Jaipur: Municipality employees in Pratpargh town today beat a middle-aged man to death when he allegedly tried to stop them from scaring women defecating in the open and taking their photographs.

The incident happened near Bagwasa Kachi Basti area at around 6:30 am where few women had gone to attend nature’s call.

The municipality employees of Pratapgarh town municipality tried scaring away women and took photographs of women defecating in the open.

It was then that Zafar Khan intervened and tried stopping municipality employees from taking pictures.

In retaliation, municipality employees kicked, punched and beat Khan with a stick, which led to his death, according to the FIR lodged by Khan’s elder brother Noor Mohammed.

Noor has lodged a complaint against Kamal Harijan, Ritesh Harijan, Manish Harijan, Nagar Parishad commissioner Ashok Jain and others following police have registered a case of murder, Pratapgarh Kotwali police said.

Pratapgarh Superintendent of Police, Shivraj Meena said, “We are getting the matter investigated and a case has been registered against four named accused in the FIR”.

SHO, Pratapgarh Kotwali, Mangilal Bishnoi said that the body has been kept at district hospital for postmortem.

Police have been deployed considering the matter sensitive and to maintain law and order.

“We are investigating the case and no arrests have been made so far,” he said.

(PTI)

New Delhi: Fugitive chief recruiter for terror group ISIS in the Indian subcontinent Mohammed Shafi Armar was today named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US.

The US State Treasury Department, while updating its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT), has included in it Armar, a native of Bhatkal in Karnataka, clearing the way for sanctions against him.

An Interpol Red Corner notice is also pending against the 30-year-old Armar, who has many aliases like ‘Chhote Maula’, ‘Anjan Bhai’ and ‘Yousuf al-Hindi’.

Armar’s name has now been added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department which enforces economic sanctions programmes, primarily against countries and groups of individuals, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers.

The sanctions can be either comprehensive or selective, using the blocking of assets and trade restrictions to accomplish foreign policy and national security goals of the US.

Armar was said to have left for Pakistan along with his elder brother after crackdown on Indian Mujahideen cadres.

After a fight with Bhatkal brothers, including Riyaz, the founder of IM, in Pakistan, Armar is believed to have created Ansar ul Tawhid, which later pledged its allegiance to the ISIS.

There have been many reports of him having been dead in a drone attack or crackdown by the allied forces. However, every time intelligence agencies began giving credence to such reports, his name or voice cropped up in intercepts.

Tech savvy, Armar has been operating on Facebook and other personal messenger services to contact, brainwash and recruit youths from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

His links to the ISIS were also the highlight of the interrogation of Yasin Bhatkal, who was arrested near the Nepal border in 2013.

Shafi Armar first came on the radar of investigation agencies when the NIA was probing suspected ISIS cadres in Ratlam of Madhya Pradesh.

During the interrogation of alleged IS operatives, it emerged that Armar was motivating and radicalising Muslim youths in India. He was said to have been recruiting youths for the Jund ul Khalifa-e-Hind through online radicalisation.

The NIA had charge-sheeted him along with five others for allegedly conspiring to carry out terror strikes in the national capital and also during ardhkumbh in Haridwar.

The National Investigation Agency had told a special court that these accused were planning to assemble Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) using extracts from “match sticks”.

The United Arab Emirates had deported three Indians who were allegedly working for Armar.

It emerged during the interrogation of IM suspects that he was a self-proclaimed ally of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, chief of the ISIS.

(Agencies)

Mumbai: A special anti-terrorism court on Friday convicted notorious criminal Abu Salem and dreaded smuggler Mustafa Dossa in connection with the 12 March 1993 serial blasts case.

The process of delivery of verdict is currently underway at a special court set up under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.

The quantum of sentence would be decided after arguments between prosecution and defence. A total of seven accused are facing trial, that is, part II of the Bombay Bomb Blasts Case.

On 12 March 1993, a dozen bombs went off at several locations in the city, killing 257 people, and injuring 713, while destroying property worth Rs. 27 crores.

Salem was one of the key persons of Dawood, however, fell out with him and Chhota Shakeel, after the murder of Gulshan Kumar. This is one of the reasons why Salem and Dossa had several fights inside the jail.

As far as the role of Dossa is concerned, he had attended the conspiracy meetings, help some of the accused go to Pakistan for training and arrange for the landing of RDX and AK-47 rifles along the Raigad coast. Salem too was part of the core team of Dawood and it was he who had supplied the Kalashnikov rifle to Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt. He was part of the group that visited Dutt’s Bandra bungalow and delivered the weapons.

Salem was arrested in Portugal in 2002 and was extradited to India 11 November 2005 along with his companion and actress Monica Bedi. He is standing trial in a total of nine cases in India. In 2015, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by a TADA court for the murder of builder Pradeep Jain. Dossa was deported from the United Arab Emirates and face the grave charge of the landing of arms and ammunition.

(Agencies)

Mumbai: The Finance Ministry’s intent to divest its stake in tobacco companies is a welcome step towards tobacco control. The ‘Coalition Against Tobacco’ had recently written to the Indian Prime Minister, highlighting the environmental dangers and degradation at multiple levels due to production and processing of tobacco. The Health Ministry has reportedly raised concerns about government stake in tobacco companies and the Finance Ministry is reported to be considering a divestment of its stake in tobacco companies. The discussions of divestment by the Finance Ministry are commendable and indicate their intent towards better public health and a healthier environment.

Commenting on the development, Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi a head and neck cancer surgeon at the Tata Memorial Hospital and a member of the Coalition said “this move by the Finance Ministry to consider divesting its stake in tobacco stocks is a big step towards a tobacco-free India. The damage that this socially undesirable evil has been doing to our people can finally be reversed through action by the state and civil society, by the government’s bold step of moving out of this business”

“Tobacco cannot in any way be seen to be contributing positively to the society. The Government’s move is a truly pioneering one especially considering that it will be foregoing huge amounts in dividends from these companies. This fact displays the strength of the Government’s resolve of ensuring a tobacco-free India” said Mrs Sumitra Pednekar, a member of the ‘Coalition Against Tobacco’ and petitioner in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Mumbai High Court against these investments made by state owned insurance companies in tobacco manufacturers.

“This is a good move and in complete consonance with the stated intent of the government of tobacco control. We really appreciate the government’s efforts in that direction and pledge our full support to it in this noble cause” added Dr Badwe, Director, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai and another prominent member of the Coalition.

On implementation, this will be a major step in dissuading other institutions from investing in this industry and stop promoting tobacco and its consequences in a country like India where almost a million people die annually due to usage of tobacco and tobacco products.