Written updates! - Page 5

22 and 23 june: Ahmednagar, June 17 (IANS) As Pakistan released five Indians from jail Saturday, the family of 58-year-old Bhanudas Karale from Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district were the first to reach Amritsar to welcome him home. No one is sure how Karale ended up in a Pakistani jail. Neither is Karale, who is mentally imbalanced.

An elated Karale, while speaking to IANS over the phone, said he was glad to be back.
"I'm in good health and I will be at peace now that I'm with my family in my country. It feels so good to be back," he said in a choked voice.

"I just want to go home to my village and rest and spend time with family," he added.
Karale, however, said his time in jail in was getting unbearable even after his release orders were issued.

"I did not face any hardship per se, but it was a jail in a foreign country after all. It was even more difficult to stay there after the knowledge of the fact that I'm being held up here due to lack of appropriate documents," he said.
It has been a long journey for Karale, said activist Jatin Desai.
"I had spoken to him after his release. I thank to everyone who made this possible," he said.
Karale was arrested Aug 28, 2010, for illegally entering Pakistan. He was granted bail on September 21, but had to wait to be actually released from the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.
But Karale's family was unaware of his arrest. He went missing in January 2010 in a state of mental imbalance. His wife Nanubai and sons Vijay and Rohidas and nephew Nitin left no stone unturned to find him.

Karale, a resident of Wadgaon village in Ahmednagar district, had lost his way and ended up on a train to Pakistan without the knowledge of where the train would take him.
However, when in August 2011, the family got a letter written by Karale, they came to know that he was in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail. Karale had sent the letter with Gulab Singh who was released from the same prison after he served his term.

Luckily, help came from advocate Asim Sarode who, after learning about Karale's plight, pledged for his release.

Sarode gathered all legal documents to verify Karale's nationality and sent it to Pakistani human right activist Asma Jahangir.

"It did take us a long time to gather all documents including the missing person's complaint in the local police stations and my uncle's voter identity card to be sent to the Indian High Commission verify his identity," Nitin told IANS.

"But now that my uncle has been released and I have held his hand, I'm glad the bad days are over," he said.

Karale had lost his mental balance after the company, Garware Nylons Ltd, where he worked, shut down in 1996.

22,23,24: Gautam Vora, a hotshot broker and a regular at top Page 3 dos in Mumbai, was arrested on Monday on charges of giving shelter to gangster and murder accused Vijay Palande (casting Vikram Deshmukh). Vora had first hit the headlines as the boyfriend of the late Viveka Babajee in 2010 when the model committed suicide.

Vora's name has now resurfaced after his arrest in connection with the twin murder cases of aspiring Bollywood producer Karan Kakkad (casting Jai Rathod) and Delhi-based businessman Arun Tikku (casting Amar Batra). The police claimed that Vora had arranged for a hotel for Palande once the latter fled from the custody of the Mumbai police after his arrest on April 11.

According to crime branch officials, Palande had called up Vora for help, who then booked a room for Palande. The intention, police officials said, was to ensure that Palande could flee the country. Vora allegedly not just gave Palande fresh clothes but also arranged for a ticket to Bangkok - he would have got the visa on arrival - that was to be delivered to Palande at the airport by one of Vora's men. The police, though, rearrested Palande before he could escape to Bangkok.

Vora met Palande at 9.30pm in room no. 301 of Hotel Godwin in Marine Lines. The stockbroker reportedly got three Tshirts and a pair of trousers for Palande, they said. While entering the hotel, Palande, who looked unkempt, pretended to be the stockbroker's servant. The room was booked till 7am.

The police are trying to find out why Vora helped a murder accused, who had escaped from custody.

Vora was produced before a court in Mumbai where he was remanded in police custody till April 27. The stockbroker's counsel argued that Vora did not know that the man he knew as Karan Sood was actually Vijay Palande.

"Simran Sood introduced Karan Sood as her brother to Vora. He never knew that his real name was Palande and on April 10, when Palande sought Vora's help, he did not know that he was accused of a serious crime," Vora's lawyer Rajendra Sorankar said.

He further argued that Vora would not have shielded Palande if he had known what he was up to as the stockbroker himself could have been his next target. But, the court rejected Vora's bail plea. What could create more problems for the stockbroker and Palande is the police's plan to book all the accused under the dreaded Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Vora is in charge of running the ULJK Broking Firm, which is owned by his father. He completed his education at the Indiana University, Bloomington, US. He lives in a plush house located in the highly posh area of Nepean Sea Road in Mumbai.

The stockbroker, who leads a flamboyant lifestyle, is known to throw big parties and is also regularly visible in Mumbai's A-list party circuit. It is said the entrepreneur loves to live life kingsize and enjoys hobnobbing with the rich and famous.

In 2010, Gautam was interrogated by the police after his thengirlfriend, model Viveka, committed suicide. Gautam and Viveka were said to be in a relationship. In her suicide note, Viveka blamed Vora for her death.

Vora's popularity among girls was what depressed Viveka, who was serious about commitment. The model was found hanging in her Bandra flat and some intimate snaps of the couple were released by the family later on.

Vora claimed that he was not dating Viveka and that they were just friends. Police subsequently gave him a clean chit in the suicide case due to the lack of evidence.

As Vora's name resurfaces in the Tikku-Kakkad murder cases, there are reports that Palande's partner-in-crime Simran Sood was in a relationship with Vora around the time of Viveka's death, and thereby, that could have been the cause of her suicide. However, it is yet not clear whether Simran was responsible for Viveka's suicide or whether Vora was two timing both of them. Initially, Vora was untraceable. The police are now going to question him on his and Simran's relationship as well as on his supporting her financially.

Helped Palande
- Stock broker Gautam Vora was arrested on charges of giving shelter to Vijay Palande, accused of murdering businessman Arun Tikku and budding producer Karan Kakkad, after the latter escaped from police custody

- Palande was arrested in Mumbai on April 10, but escaped later the same day from a police vehicle

- He subsequently approached stock broker Vora, who arrived in his car and took him to a hotel in Colaba- On Monday, Vora was produced before a local court, which remanded him in police custody till April 27