Archives for 2021

LUCKNOW: BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Thursday posted a video purportedly of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and said the protesters cannot be silenced through murder asking for accountability for the farmers.

“The video is crystal clear. Protestors cannot be silenced through murder. There has to be accountability for the innocent blood of farmers that has been spilled and justice must be delivered before a message of arrogance and cruelty enters the minds of every farmer,” the Pilibhit MP said in a tweet.

He posted a 37-second video in which a speeding Mahindra Thar jeep is seen running over people.

Two SUVs — one black and another white — was seen following the jeep while there is commotion of people shouting and crying in the video.

The video, which has gone viral on social media, is said to have been taken on October 3, the day on which violence took place in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Eight people were killed in the violence on Sunday.

Of the eight killed, four were farmers, who were allegedly mowed down by vehicles driven by BJP workers travelling to welcome UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to an event in the area.

The other four were two BJP workers, a driver of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra and a journalist working for a private television channel.

LAKHIMPUR KHERI: A delegation of TMC MPs on Tuesday met families of farmers killed in the Lakhimpur violence, claiming that they dodged policemen by posing as tourists.

The TMC delegation comprised MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sushmita Dev, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Pratima Mondal and Dola Sen.

While on their way, the UP Police tried to stop them, the TMC leaders claimed in a statement.

They posed as tourists on being stopped by police, claimed the MPs of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

Dola Sen said they were trying to reach Lakhimpur Kheri since Sunday and they could reach there two days later.

Dastidar and Dev went to Palia tehsil of the district to meet the kin of Lavpreet Singh (19) while others travelled to Dhaurahra tehsil to meet relatives of Nachatar Singh.

Both were cremated during the day at their native places.

Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev, who recently switched over to the TMC from the Congress, said, “Heartbreaking to meet the family of the young farmer who was crushed to death in Lakhimpur Kheri.”

“AITC chairperson Mamata Banerjee stands with the farmers to repeal the black laws and stop these brutal injustices. She fought in Singur and assured to continue fighting for farmers of India,” the MP added.

Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said, “The accused is the son of a politician but he has killed someone and he must be penalised. India is a democratic country but democracy is missing for the last few years.”

“The BJP is ruling like an autocratic government. They are putting everyone behind the bars except the accused and killing whosoever they want. PM Modi is in Lucknow, why didn’t he visit Lakhimpur-Kheri,” Dastidar said.

ROURKELA: The spate of arrests by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the high-profile rave party on a cruiseliner off Mumbai that grabbed the headlines includes two youths from Rourkela. Three more are believed to be under investigation.

Reliable sources said Manish Rajgaria and Avin Sahu were in the cruise and arrested after NCB raid on the rave party in which Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan was held for alleged possession of narcotics substances. 

The bureau sleuths had seized 2.5 grams of ecstasy, 54.3 grams of mephedrone, small quantity of charas and cannabis from possessions of the eight. There were four operations carried out in the last two days.

As per preliminary reports, Manish was caught with a small quantity of ‘ganja’, while Avin was held for being a consumer of narcotics substance. Both were produced before a court on Tuesday. Three others from Rourkela are also reportedly facing NCB investigation. 

Manish is the son of a Rourkela-based entrepreneur who also owns a sponge iron plant. Avin’s father owns a jewellery store. Manish’s family sources confirmed that he has been charged with possession of 2.4 gram ganja. They added that the youth and few friends had gone on a pleasure trip and were guests in the party. 

“We are unaware how he got in the rave party and the incident has left us in shock and pain,” said a kin who is now in Mumbai. Informed sources said, more than 30 youths in different groups of common friends had left Rourkela recently on pleasure trips and five had boarded the cruise ship for Goa.

“For some wealthy families, such pleasure trips are common. Covid pandemic had cast a spanner for last year and a half. However, after the curbs were lifted, many were headed for vacations,” said the sources.
Another source said, rave parties and indulgences are always on the list of the pleasure-seeking population but none expected to be exposed.

NEW DELHI:  The Naga peace accord may be sealed before Christmas, with top leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issak-Muivah faction) arriving for talks in Delhi on Tuesday. The Centre is keen on resolving the issue soon.

NSCN (IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, emissary of the NSCN (IM) collective leadership VS Atem and other top leaders such as RH Raising reached Delhi to finalise the agenda and date of the next meeting.

Former IB special director AK Mishra will continue to represent the government.

While an official announcement is yet to be made about Mishra’s appointment as the new interlocutor for the Naga peace talks, the government has given all indications of the same.

In a letter written recently to the NSCN (IM), Mishra was addressed as the “PMO representative”, a title which was earlier held by RN Ravi who resigned as the interlocutor on September 22.  

After nearly two years, the peace talks resumed on September 20 in Dimapur following which the insurgent outfit had a detailed meeting with Assam and Nagaland chief ministers.

Officials said that NSCN (IM)’s meeting with two chief ministers was preceded by Himanta Sarma’s deliberations with Home Minister Amit Shah.

During the last meeting, it was agreed upon by both parties that a solution to the Naga political problem needs to be worked out at the earliest, sources said about the agenda of the next meeting. 

“Both sides are keen on a solution so that peace and development can be accelerated in Nagaland. It is likely that the peace accord may be worked out before Christmas,” an official said. 

The Centre and the NSCN (IM) inked the Framework Agreement on August 3, 2015 while the parallel dialogue commenced with Naga National Political Groups in 2017 with the signing of the agreed position the same year.

MUMBAI:  The BJP registered a landslide victory in the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) polls on Tuesday where it  won 41 seats out of the total 44. 

It also won other civic local bodies in Gujarat. The Congress, however, snatched the Bhanvad Municipality.

The Gujarat State Election Commission (SEC) authorities said the polling in the GMC remained largely peaceful. 

The AAP had put in a concerted effort in the GMC through an innovative campaign by its senior leaders. However, it failed in Gandhinagar. After Surat civic body elections, the AAP was confident.

However, the voters of Gandhinagar rejected it. In the GMC elections, the Congress was able to bag only two seats.

The AAP won one seat. In the Okha Nagar Palika elections, too, BJP recorded a resounding victory. It won 34 out of the 36 seats.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his gratitude to the people of Gujarat for the BJP’s victory. “The results reaffirm the deep-rooted bond between the people of Gujarat and the BJP,” he said.

The GMC was very significant. It was the litmus test in the backdrop of several changes in the government and party structure in Gujarat.

The BJP has not only replaced the chief minister but changed the entire cabinet. However, despite this, people remained loyal to the saffron party.

In Bhanvad, the Congress snatched the civic body from the ruling party. Out of 24 seats, Congress emerged as the winner. It won 16 seats. The BJP won only eight seats.

The saffron party had been in power in Bhanvad since 1995. According to the SEC, the polling witnessed around 56.24 per cent voters’ turn-out. 

Political observers said that the Congress and the AAP would have to go back again to the drawing board to discuss and decide strategy. 

SRINAGAR:  A prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessman, who had not left the Valley even after the militancy erupted in 1990, was among three people killed by militants on Tuesday.

A police officer said militants targeted Makhan Lal Bindroo, the owner of Srinagar’s famous chemist shop Bindroo Medicate, at his pharmacy at Iqbal Park area in uptown Srinagar in the evening.

The militants fired from a point blank range, leaving Bindroo in a pool of blood, and escaped from the highly secured area. 

Bindroo, 65, was rushed to the SMHS Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. SMHS medical superintendent Dr Kanwaljeet Singh told this newspaper that Bindroo was hit by four bullets.

“One of the bullets hit him on eyebrow,” he said.

Immediately after the militant attack, police, CRPF and army personnel rushed to the area and launched a combing and search operation.

The area where the attack took place is highly secured as police and paramilitary personnel remain stationed.

A police station is barely a few hundred meters away from the pharmacy and a paramilitary CRPF camp is also not far off.

Unlike others of his community, Bindroo had stayed back with his wife and operated his pharmacy. Bindroo Medicate is one-stop shop for patients as the medicines unavailable anywhere else can be found there. 

An hour after Bindroo’s killing, militants shot dead a non-local street vendor at Lal Bazar area in downtown Srinagar.

The deceased, who was selling his ware in a handcart, was identified as Virender Paswan of Bhagalpur from Bihar.  

In the third attack, militants shot dead a civilian in Hajin area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district in the evening. Militants fired from blank range at Mohammad Shafi, a civilian, in Shahgund Hajin area.

He was also declared brought dead by doctors.

The killings drew widespread condemnations from all the political parties. J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha strongly condemned the killings and said perpetrators of these heinous acts would be brought to justice very soon.