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Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the Indian Cricket Team for winning the trophy without losing any matches in the tournament.
In a video released on his official social media handles, Modi said “Indian cricket team won World Cup and also hearts of crores of Indians; no small achievement that it did not lose a single match.”
A woman’s family allegedly got her husband of five years killed by hired men for marrying against their wishes, police said here on Saturday.
Investigating the case of a man found dead earlier on June 16, police investigation found that the woman’s father and uncle had allegedly hired four men to kill her husband, they said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Suniti said the body of an unknown person was found near Sangam Vihar Colony of Ecotech-3 Police Station area on June 16, which was later identified as Bhulesh Kumar, a resident of Sambhal district. Later, his autorickshaw was also found to be missing, the DCP said.
Suniti said that Bhulesh’s family filed a case against his wife Preeti Yadav’s father Budh Singh Yadav and brother Mukesh Yadav and friend Shripal. Five years ago, Preeti had married Bhulesh against the wishes of the family, the officer said.
During the investigation, police came to know that Preeti’s father Buddh Singh Yadav and uncle Kharak Singh had allegedly conspired and hired four boys of their neighbouring village Mandoli to kill Bhulesh, the DCP said.
Suniti said that the investigation revealed that four accused — Awadhesh, Neeraj Yadav, Yashpal and Titu came to Noida and allegedly strangled Bhulesh and took his autorickshaw.
The DCP said that the vehicle used in connection with the alleged incident, a towel used for strangulation, jewellery worth Rs 3 lakhs received in exchange for committing the murder have also been recovered from the accused.
Rohit Sharma had never thought about retiring from T20 Internationals but like Virat Kohli, the charismatic Indian skipper had to make way for the younger generation and he said there was “nothing better” than saying goodbye with an elusive World Cup trophy.
Speaking to select media after a thrilling seven-run win in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa, Rohit said he could not have picked a better time to leave the T20 format. However, he was quick to add that he would continue playing the IPL.
“I don’t make decisions like this about my future. Whatever I feel is right from inside I try to do that. I don’t think much about the future or whether I would play this World Cup after the ODI World Cup last year,” the 37-year-old swashbuckler said.
“I never thought that I would retire from T20s. But the situation is such, I thought it is the perfect situation for me. Nothing better than winning the cup and saying goodbye,” added Rohit when asked if would have retired from T20s earlier if India won the ODI World Cup at home seven months ago.
‘Sab likha hua hai’
India could not cross the finishing line in the ODI showpiece despite being the most balanced team in the tournament. They also had to endure a loss to Australia at the World Test Championship final last June.
Using a popular Hindi film line, Rohit said the triumph here was written in the stars.
“Jo likha hain who hone wala hain, ye likha tha but humko pata nahi hain kee kab likha hain. Nahi toh hum aaram se aate and bolte ‘likha hain’ aur ho jayega (I believe that what is written is going to happen. I think it was written. But obviously you don’t know before the match. Otherwise, we would have easily come and said, it’s written),” he quipped.
“Everything has to fall in place. As you saw, we were way behind the game. At one point, it seemed like they would win easily,” he said referring to South Africa gaining the upper hand courtesy Heinrich Klaasen’s blazing 52 off 27 balls.
Life has come full circle for Rohit, who was part of the 2007 T20 World Cup win under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy.
Talking about his T20 journey since then, he said: “I was told that I started in 2007, won the World Cup and I am leaving the game after winning the World Cup. So that’s a tailor-made situation for me. A proper full circle. So I’m very happy with this.”
“I was 20 years old at that time. I tell my players to try perform their role. I had a role at that time. I used to bat at 5 or 6 number. So, it was very important to finish well for us.
“I understand the game much better now, having played for so many years. So, it’s been brilliant,” he said adding that it is a big challenge to play and captain in all three formats.
Considering the circumstances and India’s long wait for a title, the win on Saturday was one of the greatest of his career.
“This has to be the greatest time I can say that. It’s only because how desperately I wanted to win this. So, all the runs, all the runs that I’ve scored in all these years, I think it does matter, but I’m not big on stats and all of that.
“Winning games for India, winning trophies for India, that is what I look forward to all the time. And having this now right beside me probably has to be, I don’t know, honestly, I don’t know if it’s the greatest or what but it is definitely one of the greatest,” said Rohit.
He went down on his knees after the victory was sealed. On that emotional moment, Rohit said he was desperate for the trophy.
“…it was very emotional. I wanted this badly. So, it’s very hard to put it in words because that moment, I don’t want to say what I was thinking and what was going in my mind, but it was a very emotional moment personally for me.
“And I’m going to, I wish I could capture that moment myself but not really, you can’t do that but I will always remember that,” he said.
Kohli and Dravid deserved this high
He also acknowledged the massive contribution of batting mainstay Virat Kohli, who cae good in the final with a crucial 76 after a lean tournament overall, and outgoing coach Rahul Dravid.
“More than any one of us, Rahul bhai deserved that trophy. What he has done for Indian cricket for the past 20-25 years, I think this was the only thing that was left in his cabinet. I am very happy from all of us on behalf of the entire team that we could actually do this for him,” he said.
“Look, Virat has been a champion player without a doubt. And we all know what he has done for us. At some point everyone has to say goodbye to the game and Virat was very clear that this is what he wanted to do and he was very clear before the start of the tournament as well.
“I am very happy for him that he batted like he did in the finals,” added Rohit.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi congratulates Team India for their triumphant T20 World Cup final win against South Africa in Barbados. Taking to X soon after India’s nail-biting victory on Saturday night, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi praised the team’s phenomenal performance throughout the tournament.
“Surya, what a brilliant catch! Rohit, this win is a testament to your leadership. Rahul, I know Team India will miss your guidance. The spectacular Men in Blue have made our country proud,” Gandhi stated on X, referring to coach Rahul Dravid, captain Rohit Sharma, and cricketer Surya Kumar Yadav.
Congratulations to Team India on a spectacular World Cup Victory and a phenomenal performance throughout the tournament!
Surya, what a brilliant catch! Rohit, this win is a testament to your leadership. Rahul, I know team India will miss your guidance.
Gandhi also congratulated Virat Kohli on his outstanding T20 career. “You truly are signing off in grand style!” he said. Virat Kohli announced his retirement from T20 internationals following the World Cup final
Other Congress leaders joined in the celebration. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge congratulated the Men in Blue for their impressive talent and dedication, singling out Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, and Arshdeep Singh for their standout performances. He expressed pride in every Indian for this remarkable victory, promising continued support and cheers for future matches.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar
A BJP office-bearer from Shirur in Maharashtra’s Pune district has sought the removal of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his NCP from the ruling alliance, which also consists of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.
A video of Sudarshan Choudhary, the BJP’s Shirur tehsil vice president, making the demand at a party meeting recently has gone viral, leading to a backlash from the Nationalist Congress Party, whose workers mobbed him on Thursday and sought an apology.
“It is a suggestion to you. Listen to what party workers are thinking. If you really want to make a decision, remove Ajit Pawar from the Mahayuti (ruling alliance),” Choudhary tells the BJP leadership in the video.
He also said senior leaders like Subhash Deshmukh, Rahul Kulkarni and Yogesh Tilekar, who were present in the meeting, could have become ministers and others could have been made head of state-run corporations if Pawar was not part of the ruling dispensation.
The BJP had been opposing Pawar for the last 10 years but workers are now in a state of fear because the Deputy CM is at the helm of affairs, Choudhary further claimed.
It is the wish of all BJP workers in the tehsil that they do want such power which also involves Ajit Pawar, he added.
“Why bring Ajit Pawar to power because he will issue orders and suppress BJP workers,” Choudhary said in the video.
Speaking to reporters on the issue, Choudhary said during the review meeting held in Shirur, BJP workers freely expressed their wish.
Meanwhile, several Nationalist Congress Party workers arrived at the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) complex here when Choudhary was talking to reporters, shouted slogans against him and sought an apology for the statement on the deputy CM.
The ruling alliance got a drubbing in the recent Lok Sabha polls, managing to win just 17 seats against the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s 30.
The Ajit Pawar-led NCP emerged victorious on just Raigad seat. In Shirur, NCP (SP) MP Amol Kolhe trounced the ruling alliance’s Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil by a margin of more than 1.40 lakh votes.
Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs had joined the Shinde government in July last year.
A group of five men pasted posters outside the residence of AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi in New Delhi on Thursday evening, demanding his suspension from the Lok Sabha, officials said.
According to a police officer, four-five men reached Mr. Owaisi’s 34 Ashoka Road residence located in Central Delhi and pasted three posters at the entry gate and wall of the house about 9 p.m.
The lines like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘I stand with Israel’ and ‘Owaisi should be suspended’ were written on the posters.
A purported video of the incident surfaced online in which one of the miscreants said that youth of the country should be united against the politician, who does not say “bharat mata ki jai”.
The Delhi Police however, reached the spot and removed the posters. By then, the men had gone away, an officer said.
A police officer said they are trying to identify the people and legal action will be taken against them.
Mr. Owaisi saying “Jai Palestine” while taking oath as a member of the Lok Sabha had sparked a row among the other MPs.
“Some ‘unknown miscreants’ vandalised my house with black ink today. I have now lost count the number of times my Delhi residence has targeted. When I asked @DelhiPolice officials how this was happening right under their nose, they expressed helplessness,” Owaisi wrote on X.
Tagging Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Owaisi wrote, “this is happening under your oversight. please tell us if MPs’ safety will be guaranteed or not”.
“To the two-bit goons who keep targeting my house: this does not scare me. Stop this Savarkar-type cowardly behaviour and be men enough to face me. Do not scurry away after throwing some ink or pelting a few stones,” he wrote further.
Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala
Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala on Thursday said his party is ready to support the Congress in the Rajya Sabha election and ruled out any alliance with the ruling BJP in Haryana before or after the next Assembly polls.
The JJP’s four-and-a-half-year alliance with the BJP came to an end after the saffron party replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as chief minister in March.
In the recently held general elections, JJP fielded candidates in all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana but drew a blank. Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda won the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat, leading to a seat in the Upper House of Parliament becoming vacant.
At his first news conference here after the announcement of Lok Sabha results, Chautala, the former Haryana deputy chief minister, was asked how much of a benefit or loss his party had because of its earlier tie-up with the BJP.
The recent Lok Sabha results have shown that “what BJP had to face, we too had to face that”, Chautala said and admitted that his JJP also bore the brunt of farmers’ anger.
Dushyant Chautala, the son of JJP chief Ajay Singh Chautala, said the party will in the next few weeks seek feedback from its workers and based on that would decide on entering into an alliance with any party other than the BJP for the Assembly polls slated to be held in the next few months.
Ruling out any truck with BJP, he said, “I can make it clear there is no point of going with the BJP in future. Even after elections, we will not have any truck with BJP,” he said.
Dushyant Chautala claimed that the JJP’s loss in the Lok Sabha polls was “because of our alliance with the BJP”.
About a Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana falling vacant following Deepender Hooda’s election to the Lok Sabha, the JJP leader said his party is ready to support the Congress for the Upper House polls, provided they field a prominent personality or an eminent sportsperson as a candidate.
The Congress is the main opposition in Haryana But leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda has remarked that other outfits should join hands and field a candidate as the grand old party does not have the required numbers to put up its candidate, Chautala said.
He said, “If the Congress really wants to take on the BJP, they should not look at win or loss. If they put up any candidate which is acceptable, we will support them. The candidate can be any prominent personality or eminent person, including from the sports field and he can be joint candidate of the opposition.”
But if the Congress actually does not want to put up its candidate when polls are held for the Rajya Sabha seat, it would indicate that “there is match-fixing between Congress and BJP”, Chautala said.
“If our party had around 30 MLAs like the Congress, we would have definitely fielded our candidate without thinking about winning or losing.”
About the Assembly polls in the state, Chautala said the JJP will hold meetings with party workers from July 5 to seek feedback and to rebuild the organisation. “The focus is to make our organisation ready for the assembly poll,” he said.
In reply to a question, Chautala alleged both the BJP and the Congress were working to weaken regional parties.
Hitting out at the Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government in Haryana on the law-and-order front, the JJP leader demanded the state should have “a full-time home minister”.
To another question, Chautala reiterated that the Saini government has been in the “minority” after three Independents withdrew their support last month.
“As against the Assembly’s effective strength of 86, BJP has the support of 43, but the majority mark is 44,” he said, adding the JJP has written to the Haryana Governor, urging him to hold a floor test.
Chautala also said that party leaders will meet the Assembly Speaker and seek the disqualification of two JJP MLAs.
The JJP recently moved a petition before the Haryana Assembly Speaker, seeking the disqualification of two party MLAs — Ramniwas Surjakhera and Jogi Ram Sihag — under the anti-defection law for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities.
Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday claimed that he was falsely implicated in a money laundering case and was forced to spend about five months in jail.
In a veiled attack on the BJP, the executive president of Jharkhand’s ruling JMM said he was concerned about how the voice of political leaders, social workers and journalists was being silenced in the country.
“I was falsely implicated. A conspiracy was hatched against me and I was forced to spend five months in jail,” Soren told reporters after his release from the Birsa Munda Jail here.
He was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in the money laundering case linked to a land scam.
“I respect the judiciary. The court delivered its order and I am out (on bail). But the judicial process is long,” Soren said.
He alleged those who raised their voice against the central government were being suppressed.
“I will finish the task I started, the war I waged,” Soren said.
He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31.
BJP MLA Harish Poonja
A special court for public representatives in Bengaluru has summoned BJP MLA Harish Poonja along with 64 other party members over allegations of obstructing police duties during protests against the arrest of Shashiraj Shetty, the BJP Belthangady Taluk Yuva Morcha taluk president.
Poonja and others have been mandated to appear before the court on July 10. The Beltangady police have registered two separate cases: the first involving summons for 28 individuals, and the second for 37. They are required to present themselves before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court for a formal inquiry.
The first case accuses MLA Poonja and other BJP workers of attempting to pressure the police to release Shetty, who was detained on charges of illegal quarrying. The second case pertains to a protest held on May 20 outside an administrative building opposing the FIR filed against Shetty.
Following the filing of chargesheets by the Belthangady police, the court decided to issue summons, initiating judicial proceedings scheduled for July 10.
As many as 137 Indian nationals who were allegedly involved in a large-scale online financial scam across multiple locations in Sri Lanka have been arrested by police, according to a media report on Friday.
They were arrested on Thursday from the Colombo suburbs of Madiwela and Battaramulla and the western coastal town of Negombo, said Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa was quoted as saying by Daily Mirror newspaper.
He said the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) conducted simultaneous raids in these areas, leading to the seizure of 158 mobile phones, 16 laptops, and 60 desktop computers.
In Negombo, 55 suspects were detained along with 55 mobile phones and 29 laptops.
Similarly, in Kochchikade, authorities apprehended 53 individuals and confiscated 31 laptops and 58 mobile phones.
The operation in Madiwela led to the arrest of 13 suspects and recovery of eight laptops and 38 mobile phones, while in Thalangama, 16 suspects were taken into custody with eight laptops and 38 mobile phones.
The SSP said that all the arrested suspects were males.
The crackdown follows a complaint from a victim who was lured into a WhatsApp group promising cash for social media interactions.
Further investigation revealed a scheme where victims were coerced into making deposits after initial payments. In Peradeniya, a father-son duo admitted to aiding the fraudsters, the newspaper reported.
Key evidence uncovered during a luxury house raid in Negombo led to the initial arrest of 13 suspects and the seizure of 57 phones and computers.
Subsequent operations in Negombo yielded 19 additional arrests, exposing international links in Dubai and Afghanistan. Victims included both locals and foreigners, the report added.
It is suspected that they were involved in financial fraud, illegal betting and various activities of gambling.
