Even as the Punjab Police maintained that some leads were being investigated, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said the grenade attack on a religious congregation of the Nirankari sect was a clear case of terrorism and there was no religious connection to it.

“It is a clear case of terrorism. This has been carried out to create panic. There is no religious link to it,” Amarinder, who visited the grenade attack spot at Nirankari Satsang Bhawan in Adliwal village near Rajasansi, told the media.

Three persons were killed and 20 injured when two motorcycle-borne youths threw a grenade at a Nirankari congregation about 15 km from Amritsar. All victims were sect followers from nearby villages who had gathered for the weekly Sunday religious meeting.

The Chief Minister visited the injured in the hospital here and announced a government job to next of the kin of the three people killed in Sunday’s grenade attack.

Amarinder had earlier on Monday announced a reward of Rs 50 lakh to anyone giving information regarding the two youths who carried out Sunday’s grenade attack on the Nirankari prayer meeting.

The Punjab Police, which has remained clueless for the last over 24 hours regarding who carried out the attack, has formed several teams to investigate the grenade attack. CCTV footage of places near the blast was being scanned to know more about the two masked attackers.

Forensic teams and a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) reached the spot late on Sunday to investigate the attack.

Inspector General (Border Range) S.P.S. Parmar told the media on Monday that the probe would look at all angles and police teams were trying to trace the culprits.

The attack at the compound located in the rural belt, around three kilometres from the Guru Ram Das Jee Amritsar International Airport, created panic.

Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora, who rushed to the spot on Sunday along with senior officers, admitted that it was a “terror act”.

The Punjab Police has drawn flak for intelligence failure regarding the attack despite the border state being on high alert since November 14 over reported movement of six to seven terrorists in the state.

Eyewitnesses told the police that two youths on a motorcycle, with their faces covered, forced their entry into the sect compound by pointing a pistol at a woman volunteer at the gate. There were around 200 followers in the compound at the time.

Amarinder Singh, who on Sunday directed the police to immediately enhance security arrangements at all sensitive places, terming it “the first such indiscriminate attack on innocent people in recent past”, said that the “possibility of involvement of ISI-based Khalistani/ Kashmiri terror groups can’t be ruled out”.

The Nirankari sect, with headquarters in Delhi, has millions of followers across the country and abroad.

In the last few months, Khalistani and Kashmiri activists have been trying to foment trouble in Punjab, which shares a 553-km barbed wire-fenced international border with Pakistan.

The state police, along with its Jammu and Kashmir counterpart, had busted two modules of Kashmiri students who were studying in institutions in Punjab and having links to terrorist outfits in troubled Kashmir. The Maqsudan Police Station was targeted by Kashmiri terrorists on September 14 with hand grenades though no one was injured in the attack.

Posters of Kashmiri terrorist Zakir Mussa had mysteriously appeared in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district on Friday saying that he had been seen in Punjab.The Chief Minister said 15 terror modules had been busted in the past 18 months, including those with Kashmiri terror links.

IANS

With the BJP-RSS going hammer and tongs at the Pinarayi Vijayan government over the way the police is handling the Sabarimala pilgrimage season, the Congress-led United Democratic Front has decided to intensify its protest.

It demanded that the Chief Minister give up the Home portfolio.

The Sabarimala temple opened its doors at 5 p.m. on November 17 for two months.

The temple town has witnessed protests by Hindu groups since September 28 when the Supreme Court allowed women of all ages to enter the temple that had banned menstruating females aged between 10 and 50.

The apex court on November 13 refused to stay that verdict and made it clear on Monday that they would not reconsider this decision as the case has been posted to be heard on January 22.

While the Kerala government is trying hard to see that the apex court verdict is implemented, the opposition parties are up in arms against violation of the temple tradition.

On Sunday night, the police arrested 72 pilgrims after they refused to leave the temple premises as they were singing Lord Ayyappa hymns well beyond the scheduled closure of the temple at 10 p.m.

The UDF meeting decided to first send a team led by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who will reach the temple town on Tuesday to assess the situation there.

Speaking to reporters here, leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala said that they will be forced to violate the prohibitory orders that are now in force in and around the temple town.

“The prohibitory orders should be withdrawn immediately as there is no need for it. Vijayan has made a complete mess of the Sabarimala pilgrimage season as the police is creating havoc and has turned the temple town into a terror zone. Vijayan has lost control and he should demit the Home portfolio,” said Chennithala.

The statement of Chennithala came after the Kerala High Court, while hearing a batch of petitions, came down heavily on the Kerala police for their unruly behaviour against the pilgrims.

However, the court also pointed out that some of those who have come with the petition are also partly responsible for turning the temple town into a battleground.

The court advised political parties, police and the state government to work together to restore the temple town into a friendly pilgrimage place.

In a related development, three young women had to face the ire of protesters in front of the Press Club here when word spread that these women wished to go for Sabarimala darshan.

The women informed the media that they had wanted to go for a darshan and had undertaken the required penance for it, but had abandoned their plans for the moment due to tension prevailing in the temple town.

More than a hundred people, including a large number of women, had gathered in front of the Press Club, singing Lord Ayyappa hymns and protesting against the three women.

The police came to their rescue, forming a ring around them and helping them leave the venue safely.

State Minister for Devasom (Temples) Kadakampally Surendran said that the government will make all the arrangements for the three women if they wished to reach the temple town to worship Lord Ayyappa.

The Chief Minister reiterated the stand of the government and said that they will abide by the apex court’s verdict.

“When the Kerala High Court ruled that all women cannot be given entry to the Sabarimala temple, the state government abided by that and today the apex court has ruled otherwise and the state government will abide by it. Those who are creating trouble at Sabarimala are not pilgrims,” said Vijayan.

IANS

A day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader HS Phoolka accused the Army chief of “orchestrating an attack” Congress MLA Rajkumar Verka has lodged an FIR against the former.

Phoolka, however, tendered an apology for his remarks against the Army Chief.

“My statement has been totally misunderstood. Please see the full video, the whole statement was actually against the Congress, and not against the respected Army Chief. Still, it was an inadvertent comment and I regret it,” Phoolka told ANI.

On Sunday, Phoolka had said, “Army Chief came and made a statement. To prove his statement, he could have orchestrated the attack. This matter should be looked into. Did government do it (attack)? Did the earlier government do it now? It is wrong to repeatedly say that Punjab’s atmosphere is not good. We must get to the root of it. Government must get to the root of it. Those who made false statements about Maur blast, what action has been taken against them? Punjab is a sensitive state. One must not make statements without facts. One must not make accusations. Get to the root of it – who did it?”

Later Phoolka tweeted to clarify: “Please see whole video. An inadvertent statement made standing on road is being blown out of proportion. I have stated that history is evidence of that fact that governments in the past have caused violence to further their interest. Like in last year’s Maur blast no one should reach a conclusion without detailed impartial investigation. Even a moderate person like me who has always been against Khalistan thinks so. I regret statement that may have purported to be against the Army Chief.”

The AAP leader stirred the controversy with his statement following a blast on Sunday at the Nirankari Bhawan in Rajasansi village in Amritsar.

In Phoolka’s defence AAP leader Sanjay Singh told media, ” HS Phoolka has regretted his statement, he shouldn?t be defamed on the basis of an impromptu comment. He?s been fighting for justice for 84 riots victims for last 35 years, he should be given credit for it. He shouldn?t be targeted in this manner.”

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday did not rule out the involvement of ISI-backed Khalistani or Kashmiri terror groups in the blast at Nirankari Bhawan in Amritsar’s Rajasansi village that took place earlier on Sunday.

The Chief Minister said, “The possibility of involvement of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed Khalistani or Kashmiri terror groups cannot be ruled out. Police teams have been rushed to raid suspected hideouts of the assailants and multiple teams are investigating various angles to crack the case.”

Punjab Chief Minister has already announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the deceased and free treatment for those who got injured in the blast.

Following the blast, Punjab’s Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora also visited the incident spot. He said that the incident was being “counted” as a terror act and more details would be found after investigation.

“We are taking this incident as a terror act. At this stage, it is difficult to establish the link but we will find out in further investigation. It will be too early to come to any conclusion. Overall we know that efforts were being made but in this particular case unless or until we come to the conclusive evidence we cannot say anything at this point in time. Let’s not get into presumptions. As far as this incident is concerned, I would say that we will find out the truth and then will come back,” DGP Arora said.

Two assailants on bike threw grenades at the Nirankari Bhawan, where few hundred people were gathered for a religious congregation, killing three and injuring as many as 20 people.

ANI

Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will hold talks with agitating sugarcane farmers on their demands for a higher minimum support price and settling dues from state-run and private mills, said an official on Monday.

“Kumaraswamy has called for a meeting with sugarcane farmers, mill owners and officials at the state secretariat on Tuesday to discuss their demands and problems, said the official from the chief minister’s office in a statement here.

The meeting has been convened a day after hundreds of farmers, including their womenfolk on Sunday staged protests at Belagavi against the state government’s alleged indifference over ensuring minimum support price (MSP) for their cane and settling their dues from mill owners.

The Chief Minister also advised the farmers staging the protest in the city on Monday to have patience and sought time to address their demands, including loan waiver, higher MSP for sugarcane and supply of seeds and fertilizers for the rabi crop.

“I appeal to the farmers to be patient as the government is committed to find solutions to their problems. I held meetings with officials and stakeholders on demands of sugarcane growers. I have directed the district deputy commissioners to resolve their issues,” said the statement citing the Chief Minister.

Though debt waiver was not a solution to the farmers’ woes, Kumaraswamy said the state government was working hard to waive off farm loans taken from cooperative, scheduled and state-run banks.

“I hope the waiver will enable the farmers to seek fresh loans for the next crop. The loan waiver will begin soon as the process is at the final stage,” said the chief minister.

Claiming that the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government was pro-farmer, Kumaraswamy said a permanent solution was being worked out to ensure that farmers would not have to protest or resort to an agitation.

“I have been always on the side of farmers and don’t have bias against those from the northern or southern regions of the state. All are equal and same for me.

Terming the police action against protesting farmers at Belagavi on Sunday when they barged into the premises of the district secretariat, Kumaraswamy said in a democracy everyone had the right to protest but not break the law.

“As the loan waiver amount is about Rs 48,000 crore, we need time and workforce to verify each account. I want farmers to be patient and not be desperate,” added the Chief Minister.

IANS

The Central Bureau of Investigation has discovered that five minor girls, and not two as reported earlier, died in a shelter home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district.

Their post-mortems were conducted at a government hospital, police said on Monday.

The CBI, probing the alleged rape of 34 girls at the shelter home, on Sunday searched documents at Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital and found that the post-mortems of five girls of the shelter home were conducted there.

According to the hospital register, the post-mortems of two girls were conducted in 2013, two in 2015 and one in 2017.

The CBI officials are now trying to find out as to whom the bodies of the girls were handed over after their autopsies and also whether cases were registered in the matter.

“A team of CBI officials is likely to soon interrogate some hospital doctors to collect more details about the case,” a district police officer said.

The CBI had earlier found human bones at a cremation ground on October 4 following a tip-off. It had also carried out an extensive excavation at the shelter home premises on suspicion that some inmates might have been killed and buried there, but could not recover anything from there.

Last month, a shelter home employee Krishna Ram, who also ran the press of Brajesh Thakur — the main accused — told the CBI sleuths that some bodies were stuffed in gunny bags and disposed of in the Burhi Gandak river a year ago.

However, the CBI could not recover anything from the river.

According to the CBI, Ram disclosed that Brajesh Thakur had ordered the disposal of the bodies.

He reportedly revealed that two inmates of Thakur’s NGO, Seva Sankalp Ewam Vikas Samiti, had died under mysterious circumstances and their bodies were dumped in the river from Akharaghat Bridge with the help of Guddu, another employee of the shelter home, and Vijay Tiwari, Thakur’s driver.

Of the 42 girls lodged at the short-stay home run by Brajesh Thakur’s NGO, 34 were found to have been sexually assaulted. The crime came to light after a social audit by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, five months ago.

The shelter home has been sealed, and Thakur sent to jail.

The Supreme Court is monitoring the CBI probe into the case.

IANS

Three buses parked in a Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) depot caught fire on Monday, police said.

The fire brigade has put out the blaze, they said.

It was not immediately known how the buses caught fire, but the police suspect it to be the handiwork of some anti-social elements.

The depot is situated near residential areas in Ranchi.

IANS

 The Opposition Congress and NGOs will join a rally here on Tuesday to demand ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s resignation, an organiser of the march said on Monday.

“The march will be held on Tuesday. Social activist Rajan Ghate, who is on an indefinite hunger-strike, will lead the march to Parrikar’s residence in Dona Paula. The march will be attended by Goa NGOs, leading individuals and some political parties, including the Congress,” organiser Aires Rodrigues, a city lawyer, told the media.

State Congress President Girish Chodankar confirmed his participation.

Ghate has been on a hunger strike for the past four days at the Panaji city square, demanding that Parrikar, who is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has been unable to attend office for several months now, resigns from the post and hands over charge.

Parrikar has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi for nearly nine months.

He returned from New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 14 and has not moved out of his private residence for any official event since.

Apart from the Opposition, which has been demanding his resignation for several months now, cabinet ministers from the ruling alliance conceded on Saturday that Parrikar’s absence from office had brought the state administration to a standstill.

IANS

 Four people were killed on Monday as a massive fire enveloped a factory here, an official said.

The Delhi Fire Service said the blaze was reported from Karol Bagh’s Beadonpura area at around 12.20 p.m.

“The victims were brought out of the factory. They died before reaching the hospital,” the official said, adding that one person who was injured was being treated.

“Initial probe has suggested that the fire originated due to the use of steam press.”

IANS

Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Sunday said the much-awaited expansion of the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition cabinet in Karnataka would take place “at the earliest”.

“We will have to do it (cabinet expansion); we will do it as soon as possible,” he said.

Speaking to reporters in Hubballi, he referred to the ongoing elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and said the party’s state leadership would soon seek Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s time to discuss the expansion.

State Congress Chief Dinesh Gundu Rao and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had recently said the cabinet expansion would take place within this month.

The cabinet expansion and appointment of MLAs as heads of boards and corporations that was to take place in October were put on the back burner by the Congress-JD(S) coalition, as the schedule for the November 3 bypolls to two assembly and three parliamentary seats in the state was announced.

Several MLAs, especially those from the Congress, who are aspirants for ministerial posts, have been demanding the expansion to be taken up at the earliest.

Some of them, including former Minister M B Patil and senior legislator BC Patil even met Congress General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka KC Venugopal on Saturday to put forward their case.

According to Congress sources, many MLAs feel that this is the right time for cabinet expansion, with the ruling coalition winning two of the three Lok Sabha seats and both the assembly constituencies.

This would be the second cabinet expansion since the coalition came to power in May in a post-poll tie-up between Congress and JD(S).

Under the power-sharing arrangement reached by the two parties, Congress will have 22 ministers and the JD(S) 12. In the earlier exercise on June 6, Kumaraswamy had inducted 25 ministers, taking the ministry’s strength to 27.

However, the lone BSP Minister in the coalition cabinet N Mahesh, who was inducted from JD(S), quit his post in October, citing personal reasons, but said he would continue to support the ruling coalition.

There are now six vacant ministerial positions left for the Congress, and two for the JD(S). The decision to expand the cabinet has come amid speculations that some disgruntled Congress MLAs were still being wooed by the BJP, besides reported factionalism within the party.

With the growing number of aspirants and limited ministerial berths in hand, Congress is preparing a list of MLAs to be appointed as heads to boards and corporations, in an effort to prevent any kind of resentment, party sources said.

PTI

Public Work Department Minister H D Revanna on Sunday, November 18 said that Kumaraswamy does possess a currency printing machine to print notes.

Revanna reacting on the allegations made on his brother Chief minister Kumaraswamy by the farmers with regard to loan waive off scheme and protest by sugarcane growers Revanna said that to announce support price immediately, Kumaraswamy doesn’t possess a currency printing machine. He further added that he very well knows the people who are encouraging the protests to demand support price.

Talking with regard to the issue of support price to sugarcane cultivators he expressed that the centre has to intervene and provide support price to the sugarcane farmers of Karnataka.

PTI