The door of a mosque was set ablaze on Monday by unidentified persons in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj district, leading to brief tension in the area that was singed by violence and clashes on Republic Day. Police said the situation is calm.

Tension gripped the Sabzi Mandi area on Monday morning when unidentified persons set ablaze the door of the mosque in Ganjdundwara in an attempt to disrupt the communal harmony in the area, a police officer said.

The fire was doused by locals and a fire tender but the door had been gutted by then, he said.

Residents from the area had gathered in large numbers on the streets near the Sabzi Mandi and raised slogans, downed shutters, demanding the guilty be immediately arrested.

Senior district and police officials led by District Magistrate R.P. Singh and Superintendent of Police Piyush Srivastava had to rush to the spot to pacify the angry residents.

District authorities had a hard time pacifying them and additional police force was sent to the area to ensure that the situation did not get out of control, an official informed IANS.

Senior police officers at the Director General of Police (DGP) office though refused to take calls.

Violence had erupted in the district on January 26, during the ‘Tiranga Yatra’ taken out by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) after which one person was killed and many injured.

(IANS)

Bengaluru: Under opposition flak over a spate of killings of Hindu and BJP workers, the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka today asserted it had taken effective steps to maintain law and order and dealt firmly with sporadic incidents of communal violence in the state.

“My government has taken effective steps to maintain law and order in the state and ensured communal harmony and public order,” Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala told a joint session of the state legislature, the last ahead of Assembly polls slated to be held later this year.

Sporadic incidents of communal violence had been firmly dealt with, he said. The reference to law and order comes amid a charge by the principal opposition BJP that the Siddaramaiah government was being “soft” towards “Jihadi forces” whom it had blamed for the killings of Hindu, BJP and Sangh Parivar workers.

The assertion also comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an all-out attack on the government at a public rally here, accusing it of creating new records in corruption and dubbing it a “10 percent commission government”.

Modi during his speech had also alleged that criminals were ruling the roost and “ease of doing murders” was being discussed in the state while his government talked about “ease of doing business”. In his address, the governor also spoke about the state government’s commitment to fighting corruption.

“My government continues to fight corruption in public services. A series of e-governance initiatives have increased the transparency and efficiency of public service,” he said. Pointing out that an anti-corruption bureau (ACB) was set up to effectively deal with corruption cases, he said it had registered 404 cases — “278 trap cases, 65 raid cases and 61 other cases”.

Since its creation, out of the 106 cases received by the government, prosecution sanction order was given in 72, he said, adding that awareness was being created on the working of the ACB by conducting public awareness meetings.

Vala held that the Karnataka government had made “remarkable strides” in achieving economic growth and securing social justice and welfare for all sections of society in the last five years. It had also made “notable progress” in reaching the goal of a “hunger-free Karnataka”, he said.

Highlighting the fiscal prudence of the state government, he mentioned concerns on the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax. “GST has been implemented in the country with effect from July 1, 2017. While we were completely ready for implementation, taxpayers have been facing various challenges in complying with the legal requirements envisaged under GST on the IT platform developed for this purpose,” Vala said.

“In addition, we have been witnessing frequent changes being carried out in the initial months,” he said, adding that because of these reasons, GST collections had been fluctuating. “But the shortfall is expected to be made good by the compensation due from the central government,” he said. The governor also reiterated the state government’s commitment towards ensuring justice to the state on the issue of water from the Cauvery and Krishna basins.

He said the government would also continue to make all efforts to ensure the rightful share of water for the people of Karnataka from the Mahadayi basin, the issue on which the state has locked horns with neighbouring Goa.

(PTI)

Agra: Muslims in Agra on Monday tried to take out a “Tiranga Yatra” but were held back at the Shahid Smarak, where they presented a memorandum to a district official, listing a set of demands and grievances.

The Tiranga Yatra was in response to a similar yatra last week by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Over a 100 Muslims, comprising youth, senior community leaders, Ulemas and Maulvis, led by Shabana Khandelwal, gathered at the Shahid Smarak with the national tricolour. But senior police officials said due to Section 144 being in force, the procession could not be permitted.

Khandelwal told IANS: “Our Tiranga Yatra was non-political and through this we want to demonstrate our firm solidarity with the nation and our patriotism including our love for the national tricolour.

“For no rhyme or reason Muslims were being targeted and branded as being opposed to the national patriotic fervour. The Muslims have made tremendous sacrifices both during the Independence movement and after during the wars and in the national developmental process.”

The demonstrators shouted “Pakistan Murdabad”.

In their memorandum addressed to the President of India, they demanded fair treatment, and safety to Muslims and their institutions.

“In the name of ‘Vande Matram’, many people were pointlessly harassed. This should stop. Also in the name of ‘Love Jihad’ and cow slaughter, many Muslims have suffered.”

They demanded a judicial probe in the Kasganj incident and fair compensation to the family of Chandan Gupta, who was killed in sectarian violence in the Uttar Pradesh town last month.

(IANS)

Bengaluru: A group of college students, donning degree robes and selling ‘pakodas’ to passers-by in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks over job creation, were today whisked away by the police, hours before the PM’s rally here.

The students appeared near the Mehkri Circle, a few metres away from Palace Ground where Modi is scheduled to address the rally, in protest against his recent remarks linking pakoda (snack) selling and job creation.

On being asked about inadequate job creation in the last four years in a recent interview to a news channel, the prime minister had said that a person selling pakodas outside their (channel’s) television studio and earning Rs 200 a day should also be perceived as ’employed’.

The young students sold ‘Modi Pakodas’, ‘Amit Shah Pakoda’ and ‘Dr Yeddy Pakodas’, a reference to Karnataka BJP chief Yeddyurappa, to those passing by, including the BJP workers and visitors on their way to the rally.

The police later removed the degree robes of the protesting students and took them into custody.

(PTI)

Celebrity jeweler Nirav Modi has been charged by the CBI in a multi crore cheating case, said officials on Monday. Mr Modi has been accused in a Rs. 280 crore cheating case, related to the Punjab National Bank, according to CBI officials.

CBI has registered a First Information Report (FIR) for criminal conspiracy and cheating against Nirav Modi, his brother Nishal, wife Ami and Mehul Chinubhai Chowski of Diamond R and Stellar Diamonds, for causing a loss of Rs. 280 crore.

The FIR also names a bank official, Manoj Hanumat and a retired deputy manager, Gokulnath Shetty for abusing public position. The investigative agency has also filed cases against unknown bank officials for corruption.

On January 29, the Deputy General Manager of PNB, Avineesh Nepalia, of Mumbai branch complained to the CBI, saying that some of its officials were causing loss to the bank.

The bank claimed in its complaint that two of its officials had issued Letters of Understanding (LoU), without following proper procedure and skipping entries in the banking systems. Eight fraud LoUs amounting to Rs. 280 crore were issued for Hong Kong-based banks.

The billionaire was raided by Income Tax officials on January 31; his offices in Delhi, Surat and Jaipur were allegedly under I-T department’s scanner.

Mr Nirav Modi is the founder of $2.3 billion Firestar Diamond and counts among his clients several world renowned celebrities. Firestar in a statement said,”This matter has no affiliation, legal or otherwise with Firestar International Limited, which is the flagship enterprise of Mr. Nirav Modi.”

Mr Modi has designer jewellery boutiques across three continents – in London, New York, Las Vegas, Hawai, Singapore, Beijing and Macau. In India, Mr Modi has his stores in Mumbai and Delhi.

(Agencies)

Newly launched All India Mahila Empowerment Party’s (MEP), leader Dr. Nowhera Shaik kickstarted her party’s drive for the Assembly elections in Mysore, challenging the political bigwigs on her campaign.

Dr. Shaikh announced that MEP will be contesting in all the 224 assembly constituencies in the state, and said that the party will also contest elections across the lengths and breadths of India in the coming years.

Dr. Shaikh clarified that although her party’s name is All India Mahila Empowerment Party, however, her party is not only for women but for every gender and every religion. She said that her party’s objective is to get justice for everyone and remove the cancer of corruption and communalism from society.