Bengaluru: Under attack from opposition BJP over the alleged suicide of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today hit back at the rival party, rejecting its demand for a probe into the case that led to the exit of K J George as a minister, and questioning continuance of central ministers facing FIRs.

In a counter-offensive against the Opposition a day after George quit “voluntarily”, Siddaramaiah sought to turn the tables on BJP, saying several Union ministers were facing FIRs and criminal cases but “why have they not resigned?”.

He said Union ministers Bandaru Dattatreya, Smriti Irani and Uma Bharti were facing FIRs and seven of the newly inducted 19 Union ministers had criminal cases registered against them “but BJP was silent on this and singling out George”, who resigned hours after a court ordered registration of FIR against him and two police officials over the DySP suicide.He said that mere filing of an FIR does not warrant action but still George stepped down as a “loyal soldier” of the party, saying he did not want to embarass Congress, the Chief Minister and the government.

“Let them (BJP) get the resignations of Dattatreya, Smriti Irani and seven ministers facing criminal cases. Is there a separate law for us and them?” he told reporters here.

George resigned yesterday shortly after a court at Madikeri in Kodagu district directed police to register an FIR against him and two top police officers in connection with alleged suicide of 51-year old M K Ganapathy.

The body of Mangaluru DySP Ganapathy was found hanging from the ceiling fan in a room at a lodge in Madikeri on July 7.

Hours before his death, in an interview to a local TV channel, he had said George and A M Prasad (IG-Intelligence) and Pranab Mohanty (IGP-Lokayukta) were harassing him and they would be responsible “if anything happens to me.”

Accusing BJP of “moral bankruptcy”, Siddaramaiah said Congress would “expose their true colours” and “false propaganda” with statewide party programmes.

“I have accepted George’s resignation with pain. We have not taken his resignation. He himself resigned voluntarily,” he said, adding, his ministerial colleagues had advised him (George) against stepping down.

Siddaramaiah said Prasad and Mohanty have not been asked to go on leave as was being speculated.

Lashing out at BJP for persisting with its demand for a CBI probe, he said “there is no need to hand over the case to CBI. A judicial commission has already been formed. The matter has also gone to the court…So no need to refer the matter to CBI.”

(Agencies)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday indicated that Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi would have to face trial in a defamation case filed by an RSS activist for allegedly accusing the organisation for assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

“You can’t make collective denunciation of an organisation,” an apex court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said, adding that the case may be decided on merits whether Rahul Gandhi’s charge was for public good or not.

The Congress Vice President has so far maintained that his statement blaming the RSS was based on the judgement of a high court and on the basis of certain documents.

The court observed that the statement was arguably made on the basis of a high court judgement but the case must be decided on merits.

RSS activist Rajesh Kunte had filed the defamation suit in a Maharashtra court against Gandhi. The Congress Vice President then moved the Supreme Court for quashing of the defamation proceedings.

Hearing Gandhi’s plea, the apex court told Kunte that the purpose of the defamation law was not to promote litigation.

Adjourning the matter till July 27, the Supreme Court asked the Congress Vice President to detail his arguments.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal will appear for Rahul Gandhi in the case.

(Agencies)

Srinagar: Authorities decided to impose curfew in the Valley on Tuesday for the 12th day running while separatists extended the protest shutdown for another three days here in Jammu and Kashmir.

A senior police officer told IANS curfew will continue in parts of the Valley for the 12th day running on Tuesday to maintain law and order.

Two protesters were killed on Monday when a violent mob attacked an army patrol in Qazigund area of Anantnag district.

Police said four other persons were injured in the firing incident.

At least 45 people, including 43 civilian protesters and two policemen, have been killed in the spiralling violence that began in the Valley after a Hizbul commander was killed along with two of his associates in a gunfight with the security forces on July 7.

Authorities have snapped all mobile Internet connectivity and also suspended calling facility on mobile phones across the Valley.

Limited mobile phone connectivity is, however, available to subscribers on post paid mobile phones provided by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

No vernacular or English language newspaper has been published in the Valley for the last three days.

Amitabh Mattoo, advisor to the state Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, told media that the decision to ban publication of newspapers was not taken at the instance of the Chief Minister.

Mattoo said the decision was taken at “the local level and heads would soon roll for taking such a harsh decision”.

In a related development, the state government on Monday shifted Senior Superintendent of police (SSP) Badgam, Fayaz Ahmad as sources said he had been transferred for stopping printing of some local newspapers whose establishments are situated in Badgam district.

Mufti has convened an all party meeting in summer capital Srinagar on July 21 to discuss the prevailing law and order situation in the Valley.

Opposition National Conference, Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist and others have been invited to the meeting.

Addressing a meeting of senior bureaucrats in summer capital Srinagar on Monday, Mehbooba Mufti stressed on the importance of opening educational institutions as soon as possible to protect the future of students.

Schools, colleges and universities have been closed by the authorities till July 25 because of the prevailing law and order situation in the Valley.

Meanwhile, the separatists including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik have announced extension of the protest shutdown till Friday.

Security has been further tightened in the Valley as Pakistan government has announced to observe a “Black Day” on Tuesday to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir.

(IANS)

Chandigarh: Navjot Kaur, wife of cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, today said his resignation from the Rajya Sabha meant he has also quit the BJP and the only option left for him was to join the Aam Aadmi Party.

A day after Navjot Sidhu dealt a blow to BJP in Punjab by resigning from Rajya Sabha, his MLA-wife Navjot Kaur said there is no question of his going back on his decision.

“I think he (Sidhu) has very clearly suggested what he is going to do and in the coming days let him come out with this (his future plans). He has said that he wants to serve Punjab and there is no choice except serving from Aam Aadmi Party,” Kaur, who is MLA from Amritsar-East constituency and is Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Health) in SAD-BJP Government, said.

Asked what was her husband’s position now in the BJP, Kaur said, “It is understood that if he has quit the Rajya Sabha, he has quit BJP. There is no question of his going back, he has never gone back on his words. He wants to serve Punjab. And he will serve the State.”

The cricketer-turned-politician had yesterday resigned from the Rajya Sabha, just three months after his nomination by the Narendra Modi government even as the Aam Aadmi Party gave indications that he may be made the party’s face in the Assembly elections in Punjab early next year.

Kaur said she was yet to decide about her future plans. “I am working as a MLA and CPS for my party. I have made no decision as yet. For Navjot the alternative is very clear, he is clear about serving Punjab. So, you can understand what option he has,” she told reporters, adding she has always stood by his side.

Navjot Kaur, who has been vocal against her own government on various issues in the past including development issues, said the stage is over when there can be any rethink by Sidhu on his decision.

She said earlier also she had made it clear that if BJP decides to contest the 2017 Assembly polls jointly with the Akalis, she was against it.

Asked if the AAP has given Sidhu some options, Navjot Kaur said, “He must have talked to them, only he knows. Let him state his plans in a press conference.”

“I have talked to him, but let certain things come from his side,” she said.

Asked if it was the right move on his part, Navjot Kaur said, “He is a spiritual man and everything he does is after listening to his inner conscience. And if his inner conscience is saying that he has to serve Punjab without any condition and without asking for anything, let it be so. He has a better vision for Punjab and let the people decide.”

When asked if it was the end of the road for Sidhu in the BJP, Kaur emphatically said, “Yes”.

When again asked about her plans, she said, “Let me see what take he has, let him come out and say what he has to say in a press conference and then let me take my decision.”

“I follow him blindly… But at the moment, I am working as MLA,” she said.

When pointed out that they were being dubbed as opportunists by some opponents, Navjot Kaur said, “There is no question of asking for any position. He is not coming on any condition or wanting any position. He is just saying I want to serve Punjab.”

Kaur indicated that Sidhu had been ignored and not given any major role by BJP in Punjab.

“He has always wanted to serve Punjab, that’s been his only aim. If he is given option to work anywhere other than Punjab he does not want that. BJP had enough time to bring him to the forefront (in Punjab). But if they thought that he doesn’t deserve it and he is not such a kind of a person who can do something for BJP in Punjab, so let it be so”.

Asked if BJP leaders had approached her, she said, “Nobody talked to me since my phone was switched off”.

To another question, she said for the past three years they she has been saying that BJP should separate from the Akalis, but that has not happened.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: A local court here on Monday ordered the police to file an FIR against Bengaluru Development Minister K J George and two police officers for abetting the suicide of Deputy Superintendent of Police M K Ganapati.

“Whatever the court decides, we will abide. I am 100% sure I will come clean,” the Deccan Chronicle quoted the beleaguered minister as saying.

Ganapathy, 51, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of a room at a lodge in Madikeri here on July 7.

He took the extreme step after giving an interview to a local TV channel, saying Minister K J George, A M Prasad (IG-Intelligence) and Pranab Mohanty (IGP-Lokayukta) will be responsible “if anything happens to me.”

The Siddaramaiah government had recently ordered a judicial probe into the alleged suicide. The case is currently being investigated by CID.

The issue has rocked the Karnataka Assembly.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: The CID has decided to probe two calls made to DySP M K Ganapathi on June 24 regarding a case pending in the Madiwala station. The CID, probing Ganapathi’s suicide, will seek information from the office of the DG & IGP.

In 2014, when Ganapathi served as inspector at the Madiwala station, there were allegations against him and three other inspectors about misrepresenting entries of stolen goods in the register. The government wanted to identify the officer responsible for the discrepancies.

“Ganapathi received a call about a letter written to the Bengaluru City commissioner seeking details of the case. He received a second call from a well-wisher alerting him about the letter. The calls could have triggered the suicide as Ganapathi thought his promotion as DySP on April 13, 2016, may be withdrawn,” an officer said.

The police said some of the complainants received their valuables, but entries were not made in the register.

Ganapathi’s promotion would not have been affected as it was not an individual case against the inspectors, but about a general report on the Madiwala station, the police said.

(Agencies)

Srinagar: Fearing large-scale violence after Friday prayers, authorities clamped curfew in all the 10 districts of the Valley on Friday.

To prevent the spread of passion-stoking rumours and posts on social media by anti-social elements, authorities have suspended all internet and mobile phone connectivity in the Valley.

For the last six days, mobile phone operations and internet connectivity had been suspended in South Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Shopian, Khugam and Pulwama.

But on Thursday all internet connectivity — both on mobile phones and fixed line — has been suspended in the entire Valley.

Official sources, however, said, limited mobile phone connectivity will continue on phones of one service provider in the Valley.

This has been done because all state government officials have been provided mobile phones of a particular company and their operations is important to coordinate the law and order maintenance during the day.

Meanwhile, curfew continued for the seventh day in the Valley on Friday.

So far, 36 persons, including 35 civilial protesters and a local policeman have died in clashes between security forces and unruly mobs those hit the roads after Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed with two of his associates in Bamdora village of Kukarnag area of Anantnag district on last Friday.

Mobs on Thursday torched the house in Bamdora village where Wani was killed by security forces. Eight other houses in the village were also torched by the mobs.

An orchard belonging to a local entrepreneur who had set up a Rs.5 crore dream project of high yielding apple trees in Bamdora village was also felled by the mobs.

The entrepreneur had been praised by the state Chief Minister Mahbooba Mufti on the floor of the state legislature during its recent session for trying to take Kashmir horticulture to new heights.

Sporadic clashes continued at over a dozen places on thursday when curfew defying stone-pelters engaged with security forces. No fresh incident of firing was reported from anywhere in the valley on Thursday.

All senior separatist leaders have been placed under prevented detention by police in Srinagar.

Additional paramilitary troops have been rushed by the centre to assess the state to come out of the ongoing cycle of violence that has deeply affected normal life in the state.

(IANS)