He also repeatedly alleges that there is a threat to his life.

BENGALURU: Two weeks after he fled the country, leaving thousands of people cheated of their investments running into several hundred crores, IMA Jewels founder and managing director Mohammed Mansoor Khan has released a video clip, supposedly from Dubai, on Sunday. He has accused a host of people, including JDS MLC Saravana, of causing the “collapse” of the company.

However, the JDS leader has denied any links with Khan.In the video, Khan refuses to accept that his was a ponzi scheme, saying that they were into “legal and proper business”. He claims that he wishes to return to Bengaluru, but that has got delayed. “I went to the airport on June 14 but was deplaned. Being a Friday, the immigration department was shut, so I could not fly that day. As soon as all formalities are taken care of, I shall return to my homeland,” he says.

He also repeatedly alleges that there is a threat to his life. “I am dealing with very dangerous people who are out to kill me. They know that the information I am going to reveal to the judiciary will get them into a lot of trouble, so they want to silence me. An IAS officer demanded Rs 10 crore when we applied for loan to bail out IMA. Since there was a little delay in arranging the money, he refused to process the papers and our company suffered closure,” he claims. 

Reacting to this, SIT investigating officer DCP S Girish said Khan’s allegations cannot be taken at face value and only a full investigation will bring out the truth.

In the video, Khan says: “I congratulate Ubaidullah Sharief (Congress worker), Mohammed Khalik Ahmed (editor, Pasban), Mukhtiyar Ahmed (named in a TADA case and discharged later), Feroz Abdullah Sait of Feroz Real Estate, Prestige Group’s Irfan and Saravana (JDS member and president of Jewellers’ Association), for their success in causing harm to IMA; also those from my group of directors who swindled money and those who spread hate messages that hastened the collapse of IMA.”

He goes on to say that in a previous audio clip, he had told the City Police Commissioner how he had to flee from the country to save himself and his family. He adds that he felt “demotivated” then and hence contemplated suicide. “Also, mine was not a planned exit, like some people are alleging. IMA had been facing financial issues since October, which we managed to protect the investors from, for long,” he says.
“My acquaintances and people within the management have betrayed me. I had no one to seek help from, and I had to leave. Out of thousands who made lots of money from the company in its 13 years of existence, no one stood by me during difficult times. Yet, I want to return. I request Alok Kumar to contact me on my earlier phone number. My passport has been impounded, delaying my return.”

‘Khan’s allegations baseless’

Reacting to allegations made against him by Mansoor Khan, Saravana told reporters, “There is no connection between me and him. The way his business functioned was damaging, and he doesn’t follow the association. Let him prove his allegations with evidence. I will file a defamation case against him after discussing with my lawyer.”

Both the deaths took place at the S K Medical College and Hospital, where 431 children, including two in the past 12 hours, have been admitted for AES treatment

PATNA/MUZAFFARPUR: Two more children died in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on Sunday due to acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) even as officials asserted that afflictions and casualties had begun to dwindle with the onset of rains.

Both the deaths took place at the S K Medical College and Hospital, where 431 children, including two in the past 12 hours, have been admitted for AES treatment since June 1, according to figures released by the district administration.

The total number of AES patients who have died at the SKMCH is 110.

“There is a perceptible decline in the number of children who are being admitted with brain fever as also the number of deaths,” hospital superintendent Sunil Kumar Shahi said.

“It has always been observed that AES strikes at the peak of summer and the outbreak halts with the onset of rains.”

Two fresh cases have been registered, one on Saturday and another on Sunday, Shahi said.

Besides the SKMCH, the Kejriwal hospital in the Muzaffarpur town has so far registered 162 AES cases and 20 casualties.

The Health Department put the total number of AES casualties across 20 districts at 152.

These include the 130 deaths reported at the two Muzaffarpur-based hospitals, which have been admitting AES patients from nearly half a dozen districts in its proximity.

It also suspended Bhimsen Kumar, a senior resident doctor posted at the Patna Medical College Hospital, for allegedly failing to comply with the direction to report for emergency duty at the SKMCH.

Meanwhile, a huge chunk of plaster fell off the ceiling at the SKMCH in the afternoon and came crashing down on the ground, barely a few feet away from a patients’ ward.

Nobody was injured in the incident, which took place a day after human skeletal remains were found strewn near a garbage dump close to the hospital building.

Experts attribute the deaths to hypoglycemia which typically affects malnourished children below the age of 15 years and said to be triggered by consumption of unripe lychees — a fruit grown in abundance in Bihar.

The fruit contains a high concentration of a toxin that causes blood-sugar levels to fall sharply.

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Sources said that the top brass of the Congress, as well as the Gandhi family, is said to be in favour of Ashok Gehlot taking over as the party chief.

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is likely to be appointed as the next Congress president as Rahul Gandhi is adamant on his stand that he does not want to continue as the party chief, sources told Zee News. Sources in the Delhi unit of the party say that a large chunk of Congress is in favour of Gehlot’s elevation as the party chief.

It is also likely that Gehlot will continue to serve as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Leaders are believed to have given arguments in favour of Gehlot stating that many party presidents have served as chief ministers of states. The names of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, former Uttar Pradesh CMs Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati and former Tamil Nadu CM late J Jayalalithaa are said to have been cited as examples in favour of Gehlot continuing as Rajasthan CM.

Sources added that the top brass of the Congress, as well as the Gandhi family, is said to be in favour of Gehlot taking over as the party chief.

Hectic parleys are on within the Congress over who will be the next party president as Rahul, who is currently the chief, had offered his resignation after the Lok Sabha results were announced last month. Rahul had taken responsibility for the party’s debacle in the election and despite the party urging him to continue on the post, he has remained firm that he wants to step down from his position.

The Congress had won 52 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, which is just eight more than what the Congress won in 2014. The National Democratic Alliance, on the other hand, registered a massive victory, winning 352 seats to retain power at the Centre. The Bharatiya Janata Party alone won 303 seats, its highest ever tally.

The sender of the SMS said in his Hindi message that he was “sorry” for deciding to eliminate Manoj Tiwari under “extreme compulsion”.  

New Delhi: Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari has received a death threat through an SMS on his personal phone number, in which the sender said he is under “extreme compulsion” to eliminate the leader.

The unidentified person also threatened to eliminate the Prime Minister “if need be”, Tiwari said. “I have informed the police about the threat,” Tiwari said.

The sender of the SMS also said in his Hindi message that he was “sorry” for deciding to eliminate Tiwari under “extreme compulsion”.

A formal complaint about the threat will be lodged soon, said Delhi BJP’s Media Relations head Neelkant Bakshi.

The SMS was received on Tiwari’s mobile phone at 12.52 pm on Friday which he saw on Saturday evening and immediately informed the police, he added.

Yeddyurappa said voters of the state would not agree for another election, 13 months after the assembly polls. 

Bengaluru: Ruling out any mid-term polls, Karnataka BJP President BS Yeddyurappa on Saturday said the Congress-JD(S) coalition government would not survive for long because of internal differences and asked it to quit if they were not able to govern the state.

“I have already said this clearly as the state president. We are 105 MLAs. There are more than 20 disgruntled (MLAs) in Congress-JD(S). If you don’t have the capability to run the administration, resign,” Yeddyurappa said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said voters of the state would not agree for another election, 13 months after the assembly polls. “Taking such decisions with selfish motives is not right. Resign and go home, we will run the administration- I have already said this…According to me, this government will not survive for long if you look at their infighting,” he added.

Yeddyurappa’s statement comes a day after former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Friday said there was no doubt there would be mid-term polls to the state assembly.

Gowda had also said he did not know how long the Congress-JD(S) government, headed by his son H D Kumaraswamy, would continue and it was in the hands of the senior coalition partner.

State BJP in-charge Muralidhar Rao said the coalition government was against the mandate of the people and freeing Karnataka from it was his party’s agenda and programme. “We have to complete the incomplete work in Karnataka. After winning 105 seats, we are not in government. Those with 38 seats are running the government. This is a mockery of the public mandate…This government is against the mandate of the people, it is against the interests of Karnataka,” he said, addressing party workers.

“BJP will leave no stone unturned to free Karnataka at the earliest from this government. This is our agenda, our programme,” he added.

There is growing discomfort within the ruling alliance after the rout in the Lok Sabha polls. Congress and JD(S) that had faced the polls in alliance managed to win one seat each, while BJP won 25 seats. The saffron party supported independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh won in Mandya.

Coalition leaders fear that using disgruntlement within as an opportunity, BJP may try to topple the government by ‘poaching’ its MLAs, who are unhappy with the government and are miffed over not getting Ministerial posts.

Yeddyurappa also hit out at Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s “Grama Vastvya” (overnight stay in villages) programme to make the administration more effective, terming it as a “political circus”.

“After doing one day of Grama Vastavya and making false promises, citing rains there as a reason, he has come back via Hyderabad, without doing today’s Grama Vastavya. This is a kind of political circus,” he said.

Kumaraswamy was scheduled to hold his Grama Vastavya at Herur village in Kalaburagi rural taluk on Saturday, but it was postponed due to heavy rains that lashed the district on Friday evening. He had done his Grama Vastavya at Chandaraki village in Yadgir district on Friday.

Accusing Gandhi of ‘spreading negativity’, Union minister Amit Shah said the Congress had yet again insulted the armed forces while expressing its support for the medieval practice of triple talaq.

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday courted controversy by tweeting pictures of the Indian Army’s dog squad doing yoga and captioning it “New India”. Gandhi’s tweet drew a sharp retort from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who accused him of mocking International Yoga Day and insulting the forces.

The pictures in the tweet showed the Army dog unit and their trainers in a prostrate position.

Shah took to Twitter to criticise Gandhi and said while the Congress supports the medieval practice of triple talaq, it insults the armed forces again. He also accused the Congress of spreading negativity.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh also criticised Gandhi’s tweet.

The BJP contended that life is only about a joke for the Congress chief as he is in the habit of posting photographs of his pet dog.

BJP national vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said it was “painful” to see a senior politician “ridiculing” International Yoga Day.

BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance had seen a new India, Gandhi’s tweet reveals a new Congress under his leadership.

Gandhi was also trolled on Twitter, with a number of people posting pictures about the Congress while poking fun at him and the party.

While Cholavaram and Redhills reservoirs that supply water to Chennai have run dry, there is only 1 mcft of water left in Chembarambakkam lake and 21 mcft water in Poondi reservoir.

Residents fill their vessels with potable water from a pipeline in Chennai on Thursday. (PTI)

Tamil Nadu’s Opposition DMK on Saturday began protests across the state against the AIADMK government’s failure to take prompt action to meet the state’s water crisis. The ruling party officials, meanwhile, were holding yagnas in temples seeking God’s blessings for the rains.

With Chennai and several other places in Tamil Nadu facing an acute water shortage, the DMK is holding protests to press the state government to take necessary action to mitigate the people’s suffering.

While Cholavaram (full capacity 1,081 mcft) and Redhills (full capacity 3,300 mcft) reservoirs that supply water to Chennai have run dry, there is only 1 mcft of water left in Chembarambakkam lake (against a full capacity of 3,645 mcft) and 21 mcft water left in Poondi reservoir (against a full capacity of 3,231 mcft), according to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

The ground water levels too have gone down owing to lack of rains.