Bengaluru: Mohammed Ali Khan, the founding member of Al-Umma, a banned terrorist organisation, and prime accused in a 2013 bomb blast near BJP office in Bengaluru, has been arrested.

Khan (45) was arrested from Sathyamangalam in Erode district of Tamil Nadu on August 15 where he was in hiding, police said.

They said Khan was allegedly involved in planning the Malleswaram bomb blast on April 17, 2013 and had also supplied explosive materials for it. At least 16 people, including 11 policemen, were injured in the blast near the bustling Karnataka BJP office in a crowded residential area ahead of the state assembly election.

The bomb was strapped to a motorbike parked between a van and a car.

Khan was earlier convicted in the 1998 serial blasts at a Coimbatore rally of veteran BJP leader LK Advani in which about 50 people had died. Accused of supplying materials in this case, he was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released in 2010 after serving 12 years sentence. Involved in several terror acts carried out by Al-Umma, Khan had gone into hiding after the Malleshwaram blast, police said.

Stressing that there are 20 accused in the Malleswaram blast case and 17 have been arrested so far, officials said Khan has been taken to police custody and an investigation is underway.

(Agencies)

Ludhiana: Indian Olympic Association (IOA) vice-president Tarlochan Singh on Wednesday defended his son Pawandeep Singh’s appointment as the Chief Medical Officer of the Indian contingent at the ongoing Olympics Games, which is being held in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

Tarlochan’s comments came in wake of reports suggesting that Pawandeep, a radiologist by profession, is not proving to be of much help to the Indian athletes in the prestigious quadrennial games and is instead having a leisure junket in Rio.

Tarlochan, who is also the acting president of the Archery Association of India, said that only Chef de Mission has the right to judge his son’s performance.

“Dr Pawandeep Singh has gone there as an official doctor of an Indian team because he is the chairman of the medical commission of the IOA. This post of medical commission is registering for last 31 years. He was earlier head of the medical team in the SAF Games in Guwahati and Shillong and a member of the Commonwealth Games Medical Commission,” Tarlochan told ANI.

“He has gone there as an official doctor and every performance of the doctor is to be judged by Chef de Mission. He is attending 120 athletes there. We will see when report comes,” he added.

According to the reports, the Chief Medical Officer has been giving only Combiflam to the India athletes, who complain of pain, during the ongoing games. Pawandeep Singh’s appointment was made by IOA president Narayana Ramachandran.

(ANI)

Mr. Parvez Pasha has been elected as Yeshwanthpur block president, minorities division of Kannada Sahitya Parishad.

Bengaluru: Faced with deficit of rainfall and low water level in most reservoirs, Karnataka government on Wednesday warned about another year of dry spell in the state.

“We have discussed about the rainfall in the state so far in the Cabinet, even meteorological department predictions are not favourable. There are chances, we may face a situation that is worse than last year,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra said.

Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, he said, “We have to take precautionary measures, water in reservoirs should be used for drinking purpose only, and water should be provided for standing crops only if there is severe necessity.

“During Irrigation Consultative Committee meeting farmers and general public should be made aware of the water crisis that may occur on lesser prospects of good rains.”

Karnataka last year witnessed its “worst” drought in recent times and the government had already declared 137 taluks as “drought hit”.

Pointing out to drinking water shortage, Jayachandra said “water level in almost all the reservoirs in the state other than Narayanapura and Almatti are low”. Narayanapura and Almatti reservoirs are full because of good rains in Maharashtra, other than that none of the catchment areas whether it is Cauvery or Krishna got good rains.

“Though in Harangi reservoir there is adequate water, but the overall situations is not good.”

Government had last week said overall rainfall in the state till first week of August has been 503 mm against normal rainfall of 537mm, which is about six per cent less.

Warning of drinking water crisis, he also advised farmers to consider water and rain situation before they go for cropping. Various cabinet committees like the one drinking water among others have been asked to meet and review the situation and take necessary steps.

Karnataka cabinet has also cleared entrusting the work of re-circulation of water at world famous Jog falls to create all season water falls to M/s BRS Ventures Abudhabi.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: Following an accusation of sedition in a police complaint in Karnataka, Amnesty International has temporarily closed its offices in Chennai, Pune , Delhi and Bengaluru after protests by hundreds of young right-wing activists.

The human-rights organization held an event to discuss the crisis in Kashmir on the weekend. Anti-India slogans were heard at the event. Amnesty issued a statement saying that its members did not make these statements, but the group has been accused of sedition by the ABVP.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: In an unprecedented step of a serving Army Chief taking on one of his predecessors, General Dalbir Singh has alleged that he was “sought to be victimised” by Gen(retd) V K Singh, now an Union Minister, with the sole purpose of denying him promotion as Army Commander.

Gen Dalbir Singh made the allegation in an affidavit filed by him in his personal capacity while responding to a petition moved by Lt Gen (Retd) Ravi Dastane who had alleged “favouritism” during his selection as the Army Commander.

“I was sought to be victimised by the then COAS with the sole purpose of denying promotion to the appointment of Army Commander. False, baseless and imaginary allegations of lapses were levelled against me in the show cause notice (of May 19, 2012),” Gen Dalbir Singh said. V K Singh is currently the Minister of State for External Affairs.

“Despite their being no evidence against me at the Court of Inquiry, the show cause notice was issued malafidely,” he said, adding that, “no material whatsoever of attendant circumstances was provided to me. The show cause notice issued, beside suffering from vagueness, was premeditated and also against the principles of natural justice”.

Dalbir Singh was placed under a discipline and vigilance (DV) ban by the then COAS V K Singh in 2012 for his alleged “failure of command and control” after a Court of Inquiry was ordered into an operation carried out in Jorhat, Assam on the night of December 20-21, 2011 by the 3 Corps Intelligence and Surveillance Unit.

Dalbir Singh, who was the then General Officer Commanding of the unit, said that the imposition of DV ban upon him and issuance of show cause notice by the then COAS “was illegal and premeditated”.

“It is thus established that I was victimized for extraneous reasons by the then COAS and hence the illegal imposition of DV ban by the then COAS could not be made the basis by the apellant to challenge my appointment as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command. In fact, it is the answering respondent who is the victim and not the appellant, as is sought to be made by him,” he said.

The affidavit further said, “The passing of directions for initiating administrative action against me after about one month of having already finalised the Court of Inquiry smacks of a motivated, biased, arbitrary and malicious intent to punish me which the then COAS executed apparently as planned by him”.

Regarding the Jorhat operation, Dalbir Singh has said in his affidavit that “on that day, I was away on part of annual leave and rejoined duty on 26 Dec 2011”.

Dalbir Singh’s promotion as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, with effect from June 15, 2012 was cleared by General Bikram Singh who had reversed the DV ban after V K Singh had retired on May 31, 2012.

Dastane has alleged in his plea that he was eligible to be the Army Commander but was denied the opportunity by General Bikram Singh who had favoured Dalbir Singh despite the fact that he was under a DV ban at the relevant time.

The Ministry of Defence, in its affidavit filed earlier in the apex court, had rejected Dastane’s contentions and had also censured the manner in which V K Singh had placed Dalbir Singh under DV ban.

(PTI)

Udupi: In a shocking incident, a group of miscreants belonging to Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal beat up a youth to death for involving in illegal cow transportation near Hebri village in Karkala taluk of Udupi district last night.

The miscreants came to know that the ill-fated cow trafficker was also an activist of Bhartiya Janata Party only after the attack.

The BJP activist Praveen Poojary (29), a resident of Kenjur and cattle trader by profession, breathed his last in a hospital, hours after the attack. His aide Akshay Devadiga (22), who was also injured in the attack, is undergoing treatment at a hospital.

The incident occurred at around 7:30 p.m. when Praveen Poojary was loading three cows into a Tata Ace for transportation at Kadike in Santhekatte near Hebri village. Akshay Devadiga was also present.

On receiving the information, nearly 30 VHP and Bajrang Dal activists surrounded the vehicle and attacked Poojary with lethal weapons. Devadiga, who came to his recue, was also assaulted brutally by the miscreants.

The assailants left the spot only after Poojary revealed that he was a BJP worker and had campaigned for the saffron party during last Lok Sabha elections. Though Poojary and Devadiga were rushed to a hospital by local residents, the former breathed his last without responding to any treatment.

Udupi SP KP Balakrishna confirmed to Coastaldigest.com that 18 persons have been arrested for their involvement in the attack. It is learnt that he attack was led by Arvind Sherigar, a VHP member, who runs a petrol bunk.

The Udupi district unit of BJP, which always encouraged the violent acts so of called gau rakshaks, is now in a dilemma as they have killed their own man.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Former Union Minister Najma Heptulla was on Wednesday made governor of Manipur while ex-Rajya Sabha MP VP Singh Badnore goes to Punjab in new gubernatorial appointments announced for four states with all of them being associated with the BJP.

Banwarilal Purohit, a three-time former member of Lok Sabha from Nagpur and managing editor of Central India’s daily ‘The Hitavada’, will be the governor of Assam while Delhi-based BJP leader and former MLA Prof Jagdish Mukhi was made Lt governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique.
Heptulla, 76, had last month resigned as Minority Affairs Minister from Union Cabinet.

The resignation had come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have set an unwritten writ of ’75-year age bar’ for ministers and had kept veterans like L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi out of the Cabinet and co-opted them in ‘Margdarshak Mandal’.

Meghalaya governor V Shanmuganathan was holding the additional charge as Manipur governor.

68-year-old Badnore, who hails from Rajasthan, will be the new governor of Punjab, the communique said. Haryana governor Kaptan Singh Solanki was holding additional charge of Punjab, which goes to polls next year, after Shivraj Patil’s term ended last year.

Nagaland governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya was holding additional charge as Assam governor, a post which will now be assumed by 76-year-old Purohit.

Professor Jagdish Mukhi, who has been member of Delhi legislative assembly from Janakpuri constituency, has been appointed as Lt governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the communique said.

73-year-old Mukhi has been appointed in place of Lt General (Retd) A K Singh, it said.

(PTI)