Archives for September 2022

New Delhi: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has sought a report from DMRC chairman and Delhi chief secretary over a complaint by a Sikh who was allegedly stopped from entering a metro station here with kirpan.

The NCM called for necessary action against the officials responsible in the matter.

In a statement, the NCM said it has received a complaint from Gyani Kewal Singh, former Jathedar Damdama Sahib, that he was stopped from entering Dwarka Sec 21 Metro station, New Delhi, and was asked to remove kirpan.

As kirpan is an integral part of the Sikh religion and Article 25 of the Constitution allows wearing and carrying of kirpans by Sikh persons, the incident has hurt the religious sentiment of Sikhs, the statement said.

NCM chairperson Iqbal Singh Lalpura has sought a report in the matter from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chairman, and the chief secretary of Delhi. He has sought necessary action on the officials responsible in the matter, it said.

Kirpan is among the five articles of faith that are worn by Sikhs.

Pune: An advertisement by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways promoting road safety and airbags for rear seat passengers in cars came under fire from Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Monday for alleged promotion of dowry.

In the advertisement, actor Akshay Kumar is seen admonishing the father of a bride for not caring about safety and sending her and her husband in a car with just two airbags for front seat passengers.

Kumar cautions him about an accident and the advertisement moves on to the couple then travelling in a car having six airbags, including for rear seat passengers.

“This is such a problematic advertisement. Who passes such creatives? Is the government spending money to promote the safety aspect of a car or promoting the evil & criminal act of dowry through this ad?” Shiv Sena MP Chaturvedi tweeted.

The issue of six airbags, including for rear seat passengers, took centre stage in the car safety debate after the death of industrialist Cyrus Mistry in an accident in Maharashtra’s Palghar on September 4.

Among those batting for six airbags in cars is Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said that his government encourages private sector investment instead of setting up new Public Sector Units (PSUs) as it “does not subscribe to socialism”.

Opposition Congress sought to know if the chief minister wants to amend the Constitution as its preamble says India is a socialist country.

Replying to a query by Congress MLA Abdul Batin Khandakar during the Question Hour in the Assembly, Sarma said that the government has no intention to run companies, especially loss-making ones.

“The government’s job is in the field of law and order, health, education, roads and other welfare areas. We don’t want to set up companies, but encourage private investments,” he said.

He also emphasised that the Union government has also moved away from running companies as it is not “socialist”.

“Setting up PSUs is socialism and we are not (socialists). After forming a company, a humanitarian crisis evolves if it makes losses. Our IAS officers are not competent to run a company. They are not industrialists. Instead, we want to create an atmosphere of investment,” Sarma said.

On this statement, the opposition protested saying that the preamble of the Constitution says that India is a socialist country.

The Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia asked if the chief minister does not subscribe to the ideals of the Constitution and whether he wants it to be amended.

“Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had introduced the word socialism in our Constitution. We do not subscribe to the socialism of Karl Marx, Lenin and Stalin. Socialism is a matter of interpretation,” Sarma said, leading to a noisy scene in the House.

Earlier, Public Enterprises Department Minister Bimal Bora said Assam has 41 PSUs, of which 17 were declared closed between 2005-06 and 2010-11. Besides, three more PSUs are defunct as of now.

“Since the BJP came to power in 2016, around Rs 1 lakh crore investment has come to the state in different sectors,” he informed the House.

In a written reply to a separate query by BJP MLA Bidya Sing Engleng, Bora said a total of 86 big industries have been registered in Assam during 2016-21 as per the Secretariat for Industrial Assistance statistics of the central government.

In the five years from 2016, a total of 32,770 micro, small and medium enterprises were registered in the state as per the Central government data, he added.

ED seized huge amount of cash during raids in money-laundering case against promoters of alleged fraud mobile gaming app, in Kolkata

New Delhi/Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday seized about Rs 17 crore in cash after it raided the promoters of a Kolkata-based mobile gaming app company as part of a money-laundering investigation.

A photograph released by the federal agency showed bundles of seized Rs 500 currency notes along with a few in the denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 200 stacked together on a bed.

The agency pressed in five note-counting machines and brought bank staff to ascertain the exact value of the cash haul.

The searches were conducted at half-a-dozen locations of the gaming app named ‘E-Nuggets’ and its promoter identified as Aamir Khan and others, the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement.

CRPF personnel escorted the ED teams to locations like Garden Reach, Park Street and Mominpur areas in and around the West Bengal capital, among others.

So far, about Rs 17 crore in cash has been found at the premises and the counting is still in progress, official sources said.

Links of some politicians with the gaming app business are under the scanner, sources in the agency said.

The raids sparked a fresh war of words between the ruling TMC in West Bengal and the BJP.

Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said the TMC has nothing to do with the businessman concerned but alleged that the Centre wanted to drive away investors from the state by spreading the fear of “harassment” by federal agencies.

The BJP rejected the charge, saying the raids were only against unscrupulous businessmen, and asked the TMC leader if he had anything to hide.

Hakim wondered if the ED’s investigations into money laundering cases are restricted to states ruled by non-BJP parties like West Bengal.

“If Rs 7 crore has been unearthed, the source of that money should certainly be investigated. But what about Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi who had swindled more than Rs 7000 crore? Why did their wrongdoing not come to light before they left (India)?

“There are businessmen in BJP-ruled states and they might also have amassed large amounts of money,” he said.

“Does that mean that the raids will be directed selectively against businessmen of non-BJP ruled states like Bengal? It is for dissuading investors from coming to Bengal in the fear of harassment by central agencies,” the senior TMC leader alleged.

Reacting to Hakim’s comments, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya claimed that such statements come from fear as people are aware of the unholy nexus between money launderers and the TMC.

“The ED raid is not directed against the business community in general. It is only against unscrupulous businessmen. Does the former state transport minister has anything to hide?” Bhattacharya added.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR filed by the Kolkata Police against the company and its promoters in February 2021.

This FIR was registered at the Park Street Police Station based on a complaint filed by the Federal Bank authorities before a court in Kolkata, the ED said.

Aamir Khan, son of businessman Nesar Ahmed Khan, launched the mobile gaming application E-Nuggets that was designed to defraud the public, the agency alleged.

“During the initial period, the users were rewarded with a commission and the balance in the wallet could be withdrawn hassle-free.

“This provided initial confidence among users, and they started investing bigger amounts for a greater percentage of commission and a greater number of purchase orders,” it said.

The ED said that after collecting a “handsome amount” from the public, withdrawal from the said app was stopped all of a sudden under one pretext or the other – such as system upgradation and investigation by law enforcement agencies.

Later, all data, including profile information, was wiped off the app servers. It was then the users understood the ploy, the ED said.

Official sources said the agency is investigating if this app and its operators had links with other ‘Chinese controlled’ apps that had been issuing loans at exorbitant rates to gullible persons. In many cases, the loan takers ended their lives after they were threatened by these loan operators to pay up.

Islamabad: Jalandhar-based Sikh man Amarjit Singh’s happiness knew no bounds when he met his Muslim sister from Pakistan at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, 75 years after he was separated from his family at the time of Partition.

Singh was left out in India along with his sister while his Muslim parents migrated to Pakistan at the time of Partition.

All eyes went teary as wheelchair-bound Singh had an emotional meeting with his sister Kulsoom Akhtar at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Wednesday.

Singh arrived in Pakistan via the Wagah border with a visa to meet his sister, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Kulsoom, 65, could not control her emotions after seeing Singh.

Both hugged each other and kept crying. She had travelled from her hometown in Faisalabad along with her son Shahzad Ahmed and other family members to meet her brother.

Talking to the newspaper, Kulsoom said that her parents migrated to Pakistan from a suburb in Jalandhar in 1947, leaving behind her brother and a sister.

Kulsoom said she was born in Pakistan and used to hear about her lost brother and sister from her mother. She said that her mother used to cry whenever she remembered her missing children.

She said that she did not expect that she would ever be able to meet her brother and sister.

However, a few years ago, a friend of her father Sardar Dara Singh came to Pakistan from India and also met her.

Her mother told Sardar Dara Singh about her son and the daughter she left behind in India. She also told him the name of their village and the location of their house.

Sardar Dara Singh then visited her house in Padawan village and informed her that her son was alive but her daughter was dead.

Her son was named Amarjit Singh who was adopted by a Sikh family in 1947.

After getting the brother’s information, Kulsoom connected with Singh on WhatsApp and later decided to meet.

Kulsoom, despite her severe back pain, mustered the courage to travel to Kartarpur just to meet her brother.

Singh said that when he first learned that his real parents were in Pakistan and were Muslims, it was a shock to him. However, he comforted his heart that many families were separated from each other in addition to his own family.

He said that he always wanted to meet his real sister and brothers. He said that he is happy to know that three of his brothers are alive. However, one brother, who was in Germany, passed away.

He said he will now come to Pakistan to spend time with his family.

He also said that he also wants to take his family to India as well so that they could meet their Sikh family. Both the siblings had brought many gifts for each other.

Shahzad Ahmad, son of Kulsoom, said that he used to hear about his uncle from his grandmother and mother. He said that all of the siblings were very young at the time of Partition.

“I understand that since my uncle was brought up by a Sikh family, he happens to be a Sikh, and my family and I have no problem with this,” he added.

Shahzad said that he is happy that even after 75 years his mother has found her lost brother, The Express Tribune quoted him as saying.

This is the second time that the Kartarpur Corridor has reunited a family. In May, a woman born in a Sikh family who was adopted and raised by a Muslim couple met her brothers from India at Kartarpur.

CHANDIGARH:  The police on Sunday said that they had solved the murder case of an 11-year-old boy who was found dead inside a madrassa in Haryana’s Nuh and apprehended a 13-year-old student.

“The accused student did not want to study in the madrassa and with the intention of defaming it, he made a plan and strangled Sameer,” a senior police official said.

Sameer, a resident of Ted village in Nuh, was found dead inside the madrassa on Monday.

According to the police, the juvenile said he chose Saturday for the murder of his fellow student due to the large crowd in the madrassa for Friday prayers.

He took Sameer to a room in the basement of the madrasa, killed him and buried him in the sand, the police said.

Nuh’s Superintendent of Police Varun Singla said during investigation, it came to fore that the accused boy and the deceased student used to play together and get along well.

However, when police teams visited the madrassa for investigation and questioned some students, he got scared, he said.

During interrogation, the accused confessed that he carried out the incident on Saturday, September 3, the police official said.

The decomposed body of Sameer was recovered by police on September 5 and an FIR was registered at Pinangawa police station.

According to the complaint filed by Sameer’s uncle Iqbal, he used to study Urdu and Arabic in Dargah Wala Madrassa in Shah Chaukha village since 2021 and was also staying there.

It was on September 3, one of the villagers Haji Akhtar informed the family that Sameer went missing from the madrassa.

Haridwar: Five people died and several others were hospitalised in two villages here on Saturday allegedly after consuming liquor that was distributed by a panchayat poll candidate, police said.

Some of those hospitalised are stated to be in serious condition, they said.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident. The station house officer of Pathri police station, under which the two villages — Phoolgarh and Shivgarh — come, has been suspended, the police said.

A report from the Chief Minister’s Office, however, said initial inquiries have ruled out consumption of illicit liquor as the cause of death. The state government has ordered a magisterial probe into the matter.

Three people — Raju, Amarpal and Bhola — died in Phoolgarh village and two others — Manoj and Kaka — died in Shivgarh village after consuming liquor, Senior Superintendent of Police, Haridwar, Yogendra Yadav said.

Some other people have been hospitalised, he said.

The quality of the liquor is being examined. It is also being ascertained whether the cause of death was over-drinking, the SSP said.

There is information that a panchayat poll candidate distributed the liquor among the villagers, Yadav said, adding that efforts are on to identify him.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident and the SHO of Pathri police station Ravindra Singh has been suspended, he said.

A report from the Chief Minister’s Office quoting Haridwar District Magistrate Vinay Shankar Pandey said initial inquiries indicate that consumption of illicit liquor is not the cause of death in this case.

The deaths were attributed to old age and illness in one case, injuries sustained in a fight between two people in another and over-drinking in a third case, the report said.

The exact cause of death, however, will be known after a post-mortem examination and a magisterial inquiry, Pandey said.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Haridwar, Pooram Singh Rana will conduct a probe into the matter and submit a report within 15 days.

In 2019, 40 people died in five villages in Haridwar after consuming illicit liquor.

New Delhi: Gulam Ali, a Gurjar Muslim from Jammu and Kashmir, was on Saturday nominated to Rajya Sabha by the government.

This is perhaps for the first time a Gurjar Muslim from the region has been sent to the Upper House as a nominated member.

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (I) of article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article, the President is pleased to nominate Shri Gulam Ali to the Council of States to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated members, a notification issued by the Union Home Ministry said.

The move is considered to be significant as before the abrogation of Article 370, the community had little representation in legislative bodies.

The Modi government abrogated Article 370 in August 2019 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The article gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

MUMBAI: Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar allegedly fired a round during a clash between workers of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s camp early on Sunday, following which police registered a case against him, his son and some others, officials said.

Sarvankar, who represents the Mahim Assembly constituency, however, denied opening fire and claimed his rivals were trying to malign him.

He also said if police call him for questioning, he will cooperate with them.

Police also arrested five Sena workers from the Thackeray camp, who were later released on bail, they said.

The workers from both the sides first clashed in Prabhadevi area of central Mumbai shortly after Saturday midnight before indulging in a scuffle outside the Dadar police station some time later, where Sarvankar fired the round from a weapon, police said.

Both the groups lodged complaints against each other, following which the police registered First Information Reports (FIRs) against 10 to 20 members of both sides, they said.

The incident took place around 12.30 am in New Prabhadevi area, in which Sena functionary Santosh Talavane was allegedly attacked by Mahesh Sawant and 30 others, police said.

Talavane is part of the Shinde camp, while Sawant belongs to the Thackeray-led Sena.

The workers from both the camps again came face to face outside Dadar police station.

MLA Sarvankar, who was present there, fired one round, a police official confirmed.

After that, the legislator, his son Samadhan Sarvankar, Telavane and others were booked under sections of the Arms Act.

They were also charged for rioting and under other relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), he said.

As the rival groups lodged complaints against each other, the Dadar police registered two FIRs, including one against Sarvankar, an official said.

“There was a scuffle between two groups in Dadar in the early hours. Initially, one FIR was registered. Now, another FIR has also been registered under sections of rioting and the Arms Act,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranay Ashok said.

Based on a complaint by Talavane, the Dadar police arrested five Sena workers, including Mahesh Sawant, another official said, adding that they were later released on bail.

The case against them was registered under various Indian Penal Code Sections including 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation), he said.

Following their release, Sawant and other party workers went to ‘Matoshree’ to meet Uddhav Thackeray.

Party leader Aaditya Thackeray, who was present there, said Shiv Sainiks were the party’s “Brahmastra”, a reference to the newly-released movie.

“In the Prabhadevi incident, Shiv Sainiks showed they were the party’s ‘Brahmastra’ and no one is bigger than them,” he said.

The Shiv Sainiks sat next to Uddhav Thackeray, while Aaditya sat on the ground with some others.

“Shiv Sainiks are the real strength of the party and Shiv Sena is a family,” he said.

Shinde camp’s spokesman Naresh Mhaske later took a dig at Uddhav Thackeray saying that he found time from his afternoon nap to meet the persons released on bail following their arrest for attacking the member of the rival faction, and take a picture with them.

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant, who supports former chief minister Thackeray, demanded action against Sarvankar under the Arms act for allegedly firing in public at the clash spot.

After meeting officials at Dadar police station following the arrest of workers of the Uddhav Thackeray faction, the parliamentarian said if those arrested are not released and action is not against Sarvankar, his party will take to streets and people will know which is the “real Shiv Sena”.

He said after the Ganesh immersion, there was an argument and workers of the two Sena factions clashed around midnight.

Arvind Sawant alleged that Sarvankar verbally abused the rival group and fired twice in public.

The Sena spokesperson also claimed that police were a witness to it.

“When our workers went to Dadar police station to lodge a complaint, it was not accepted,” he said.

Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council Ambadas Danve, who was present with Arvind Sawant at Dadar police station, told reporters that one-sided action by police cannot be tolerated.

“If both sides are at fault, action should be against both. We lodge a complaint, it is ignored. But when the other side complaints, our people are arrested at night,” Danve said.

Kiran Pawaskar, the spokesman of the Shinde group, rejected the allegations against Sarvankar.

“Sarvankar has Y category security and it is impossible that he will fire in public,” Pawaskar said, adding that such allegations were “childish”.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray has dared the rebel MLAs who have joined the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to resign and face elections.

Speaking at an event, the Worli MLA hinted that housing, quality education, healthcare, roads, and public transport will be the “focus areas” of Shiv Sena in the upcoming elections to the Mumbai civic body.

“Why did you backstab us when we gave you everything and why have you not resigned yet to face elections as it happens in a democracy,” the former state minister asked while speaking at the CNN-News18 Town Hall on Saturday night.

Aaditya dismissed claims by the dissidents that he and his father Uddhav Thackeray, who was the chief minister in the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government, remained inaccessible.

He also denied that Shiv Sena’s succession plan was meant to favour him.

“I have always been around. I was allotted the portfolios (Environment and Tourism) that no one opts for otherwise. But when you have ambitions and pressure that can’t be spoken of, you jump the ship,” he said.

The rebellion by Shinde and 39 of the 55 MLAs of Shiv Sena led to the collapse of the tripartite MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray in June this year.

“They (rebels) shifted the goalpost left, right and centre. They blamed our allies (NCP and Congress) for ruining their political fortunes. They spoke about Hindutva. Tomorrow they may blame me for wearing a blue shirt every single day,” Aaditya said.

He challenged the Shinde camp and the Bharatiya Janat Party (BJP), which is part of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, to face elections immediately.

“Let’s face the BMC election now, no problem. Resign and face elections. We will accept the public mandate. Mumbaikars know what we have done for the city during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

The BJP has launched an aggressive campaign for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Council (BMC) elections against the Shiv Sena, which has been ruling the civic body for over two decades.

Listing the works done by the then Uddhav Thackeray government, Aaditya said: “The Hindmata region and Gandhi market area in Mumbai did not flood this year (in monsoon) due to the rainwater harvesting and percolation pits created by us. This is a proud moment for the BMC as well”.

He said Mumbai’s progress rate must not be compared with Shanghai or Singapore.

Speaking about the main issues in Mumbai, he said, “Cities are growth centres and it is up to us to promote the ease of living and define what urbanism is. I think our main focus areas would be housing, quality education, healthcare, roads and public transport”.

Aaditya also spoke about how Shiv Sena tackled civic issues when in power.

“I used to hold meetings every week with 16 different agencies for the betterment of schools, parks, and the coastal road. In my opinion, either make a single authority for Mumbai or simply just get together and take swift action,” he added.

Speaking about Shiv Sena’s opposition to the construction of the metro car shed in Mumbai’s green lung Aarey Colony, Aaditya said the issue is not just about a particular land or trees.

“It is a living, breathing forest. We only stopped the work at Aarey. There are some faults with that line. Rs 10,000 crore escalation in cost was assessed before December 2019 (the MVA government came to power in November 2019),” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had alleged the previous MVA government’s move to stop work at the Aarey Colony had led to the escalation of cost.

Reversing the previous government’s decision to shift the metro car shed to suburban Kanjurmarg and restoring it to the Aarey Colony was one of the first decisions taken by the new government.