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Great grand daughter of Mahatma Gandhi jailed for seven years for a fraud case in South Africa

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Ashish Lata Ramgobin, the 56-year-old great-granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, has been jailed for seven years in a six-million rand (Rs 3.22 crore) fraud and forgery case. Mahatma Gandhi’s great-granddaughter was sentenced by a Durban court after she was found guilty in the fraud case.

Ashish Lata Ramgobin was accused of defrauding businessman SR Maharaj after he advanced R6.2 million to her for allegedly clearing import and Customs duties for a non-existent consignment from India. SR Maharaj was promised a share of profits, PTI reported.

Lata Ramgobin, daughter of noted rights activists Ela Gandhi and late Mewa Ramgobind, was also refused leave to appeal both the conviction and the sentence by the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court.

During the trial, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had said that Lata Ramgobin allegedly provided forged invoices and documents to convince investors that three containers of linen were being shipped in from India.

At that time, Lata Ramgobin was released on a bail of 50,000 rand.

Lata Ramgobin had met SR Maharaj, director of the New Africa Alliance Footwear Distributors, in August 2015. His company imports and manufactures and sells clothing, linen and footwear, and also provides finance to other companies on a profit-share basis.

Mahatma Gandhi’s great-granddaughter had told Maharaj that she had imported three containers of linen for the South African Hospital Group NetCare.

NPA spokesperson Natasha Kara said, “Lata Ramgobin said she was experiencing financial difficulties to pay for import costs and customs and she needed the money to clear the goods at the harbour.”

“She told him [Maharaj] that she needed R6.2 million. To convince him, she showed him what she claimed was a signed purchase order for the goods. Later that month, she sent him what seemed to be a NetCare invoice and delivery note as proof that the goods were delivered and payment was imminent,” the spokesperson said.

Lata Ramgobin “further sent him confirmation from NetCare’s bank account that payment had been made”, Kara said. Maharaj entered into an agreement with her owing to Ramgobin’s family credentials and NetCare documents.

He later laid criminal charges upon finding that the documents were forged.

Ramgobin was founder and executive director of the Participative Development Initiative at the NGO International Centre for Non-Violence, where she described herself as “an activist with a focus on environmental, societal and political interests.”

A number of other descendants of Mahatma Gandhi are human rights activists and among them are Lata Ramgobin’s cousins Kirti Menon, the late Satish Dhupelia, and Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie. Ramgobin’s mother Ela Gandhi in particular, has been internationally recognised for her efforts, including national honours from both India and South Africa.

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What monkey fled with a bag containing evidence in it: Read full story

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The court, generally, considers a person who commit a crime and the one who destroys the evidence, as criminals in the eyes of law. But what if an animal destroys the evidence of a crime committed by a human.

In a peculiar incident in Rajasthan, a monkey fled away with the evidence collected by the police in a murder case. The stolen evidence included the murder weapon (a blood-stained knife).

The incident came to light when the police appeared before the court and they had to provide the evidence in the hearing.

The hearing was about the crime which took place in September 2016, in which a person named Shashikant Sharma died at a primary health center under Chandwaji police station. After the body was found, the deceased’s relatives blocked the Jaipur-Delhi highway, demanding an inquiry into the matter.

Following the investigation, the police had arrested Rahul Kandera and Mohanlal Kandera, residents of Chandwaji in relation to the murder. But, when the time came to produce the evidence related to the case, it was found that the police had no evidence with them because a monkey had stolen it from them.

In the court, the police said that the knife, which was the primary evidence, was also taken by the monkey. The cops informed that the evidence of the case was kept in a bag, which was being taken to the court.

The evidence bag contained the knife and 15 other important evidences. However, due to the lack of space in the malkhana, a bag full of evidence was kept under a tree, which led to the incident.

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