Archives for 2023

New Delhi/Patna: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches in multiple cities of Bihar and other locations, including premises of former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s three daughters and RJD leaders, in connection with a money laundering investigation into the land for jobs ‘scam’ case.

The searches are covering the premises linked to Prasad’s daughters Ragini Yadav, Chanda Yadav and Hema Yadav and former RJD MLA Abu Dojana in Patna, Phulwari Sharif, Delhi-NCR, Ranchi and Mumbai, officials said.

About two dozen locations are being searched along with an escort of central security forces. A house linked to Prasad’s son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav located in south Delhi is also being covered, they said.

However, it was not clear if Tejashwi Yadav was present there.

RJD leader Manoj Jha alleged that the CBI and the ED were following “someone else’s script” in conducting searches against opposition leaders and asserted the ED “raids” against his party leaders were a “reaction” to the change in government in Bihar in August last year.

The case pertains to people allegedly given employment in the railways in return for land parcels gifted or sold at cheap rates to the Yadav family and its associates, they said.

The CBI has filed a charge sheet in the case against Prasad, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and 14 others under charges of criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and all the accused have been summoned on March 15, officials had said.

The ED case, filed under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, stems from this CBI complaint.

Both Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi were questioned by the CBI in this case recently.

It is alleged by the CBI that during Prasad’s tenure as railway minister from 2004-09, irregular candidate appointments were made in the Central Railways, violating the norms and procedures of the Indian Railways for recruitment.

No advertisement or public notice was issued for appointment but some residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different zonal railways located at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur, it is alleged.

As a quid pro quo, the candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to the family members of Prasad at highly discounted rates, up to one-fourth to one-fifth of the prevailing market rates.

Tejashwi Yadav, after the questioning of his parents by the CBI recently, has told reporters that the then railway minister Prasad had “no powers” to give employment in exchange for favours.

New Delhi: In a fillip to the ambitious Agnipath scheme, the Union home ministry has announced 10 per cent reservation for former Agniveers in vacancies in the Border Security Force (BSF) with relaxations in the upper age limit.

The announcement was made through a notification after amending the Border Security Force, General Duty Cadre (Non-Gazetted) Recruitment Rules, 2015, and it will come into effect from March 9.

“Ten per cent of the vacancies shall be reserved for ex-Agniveers,” the notification said.

The ministry said while the upper age limit would be relaxable to up to five years for candidates of the first batch of ex-Agniveers, the limit would be relaxable to up to three years for candidates of other batches. Former Agniveers will also be exempted from physical efficiency test, the notification said.

The Centre on June 14 last year had unveiled the Agnipath scheme for recruitment of youths aged between 17-and-a-half and 21 in the army, the navy and the air force, largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis.

Those recruited under the scheme will be known as ‘Agniveers’. After the completion of the four-year tenure, 25 per cent of the recruits from each batch will be offered regular service.

At that time, the home ministry had announced that 10 per cent vacancies in central paramilitary forces and the Assam Rifles would be reserved for demobilised 75 per cent Agniveers.

It had also announced that the upper age limit was relaxed for the first batch of ex-Agniveers by up to five years and for the subsequent batches for three years. In addition, the ex-Agniveers would be exempted from the physical proficiency test, the ministry had said.

The specified age limit for recruitment to paramilitary forces is 18-23 years.

For those who join the armed forces even at the upper age limit of 21 years under the Agnipath scheme, they can be recruited with the BSF till the age of 30 after his four years of service in the army or the air force or the navy in case of the first batch and till 28 years for the subsequent batches.

The home ministry’s decision for absorption of Agniveers into paramilitary forces is significant as it will help the ex-Agniveers get employment opportunities till retirement age.

The paramilitary forces will also be benefitted as they will get a trained pool of personnel to fill up over 70,000 vacancies.

AAP leader and former DCM Manish Sisodia being brought to Rouse Avenue Court in connection with the Delhi excise policy case

New Delhi: A city court on Friday sent former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, arrested in a money laundering case related to the excise policy, to the Enforcement Directorate’s custody till March 17.

Special judge M K Nagpal allowed the anti-money laundering probe agency to interrogate the senior AAP leader in custody. The ED had sought Sisodia’s custody for 10 days.

Earlier the court heard arguments of the ED and Sisodia’s lawyers on the AAP leader’s custody.

There was heavy security presence within and outside the Rouse Avenue Courts.

The lawyer for the federal anti-money laundering probe agency alleged Sisodia made false statements about the ‘scam’ and that it wanted to unearth the modus operandi of the perpetrators and confront him with the other accused.

ED’s counsel Zoheb Hossain also claimed before a special court that Sisodia destroyed his phone, an important piece of evidence in the investigation.

The lawyer for the federal anti-money laundering probe agency alleged Sisodia made false statements about the ‘scam’ and that it wanted to unearth the modus operandi of the perpetrators and confront him with the other accused.

The claims of the ED counsel were contested by a battery of lawyers who represented Sisodia.

Senior advocates Dayan Krishnan, Mohit Mathur and Siddharth Aggarwal said the excise policy was accepted by the Lieutenant Governor who must have examined it.

Sisodia’s lawyers while opposing the ED’s plea for his custody, said it is the executive’s job to make policy which goes through several layers of scrutiny.

“How can ED look into policy making in money-laundering case,” the AAP leader’s counsel asked the court.

“ED has not found a single penny from my client…the case is entirely based on hearsay,” the lawyer said.

The ED arrested Sisodia on Thursday evening in the Tihar jail, where he was lodged in connection with a case being probed by the CBI pertaining to alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22.

New Delhi: Delhi Police on Friday said they have launched an investigation after a video on social media showed a group of men allegedly harassing and groping a Japanese woman on Holi.

They said they have taken notice of the video and verifying whether it is of a recent incident or an old one.

The video showed a group of men smearing colour on a foreigner, who seemed uncomfortable around them. It also one of the men smashing an egg on her head. She can be heard saying “bye bye” in the video.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal said she was issuing a notice to Delhi Police to examine the video and arrest the perpetrators.

“Very disturbing videos getting viral on social media showing sexual harassment with foreign nationals on Holi! I am issuing notice to Delhi Police to examine these videos and arrest the perpetrators! Completely shameful behaviour!” Maliwal tweeted.

National Commission for Women too tweeted drawing attention to the video. It asked Delhi Police to register an FIR in the matter.

“@NCWIndia has taken cognizance. Chairperson @sharmarekha has written to @CPDelhi to immediately file FIR in the matter. NCW has also sought a fair and time-bound investigation in the matter. A detailed report must be apprised to the commission,” the NCW tweeted.

Police said the video attached with the tweet has been posted on several digital platforms.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sanjay Kumar Sain said the video is being analysed to ascertain the details. “Prima-facie, on the basis of the landmark seen in the video, it seems to be from Paharganj. However, it is being verified on ground whether any such incident took place in that area or the video is old,” Sain said.

No complaint or call relating to misbehave with a foreigner has been received in Paharganj police station. The Japanese embassy was contacted and they said they don’t have any information of any such incident, the DCP said.

Police said their personnel have been asked to collect the details of Japanese nationals staying in Paharganj and also establish the identity of the people seen in the video through local intelligence.

Gurugram: Ramesh Agarwal, father of OYO Founder Ritesh Agarwal, died on Friday after he fell from a high-rise building, according to police.

“With a heavy heart, my family and I, would like to share that our guiding light and strength, my father, Ramesh Agarwal passed away on 10 March. He lived a full life and inspired me and so many of us, every single day.

“His death is a tremendous loss for our family. My father’s compassion and warmth saw us through our toughest times and carried us forward. His words will resonate deep in our hearts. We request everyone to respect our privacy in this time of grief,” Ritesh Agarwal said in a statement.

Gurugram’s DCP (East) Virender Vij said that at around 1 pm, information was received that a person fell from the 20th floor of an apartment in the DLF The Crest Society at Sector 54, Gurugram.

Vij said the police recorded the statement of a family member and an inquest was carried out under Section 174 of the CrPC. The body was handed over to the family after the postmortem.

Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code relates to cases of unnatural death.

OYO is a leading hospitality technology platform.

Bengaluru: A bus conductor was charred to death in the early hours of Friday when the vehicle belonging to state-owned BMTC caught fire at Lingadheeranahalli in the city, police said.

The driver was sleeping inside the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus when it suddenly caught fire killing the conductor Mutthaiah (45), a native of Ballari, and reducing the vehicle to ashes, police said.

The body has been sent for conducting a post-mortem, they said.

The driver of the bus was sleeping in another place when the fire engulfed the vehicle.

Police have started an investigation to find out the cause behind the blaze.