Archives for 2023

New Delhi: An assistant sub-inspector of the Delhi Police died on Sunday, days after being stabbed multiple times by a man he nabbed for allegedly snatching a mobile phone, officials said on Sunday.

ASI Shambhu Dayal (57), a native of Sikar district in Rajasthan, is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters, they said.

Last Wednesday, a woman resident of a shanty in Mayapuri phase one complained to police that a person snatched her husband’s mobile phone and also threatened them. ASI Dayal reached the area where the complainant identified the accused, police said.

The accused, Anish, was nabbed and on the way to the police station he took out a knife from underneath his shirt and stabbed Dayal on his neck, chest, stomach and back, a police official said.

A staffer from the Mayapuri police station rushed to the spot and overpowered the Anish. He was later placed under arrest while ASI Dayal was rushed to a hospital, the official said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) Ghanshyam Bansal said ASI Dayal did not let the accused flee. He fought for his life for four days but succumbed to his injuries on Sunday morning, the officer said.

Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora paid homage to Dayal in the office complex of DCP west in Janakpuri and consoled the bereaved family. Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Sagar Preet Hooda and other senior officials also paid homage to Dayal.

Patna: The BJP in Bihar on Sunday hit the roof over what it considered to be an “indecent remark” made by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during his speech on population growth, at a programme attended by a large number of women.

Kumar had on Saturday visited Vaishali district, along with cabinet colleagues including his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, on the third day of his state-wide ‘Samadhan Yatra’, aimed at assessing the status of ongoing welfare programmes and pending works.

While interacting with self-help group volunteers, Kumar had spoken about the role played by educated, empowered women in controlling population growth.

The JD(U) leader, who has been opposed to the BJP’s pitch for a population control law, much to the annoyance of the former alliance partner, also hinted that men often did not show the same sense of responsibility as their wives in controlling population.

A small video clip of Kumar’s speech has gone viral in which the CM could be heard as having said “the men are often unmindful that they must not indulge themselves every day (mard log to roz roz karte hi rahta hai)”.

Kumar’s former deputy and an erstwhile loyalist Sushil Kumar Modi issued a strongly worded statement accusing his ex-boss of having used a language that befitted the streets (‘sadak chhap’).

“It seems Nitish Kumar has lost his decency ever since he joined hands with the RJD. In the assembly, he is often seen using the disrespectful pronoun tum (you) for political opponents. His ‘jo piyega so marega’ (whoever drinks shall be doomed to die) was the height of insensitivity displayed in the aftermath of hooch tragedies,” alleged Modi.

State BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand, who is also the national general secretary of the party’s OBC Morcha, said the remarks of the chief minister were “sexist”.

“Of late, his words seem to be aimed at creating divisions in the society. Now, it looks like he wants to create tensions inside people’s homes. He must retract his statement and issue an apology,” Anand stated.

Former minister Samrat Chaudhary, who is the leader of the opposition in the legislative council, said “the utterances were unbecoming of a chief minister and can tarnish the reputation of the state”.

Leaders of the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in the state, comprising JD(U), the deputy CM’s RJD, Congress and the Left, seemed embarrassed to come on record over the controversy but, speaking on condition of anonymity, they insisted that the septugenarian chief minister was trying to create public awareness and the BJP was looking to gain political mileage out of a trifle.

Meanwhile, Kumar, the state’s longest serving CM, remained unfazed by the hubbub when he visited Siwan on the fourth day of ‘Samadhan Yatra’.

He reiterated the need for population control and underscored the role played by educated women in the same. He also reaffirmed his government’s commitment to improving the condition of madarsas in the state.

Mau (UP): A 35-year-old grandson of former MLA late Kedar Singh was beaten to death in a village under Kopaganj Police Station area here, police said on Sunday.

Himanshu Singh was beaten within an inch of life in an old rivalry by seven-eight people in Mahuar village around 10 pm Saturday and left to die, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mau, Tribhuvan Nath Tripathi said.

The matter is being investigated and an FIR has been filed under relevant sections, the ASP said.

Police have sent the victim’s body for post mortem examination.

According to police sources, Himanshu Singh was a grandson of late Kedar Singh, who was elected Congress MLA in 1980 from Ghosi constituency.

On Saturday night, he had gone to a panchayat in Lairo Donwar village of Kopaganj Police Station area, where he had an argument with a group of people. The group beat him with with sticks and left him half-dead in Mahuar village.

He died at a hospital where he was taken for treatment.

Kurukshetra (Haryana): Former Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor and many retired top officers of the defence services joined the Rahul Gandhi-led ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on Sunday which is passing through Haryana.

Amid severe cold and fog, the march resumed in the morning from Dodwa in Karnal’s Nilokheri region and entered the Kurukshetra district later in the day. Scores of people joined the Yatra as it passed through Karnal in the morning, which is also the home constituency of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Senior party leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Kumari Selja are part of the Yatra in its Haryana leg.

“Ex-COAS (chief of Army staff) Gen Deepak Kapoor, Lt Gen R K Hooda, Lt Gen VK Narula, AM (air marshal) PS Bhangu, Maj Gen Satbir Singh Chaudhary, Maj Gen Dharmender Singh, Col Jitender Gill, Col Pushpender Singh, Lt Gen DDS Sandhu, Maj Gen Bishamber Dayal, Col Rohit Chaudhry join @RahulGandhi at the Bharat Jodo Yatra,” the Congress tweeted.

The march covered over 130 km in its first leg in Haryana from December 21 to 23, passing through Nuh, Gurugram and Faridabad districts. It re-entered Haryana’s Panipat Thursday evening from Uttar Pradesh.

The yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will end after reaching Srinagar by January 30 with Gandhi hoisting the national flag there. The march has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: Accusing Left historians of ‘distorting’ Indian history by making it a tale of defeats and submissions, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday asserted that history should be rewritten to record the nation’s victories.

He also alleged that the Left ideology followers have been trying to divide the state along linguistic lines for decades and maintained that the people must defeat such attempts by embracing their “religious similarities”.

Addressing the 28th state convention of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) here, Sarma said, “The Leftists have always tried to distort our history as they wanted to project Bharat as a defeated jati’ (community).

“They overlook the kings and heroes who resisted and defeated Mughal attacks successfully and write only about those who were defeated,” he claimed.

He cited the examples of Guru Gobind Singh, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Durga Das Rathore and Lachit Borphukan who had successfully led campaigns against Mughal armies, and alleged that the Leftist historians leave out their exploits while writing history.

Asserting that the time was ripe for history to be written anew, the BJP leader said, “We should inspire the students of history to write it anew not as a tale of defeats and slavery, but one of glory and achievement. This will motivate our new generations further towards nation building.”

Sarma also accused Left intellectuals of diving the people of Assam along linguistic lines as the state is home to numerous languages.

“Jatiyatadab’ (sub-nationalism) based on linguistic differences was a ploy of the Leftists to keep Assam divided for over three decades Leftists try to project language as a point of conflict. Had our leaders stood up to them earlier, we would not have seen so much unrest and problems over the years,” he maintained.

While language is an important component, it cannot be the sole identity of a community and religion and history also play equally vital roles, he maintained, adding, “Language will survive only when our religion and culture survives.”

He emphasised on the need for Assamese language speakers to embrace other languages of the state and ensure that all the tribes and communities are accorded equal importance.

The chief minister also stressed on need for economic self-reliance and exhorted the youths to focus on skill development, entrepreneurship and farming.

“A community needs cultural identity and political pride. But if we can’t progress economically, we cannot become atma nirbhar’ (self-reliant), on which our prime minister has also accorded much emphasis,” he said.

He urged the youths to take up agriculture themselves and not let out their land to others for farming.

“If we let others farm on our lands, then we will remain owners only on paper and the actual ownership will slip into the hands of others. There is a huge market potential for our organic and other agricultural products and our youths must explore these,” Sarma added.

He claimed that a notion was created erroneously that Assam and North East were not part of rest of India historically, which had led to a different stream of thoughts’ in this part of the country post-Independence.

The perceptions were being corrected gradually, which has gained momentum since 2014 and the state was now a partner in nation building, he said.

“We are in a special geographical and political stage in Assam now. There are many challenges before us and we have to meet those by equipping ourselves with correct understanding of history,” Sarma said.

Alluding to various mythological and historical recorded evidences of Assam being linked with rest of India since ancient times, Sarma said, “Our (Bharat and Assam) atma’ (souls) are same but a distorted version was being propagated. Those who did so have been reduced to naught. This is a new Assam where we are proud Assamese and proud Indians.”

Racer K E Kumar

Chennai : K E Kumar, a well-respected racer, died on Sunday following a crash in the second round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship at the Madras International Circuit here. He was 59.

The incident occurred when Kumar’s car came in contact with that of a competitor during the saloon cars race this morning. The car slid across the track and landed on the roof after slamming into a fence.

The race was immediately stopped (red flag). Within minutes, Kumar was extricated from the wreckage and transferred into an ambulance before being shifted to a nearby hospital after a preliminary examination at the track’s medical centre. Despite the best efforts of the hospital’s doctors, he succumbed to his injuries.

Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok said: “It is a most unfortunate incident. Kumar was an experienced racer. I have known him for several decades as a friend and competitor. The MMSC and entire racing fraternity mourn his passing away and convey heartfelt condolences to his family.”

Chandhok added that the national governing body for the sport FMSCI and the organisers, MMSC, have launched an investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, as a mark of respect to Kumar, who was a life member of MMSC, the remainder of the day’s schedule was cancelled.

Jammu/New Delhi : Shubam Sangra, declared an adult by the Supreme Court, is formally chargesheeted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s crime branch in a case related to the sensational gangrape and murder case of an eight-year-old in Kathua in 2018.

Though the trial is expected to start in neighbouring Punjab’s Pathankot, as ordered by the Supreme Court in 2018, the crime branch submitted its charge sheet under various sections including those related to murder, rape, kidnapping and wrongful confinement before chief judicial magistrate in Kathua

The charge sheet was committed to sessions court in Kathua which has fixed January 24 as the next date of hearing in the case.

According to the Supreme Court order of 2018, the sessions court of Pathankot will be hearing the case and the appellate court would be the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Sangra was also shifted from a Juvenile Home to the regular Kathua Jail after the crime branch served the Supreme court order of November 22 in which he was declared an adult.

The Crime Branch charge sheet detailed Sangra’s alleged involvement in the horrific crime. It said Sangra was responsible for an overdose of sedatives forcibly administered to the eight-year-old, rendering her “incapacitated” to resist sexual assault on her as well as her murder.

“She was forcefully administered five tablets of Clonazepam of 0.5 mg each on January 11, 2018 which is higher than the safe therapeutic dose. Subsequently more tablets were given…The signs and symptoms of an overdose may include drowsiness, confusion, impaired coordination, slow reflexes, slowed or stopped breathing, coma (loss of consciousness) and death,” a medical expert was quoted as saying in the charge sheet.

The peak concentration of clonazepam is achieved in the blood after one hour to 90 minutes of oral administration and its absorption is complete, “irrespective of administered either with or without food”, according to the concluding opinion.

Doctors were of the opinion that tablets given to the child could have pushed her into a state of shock or coma.

The crime branch had filed a complaint (a charge sheet in case of juvenile) when he was lodged at the correctional home in Kathua as per the laid down norms under the law.

Sangra, who had been filing petitions at various courts, finally got caught when a shoddily drafted application for a birth certificate led to the unravelling of the conspiracy to proclaim him as a juvenile.

With Sangra being tried in the gang rape-murder, the quest for justice for the child who was smothered to death in captivity in January 2018 takes a decisive turn.

The inconsistencies in dates and false information in the application for a birth registration certificate filed by Sangra’s father on April 15, 2004 were crucial in nailing the lie.

According to the charge sheet in the case filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch, Sangra was instrumental in the abduction, gang rape and killing of the child. Eight people, including Sangra, were accused in the case that shook the nation with its details of brutality.

The affidavit filed in the court cited the inconsistencies in the application to buttress its claim that Sangra was a juvenile. This was submitted in court along with medical reasons by the Crime Branch, which was contesting the trial court’s decision to treat Sangra as a minor.

The application at the tehsildar’s office in HIranagar, Jammu, was filed by Sangra’s father who wanted birth registration certificates of his three children. The eldest, a boy, whose date of birth was stated to be November 23, 1997, a daughter said to be born on February 21, 1998, and Shubam Sangra on October 23, 2002, police said.

The difference in the birth days of the two elder children was just two months and 28 days, “which by any medical standard is impossible”, the affidavit states.

This, it says, indicates the father’s casual approach in furnishing the particulars of the dates of birth.

Moreover, no place of birth was mentioned for the older two, but Shubam Sangra was stated to be born in a Hiranagar hospital. A subsequent investigation to test the veracity of that statement did not bear that out, officials said.

The painstaking investigation, which resulted in the affidavit, was backed by a report of a board of medical experts that determined Sangra’s age as not less than 19 and not more than 23 on January 10, 2018 when the brutal assault took place.

The case was transferred out of Jammu and Kashmir and shifted to Pathankot on orders from the Supreme Court on May 7, 2018.

The special court on June 10, 2019 sentenced three men to life imprisonment “till last breath”. These were Sanji Ram, the mastermind and caretaker of the ‘devasthanam’ (temple) where the crime took place, special police officer Deepak Khajuria and a civilian called Parvesh Kumar.

Three other accused — Sub Inspector Anand Dutta, Head Constable Tilak Raj and special police officer Surender Verma — were convicted for destruction of evidence to cover up the crime and handed down five years in jail and Rs 50,000 fine each. They are out on parole.

The seventh accused, Vishal Jangotra, son of Sanji Ram, was acquitted.

Dehradun: Joshimath has been declared a landslide-subsidence zone and over 60 families living in uninhabitable houses in the sinking town have been evacuated to temporary relief centres, a senior official said on Sunday.

At least 90 more families have to be evacuated. The local administration has set up relief centres at four-five places in the Himalayan town, Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar said.

Meanwhile, Chamoli District Magistrate (DM) Himanshu Khurana went from door to door in the affected area to assess the damage and appealed to people living in houses that have developed cracks to move to the relief centres.

Joshimath has been declared a landslide-subsidence zone. More than 60 families living in uninhabitable houses in the sinking town have been evacuated to temporary relief centres, Kumar told PTI.

Considering the extent of the damage, at least 90 more families will have to be evacuated as soon as possible, he said.

Kumar, who has been camping in Joshimath since Thursday, heads a committee tasked with monitoring the situation on the ground level.

There are a total of 4,500 buildings in Joshimath and 610 of these have developed huge cracks, making them unfit for habitation, he said.

A survey is underway and the number of affected buildings could go up, he added.

Kumar said the affected area, including houses that developed cracks earlier and the ones damaged recently, forms a big arch which could be spread over 1.5 km.

Temporary relief centres have been set up at four-five safe places within Joshimath. Some more buildings, including a few hotels, a gurdwara and two inter-colleges, have been acquired to serve as makeshift shelters that can accommodate around 1,500 people, he said.

“Land subsidence has been going on slowly in Joshimath for quite some time but it has increased over the past week with huge cracks appearing in houses, fields and roads,” the Garhwal commissioner said.

“The situation worsened apparently after a water channel beneath the town erupted last week,” he said.

The priority at present is evacuating the affected people to safety, he said.

Kumar said long-term measures being explored to deal with the situation range from reconstruction to retrofitting.

Chamoli DM Khurana surveyed the affected area.

People were told to move out of unsafe and uninhabitable houses as arrangements for their stay have been made in hotels, homestays and other safe places, he said.

The state government will pay Rs 4,000 per month for up to six months to those who want to move to rented accommodations, he said, asking people not to risk their lives by choosing to continue living in the damaged houses.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who visited the affected areas in Joshimath on Saturday, held a meeting with officials here after returning and asked them to relax norms to expedite relief operations.

He said they were asked not to get entangled in long procedural complexities and take direct clearance from him for work related to drainage treatment and sewage systems in Joshimath.

The National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun have been asked to conduct a study of Joshimath through satellite imagery and submit a detailed report with photographs.

The Geological Survey of India has also been asked to examine the suitability of Koti Farm, Herb Institute and the Horticulture Department’s land in Joshimath and in Pipalkoti’s Semaldala area for rehabilitation purposes.