On Sunday, the Rajasthan Police arrested a container driver who was smuggling 31 cows on the Agra-Mumbai Highway and taking them to slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh. The driver was arrested after the Bajrang Dal members chased the container and informed the Mania Police station about cow smuggling. The Police then reached the spot and freed 31 cows from the container and arrested the accused.
According to the reports, the police have also seized the vehicle in which the cows were being smuggled. Bajrang Dal leader Ram Sharma confirmed the incident and said that the Bajrang Dal members received information that cows from Dholpur village of Rajakhera district of Rajasthan were being stuffed in a container and were being taken to the slaughterhouses of Uttar Pradesh.
“Members of Bajrang Dal reached the spot after being informed about the incident. On seeing us, the smugglers tried to flee with the container. While the members kept on chasing the container and the smugglers, some of them called the Dholpur and Mania Police stations. The Police then blocked the container before Mania town, on the Agra Mumbai National Highway. The police placed the barricades on the highway and arrested the accused. Also, 31 cows were freed which included 28 Nandis and 3 cows”, Sharma added.
Mania police station in-charge Lakhan Singh also verified the series of events and said that a cow smuggler who was driving the vehicle has been arrested from the spot. “All the cows have been freed and are in the Gaushala located in Bijauli village at present. Arrangement of fodder and water has also been made for the cows at the cowshed”, he added.
The Police have registered a case against the accused and have seized the vehicle. The police have also begun an investigation into the case and have booked the accused under relevant sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, of 1960.
Kantilal Amrutiya, BJP leader and former MLA of Morbi, jumped into the Machchu river to save the lives of people after the bridge collapsed earlier yesterday, a video of which has gone viral on the internet.
In the video, Kantilal is seen swimming toward the middle of the river where the bridge had collapsed, plunging people on it into the waterway below.
Even as several agencies started rescue operations to evacuate people stranded on the collapsed bridge and others who fell in the river, the former MLA took it upon himself to help the marooned people and get them back to safety.
Morbi bridge collapse
On Sunday, October 30, 2022, a suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in Morbi, Gujarat, collapsed, claiming at least 60 lives and injuring numerous persons. The bridge, which was about a century old, had just been reopened following renovations. Reportedly, around 400 people were on the bridge when the incident happened, as the ancient bridge could not bear the weight.
The pre-Independence cable-stayed bridge, known as the Jhulto Pool, was regarded as a marvel of British engineering and one of Morbi’s top tourist destinations. The bridge was reopened after renovations during Diwali, and there were a lot of people visiting it. On Sunday, so many people arrived on the bridge that the structure could not bear the weight and it collapsed into the river below.
Who is Kantilal Amrutiya?
Kantilal Shivlal Amrutiya was born on 8 March 1962 in a middle-class Patel community at Jetpar in Morbi district. Even as a young boy in the 1970s, he served in the rehabilitation of victims during the floods caused by the failure of the Morbi Dam. He completed his schooling at VC Technical High School, Morbi. As a young man, he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student organization, and became involved in the anti-corruption Navnirman movement. After working as a full-time member of the organization, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Kanti Amritya was an RSS volunteer during the early years of his social life. He undertook the challenging task of energizing the party workers at the local level. Together with colleagues and local businessmen, Kantilal decided to build a strong cadre of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Morbi district, Saurashtra and Kutch. In the early days, he started out as a member of Morbi’s municipality and taluka panchayat, and his maternal uncle Amubhai Aghara was leading at the constituency level.
Kantilal took charge of the party cadre at Morbi in 1995 and was elected as MLA from the constituency for 5 terms. In December 2012, Kanabhai was elected for the 5th time in the Gujarat state elections. He is known as Kanabhai by the people of Morbi and surrounding areas. He has worked in agriculture and industry.
However, later amid the Patidar agitation, Amrutiya lost his seat to Congress’ Brijesh Merja. In 2020, Merja resigned from Congress and joined the BJP, and was elected as MLA from the Morbi constituency.
Sunday outing turned into a tragedy for scores of people after the cable bridge on Machhu dam collapsed claiming lives of over a hundred people. The bridge was closed for repair work earlier this year and the same was reopened to visitors last week on Gujarati new year day on 26th October. As per initial reports, the corporation has said they had not given the safety report for the bridge.
Visuals of some of the tourists jumping on the bridge moments before the cables snapped have gone viral. Experts have made educated guesses that it is likely the cables used were old and hence could not bear the weight and jumping effect of tourists. More details will be clearer once the investigative committee, set up by Gujarat Government, submits its findings.
Amid all the tragedy, scenes of humanity have emerged where Bajrang Dal volunteers rushed to rescue those who were drowning and managed to save about 170 lives. As reported by Divya Bhaskar, Chirag Parmar, a volunteer with Bajrang Dal, said that he was present there when the tragedy struck. As soon as the bridge collapsed there was chaos all over. “Some people fell into water, some were hanging on to their lives. We immediately got to rescue work and even administration came promptly for rescue operations. The most heartbreaking visuals were of women and young children drowning even as we tried to go to their rescue,” he said.
Describing the scene, he said that it was a regular Sunday evening where everyone was having a good time. Amid sounds of laughter, suddenly there were screams of terror. Before anyone can make any sense, 500 people just plunged to their deaths. Mortal remains of 141 people who drowned have been recovered while 2 are still missing. Since past 12 hours, Navy, Air Force and the Indian Army personnel have been working in rescue operations.
After the tragedy, Morbi district has been shrouded in sadness. All the lights that were put up for Diwali have been brought down. Volunteers have rushed to the site to help in rescue and relief works. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi and many leaders have cancelled their programs and rushed to the site. PM Modi will be visiting Morbi tomorrow
In September 2022, the Delhi Police filed a status report opposing the petition of AltNews out-on-bail co-founder Mohammed Zubair wherein he sought the return of devices and documents seized by the cops during the investigation of the case against him. The Delhi police argued that the seized items are being analysed at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Rohini and that Zubair can approach the lower court for their release after the competition of the analysis.
It further added that attempts are underway to recover and analyse data from the devices seized by the cops from the Bengaluru residence of AltNews co-founder. The cops pointed out that Zubair’s 2018 tweet was sufficient to incite hatred among people, resulting in a disturbance to peace and tranquillity in society.
The police had, at the time, said that Zubair had remained uncooperative during the interrogation and also revealed that he had asked his parents to destroy his devices if he ever got arrested.
In its affidavit, the Delhi police said, “That, during Police Custody remand, one laptop, two invoices and one hard disk have been recovered from the residence (Bangalore) of accused Mohd Zubair on the basis of disclosure statement which is admissible under Section 27 of Indian Evidence Act, which is to be looked upon at the time of trial.” “Quashing/ setting aside PC orders by Ld. CMM/ Patiala House Court will make the recovery inadmissible,” it continued.
The Police have also submitted that Zubair tried to mislead the investigation and provided different answers to the same question on repeated queries.
“He disclosed that he is co-founder of Alt News and in order to gain popularity he posts such contents/ post that triggers religious sentiment and he remains trending in news/ social media,” the affidavit added.
Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of AltNews, has now filed an affidavit in response to the Delhi Police’s status report, that opposed the return of devices to Zubair. In his affidavit, the main of Zubair seems to be to claim that any evidence that is collected from any of his devices would be ‘inadmissible’ since the search was illegal. This would mean that even if the police found evidence that implicates Zubair in his devices, according to Zubair’s contention, the devices were seized illegally and therefore, the evidence can’t be used against him.
In the petition, Zubair denies making any statements to the police and claims that the police simply concocted the statements being attributed to him. He also says that since those statements were relied upon to perform a search of his residence, from where the devices were found, any evidence should be considered inadmissible.
Affidavit by Mohammed Zubair
Zubair contended that he had never told the police that the device he used to post the communally sensitive tweet in 2018 was at his residence. He claims that he lost the device and a police complaint was filed about the lost device in 2021. He also denies making the statement that he tweeted communally sensitive tweets to gain popularity.
Affidavit by Mohammed Zubair
In his affidavit, Zubair seems to be denying making statements to the police and thus, using this denial, seems to be telling the court that his mobile and laptop were seized illegally by the police. It is pertinent to note that the Police had already told the court that Zubair was uncooperative during the interrogation and kept giving contradictory statements to mislead the police’s investigation.
Claiming that these statements were “concocted by the police while he was in custody without his knowledge”, Zubair in his affidavit says that any evidence that has been seized against him cannot be used in court.
Affidavit by Mohammed Zubair
If the court buys the contention of Mohammed Zubair, then in effect, all the evidence that the police may have collected against him from his electronic devices would be inadmissible in court and therefore, unusable by the police against Zubair.
The background of the case against AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair
On 13 June 2022, Twitter user ‘The Hawk Eye’ (@thehawkeye) shared a collage of past tweets and posts by Mohammed Zubair, mocking Hindu Gods and beliefs. The development came days after India witnessed violent protests over the alleged insult of Prophet Muhammad.
In one of the tweets shared by The Hawk Eye, Zubair was seen mocking Shivling and comparing it with the top view of the Vatican City. He said the post comparing Shivling with the Vatican City inspired him to come up with a parody Facebook page ‘Unofficial: Subramanian Swamy’ in 2014.
Apparently, one of the posts on the Facebook page ‘Unofficial Mohammed Zubair‘ mocked Arun Govil and took a dig at Lord Ram, suggesting that ISRO must consult the actor for his knowledge about rocketry.
Another post showed an aeroplane under the water with the caption: “Breaking: Underwater Pushpak Vimana used by Raavan 5000 years found in the Indian Ocean.” Besides ridiculing Hindu Gods, Zubair has also poked fun at Hindu beliefs and took a dig at Sanskrit.
As his Hinduphobic posts started getting traction,the AltNews co-founder quietly pulled down his Facebook page. On June 27, Mohammed Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police over his old tweets, insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses. He was arrested under Section 153 and 295A of the Indian Penal Code.
Additional IPC Sections, including 295A, 201, and 120B of the IPC, as well as Section 35 of the FCRA Act, were invoked against him as the case proceeded. Mohammed Zubair filed a petition with the Supreme Court, seeking the dismissal of the six FIRs filed against him in Uttar Pradesh.
The plea filed by him challenged the FIRs recorded in Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, and two in Hathras. and the formation of the SIT by the Uttar Pradesh Police. He was later granted bail by the Supreme Court of India.
Hours after the suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in Morbi, Gujarat, collapsed claiming around 135 lives and injuring several other persons, CCTV footage emerged that showed people shaking the bridge, moments before the unfortunate tragedy. The bridge collapsed at around 6:30 pm when around 400 people were on the bridge.
According to the reports, eyewitnesses of the incident stated that a few youngsters were continuously shaking the bridge causing fear in the minds of the other people who were also on the bridge. The bridge collapsed a few minutes after people began returning halfway through the bridge. The CCTV footage of the incident is going viral over the internet showing some people continuously shaking the bridge and playing with the cables of the bridge.
The video shows the bridge a few minutes before it collapsed at around 6:30 pm. Few people in the video can be seen shaking the bridge. Several people who witnessed the tragic accident also confirmed that a few youngsters were continually shaking the bridge but the team of Oreva group, who was given the contract in March this year to renovate and maintain the said bridge, didn’t take any action on those youngsters.
“There was a lot of crowd on the bridge as it was Sunday and was recently reopened on the occasion of Gujarati New Year Day on October 26 this year. I and my family had gone on the bridge on the Machchhu river which is a tourist attraction. A few young people were deliberately shaking the bridge since 3 pm. They were causing damage to the bridge. The bridge was so sensitive and was swaying heavily on even a single person’s push. I could not see any security person stopping the youngsters from shaking the bridge”, one of the eye-witnesses of the incident said to News18 Gujarat.
“Since I had a feeling that it may prove dangerous, my family and I came back after covering some distance on the bridge. Before leaving the spot, I alerted the on-duty staff to stop people from shaking the bridge. However, they were only interested in selling tickets and told us that there was no mechanism to control the crowd. Hours after we came down, our fears turned true as the bridge eventually collapsed,” he added.
One more witness who had visited the bridge just a few hours ago of the #MorbiBridge incident has complained to the admin of the Oreva group that a few youngsters were continually shaking the bridge but team of Oreva group didn’t take any action on those youngsters pic.twitter.com/tXU7iHrrWG
Another 10-year-old boy talked to the media to inform them that his parents are still missing since the tragic incident happened. “There was a huge crowd when the bridge suddenly collapsed. I survived because I caught hold of a hanging rope and slowly climbed up. But my father and mother are still missing,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, another old video of some tourists swaying the bridge has appeared on the internet, showing that people who visit the bridge usually shake it to enjoy their walk over the river. The bridge is also fondly called the ‘jhoolta pool’ and is one of the tourist attractions of the state. “Yahi anand hai jhoolta pool ka. Ye bridge ko aise hilao to pura hilta hai. Dar lagta hai. Lekin yahi maja hai (This is what makes this pool interesting. The entire bridge moves dangerously on one single push. But this is fun)”, the vlogger can be heard saying in the video.
The bridge was closed for operational use about 7 months ago. A private company by the name of Oreva Group (Ajanta Manufacturing Private Limited) was given the contract in March of this year to renovate and maintain the said bridge. The suspension bridge, which is also known as the jhoolta pool, was reopened on the occasion of Gujarati New Year Day on October 26 this year after the completion of the renovation task of the bridge.
However, the Morbi Municipality said that the private firm threw open the bridge to the public without obtaining a fitness certificate from the Municipality. “The bridge was handed over to the contractor to smoothly operate and maintain it for 15 years. The private firm threw the bridge open to visitors without notifying us and therefore, we couldn’t get a safety audit of the bridge conducted. It was opened to the public after the completion of the renovation work. But the local municipality had not yet issued any fitness certificate,” said Chief Officer of Morbi Municipality, Sandeepsinh Zala.
Meanwhile, the Oreva group’s office claimed that the bridge collapsed as too many people in the mid-section of the bridge were trying to sway it from one way to the other. A criminal case has been registered against the contractor under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 114, 304 (culpable homicide), and 308 (attempt to culpable homicide).
According to the reports, the 150-year-old bridge located 300 km from Vadodara could take the weight of only about 125 people but there were around 400 people on the bridge when the incident happened. Many of them were performing Chhath Puja rituals on the bridge. The death toll in the Morbi bridge disaster has risen to 135 from 60 by Monday morning. A total of 180 were successfully rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams.
The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for each of those killed in the accident and Rs 50,000 for those injured. The Prime Minister also has announced monetary assistance of Rs. 2 lakh for each of the victims’ families.
On Monday, October 31, 2022, police in Dongri, Maharashtra, filed an FIR against Javed Shroff, the chairman of the Habib Esmail Education Trust school. The FIR was filed in response to a complaint filed by a teacher at the school who claimed the chairman abused and molested her. As per the police complaint, the chairman also sexually assaulted the woman.
As per news agency ANI, the case has been filed under sections 354 509, 506, and 504 of the IPC and the Atrocity Act has also been invoked. Police said that they are investigating the matter.
Maharashtra | A case of molestation has been registered against the chairman of Habib Ismail Education Trust of Dongri after a 32-year-old teacher alleged that the chairman abused & molested her. Case registered u/s 354 of IPC (A), 509,506,504 & Atrocity Act: Dongri Police
While more details are awaited in the aforementioned case, it is worth noting that the chairman of the Habib Esmail Education Trust school was recently embroiled in another controversy. A staff of the Islamic school filed a police complaint against Javed Shroff last week, accusing him of not paying their dues for over two months, reported Mid-Day.
The matter came to light after Bodhi Atul Darastekar, the BMC-appointed school in charge of the primary section, and some staff members approached the Dongri police station on October 19, Wednesday.
Besides non-payment of dues, Darastekar also complained that the school’s chairman, Javed Shroff, harasses the staff and does not allow them to leave until midnight, and keeps them engaged in non-teaching activities practically every day. The teacher also alleged that the infrastructure of the school, including the classrooms, is also in a dilapidated condition. The restrooms are dirty and unfit for human use, she added.
“Shroff is an influential local politician,” said the school in charge. She added, “Around 60 staffers have been appointed by the BMC to work in this school, but its management didn’t submit the pay sheet to the BMC to release our salary.”
According to Mid-Day, the BMC education department recently sent a letter to the school reminding management to submit the October pay sheet of the employees as well as provide a written explanation for the failure to do so, but to no effect.
The letter, dated October 17, read, “School management did not submit the October pay sheet of the staff nor give a written explanation as to why they failed to submit it. Due to this reason, the BMC education department has not issued salaries to the staff. The school and its management will be responsible for this.”
A case of love jihad has been reported in the Shikohabad police station jurisdiction of Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district. On Friday, October 28, the Shikohabad police filed an FIR against one Shahrukh based on a complaint lodged by a police officer of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (UP-PAC). The cop accused Shahrukh of blackmailing his daughter with obscene recordings, forcing her to convert to Islam, and threatening to behead his family if she did not comply.
On the basis of the victim’s father’s complaint, the police have filed an FIR against Shahrukh, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district, under sections 366 and 506 of the IPC, as well as section 66 of the IT Act 2008. According to Firozabad Additional SP Ranvijay, the police have launched a search operation to nab the accused. Along with this, evidence is being gathered on which further inquiry and action will be taken.
According to the FIR, the accused befriended the victim on Facebook. On September 24 2022, Shahrukh managed to convince the victim to run away with him. He reportedly took her to Amroha and then started forcing her to convert to Islam and marry him. To accomplish this, he repeatedly threatened to post the victim’s private photo on social media. During this time, Shahrukh also persuaded the victim to sign certain documents.
One day, while in Shahrukh’s custody, the victim, by chance, got the opportunity to call her mother and she returned home after speaking with her. However, even after she returned, Shahrukh continued to pressurise her to convert to Islam and marry him.
The father said in the complaint, that Shahrukh also threatened to behead his daughter and other family members if she refused to convert and marry him.
The victim’s father added that following his daughter’s abduction in September, he remained silent for a long time fearing social ostracism, but he is now forced to report to the police due to the death threats received by the family.
The FIR copy is in the possession of Opindia.
The victim’s father further stated in his complaint that the accused Shahrukh had created numerous fake social media identities and uses those to send threatening messages to the victim on a daily basis. Shahrukh threatened to kill not just his family members, but also the boy with whom he would ever marry, he said.
He expressed concern that his daughter was becoming mentally disturbed as a result of the constant harassment and stated that if his daughter ever takes extreme measures such as committing suicide due to stress, Shahrukh should be held accountable.
Meanwhile, according to the Hindi daily Patrika, the victim has verified that Shahrukh made three or four fake Instagram accounts and uploaded her indecent videos and photos on those accounts. The accused has further been threatening the victim over the phone, saying that if she does not marry him and convert to Islam, he will behead her, her brother, and her father.
Over the past few years, there has been an alarming rise in the number of love jihad cases reported across the country. Earlier this month, a similar love jihad case came to the fore when a man named Aarif posed as Amit to entrap a Hindu woman. He befriended her under the pretext of getting her a job, then raped her, and forced her to convert to Islam. The victim had also alleged that he even threatened her with consequences if she would not convert her religion to Islam and marry him, saying that he would release her compromising videos.
On October 31, cricket Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma shared on the social media app Instagram that a video of Kohli’s hotel room has been leaked online. As per the social media post by the cricketer, a ‘fan’ entered his room in his absence and recorded a video. The bedroom and Virat Kohli’s personal belongings could be seen in the video.
Kohli shared the video and wrote, “I understand that fans get very happy and excited seeing their favourite players and get excited to meet them, and I’ve always appreciated that. But this video here is appalling, and it’s made me feel very paranoid about my privacy. If I cannot have privacy in my own hotel room, then where can I really expect any personal space at all?? I’m NOT okay with this kind of fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy. Please respect people’s privacy and not treat them as a commodity for entertainment.”
Virat Kohli’s wife and actress Anushka Sharma also expressed her disappointment over the matter. She wrote, “Have experienced a few incidents where some fans have shown no compassion or grace in the past, but this really is the worst thing. An absolute disgrace and violation of a human being, and anyone who sees this and thinks celebrity ho toh deal Karna padega should know that you are also part of the problem. Exercising some self-control helps everyone. Also, if this is happening in your bedroom, then where is the line?”
Anushka Sharma expressed disappointment over the incident. Source: Anushka Sharma/Instagram
It is noteworthy that the couple is very conscious of their privacy. They have drawn a line between private and public life. The couple had requested the media not to publish any photographs featuring their daughter Vamika and said it would be her decision on what and how much to share once she is of age.
Kohli’s brother Vikas Kohli also expressed concern over the matter. In a comment on Kohli’s post, Vikas said, “This is really very unprofessional whom so ever did it, I’m assuming it must be the hotel staff only, else if its some other fans its a total disaster from the hotel management… WHERE IS THE SECURITY AND PRIVACY OF THE GUEST… this is very alarming.”
Virat kohli’s brother expressed concern over the matter. Source: Instagram
Virat Kohli is currently with the Indian Cricket Team in Australia for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The video was shot at Crown Hotel in Perth, Australia. The hotel has not issued any statement regarding the lack of security for the guests. In the video, a man dressed in a black suit and white shirt was seen recording the video that had the text “King Kohli’s Hotel Room” written on it.
On Sunday (October 30), news outlet Lallantop courted controversy after it falsely attributed the Morbi bridge collapse to overcrowding caused by Chhath Puja celebrations.
An article written by one Uday Bhatnagar and published by Lallantop claimed, “There were about 500 people on the bridge at the time of the incident. They were gathered there to celebrate Chhath Puja.”
Screengrab of the news report by Lallantop
The misinformation was further amplified by AAP MLA Naresh Balyan. In a tweet, he claimed, “In Gujarat, due to the collapse of a bridge, 500 people fell into the river. All of them were celebrating Chhath. Who is responsible for such a big accident?”
This is how smartly AAP and The Lallantop has spread misinformation and later The Lallantop has changed headline.
This gutter-mouth AAP MLA has still that tweet in which he has spread misinformation that people were there for Chhat Puja! pic.twitter.com/PXZThdjpsu
Lallantop, which was the purveyor of the fake news, later quietly tweaked the headline of the article and removed all references to Chhath Puja.
“Gujarat: Over 90 people dead in the Morbi bridge collapse, army and Air Force personnel are involved in rescuing civilians,” the new headline read. In the body of the article, the word ‘Chhath’ was also removed.
“They were gathered there to celebrate Chhath Puja,” the contentious line was eliminated without the publication apologizing for evoking a Hindu festival in a tragedy.
Screengrab of the news report by Lallantop
Despite retraction by Lallatop and flagging by netizens, AAP MLA Naresh Balyan did not bother to cite an apology. At the time of writing, the AAP leader had not deleted his tweet. The archived version of his tweet can be accessed here.
गुजरात में जिस पुल के गिरने से 500 लोग नदी में गिरे हैं, वो सभी छठ मना रहे थे। इतने बड़े हादसे का कौन जिम्मेदार है? पूर्वांचलियों के जान की कीमत BJP के लिए कुछ भी नही है। दिल्ली में एक सांसद यमुना घूम रहा था, अब इस घटना को सुनकर मुंह छुपा कर भाग निकलेगा। https://t.co/M2F7VAGyD1
Morbi Bridge Collapse: The Background of the Incident
On Sunday (October 30), a century-old suspension bridge (also called jhoolta pool) collapsed in the Morbi district of Guajarat, leading to the loss of over 135 lives.
As per reports, the bridge on Machhu dam was closed for operational use about 7 months ago. A private company by the name of Oreva Group (Ajanta Manufacturing Private Limited) was given the contract in March of this year to renovate and maintain the said bridge.
The said bridgewas reopened on the occasion of Gujarati New Year’s Day on October 26 this year. This was, however, done without obtaining a fitness certificate from the local Municipality, as per reports.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Gujarat government appointed a 5-member committee to investigate the incident. At the same time, a criminal case has been registered against the contractor under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 114, 304 (culpable homicide), and 308 (attempt to culpable homicide).
Over 180 persons were successfully rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams. Three teams of NDRF were dispatched to Morbi from Gandhinagar and Vadodara to undertake rescue operations.
At the same time, a review meeting was held by State CM Bhupendra Patel at the Collector’s office in Morbi district along with MPs, MLAs, police, and health service officials. He had earlier visited the site of the accident on Sunday (October 30) evening.
On Sunday, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested an accused Christian pastor named Vijay Masih for illegally converting a group of Hindus to Christianity in the Fatehpur district of the state. The accused was absconding after he was booked in another case of illegal mass conversion of Hindus to Christianity two and a half months ago. The Police arrested him on Sunday after they got a tip against the accused who was secretively carrying out another mass conversion in Hariharganj Church of the city.
According to the reports, the incident is said to have happened on Sunday (October 30) in Hariharganj Church of Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh. The accused pastor in the name of prayers was giving lessons about Christianity to Hindus and was trying to forcefully change their religion. The Police arrived at the spot after they were informed about the illegal conversion and arrested the pastor for luring the Hindus. The Police have also recovered several Aadhaar Cards with different identities from the accused.
The accused pastor during the investigation confessed that he was illegally converting a group of Hindus to Christianity in the Hariharganj Church of the city. He said that the Aadhaar Cards recovered by the Police belonged to those Hindus who have been converted and that their identities have been updated after they have been given lessons about Christianity and converted to a new religion.
Notably, the accused was already booked in another case of illegal mass conversion to Christianity and was absconding since then. CO City Vir Singh confirmed the development and said that the accused was wanted in a case that was booked two and a half months ago. He was booked for targeting economically struggling Hindus converting them to Christianity through bribes and allurement. “The accused now has been arrested and sent to jail. More people are involved in this racket of conversion. The Police are investigating the matter and collecting evidence based on which the other accused will be identified and sent to jail soon”, he added.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that a case of illegal mass conversion of Hindus to Christianity has been reported from the city of Fatehpur. Earlier, in April this year, the Fatehpur Police had arrested 26 people including the pastor in a case of mass conversion of Hindus to Christianity in the ECI Church building in Uttar Pradesh. Police had also booked 55 people in total in the case, including 10 women. The names of the accused included Vijay Kumar Samson, Reshma Samson, Ratna Daud, Sharon, Jyoti Monalisa, Geeta Masih, and more.
The matter had come to light after the members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal surrounded the ECI Church building in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, and staged protests against the pastor who was allegedly converting more than 50 Hindus inside the Church. Around 100 people had gathered inside the Church on April 14 of which more than 50 were Hindus. The VHP members had also gathered outside the Church and alleged that the pastor in the name of prayers was giving lessons of Christianity to Hindus and was trying to forcefully change their religion.
Later, the accused after being released on bail continued to convert poor Hindus under the guise of a healing assembly. On receiving the complaint two and a half months ago, the police registered a case against Masih and the other persons involved. While they arrested many other accused involved in the case, they could not nab pastor Vijay Masih who went absconding from the spot. However, the accused pastor was arrested by the Police on Sunday while he was secretively luring, brainwashing innocent and poor Hindus and forcing them to convert to Christianity. Further investigations into the case are underway.
