Three leaders from the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and BJP have been named in the FIR lodged by police in the violence that rocked Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh killing a police officer and a young man, authorities said on Tuesday.

VHP activist Upendra Raghav, BJP city youth wing President Shikhar Agarwal and Bajrang Dal district coordinator Yogesh Raj have been named in the First Information Report in the wake of the violence on Monday.

The police have also arrested two others – said to be villagers – while five persons have been detained in connection with the violence that broke out after the recovery of some animal carcasses that the right-wing groups claimed were of cows.

When Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh tried to reason with the demonstrators and persuade them to clear the traffic jam they had caused, he was attacked both with blunt objects and also fired at, killing him instantly.

A young man was also killed in violence but the circumstances leading to his death are not clear.

The police have registered a case against 88 persons, of whom 25 have been named.

Five police teams have been formed and 22 places have been raided to track down those involved in the violence.

The raids follow details emerging from eyewitness accounts, interrogation of those detained and video footage shot by people present at the time, a police official told IANS.

The police focus is on Chingrawathi and Mahav villages, located close to the crime scene. The police believe the mob came from these two places.

The body of the slain police officer was taken to his village in Etah district where family members broke down at seeing his mortal remains.

Singh is survived by his wife and two sons. His widow Sunita told relatives that her husband had sought leave but it was not granted. She rued that had the leave been granted, he would not have died.

The officer’s elder son Shreya is studying MBA while his younger son Abhishek is a student of engineering.

IANS

 A Bharatiya Janata Party (BSP) leader was stabbed to death here by unidentified assailants, police said on Tuesday.

Pratyishmani Tripathi, 34, was attacked on Monday night in Badshahnagar. He was left bleeding on the road.

According to the police, he was rushed to the trauma centre at the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) where he was declared dead on arrival.

Shortly after midnight, hundreds of his supporters protested outside the hospital, raised anti-police slogans and demanded the immediate suspension of Lucknow Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani.

The agitating crowd alleged that Tripathi had informed the district police chief about threats to his life and asked for security but the request was not paid heed to.

IANS

 Nine minor girls have reportedly gone missing from a shelter home in the national capital, after which Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday directed for suspension of the officials concerned.

The Delhi Police has registered a missing report in this connection, Deputy Commissioner of Police Meghna Yadav said, adding that the investigation is underway.

According to a letter written by the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal to Sisodia on Monday, nine girls went missing from Sanskar Ashram for Girls (SAG) in Dilshad Garden on the intervening night of December 1 and 2.

“The shelter home authorities say they have no clue on how and when these girls went missing. Their absence was discovered only in the morning of December 2,” Maliwal wrote.

An FIR has been registered by the police, she said and a probe is underway.

“The lapse of the home authorities in making it secure is extremely serious and warrants immediate intervention. These nine girls were transferred from a shelter home in Dwarka to Sanskar Ashram for Girls in May,” she added.

She said: “The girls may be victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, and the possibility of the traffickers/ brothel owners kidnapping these girls in connivance with the home authorities needs to be investigated in detail.”

Responding to the letter, Sisodia directed Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash for suspension of the District Officer and the shelter home Superintendent with immediate effect.

“The matter of nine girls going missing from Sanskar Ashram for Girls yesterday (Sunday) is extremely serious and unfortunate. The Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) has failed in its duty to provide a safe and secure environment for minor girls who were placed under protection of the state,” Sisodia wrote to the Chief Secretary.

“It is directed that the District Officer, North-East, WCD and the SAG Superintendent be immediately placed under suspension and their charge be given to competent and sensitive officers,” he said.

Maliwal also wrote to the Delhi Police recommending investigation in the above-mentioned FIR to be transferred to the Crime Branch of Delhi Police so that urgent and immediate action could be taken to trace the girls, the DCW said in a statement.

IANS

A father in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district killed his 6-month-old girl child over a domestic fight, police said on Monday.

“Farha Sultana was the second girl child. Her mother lodged a complaint on Sunday against her husband for throwing their baby girl on the ground while fighting with her,” an official of Salar police station said.

The child was admitted in Burdwan Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition.

“The girl was injured on Thursday and was shifted to our hospital, but she succumbed on Saturday,” said Amitava Saha, deputy superintendent of the hospital.

The husband has been arrested, police said.

IANS

 A 47-year-old businessman on Monday jumped to his death from the ninth floor of his flat in an upscale society here in Haryana, police said. No suicide note was found.

The victim was identified as Naresh Hasija, who lived in the same flat of Park View Apartments here with his family. He allegedly jumped off the floor around 3 a.m.

A case was registered at the Sector 50 police station.

“Hasija, his wife and children watched a movie on television till late on Sunday. His elder son was studying till 2 a.m. on Monday. The reason behind this extreme step is not clear immediately,” police officer Baljeet told IANS.

The family hails from Sonipat.

 A top Taliban leader was killed in what is believed to have been a US airstrike in Afghanistan, Taliban officials said on Sunday.

Abdul Manan was the Taliban “shadow governor” for Helmand province in the south, a key territory for the group, which also gave him control over a large part of the group’s finances, reports Efe news.

Helmand is the centre of the country’s drug trade and the Taliban tax the drugs business.

Manan’s death on Saturday was confirmed by three Taliban officials.

His death would be the biggest loss for the Taliban since 2016 when the group’s leader, Akhtar Mansour, was killed in a US drone strike in western Pakistan.

The killing of Mansour sank the prospects for peace talks at the time as the Taliban resented the loss of its chief.

The latest airstrike was near the town of Sangeen in Helmand, Taliban sources said.

Manan was one of the most influential figures in the Taliban, considered a hardliner. His hold over the drugs business gave him an independent voice within the Taliban hierarchy.
He was considered the force behind the Taliban’s success in Helmand.

The Taliban’s hold on Helmand allowed more members of the movement to travel into Afghanistan from their base in Pakistan.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, said he was checking the reports.

Army Col. David Butler, the spokesman for US-led international forces in Afghanistan, said the US was “looking closely into reports” that Manan had been killed in an airstrike.

Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi had communicated to Enforcement Directorate (ED) through email that he cannot return to India citing security threat to his life.

Nirav Modi, accused in the Rs 13,600-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, has written to the ED via mail that he cannot return to India as his former employees who have not been paid salaries, landlords who have not been paid rents, customers whose jewellery has been confiscated by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and other agencies and several other people have threatened him.

Nirav Modi, whose whereabouts are still not known, said people have burnt his effigies and the mob-lynching incidents in India have prevented him from returning.

“There have been various cases of mob lynching in India. This recent trend of mob lynching and general public giving justice on the road is growing. Even the applicant faces a similar threat as there are several persons who have grievances and anger against him (Mr Choksi),” an application filed in the Mumbai anti-corruption court said.

The Enforcement Directorate had registered a money-laundering case against Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and others on February 15, 2018, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI.

Nirav Modi, along with his associates, has been accused of cheating Punjab National Bank in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting letters of understanding without following the prescribed procedure and causing a wrongful loss to the bank.

Nirav Modi was last located in London and an Indian extradition request is pending before the UK authorities since September.

PTI

A 52-year-old man, living in Mumbai’s Dahisar West area, murdered his 80-year-old mother in the wee hours of Friday, November 30, as he was unable to manage the medical expenses of his mother’s medical treatment.

The man, Yogesh Shenoy, first smothered his mother Lalita Shenoy with a pillow and then slit her throat with a kitchen knife.

Yogesh could not afford his mother’s daily medical treatment. He was also frustrated and depressed after his wife left him a few years back.

According to police officers, Yogesh works with private company and has a low salary. He got separated from his wife a few years back. After their separation, he used to remain frustrated and depressed. His mother Lalita needed timely treatment and medicines. There used to be regular fights between the son and mother.

On Friday, there was again a big fight between Yogesh and Lalita. The fight was so loud that neighbours got up in the wee hours and called the local police. By the time the cops arrived, Yogesh had killed his mother. The cops recovered the murder weapon. Yogesh told the police that it all happened in a fit of rage.