandey received the information that members of a gay club in Lucknow met through the medium of the Internet...On the basis of the information he started the surveillance of the mobile phones of some of the members. Through this he found out that the members of the club were to meet on the 17th of December ... but no member of the gang turned up (that day).... "The senior police officer who was personally keeping an eye on the matter yesterday received information (that members were meeting at a particular place) ...four members of the gang were found having homosexual sex ...... He said that Nihal was used to homosexual sex since 1986." "At the SSP's residence Nihal told the media that ...in Lucknow alone there were about 2000 members in the gang among which were some respectable people...." 8. Swatantra Bharat. "Evidence had been found that some important respectable people of Lucknow were members of this club who were now been secretly investigated. " Ashutosh Pandey said..." (these people) wanted to get in touch with as many people as possible. He said that members living in other cities and districts as well as abroad were being investigated through their telephone (records) as well as through the net. In this way a movement against the diseased was being initiated." 9. Swatantra Chetna "Last night the police learnt through an informant that four persons were having unnatural sex at the picnic spot." "The police are investigating the other members." 10. Hindustan "Nihal) had enrolled 40-50 members in Lucknow who used to have sex among themselves." There is more. Often details are contradictory but all are equally sensational. Almost all the reports had pictures of the four, sensational headlines, names and address of the four arrested, where they worked and their precise address as well as Nihal's cell number, the information that his wife was a teacher and the names and the names and designations of fathers of two. Many carried the name of 18 other men whose names were released by the police. The only merciful exception was the Indian Express which carried a picture, a small matter of fact report and the headline...'Four held for misbehaviour." ---------------- On 1/6/06, Vivek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: It's not clear from the article whether they were arrested: a) because of being a member of an online international gay organization or b) because they were indulging in sex during the picnic. a) above cannot lead to an arrest, since S. 377 notwithstanding, it is no crime to be gay in India. b) Merely having a picnic in a public place, even one that may have been advertised on guys4men, is no ground for an arrest. BUT indulging in sex during the picnic is a big mistake on the part of the members attending the picnic, though! The law is neutral and even-handed as regards indecent activity in public places. Straight couples are being hounded out of public places for indecent activity too (Carter Road in Mumbai, parks in Lucknow), and surely gay men can be booked as well for indecent activity in public places, not to mention S. 377 if found indulging in penetrative sex (including fellatio). Let's all be aware that cybersleuths in India are not pushovers, and reasonably intelligent cybersleuthing is being undertaken by the authorities in various states, with intricate cases being solved online. Let us all also be aware that anyone could be reading these sites and knowing about the events being organized. These readers could have their own agenda for reading the posts on such sites. An interesting example is a UK site where a straight neighbour of a very popular cruising area actually posted on the site, appealing to the gay members who visit the site not to litter the site with 'paraphernalia' when they leave. 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