Ujjain: RSS activist Kundan Chandrawat, who stirred a hornets nest by announcing a bounty of Rs 1 crore for beheading Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has been arrested, police said.

Chandrawat was arrested on Sunday and later produced before the chief judicial magistrates court which sent him to judicial custody for a fortnight, they said.

In a video that went viral on social media early this month, Chandrawat was purportedly seen announcing a bounty of Rs 1 crore for beheading Vijayan, whom he held responsible for the killing of RSS workers in the southern state.

He later retracted his statement which drew widespread condemnation from various quarters, including the Sangh, and expressed regret.

The RSS had distanced itself from its functionarys remark and promptly removed him from the post of Sah Prachar Pramukh (joint publicity chief) of Ujjain district.

“We yesterday arrested Kundan Chandrawat over his alleged statement. He was produced before the chief judicial magistrates court which remanded him in judicial custody,” Superintendent of Police Manohar Verma told PTI.

On March 2, Madhav Nagar police had registered an FIR against Chandrawat under IPC section 505(1)(B) (whoever makes any statement with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquillity).

(PTI)

New Delhi: The Congress today alleged a Rs 20,000 crore nationwide scam in the procurement of LED bulbs for government use by a state-owned company and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into it. Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs of Power Ministry, is making purchases of LED bulbs in violation of Supreme Court and Vigilance Commission guidelines.

He said ever since the NDA government came to power there is no transparency in procurements made by the company that does not manufacture any LED bulbs and alleged that it is making procurements of “substandard” LED bulbs from China and Taiwan in violation of laid norms. “There should be an independent inquiry and it should be monitored by the Supreme Court, as according to our estimates there is a corruption to the tune of Rs 20,000 crores, the way the quality is compromised,” Gohil told reporters.

He said he has earlier raised the issue in Gujarat Assembly but the minister there was unable to answer the allegations raised. The Congress leader said he procured through RTI power bills of Nausari municipality which revealed that there was no reduction in them ever since LED bulbs replaced old bulbs. In fact, there was an increase over a period of few months that indicated substandard quality of bulbs procured, he said.

“This is a national issue and we would like an independent probe into it,” he said. “I would like Mr Piyush Goyal under whose ministry this company belongs to tweet and say why the guidelines have not been followed and certification not done. Why was importance not given to ‘Make in India’ and why were bulbs procured from China and Taiwan and why no audit was done on procurements,” he said. Another Congress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda said “we will go to the people and we will raise the issue in Parliament also”.

Gowda said the scale of this fraud is enormous and “it is incumbent upon us to raise the issue in Parliament”. “We will raise this as an issue of national importance in Parliament,” he said. Gohil said the “BJP government at the Centre yet again finds itself indulging in massive irregularities and corruption at a lightning speed. Even before the nation blinks its eye to see through the reality, the Central Government is using dubious and highly questionable practices for procurement and distribution of the ‘Ujala’ LED bulbs”.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who claims that his government has distributed more than 21 crore LED bulbs, does not tell the people of India that this process itself “is making a joke of their much publicised claims of ‘Make in India’. Crores of these LED bulbs, LED streetlights, LED pumps and LED fans are infact ‘Made in China’ or ‘Made in Taiwan'”.

“In this context we would like to ask Power Minister Piyush Goyal and the government that under whose direction this entire fraudulent exercise was being done? Is it being done with the knowledge of the Power Minister? If the minister did not know, will he order a time-bound impartial inquiry in the same?” he said. “The Congress party demands an impartial inquiry under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge for the same,” Gohil said.

(PTI)

Jaipur: A leading coffee outlet chain has said that it would ascertain facts and take action after a video of a consumer being slapped by a lady staffer allegedly over the presence of a cockroach inside a refrigerator went online.

Earlier this month, a law student Arpan Verma was allegedly slapped by one of the female staff at an outlet here apparently because he tried to film a video showing a cockroach inside a refrigerator.

In the video, that has gone viral on Twitter, the woman employee is seen walking towards Verma and suddenly slapping him.

Cafe Coffee Day, the chain in question, took notice of the incident and tweeted that required action will be taken.

Café Coffee Day is owned by V G Siddhartha, the son in-law of former Karnataka chief minister and new BJP leader SM Krishna.

“We have escalated the recent issue at our Jaipur outlet and are in talks with the consumers and the internal team to ascertain facts,” the CCD tweeted.

Local police said that no complaint was lodged in this connection so far.

@CafeCoffeeDay @inconsumerforum @consaff @jagograhakjago A big slap to consumer and consumerism.#bhaagograhakbhago pic.twitter.com/eQQymkR5ad

— Nikhil Anand Singh (@nikhilanand88) March 25, 2017

Greater Noida: Four Nigerian students were allegedly attacked by residents who took out a candle-light march for a 17-year-old boy who had died last week due to suspected drug overdose.

Five people have been arrested by the police in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the attack.

The protest march was taken out after police released some Nigerians detained for questioning in connection with the death of the Class 12 student, Manish, in Greater Noida’s NSG Black Cats Enclave due to “lack of evidence”.

The boy’s parents had alleged that the foreigners had kidnapped him and given him drugs which caused his death.

Sujata Singh, Superintendent of Police, Greater Noida said the protesters became violent during the march and started beating up the Africans they saw on the road.

“They also went to Ansal Mall and caused havoc and beat up Africans there. Police then rescued them and moved them to a safe place,” she said.

“Police had to use force to dissuade people from attacking and arrested 5 people from the spot. Many of them who were there trying to play mischief have been identified as the entire event had been videographed. An FIR has been registered and action will be taken accordingly,” Daljit Chaudhary, ADG Law and Order, told reporters here.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the central government was taking immediate action and that she had spoken to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who had assured her of a fair and impartial investigation into this “unfortunate” incident.

The Greater Noida Superintendent of Police said the police had not yet given a clean chit to the Nigerian nationals accused by the victim’s parents.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: II PUC students can heave a sigh of relief as the lecturers have temporarily withdrawn their decision to boycott the evaluation of answer scripts.

The II PU exams will end on Monday while the evaluation is scheduled to begin on April 4.

Earlier, the Karnataka State PU Lecturers’ Association had said that lecturers would boycott evaluation as their demands including salary increment were not met; but the decision to temporarily withdraw the boycott was taken after Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait gave a written assurance that he would meet members of the association between April 13 and 20.

However, the association has said that if the demands were not met, they would resume their boycott.

Minister Tanveer Sait has said that the state government would soon decide on making recommendations to the seventh pay commission to resolve issues with regard to differences in the salary of lecturers.

(Agencies)

Jodhpur: A 27-year-old woman was allegedly set ablaze by a group of villagers led by the sarpanch after she objected to the widening of a road adjoining her agricultural field in Borunda near here.

Police said the incident took place Saturday evening and the woman died at a hospital yesterday, after which her brother filed a complaint with police against the sarpanch of the village and nine others.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Jodhpur Rural) Narpat Singh Rathore said the villagers told police that when the road widening work was going on, the woman appeared with a can of kerosene, spread it on herself and set herself ablaze.

“We are investigating the matter,” he said.

On Saturday, the work on widening of the road in her area was taking place in the presence of officials and villagers.

The woman objected to felling of trees and widening of the road.

Her brother was also present at the spot.

She was rushed to a hospital from where she was referred to the government hospital in Jodhpur.

She succumbed to her burn injuries in Jodhpur yesterday.

“Considering the sensitivity of the matter, we have registered the complaint and have initiated an investigation,” Rathore said.

(Agencies)

Dubai/Islamabad: Mohammad Riaz, the father of Mohammad Farhan, appeared in the Al Ain appeals court on March 22 and submitted a letter of consent to pardon the accused Indians, a senior Indian Embassy official told Gulf News yesterday. Image for representation

Ten Indian youths in the UAE may escape the noose for murdering a Pakistani man in 2015 after the victim’s family accepted bloodmoney amounting to 200,000 dirhams and agreed to pardon the convicts, according to media reports.

Mohammad Riaz, the father of Mohammad Farhan, appeared in the Al Ain appeals court on March 22 and submitted a letter of consent to pardon the accused Indians, a senior Indian Embassy official told Gulf News yesterday.

“It was unfortunate that I lost my son. I appeal the young generation not to indulge in such fights. I have forgiven these 10 individuals. In fact, Allah has saved their lives. Lives of at least 10 people, including a wife and children, hinge [financially] on one person [who comes to work in the UAE],” Riaz said.

On behalf of the accused, an Indian charity organisation deposited the blood money in the court and the case has been adjourned for further hearing on April 12, said Dinesh Kumar, Counsellor, Community Affairs at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

“It is expected that the court may commute the death sentence,” Kumar said. On December 8, 2016, the murder allegedly occurred during a brawl over bootlegging in Al Ain in December 2015. Eleven men from Punjab were convicted in the case but one was spared the death sentence.
S P S Oberoi, Chairman of Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust that donated blood money for the accused men, said it was a tough task to obtain pardon from the Pakistani family.

Oberoi, a Dubai-based businessman, said Riaz had been invited from Pakistan three days ago, with all arrangements, including a visa and accommodation being made by his trust.

“We somehow made him agree…and as per the Sharia law, have submitted Dhs 200,000 as blood money in the court,” Oberoi said. He said his Pakistani manager traveled to Peshawar and talked to the family and their relatives to secure the pardon.

All the convicted young Indian men are from poor families and worked in Al Ain as plumbers, electricians, carpenters and masons. Most of them in their twenties had paid huge sums to recruitment agents in India to secure a visa to reach the UAE.

(PTI)