Latest news with #JasmerSingh
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Queens driver gets 10 years in deadly road rage hate crime attack
A Queens motorist was sentenced to 10 years behind bars on Wednesday nearly two years after a road rage bias attack on another driver that quickly escalated into hateful language and deadly violence. Prosecutors initially charged Gilbert Augustin with manslaughter and assault as hate crimes in the October 2023 beating death of Jasmer Singh, 66, a Sikh man whom Augustin repeatedly derided as 'turban man' during the vicious Van Wyck Expressway attack. But Augustin pleaded guilty to second-degree assault as a hate crime, avoiding even more prison time if he had been convicted by a Queens jury on the manslaughter charge. Cops were reluctant at first to charge Augustin with a hate crime. But a grand jury investigation revealed more details about the attack that previously were not available to detectives, officials said. Outrage from the Sikh community, as well as a social media push calling for hate crime charges, encouraged prosecutors to take another look at the case, officials said. 'We hope that today's sentence provides a measure of solace to Mr. Singh's countless family members and friends and sends a clear message that we will not tolerate hate in Queens, the most diverse place in the world,' Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. Augustin flew into a rage Oct. 19 after his Mustang collided with the 66-year-old father of three's Toyota on the Van Wyck Expressway near Hillside Ave. in Kew Gardens, prosecutors said. The two pulled over and Augustin stormed up to Singh, who was still seated in his car with his wife, according to prosecutors. A witness observed Augustin saying, 'No police, no police,' and repeatedly referring to Singh as 'turban man,' then telling the victim he was not going to let him go home and didn't want him to call the cops, prosecutors said. Augustin reached into Singh's car and took his cell phone, so Singh got out of the Toyota to retrieve it and eventually got his phone back, according to prosecutors. As Singh walked back to his car, Augustin punched him three times in the head and face, knocking his turban off his head and sending him sprawling backward to the ground, prosecutors said. The back of Singh's head slammed into the pavement, causing a brain injury. Singh died at the hospital the next day — the same day an NYPD officer spotted Augustin sitting in his dented Mustang on 111th Ave. in Jamaica, prosecutors said. Augustin, who had a suspended license and couldn't show valid insurance, was taken into custody. Augustin denied that bigotry was a motive for the attack. 'I appreciate my family's support,' he said in court. 'I am not a hateful person.' Augustin was also sentenced to five years of postrelease supervision.
The Print
24-05-2025
- The Print
Delhi Police busts international drug cartel; 5 held with drugs worth Rs 5 crore
'Jasmer Singh and his associates were smuggling opium and charas from Nepal under the pretext of tourism and textile trade. Meanwhile, Mohan Lal sourced heroin and opium from Manipur and transported it to Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, posing as a worker engaged in road construction projects,' Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Amit Kaushik said. The contraband, recovered in two separate operations carried out by Delhi Police Special Cell, was smuggled from Nepal and the northeastern states of India, he said, adding that the accused have been identified as Jasmer Singh (52), the alleged kingpin, Raj Kumar (47), Kala (50), Mohan Lal (45), and Sanjay Rawat (43). New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) Delhi Police has busted an international drug trafficking syndicate with the arrest of five persons, including the alleged kingpin, and seized drugs worth approximately Rs 5 crore in the international market, an official said on Saturday. In the first operation, conducted on April 15, the police team apprehended two suspects, Jasmer and Raj — both natives of Haryana — near the Burari Authority area. They were allegedly waiting in a car, which was later found to contain 5.12 kg opium and 3.53 kg charas hidden in the petrol tank and the roof, he said. Their interrogation led to the arrest of two more alleged accomplices — Kala, a resident of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, and Sanjay from Shamli in the state. An additional 1.87 kg of opium was recovered from them, the officer said. In the second operation on April 29, the police nabbed Mohan, a resident of the Churu district in Rajasthan, from Burari. He was wanted in an NDPS case and was allegedly found carrying 625 grams of crude heroin concealed in a secret cavity of a car, the DCP said. The accused allegedly used social media accounts linked to Nepalese phone numbers for communication and coordination, he added. The police said Jasmer was earlier jailed in Nepal from 2011 to 2019 in a narcotics case and was also arrested in Haryana in 2021. He allegedly formed a cartel in prison with Kala and resumed smuggling upon release. Mohan was allegedly drawn into the trade after suffering financial losses in small businesses. He later acquired a car and used it for smuggling drugs from the northeast, often travelling with a woman to avoid suspicion, the DCP added. A total of 7 kg of high-quality opium, 3.53 kg of charas, and 625 grams of crude heroin were allegedly recovered during the operations. Cases under appropriate provisions of the NDPS Act have been registered and efforts are underway to trace other associates of the syndicates, the police added. PTI SSJ MNK MNK This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
