Archives for November 2021

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik on Wednesday alleged that former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is trying to protect NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, adding that Fadnavis is responsible for “criminalisation of politics”.

Malik alleged that Fadnavis shielded a number of goons and criminals like Riyaz Bhati and Munna Yadav during his tenure.

“Nagpur’s notorious criminal Munna Yadav was appointed chairman of Construction Workers’ Board by Devendra Fadnavis during his government. One Haidar Azam, involved in illegal immigration of Bangladeshis, was appointed chairman of Maulana Azad Finance Corporation by Fadnavis,” said Maharashtra Minister.

He further said, ‘One Riyaz Bhati, a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested at Mumbai airport with a fake passport. Fadnavis must answer who is Riyaz Bhati? Everyone knows he has links with the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Why was he arrested and let off in 2 days? Why was Riyaz Bhati seen with you and even at BJP events? He was also seen at events where PM Modi was present. How did a man like him reach the prime minister’s event?”

The Maharashtra minister further said that Wankhede was also a part of the DRI probe when fake notes worth Rs 14.56 crore were seized from Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in 2017.

“It is due to the friendship between Sameer Wankhede and Devendra Fadnavis that criminal activities flourished in Mumbai and Maharashtra during the BJP government’s tenure,” Malik added saying Fadnavis is responsible for “crimilisation of politics”.

Rs 25 crore was sought to release Aryan Khan when the cruise ship was raided, but later, the parties settled for Rs 18 crore. Why was Aryan Khan invited on the cruise in the first place? asked Malik.

Earlier on Tuesday, former Maharashtra Chief Minister had alleged that NCP minister Nawab Malik had ‘underworld links’ with 1993 Mumbai bomb blast convicts.

“Nawab Malik has dealings with people from the underworld people convicted in 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case. He purchased land from convicts of the case at rates cheaper than market rates. Was this deal to save prime land from being forfeited under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) law?” asked Devendra Fadnavis at a press conference.

Malik has been opposed by the BJP following his continuous war of words with Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede.

Reportedly, Nawab Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan was arrested by the NCB in an alleged drug case on January 13 this year. The case has come into light amid the war of words between Mailk and Sameer Wankhede.

Mumbai : Maharashtra minister and Congress leader Aslam Shaikh on Monday said he was invited by one Kashif Khan to the cruise party on October 2, which was busted by the Narcotics Control Bureau, leading to the arrest of Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan.

Shaikh’s reaction comes a day after his cabinet colleague and NCP minister Nawab Malik claimed that Kashif Khan, an organiser of the cruise party, had tried hard to get Shaikh and children of top ministers of the state government to attend that party.

Malik has been spearheading the Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s attack on the Centre and the NCB, calling its drug raid fake .

I don’t know the individual called Kashif (Khan) nor have I met him before. As the guardian minister of Mumbai, I get invited to various events. This was one of the invites, Shaikh told reporters.

He said two agencies the NCB and the Mumbai Police are probing this case.

As far as I can recollect, I don’t remember speaking to Kashif on my mobile phone. It cannot be possible that I will have Kashif’s mobile number because I don’t know Kashif and he doesn’t know me. He met at someplace (function) and he invited me and the matter got over, Shaikh added.

Targeting the BJP and the Centre, Shaikh added that concerted attempts are made to defame the Maharashtra government and its ministers since the tripartite MVA was formed nearly two years ago.

Shaikh said while all the focus has been on the drug cruise raid, similar attention is not given to the multi-crore drug seizure in Gujarat in September.

Bhopal: BJP General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao on Monday triggered a huge row with his statement that people belonging to Brahmin and Baniya communities are in his “pockets”.

Rao, in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, came under attack from the Congress which sought an apology from the BJP leader, who later claimed the opposition party has “distorted” his statement.

Addressing a press conference here at the BJP’s state headquarters, Rao said the party and its governments are going to have special focus on scheduled tribes and scheduled castes not as vote-banks but to address their concern like backwardness, employment and education.

After this, journalists asked Rao that perception about the BJP has been that it is a political party of Brahmins-Baniyas and he was talking about special focus on SCs/STs at a time when the saffron outfit’s slogan is sabka saath, sabka vikas (with all, for everyone’s development).

In reply, the BJP leader, while pointing towards his kurta’s pockets, said, Brahmins and Baniyas are in my pockets . You (media people) termed us a Brahmin and Baniya party when most workers and vote bank were from these sections. Rao said the BJP is working towards gaining trust of all sections of the society.

When the number of people belonging to certain sections was higher, people used to say the party belongs to them. We are working to add more people from the SC/ST sections in our party after finding their lower representation. We are reaching out to all and making the BJP a party for every section, he said.

Rao said the BJP is not leaving out any section, including Brahmins and Baniyas, from its representation, but only including those who were left out to become a national party in true sense.

After a 6-second video of Rao’s controversial remark surfaced on social media and was shared by several leaders of opposition, state Congress president Kamal Nath lashed out at the BJP.

In a statement here, the former CM said the BJP gave the slogan sabka saath sabka vikas and his party’s general secretary is saying the Brahmins and Baniyas are in his pockets.

This is an insult of these sections as the BJP is claiming its right over them. What kind of respect is given to these classes whose leaders have played an important role in building the BJP? BJP leaders have become arrogant due to power, he said.

Nath said the BJP should seek an apology from these communities. A party which talk about sabka saath, sabka vikas is now focussing on certain sections for power, he said.

Later, in a video statement, Rao said the Congress has a habit of “distorting” facts and statements.

We don’t discriminate among sections of the society. All Indians should be part of development. The Congress betrayed and divided all sections of the society. If STs are backward, the only reason is that the Congress has done injustice to them, the BJP leader said. 

Bhopal (MP): At least four infants died in a fire that broke out in the special newborn care unit (SNCU) of Kamla Nehru Children’s Hospital here on Monday night, prompting the government to order a high-level probe into the incident.

Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang said a short circuit may have caused the fire and described the situation inside the ward as “very scary”.

According to an official, the blaze started on the third floor of the hospital, which houses the ICU.

“Four children died in the fire that broke out in the special newborn care unit (SNCU) ward probably due to a short circuit,” Sarang said.

“We reached the spot along with others soon after getting information about the incident. It was dark inside the ward. We shifted the children to the adjacent ward,” he said.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the family members of the victims, he added.

The fire broke out around 9 pm and around 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames, said Fatehgarh fire station in-charge Juber Khan.

A short circuit may have caused the fire, he said.

A total of 40 children were admitted to the SNCU. Of these, 36 were undergoing treatment in different wards.

In a tweet in Hindi, Chouhan said that the rescue operation was swift and the blaze is under control now.

“A high-level probe has been ordered into the incident. The probe will be conducted by ACS (additional chief secretary), health and medical education, Mohammad Suleiman,” the chief minister said.

Worried parents were seen running around in search of their children.

Angry family members of some infants alleged that instead of saving the children, the hospital staff fled.

While a parent was searching for his child, some others rushed out of the hospital with their children, eyewitnesses said.

A woman who was inside the hospital said the ward was shrouded in smoke.

Kamla Nehru Children’s Hospital is part of Hamidia Hospital, one of the biggest government medical facilities in the state.

Former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Kamal Nath termed the incident “very painful” and demanded stern action against those responsible.

In a tweet, state BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma also expressed grief over the incident. He said he was praying for the speedy recovery of those injured.

Bengaluru: BJP national general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh on Monday said the Congress has a failed leadership due to infighting in the party across the country including Karnataka.

“Congress does not have any issue and it is a divided house. There is a huge difference (of opinion) between Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah and Congress state president D K Shivakumar. They try to displace each other,” Singh told reporters here.

Singh, who arrived here on Monday night on a two-day visit to attend party events and meetings, was replying to a query on Congress party’s protest against the alleged maladministration in Karnataka.

Stating that there was infighting in Congress across the country, Singh said there is leadership crisis in Chhattisgarh and in Punjab Captain Amrinder Singh has formed a separate party.

“The Congress leadership has totally failed,” Singh said.

The BJP leader said the Congress leaders were not aware of the public mood yet.

Referring to the BJP’s victory in the recent Sindgi assembly bypoll, Singh claimed the Congress, especially Siddaramaiah, tried to create an anti-Dalit issue, which fell flat.

Speaking about Hangal bypoll where the BJP lost, he said, the loss was marginal and overall performance in the bypolls was good.

Regarding his meeting on Tuesday, the BJP leader said it is about strengthening every booth and the strategies for the future elections.

“Everyone in BJP will have to work with a single motto and single aim that in 2023 the BJP has to come with a huge majority. That is the only target we have and we are working accordingly,” Singh said.

Regarding the Congress party’s charge about ‘Bitcoin scam’, he said the party does not have any issue, so they are talking about Bitcoin scam.

Bengaluru: Asserting that Karnataka government was making all honest efforts to implement the Mekedatu project across Cauvery river, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday slammed opposition Congress for its planned ‘Padayatra’, demanding its speedy implementation.

“What did the Congress leaders do, when they were in power, instead of implementing the project,” Bommai asked, in a statement.

Stating that it’s not right to mount pressure on the government in the name of a padayatra, he said, “The Congress took years to prepare a DPR (Detailed Project Report). Why didn’t they expedite the process and implement the project?”

The Chief Minister said that the Mekedatu project is now before the court, and the government is fighting the case legally.

“We need the Central Water Commission’s nod for the project. We are honestly trying to get it. We are confident that the permission will come. As soon as that happens, we will make an honest effort to implement the project,” he added.

Bommai’s statement came a day after the Congress Karnataka unit announced that it will organise a padayatra from Mekedatu to Bengaluru, a distance of over 100 km, probably during the first week of December, demanding implementation of the project.

State Congress President D K Shivakumar had even alleged that Chief Minister Bommai seems to be under some “political pressure” and “lacks political will” to go ahead with the project.

Earlier in the day, senior Minister K S Eshwarappa too asserted that the Karnataka government was committed to the implementation of the Mekedatu project, and asked the opposition Congress not to play politics over the issue.

“The Mekedatu project is the desire of every citizen of Karnataka. We have decided to implement the project in accordance with law and will do it. But I don’t know why Congress is remembering Mekedatu now? When their government was in power they did not pay attention to it and now when BJP is in power they are talking about it,” he said.

Mekedatu is a multi-purpose (drinking and power) project, which involves building a balancing reservoir near Kanakapura in Ramanagara district.

Neighbouring Tamil Nadu has been opposing the project, raising apprehensions that the state would be affected if the project takes shape.

The project, once completed, is aimed at ensuring drinking water to Bengaluru and neighbouring areas (4.75 TMC) and also can generate 400 MW power, and the estimated cost of the project is Rs 9,000 crore.

New Delhi: Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid told a court here on Monday that statements of the witnesses in the Delhi riots conspiracy case were written by someone else and given to them as police did not have any evidence, and a case can’t be made against him on half-truths.

Khalid and several others have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), a stringent anti-terror law, and are accused of being the “masterminds” of the north-east Delhi riots in February, 2020 which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

Arguing his bail plea before Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat, senior advocate Trideep Pais read out the statements of three protected witnesses and claimed that they were contradictory and cooked up.

During the proceedings, Pais read out a police allegation from the charge sheet regarding an alleged secret meeting in Delhi’s Seelampur area on January 23 and 24 last year in which Khalid had allegedly directed that the protests be escalated to riots and result in the spilling of blood of policemen and others.

Denying that it was a secret meeting, Pais argued that its pictures were taken and uploaded on Facebook. I did not know that secret meeting were put up on Facebook. Does it really look secret to this Court? he asked.

He also called the protected witness Sierra, who gave a statement to the police on this alleged secret meeting, cooked up .

From the statement, it is clear that Sierra is the chaiwala [teaseller] who comes and gives chai in the meetings. He is the only witness who says that the meeting was secret. All other witnesses do not claim this. They all contradict each other, Pais said.

He added, How would a person speak in front of a chaiwala and spill the entire beans of conspiracy? The witness waits from January to June and appears miraculously before the police. Clearly a cooked-up witness.

Pais asked how a tea seller miraculously know the names of all the people in the secret meeting, including those who are not even there.

The advocate submitted, He said Natasha Narwal was present but she was not there. Should you believe this man?

You [Police] can’t have half-truths to go and make a case against me. Clearly, these statements are written by someone else, given to these people to pass them off as theirs because you don’t have any evidence. So, you call people to the police station and tell them that I want to implicate so and so, the lawyer said.

Pais further said that after Sierra did not record the statement before the magistrate under section 164 of CrPC, the police moved on to another protected witness Smith .

Smith, however, did not say that the meeting was secret or took place in a secret office, the lawyer said. He added, Reference to Umar Khalid is his presence in a meeting and nothing beyond that. So, the secret meeting theory is diminished by this witness.

He also referred to another protected witness Bravo and told the court that heavy reliance was placed on his statements to implicate Khalid. Bravo gave a statement about a Delhi Protest Support Group (DPSG) WhatsApp group involving Khalid and the formation of a high-level committee in December 2019.

What is interesting is that only four messages were sent by me on DPSG group. I simply gave people the location of the protest site. This is the sum total of my interaction, Pais said.

He said that Bravo admittedly was part of the group and left it on February 22, 2020, due to disagreements but gave the statement to the police on June 8. I wonder how can such a statement surface after so many months, he asked.

Further, he said that bravo was an indication of a pattern of false implication in the FIR and charge sheet. Pais told the court that the witness had cherry-picked the names in his statement.

There is no high-level committee. He cooks up the high-level committee. He cherry-picks names. Most people assigned roles are not arrested and I am arrested. Whenever he refers to me, he refers to me with a clutch of other names. Their responsibilities are more. Mine are insignificant or not at all, Pais said.

He added, The witness is unable to point out a specific activity that I undertook by virtue of which it can be said that I did an illegal act, a terrorist act.

In the last hearing on November 2, Khalid had said that the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest was secular but the charge sheet in the Delhi riots conspiracy case was communal and that the police fabricated a story to suit their narrative, calling it a “naked form of false implication”.

Besides him, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent anti-terror law in the case.

Dubai: Captain-in waiting Rohit Sharma made short work of a modest target with an elegant half-century after spinners reigned supreme as India on Virat Kohli’s last day as shortest format captain ended their T20 World Cup campaign with an emphatic nine-wicket victory over Namibia here on Monday.

Rohit, who is set to take over as India’s white-ball captain, smashed 56 off 37 balls with seven fours and two sixes and got fabulous support from another supremely stylish KL Rahul (54 not out off 36 balls) as India chased down the target of 133 in only 15.2 overs.

It was nothing more than a stroll in the park for the Indians, who basically caught the Namibians by the scruff of their necks with spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, snaring six wickets between them.

Then, Rohit dazzled and Rahul sizzled with some breathtaking pick-up pull shots while Suryakumar Yadav (25 not out off 19 balls) showed his 360 degree hitting skills to end a rather disappointing tournament on a sweet note.

But three comprehensive wins against smaller nations came only after the horse had bolted the door.

As outgoing coach Ravi Shastri pointed out, a “mentally and physically” drained Indian team couldn’t switch on during big-match pressure situations as Pakistan and New Zealand literally embarrassed an out of sync team.

The last three games were flawless but it was two matches too late, something that will certainly haunt Kohli, whose white ball captaincy tenure is set to end with no ICC trophy to show for his efforts.

On the night, India’s spinners were just too good for the unheralded Namibia batters as India restricted the minnows to a modest 132 for 8 in their inconsequential final T20 World Cup match.

Already ousted from the tournament after losing to Pakistan and New Zealand in their first two games, India looked relaxed and the the Namibians were all at sea as they are not used to playing world class slow bowling operators of this calibre.

Jadeja (4-0-16-3) and Ashwin (4-0-20-3) took six wickets between them for 36 runs to make it a lop-sided contest after Namibia, courtesy their opener Stephan Baard (21) and Michael van Lingen (14), had added 30-plus runs in the first four overs.

Once Van Lingen was dismissed by a short ball and extra pace from Jasprit Bumrah (4-0-19-2), the will to fight was not evident on the African nation’s batters when Jadeja and Ashwin jointly operated. Mohammed Shami (0/39 in 4 overs) was the only bowler who had an off-day.

Jadeja saw Craig Williams jumping down the track and stopped on his tracks and pitched on length to get enough away turn. Williams missed it and stood mid-pitch looking completely bamboozled.

Baard was out to a typical Jadeja arm ball, which he tried to sweep and was caught plumb in-front.

Once Jadeja got a coupe of wickets, it was Ashwin’s turn to get into action as he removed Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (5), inducing a cut, a shot that landed into slip fielder Rohit Sharma’s palms and then bowled one with the angle that cleaned up Zane Green (0). In between he also removed rival skipper Gerhard Erasmus (12).

But the highlight of India’s fielding effort was a superb diving catch by Rohit at short cover when he had roughly 0.16 seconds reaction time to pluck the ball inches above the ground to dismiss JJ Smit (9).

Namibia’s plight was understandable as they hit only eight fours and two sixes in the entire innings while consuming 58 dot balls.

Srinagar: Militants on Monday shot dead a civilian in the Bohri Kadal area here, the second attack carried out by the ultras in the city in the past 24 hours, officials said.

Militants fired upon Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, a resident of Bandipora district, at Bohri Kadal around 8 pm, they said.

The officials said Khan was rushed to a hospital in a critical condition where he succumbed.

He worked as a salesman in the nearby Maharajgung, they said.

The officials said security forces have cordoned off the area to trace the attackers.

Khan’s killing was the second attack by the militants in the city in the past 24 hours. A policeman was shot dead in the Batamaloo area on Sunday evening.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah condemned the killing of the civilian.

“The dastardly killing of Ibrahim is reprehensible & I unreservedly condemn it. Unfortunately Ibrahim is the latest in a series of targeted killings in the valley, especially Srinagar. May Allah grant him place in Jannat,” Omar tweeted.

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has threatened BJP leaders that he would cut their tongues if they don’t refrain from using bad language to criticise him.

Hitting out at Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay, Rao on Sunday in a press conference said the saffron party leader is resorting to cheap talk and looking for political gain out of farmers.

The chief minister alleged that it was the Centre which refused to buy paddy from farmers though the state is setting up centres to buy the commodity from peasants.

“TRS is the largest party with the highest number of representatives in the state. So far we have tolerated your comments as dog barking. Henceforth if you indulge in loose talk, utter nonsensical words we will take legal action against you and question you on roads. If you continue to talk nonsense we will slice your tongues, be careful,” Rao warned.

The ruling TRS and opposition BJP are indulging in a war of words on paddy procurement making allegations against each other.

Daring the BJP leader to get an order from the Centre on procuring paddy from Telangana, the chief minister said his party is extending issue-based cooperation to the centre.

“The same BJP leader resorted to cheap talk against me. He even said they have a strategy to send KCR to prison. He publicly made such comments. Can you send me to prison?…Can you even touch KCR? You touch me and see…,” Rao said.

Rao further alleged that the BJP will try to rake up communal sentiments or international border issues at every opportunity.

Reacting to the CM’s comments, Bandi Sanjay on Monday in a press conference said there are letters from the Centre that it would procure paddy from farmers.

The BJP leader also alleged that the chief minister blatantly lied that the state government has never increased VAT on petrol and diesel in the past seven years though it issued orders enhancing the tax in 2015.

Narrating the various central funds to the state, Sanjay demanded to know what Rao did for farmers.

He further claimed it was Telangana which opposed bringing of petroleum products under GST purview.