Dinabandhu Chowdhary is an Indian journalist who worked for the local newspaper Dainik Navjyoti and gained popularity for covering the story of the 1992 Ajmer rape case.
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Wiki/Biography
Deenbandhu Chowdhary was born on Saturday, 19 December 1936 (age 86 years; as in 2023) in Khadlai, Rajasthan. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. He did his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Rajasthan University, Jaipur.
Physical Appearance
Hair Colour: Bald
Eye Colour: Black
Family
parents and siblings
Deenbandhu’s father’s name is Durga Prasad and mother’s name is Vimla Devi Chowdhary.
wife and kids
He was married to Pratibha Agarwal on 11 May 1965. They have two sons, Narendra Chowdhary and Harsh Chowdhary, and a daughter, Neelima Chowdhary.
livelihood
He was a member of All India Newspaper Annals, Delhi since 1957. In 1959, he was a member of the Language Newspaper Association India, Delhi and a member of the Indian Newspaper Society, Delhi. In 1990, he became the President of Ajmer District Journalist Association, Ajmer. From 1993-1994, he was a member of the Rajasthan Telephone Advisory Committee, Jaipur. In 1993, he became a member of the Rajasthan Postal Advisory Committee, Jaipur. He also served as a member of the Hindi Advisory Board of the Ministry of Mines, Government of India, as a member of the Divisional Railway Advisory Committee, North-West and Railways. In 1987, he became the General Secretary of Citizen’s Council, Ajmer. From 1994-1995, he was a member of the Zonal Runway Consumers Consultative Committee, Bombay. He was also a member of the Regional Consumer Advisory Committee. He was a member of Rotary in 1980. In 1992, he was elected the President of Ajmer Club.
ajmer rape case coverage
The 1992 serial gang rape and blackmail case took place in the Rajasthan city of Ajmer. Research revealed that hundreds of college and high school students were involved in this scam. The incident attracted attention when a local newspaper, Navajyoti, published a story about the publication of some nude photos and local gangs blackmailing school children. According to the study, the victims were taken to a farmhouse or bungalow for several years until 1992, when they were sexually assaulted by one or more men. Additionally, the accused took explicit photographs of the victims which were later used to blackmail them. The photographs of the girls were prepared in the nearby photo studio Bharosa Color Lab. According to the police interrogation, the local people were aware of the activities happening in their neighborhood but did not report it.
The room in the poultry farm where girls used to be raped
The scam unfolded through a network of serial criminals, mainly influential local men, who particularly targeted young girls. It began when Farooq Chishti lured a girl from Sophia Senior Secondary School in Ajmer and obtained her explicit photographs. Using these photographs, he blackmailed her into introducing him to her classmates and friends. Once he gained access to them, he went on to commit acts such as rape, sexual assault and took indecent photographs of the victims. As this cycle continued for a long time, the gang started victimizing more girls. They would photograph the girls in derogatory positions and exploit them using the images as a means of control. Dinabandhu was working as editor of Navajyoti during that period and revealed that local law enforcement officials were aware of the scam for about a year before it became public. However, he did not launch any investigation against the politicians involved. Chowdhary himself had objections to publishing the story because of his connection to the influential ‘Khadim’ family of criminals. However, he decided to pursue the story as a means of pressuring the local administration to take action against those responsible.
Cover story cutting by Dinabandhu Chowdhary in 1992
After further investigation, the police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the initial eight accused persons.
FIR file of rape case registered in 1992
As the investigation progressed, a total of 18 people were charged in connection with the case, triggering protests and a tense atmosphere among the local community. Following the arrest of the accused persons, a three-day bandh was enforced and news related to exploitation and blackmail began to circulate. Retired Rajasthan DGP Omendra Bhardwaj, who was then serving as Deputy Inspector General of Police in Ajmer, said victims were afraid to speak up against the accused because of their social and financial influence. He further noted that many young and vulnerable victims had tragically taken their own lives, and that many others disputed the statements made in court. The convicts were also suspected to have links with organizations like Pakistan’s ISI, PFI and Dawat-e-Islami. Many victims reported that they faced harassment and threats, but received little support from society or even their own families. Ajmer Mahila Sangh, an organization that took up the cause of the victims, also faced threats and eventually had to withdraw from the case. All 19 persons involved in the case faced kidnapping charges. During the investigation, it was found that the main accused Farooq Chishti was holding the post of Ajmer Youth Congress president. Initially, he was declared mentally unstable, but in 2007, a fast-track court in Ajmer convicted him. Vice President of Ajmer Indian National Congress Nafees Chishti and Joint Secretary of Ajmer Indian National Congress Anwar Chishti were also involved in this case. In addition, Moizullah (alias Puttan), Ishrat Ali, Anwar Chishti and Shamshuddin (alias Maradona) were convicted by the court. On 4 January 2012, Syed Salim Chishti, one of the primary accused, was arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police. Another prime accused, Almas, managed to evade capture for a long time. According to police and women-focused NGOs, building a case against the accused proved challenging as many victims were reluctant to come forward. However, the presence of photographs and videos used for blackmail helped identify the perpetrators. Reports suggest that thirty victims were identified, but only twelve cases were registered. Ten of those twelve withdrew their cases, leaving only two individuals who proceeded with legal action. One of the 18 accused who were charged with kidnapping, gang rape and violating the Indecent Representation of Women Act took his own life. In 2013, the Rajasthan High Court reduced the life sentence to the term already served by the person concerned. According to some police statements, it came to light that some tabloids, which had gained immense popularity during that time, were also engaged in blackmailing the victims. These tabloids had access to explicit images of the girls and demanded money from the families of the victims to prevent the images from becoming public.
achievements
The Marquis Who’s Who recognized him as a notable newspaper publisher.
facts/common sense
- In 2013, he was honored as the guest of honor at the Leadership Summit 2013, which took place at the prestigious Surya Mahal in Bhilwara.
- A film titled “Ajmer 92” directed by Pushpendra Singh and produced by Umesh Kumar Tiwari was released in theaters on 21 July 2023. It was based on the 1992 Ajmer rape case.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn