Indore: Another ‘ashram’ of molestation-accused ‘godman’ Baba Virendra Dev Dixit has been found in Indore of Madhya Pradesh and three girls rescued from there, said police on Tuesday. Two of the rescued are minors.

The minor girls have been handed over to Childline India Foundation — a non-government organisation for children in distress — while the elder one has been sent to the local unit of Nari Niketan. The registers recovered from this ashram mention names of several other women, including some old women.

“We came to know of a spiritual centre of the ‘godman’ in Subhash Nagar area of the city. We raided the centre on Monday night and rescued three girls, out of which two are from Bihar and one from West Bengal,” Indore Deputy Inspector General of Police Harinarayan Chari Mishra told IANS.

The police officer said: “The two girls have been sent to Childline and the third to Nari Niketan, and action is being initiated against the house owner for not informing the police about the irregularities taking place there.”

Last week, the Delhi Commission for Women had rescued more than 45 minor girls from two different ashrams run by Dixit where girls and women were allegedly being kept in illegal confinement in the name of religious preaching.

The Delhi High Court has ordered a CBI investigation into the matter and slammed the Delhi Police for not taking any action on various FIRs of girls and women allegedly lured to an ashram in Rohini area on the pretext of spiritual guidance and raped there.

Dixit is on the run ever since the raids on his national capital-based ashrams last week.

(IANS)

West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress on Sunday won the Sabang Assembly constituency by-poll by a massive margin of 64,196 votes.

Trinamool candidate Gita Rani Bhunia got 1,06,185 votes while her nearest rival, Rita Mondal of the Left Front major Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) secured 41,989 votes.

Trinamool’s Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said: “This is a victory of development. People of Sabang voted for the development works undertaken by our government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The margin of nearly 65,000 votes disapproved centre’s anti-people policies.”

The Trinamool was able to increase its vote share to 51.21 per cent.

Amid continuous downslide popularity over the past few years, the by-poll offered an opportunity for the CPI-M, which contested the seat for the first time as the Left Front, during its 34 year rule, had fielded candidates of the Biplobi Bangla Congress.

Mondal managed to get a share of about 21 per cent votes in the by-poll.

Accusing the ruling Trinamool of indulging in massive rigging, Mondal said: “This is a victory of betrayers. Genuine voters were not allowed to cast their votes. About 150-200 polling booths were captured by Trinamool’s activists.”

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) aspirant Antara Bhattacharyya was in the third spot with 37,483 votes clocking about 19 per cent share.

However, the party gained a substantial number of votes in this bypoll as against about 5,000 votes secured by the party in 2016 Assembly elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed state BJP for rising vote share in the by-polls.

Bhattacharya also said that it was not “a free and fair election”. “Had common people been allowed to exercise their franchise, we would have got more favourable results. However, the results show that our party did well despite ruling party’s terror activities,” she claimed.

The Congress, which won the seat in last year’s assembly polls, fared poorly, with its nominee Chiranjib Bhowmick in the fourth position securing 18,063 votes.

The by-poll was necessitated due to sitting Congress legislator Manas Bhunia’s resignation, after he crossed over to the Trinamool. He is now a Rajya Sabha member of his new party.

Trinamool candidate Gita Rani is Manas Bhunia’s wife.

The winning margin of Gita Rani in this by-poll surpassed Bhunia’s victory margin of over 49,000 votes as a Left-backed Congress candidate in the 2016 Assembly polls.

Manas Bhunia said: “During the campaign, our leadership called the voters to defeat the Manas Bhunia’s winning margin. People of Sabang did exactly the same. I am enjoying it.”

(IANS)

Bengaluru: BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje was booked for alleged ‘inflammatory’ tweets on the rape and murder of a minor Dalit girl in Vijayapura, an incident which led to tension in some areas there for the past three days.

Police said an FIR was registered against Karandlaje on charges of provoking people to cause riots, disturbing communal harmony.

Karandlaje had tweeted about the recent rape and murder of the 15-year-old girl and accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of inaction to catch the ‘Jehadis’ behind the incident.

“CM @siddaramaiah’s appeasement politics has turned Karnataka into a safe haven for Jihadi Goons. He is shamelessly pursuing his agenda of appeasement & dividing the society,” tweeted Karandlaje.

In a tweet about another incident she said “Jihadis tried to rape and murder a girl studying in 9th std near honnavar.

Why is the govt silent about this incident? Arrest those who molested and injured this girl. Where are you CM @siddaramaiah?” Police said the MP’s tweets and video messages through social media platforms further added to tension in the regions of coastal Karnataka, which was on the boil since December 6 when 19-year-old Paresh Mesta was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

Karandlaje meanwhile shared copies of the FIR on Twitter, saying “Govt which has failed in providing safety to women in Karnataka now tries to stifle my voice through a FIR.

@siddaramaiah Govt protecting Jihadis.” She vowed to continue her fight against ‘Jihadi elements’ without succumbing to the pressure of the Chief Minister.

Police said the MP’s tweets and video messages through social media platforms further added to tension in the regions of coastal Karnataka, which was on the boil since December 6 when 19-year-old Paresh Mesta was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

Karandlaje meanwhile shared copies of the FIR on Twitter, saying “Govt which has failed in providing safety to women in Karnataka now tries to stifle my voice through aFIR. @siddaramaiah Govt protecting Jihadis.”

She vowed to continue her fight against ‘Jihadielements’ without succumbing to the pressure of the Chief Minister.

Protesting against the girl’s murder, right wingoutfits called a bandh in Talikote, Vijayapura andChikkamagaluru on Friday. Security was beefed up in these areas, police said.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: Based on a crowd-sourced design, a logo was unveiled on Sunday at the ‘Namma Bengaluru Habba’ fest to promote ‘Brand Bengaluru’ on the global tourist map.

“The logo captures the spirit of the city and its 11 million people. Its design is a crowd-sourced, creative identity representing the city and its denizens,” said Karnataka tourism minister Priyank Kharge. The city is the first to gets its own identity badge.

With a new identify and a new look, Bengaluru joins New York, Paris, Berlin, London, Melbourne, Singapore and other global cities in having its own tourism logo.

“As a vibrant city of many cultures, colours and flavours, Bengaluru is on the move. It’s a dynamic city where tradition and modernity co-exist and its people thrive to aspire,” said Kharge.

The state tourism department will promote Bengaluru by leveraging its new identity through the logo and showcase the city’s heritage, architecture, gardens, art, music, food and its modern lifestyle, driven by technology.

“The logo will also help to leverage Bengaluru’s identity and create a brand value that could spur its economy and generate jobs by attracting more investments,” said Kharge.

Scripted in English and Kannada, the logo is similar to the tourism department’s ‘One State Many World’s’ logo, with options to change its colour into green, red or yellow to suit the occasion.

Observing that Brand Bengaluru was not about its coffee cafes and shopping malls but a new identity representing its people, their lifestyle and culture, the minister said the logo would provide an opportunity for tourists to feel the vibrancy of the city and its ethos.

Kharge also launched the tourism department’s mobile app with audio and video facility at the street fest held around the Vidhan Soudha.

The day-long street fest also had live performances by folk artists, story-telling sessions, interactive workshops and a flea market, with stalls displaying handicrafts, terracotta jewellery, herbal products, organic grains, including millets and a variety of food items.

(IANS)