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Watch: BJP supporters raise slogans at Kolkata’s iconic Coffee House after they were stopped from putting up posters

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: BJP supporters raise slogans at Kolkata’s iconic Coffee House after they were stopped from putting up posters

Supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party entered the iconic Coffee House at College Street in Kolkata on Monday and raised slogans after they were prevented from pasting BJP posters ahead of the West Bengal Assembly Elections.

The BJP supporters alleged that ‘No Vote to BJP’ posters were allowed inside but they were stopped from pasting theirs. The other end of the political spectrum claimed that “outsiders” are “creating a ruckus in Coffee house and destroying our posters.”

The place in Kolkata, renowned for its ‘addas’, is one of the most famous places in the City of Joy. It almost has a hallowed presence in the folklore surrounding the city.

Songs have been composed revolving around it. Legendary Bengali musician Manna Dey composed his famous song “Coffee Houser Sei Addata Aaj Aar Nei” which is still widely popular.

The Coffee House is frequented by artists and intellectuals and students from the Presidency University in Kolkata and other institutions in College Street. Over the years, it has had famous patrons and visitors such as Satyajit Ray, Amartya Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Narayan Gangopadhyay and others.

Elections in West Bengal are set to begin on the 27th of March and will take place over 8 phases. The BJP has given a cry for ‘Poriborton’ while Mamata Banerjee is struggling to hold on to her seat.

Man offers Namaz at Blue Flag beach in Udupi, brazens it out after people raise objections

OpIndia Staff
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Man offers Namaz at Blue Flag beach in Udupi, brazens it out after people raise objections

An incident pertaining to Padubidri, a blue flag beach in Udupi, Karnataka came to light on social media where a person was seen offering Namaz at the beach. Shruti Thumbri was the first to share the video on Twitter capturing the event.

Videos circulating on social media suggest that when the security guard and civil society members present at the Padubidri beach objected to the Muslim groups’ action and urged them to move outside public premises, they brazenly it out saying, ‘What have I done wrong? Should I not do Namaaz? We will do it since it’s a public property, who are you?’ They even asked the members to show a board where such rule was written.

The ‘blue flag’ is an international certification offered by an eminent jury that comprises of members from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Kappad (Kerala), Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Ghoghla (Diu), Kasarkod and Padubidri (Karnataka), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh), Golden (Odisha) and Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands) are the eight beaches in India that have been awarded the prestigious ‘Blue Flag’ certification.

A 42 page document details 33 criterions to be followed to award a beach a blue flag certificate. Non-compliance of a single criteria could result in the flag being withdrawn temporarily or permanently. It is critical to note that India is the only nation to have been awarded 8 flags in a single attempt.

The Blue Flag comprises of a long list of criteria and regular checks are conducted to ensure the beach deserves the award. Not all rules can be written on boards and this is where we as citizens need to showcase civic sense.

‘Greed does not accept age bar’: Punjab and Haryana High Court refuses anticipatory bail to 95-year-old accused of cheating and fraud

OpIndia Staff
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‘Greed does not accept age bar’: Punjab and Haryana High Court refuses anticipatory bail to 95-year-old accused of cheating and fraud

On March 8, the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed the anticipatory bail application of a 95-year-old, citing that ‘advanced age’ is not a bar for criminal activities, reported Bar and Bench.

The 95-year-old petitioner, Piara Singh, was accused of defrauding the complainant Kuldip Singh to the tune of ₹6.5 lacs along with his accomplices Manjit Singh Maruti and Sucha Singh. He along with the 2 others cheated the complainant by not fulfilling the promise of facilitating his migration to the United States. Piara Singh was charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating).

The matter came up for hearing before the Bench of Justice HS Madaan. The petitioner had cited his old age to claim that the accusations against him are false. However, Justice HS Madaan of the Punjab and Haryana High Court rejected his anticipatory bail as the evidence prima-facie ‘pointed to a case against him’. The Bench noted that while the elderly ought to be treated with respect, the old age of the petitioner is not a valid reason for anticipatory bail. It added that human greed did not accept bar of sex, age or race.

Custodial interrogation necessary for effective investigation, says court

The Court held that the interrogation of the 95-year-old petitioner was necessary for conducting the probe effectively. Justice HS Madaan pointed out that only through complete and effective investigation can the planning of the crime and mode of execution be unearthed.

In his order, he emphasised that custodial interrogation can bring out details of the case such as the role played by the three accused in the crime. While rejecting his bail application, the Court concluded that pre-arrest bail is meant to save innocent people from harassment and not to shield culprits from custodial interrogation and arrest.

95-year-old petitioner has ‘criminal bent’ of mind: Court rejects anticipatory bail

The Court further noted that Piara Singh had issued two cheques of ₹2 lacs each (total of ₹4 lacs) to Kuldip Singh and thus “corroborated the allegations levelled by the complainant in the FIR.” It added, “If the accused had not received any money from the complainant, then where was the occasion to issue such cheques by him to the complainant.” Justice HS Madaan said, “Those cheques when presented to the banker of the petitioner/accused, had been dishonoured.”

The Court also noted that the 95-year-old petitioner was involved in another case, where he was charged under IPC Sections Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 365 (kidnapping). In its order, Justice HS Madaan emphasised, “That goes to show that he has got criminal bent of mind and his credentials are not that clear, which he is projecting as a saintly figure of old age.”

Pakistan: In a rare judgement, Peshawar cleric gets death sentence for raping a minor girl inside mosque

Akshita Bhadauria
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Pakistan: In a rare judgement, Peshawar cleric gets death sentence for raping a minor girl inside mosque

Why should a death sentence for raping a minor be labeled as a rare judgement? As per multiple reports released in the past decade, it has been observed that Islamic schools and mosques in Pakistan have been infested with crimes of sexual abuse of minors. However, seldom has a judgement been given to punish the perpetrator and it is even rare to find formal complaints of sexual abuse in these institutions.

In this one off case, Judge Wadeeya Mustaq Malik ruled that Qari Saeed based in Peshawar who holds a master’s degree in Islamiyat and leads Friday prayers in his mosque, was found guilty of rape of a minor and was convicted under Section 376(3) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The father of the girl had filed a complaint basis which a FIR was registered on the March 14, 2019; exactly two years back. The complainant stated that the girl returned from outside crying and claimed Qari Saeed called her to the mosque on the pretext of giving her an amulet (a good luck charm) but sexually assaulted her in a room there. The convict of course did not accept the charges levied against him and instead blamed the Ahmadi community of plotting against him as he had been openly opposing them.

The girl aged eight, suffered mental and physical anguish and hence the convict has been asked to pay a fine of Rs.3,00,000 in the form of savings which the girl can withdraw at the age of 18.

However, thousands of minors are waiting for justice to be served. A chilling account reported by Associated Press of the rape of a 9-year old boy by a religious cleric in Kahror Pakka of Pakistan is harrowing to say the least. The report suggests that in 2004, a Pakistani official disclosed more than 500 complaints of sexual assaults against young boys in madrassas. Despite scores of reports, very few have resulted in the conviction of a cleric as religious clerics are a powerful group in Pakistan.

Maharashtra govt approves axing one hectare of mangrove area for Airoli-Thane road flyover, Netizens question silence of ‘Aarey activists’

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra govt approves axing one hectare of mangrove area for Airoli-Thane road flyover, Netizens question silence of ‘Aarey activists’

The Maharashtra revenue and forest department has given a green signal for the diversion of one-hectare mangrove land between Airoli bridge and Thane-Belapur Road for the construction of a flyover.

The order issued by joint secretary A S Apte said that 0.983 hectares of reserved and unclassified (mangrove) forest land at Dive, Airoli and Chinchvali in Thane district was diverted under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

The freeway consisting of 1.68 km long twin tunnels is a major part of the project on the Thane-Belapur elevated route, which will help reduce the traffic snarls for commuters between Mumbai to Kalyan and Badlapur region. Further, 150 hectares of forest land across Thane, Palghar, Ahmednagar and Pune will be diverted for laying electricity transmission line. Forest lands are also being diverted in Shahpur, Bhiwandi, Murbad in Mumbai metropolitan area.

For years, the residents have been reportedly complaining about the poor road connectivity in the area leaving them with no other option but to opt for local trains from Kalyan towards CSMT. Despite this, the project had been stuck for many years.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation along with the fisheries department had petitioned the Bombay HC against the Centre to be allowed to proceed with the infrastructure projects, which the departments maintained were in the public interest to ease traffic and connectivity. Despite the HC clearing the deck, the decision remained pending with the state environment ministry under the leadership of Aaditya Thackeray.

Now, with the Navi Mumbai civic elections slated to take place this year and the Thane local polls scheduled in 2022, the state forest department issued an order for the diversion of the forest land on March 12 (Friday).

Netizens call out the hypocrisy of ‘Aarey Activists’, question their silence over Maharashtra govt’s latest decision to axe Mangrove land

Sharing this news report, actor Sumeet Raghavan used the opportunity to call out the hypocrisy of various Environmental ‘activists’, NGOs and ‘liberals’ and also the state government for that matter, which had once gone all out to protest against the felling of trees in Aarey for metro construction in Mumbai.

Taking to Twitter, the actor questioned the ‘Aarey activists’ on their stoic silence over the state government’s latest decision to axe 1 hectare of mangroves in Thane. “Hope the #AareyActivists don’t have an issue or they might have dropped the plan because obviously, they can’t go in the muck to protest, even SUV’ can’t go there and no media coverage. #SHHHYYYAAAA”, wrote Raghavan.

Netizens also pointed out how the so-called celebrity journalists and activists will not say anything about the cutting down of trees.

‘Activists’who protested against the then BJP govt have now chosen to remain silent

It is paradoxical that the so-called liberals and activists who had made such a hue and cry about the metro project at Aarey are keeping a stoic silence on chopping off the mangroves. Similarly, they had nothing to say when Maharashtra government took a U-turn and decided to cut and transplant over 300 trees for the elevated Metro-2A corridor between Dahisar and DN Nagar in Mumbai.

In 2019, before the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, the car shed at Aarey milk colony had become a major political issue. The left-wing activists and Shiv Sena vehemently opposed it, claiming that it is a forest area and the project will destroy the ecology.

Rajasthan: Police officer arrested for demanding money, sexual favours from a rape victim

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Police officer arrested for demanding money, sexual favours from a rape victim

On Sunday, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Rajasthan arrested a police officer for demanding bribe and sexual favours from a rape victim.

As per reports, the accused has been identified as Assistant Police Commissioner (ACP) Kailash Bohra. He was deployed in the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Crime Against Women cell in Jaipur in Rajasthan. A woman (name withheld) had filed 3 complaints with the police, one of the charges being that of rape. ACP Bohra demanded money from the victim in return for acting on her complaint.

However, when the rape victim said she could not give him money, ACP Bohra instead demanded sexual favours from her for acting against the accused. He told her to meet him after office hours. While exploiting his position of power, he continued harassing the woman. The victim then approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The ACB laid a trap to catch ACP Kailash Bohra red-handed in the act. They had recorded the phone conversation between the police official and the victim. When the senior official called the woman to his residence on Sunday, he was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. The ACB team also searched the residence and other properties of the accused police officer and registered a case against him under the relevant Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The case was supervised by Director General (ACB) BL Soni and ADG Dinesh MN.

BJP lashes out at the Rajasthan government, demands action

While hitting out the Congress-ruled Ashok Gehlot government, a BJP leader said, “Rajasthan does not have rule of law anymore. It has turned into ‘jungle raj’. It is important to have an independent Home Minister to monitor such cases. Ashok Gehlot, who holds the Home Ministry portfolio, must hand it over to a trustworthy party member and monitor such cases on a day-to-day basis and take steps to prevent such cases in the future.”

Another BJP leader demanded strong action against the accused ACP Kailash Bohra and inquired why such officials are not immediately terminated, even after being caught red-handed. He accused the incumbent government of giving clean chit recently to another corrupt police official. “I think CM will soon give him (ACP Bohra) clean chit as well.”

Earlier this month, another police official in Alwar was accused of raping a woman who had gone to the police station to file a complaint against her husband.

Centre moves Supreme Court against Bombay HC’s decision of granting bail to Rhea Chakraborty in Sushant Singh Rajput case

OpIndia Staff
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Centre moves Supreme Court against Bombay HC’s decision of granting bail to Rhea Chakraborty in Sushant Singh Rajput case

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has approached the top court of the country in opposition to the bail granted to actor Rhea Chakraborty, who was arrested in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput case, by the Bombay High Court. The case is likely to be listed for hearing on March 18 before a Bench of Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.

Chakraborty and four others, including her brother Showik Chakraborty, are accused of facilitating the procurement of drugs for consumption by late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Chakraborty was arrested in September 2020 under various sections of NDPS. Reportedly, she was arrested by the narcotics department who argued that her custodial interrogation was needed to break the drug cartel. After spending close to a month in jail over drug-related charges, actress Rhea Chakraborty was granted bail in the NDPS case by the Bombay High Court in October 2020. The court had overturned the decision of a special court that had extended the actor’s judicial custody till October 20.

The high court had granted bail to Rhea Chakraborty on a PR bail bond of Rs.1 lakh. The court had granted one month to furnish bail bond at the request of her advocate Satish Manshinde. She was to visit the nearest police station every ten days after she is released on bail. ASG Anil Singh requested a stay on bail, but the court rejected it.

Rhea Chakraborty and her brother named in the charge sheet filed by the NCB in Bollywood-drug nexus case

Earlier this month, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had filed a charge sheet in the drugs case related to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. NCB chief Sameer Wankhede reportedly filed the charge sheet himself before a special NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) court. The charge sheet is reported to have around 12,000 pages in hardcopy format and includes the names of a total of 33 people and the statements of around 200 witnesses.

Actress Rhea Chakraborty, former girlfriend of Rajput, and her brother Showik Chakraborty have also been named as accused in the charge sheet. The NCB had reportedly registered a case against Rhea Chakraborty in August last year under various provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).

According to the sources in the NCB, the charge sheet details how various drugs including synthetic narcotic substances were being procured at the highest level and then distributed across Mumbai through various hands. “From drugs being manufactured to the supply chain and ultimately its consumption, the trail has been mentioned,” a source from the NCB said. The evidence used by the agency in the case includes details of WhatsApp messages among the accused, and the seizures made during raids.

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his house under mysterious circumstances

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead under mysterious circumstances at Bandra situated flat in Mumbai in June last year. Mumbai police had initially declared the reason of his death as suicide. However, following the dissatisfaction among people regarding the investigation of his death by Mumbai police and several social media campaigns, CBI was roped in for the investigation of his death.

Several top celebrities including Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh were interrogated during the investigation into the drug syndicate in the film industry.

As Coronavirus cases rise unhinged, Maharashtra govt imposes 7-day lockdown in Nagpur

OpIndia Staff
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As Coronavirus cases rise unhinged, Maharashtra govt imposes 7-day lockdown in Nagpur

Amidst an alarming surge in fresh Coronavirus cases, the Maharashtra government has imposed lockdown for a period of 7 days in the city of Nagpur. Nagpur currently has 16,964 active cases, 4th highest in all of Maharashtra.

The lockdown, which begins from Monday (March 15), will witness restrictions on non-essential services and the movement of people. Besides Nagpur, restrictions have also been imposed in nearby areas such as Koradi, Hingna and Kamptee. During the week-long period, only essential services such as grocery stores, meat shops, fruit and vegetable stalls will be allowed to operate.

“More than one shop of these essential shops will not be allowed at one place,” warned Municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B. He said that strict action will be taken against those, found unnecessarily loitering around in the city. Nagpur residents need to inform zonal officers prior to organising functions even at home. The restrictions, which are imposed for a week now, might be extended till the end of March, depending on the number of Coronavirus cases.

Key restrictions in the movement of people and essential services

While speaking on the development, Collector Ravindra Thakare said that events, which may cause over-crowding, will not be permitted. The exception has been made only for funerals, where a maximum of 20 people are allowed. In any case, pandals outside homes for any programme will not be allowed. People are also restricted from leaving their homes except for essential work or medical emergency. They can only travel to other cities if they have a valid reason.

Ravindra Thakare warned that people from rural areas should not enter Nagpur, else lockdown will also be imposed in those areas. He has directed shutting down of shops by 6 pm. On Sunday, Maharashtra Minister Nitin Raut said, “Further decision on lockdown depends upon decline in cases of coronavirus.” He added that Nagpur has been witnessing 2000 Coronavirus cases per day. “Restrictions are meant to break the virus chain especially in hotspots. Situation in Amravati improved with lockdown. Therefore, people should avoid stepping out of homes and support the effort to control the pandemic,” Raut emphasised.

Activists object to lockdown, point out several flaws

The move was criticised by several activists including Narayan Ahuja and TN Naidu, who argued that the lockdown was imposed without proper assessment. “Crowding will happen if only one shop remains open in one area. Crowd will be distributed if several shops are available, subject to safe distance in one area”, they pointed out. Highlighting several loopholes within the current lockdown guidelines, they said that hardware shops are closed but construction workers without IDs are free to operate.

Maharashtra is one of the worst affected States in the country, in terms of active Coronavirus cases. The state witnessed the highest one day spike (for 2021) of 16,620 new Coronavirus cases on Sunday. While Maharashtra has reported a total of 23.14 lac cases, the death toll in the State stood at 52,861. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray even warned that the state government could reimpose the lockdown if it is deemed necessary to blunt this latest wave of coronavirus cases.


13 years after Batla House encounter, convicted terrorist Ariz Khan sentenced to death by Delhi court

OpIndia Staff
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13 years after Batla House encounter, convicted terrorist Ariz Khan sentenced to death by Delhi court

Convicted terrorist Ariz Khan, convicted of murdering Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma during the Batla House encounter, has been awarded the death penalty by a Delhi Court. The same court has pronounced Ariz Khan guilty on March 8, asserting that the prosecution has successfully proved the case.

The Batla House encounter had taken place in 2008. It is a locality in Delhi’s Dalmia Nagar. An encounter had taken place between Delhi Police and Indian Mujahideen terrorists on September 19, 2008. Delhi Police had received intel that Indian Mujahideen terrorists, linked with the Delhi serial blasts a week prior that had killed over 30 people, were hiding at a residence in Batla House.

Two terrorists named Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid were killed in the encounter while 3, including Ariz had escaped. Inspector MC Sharma was martyred. Ariz was arrested near the Nepal border in 2018. Another terrorist Shahzad is facing life imprisonment for the case. Junaid, another terrorist who had escaped, is still at large.

Batla House encounter was vehemently opposed by Congress leaders, who were then in power in the UPA government. It was also claimed that Sonia Gandhi had wept a lot at the death of the terrorists whom the Congress called innocents. Many so-called ‘secular’ leaders had termed these encounters as fake and had blamed the Delhi Police for hurting Muslims.

Mumbai Police officials took away the missing CCTV footage of Sachin Vaze’s society: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai Police officials took away the missing CCTV footage of Sachin Vaze’s society: Report

In a new twist in the Antilia Bomb scare case, a report published by TV 9 Marathi claimed that the CCTV footage of Sachin Vaze’s society had gone missing. According to the report, the officials of Mumbai Police had confiscated CCTV footage from Sachin Vaze’s society on March 2 itself, three days before Mansukh Hiren was found dead on the banks of a creek that flows towards Mumbra from Thane.

Sachin Vaze lives in the B-6 wing of the Saket Complex in Thane. A total of 51 CCTV cameras are installed in his society complex. As per the TV9 Marathi report, Mumbai Police officials had come down to the society on March 2 and took the CCTV footage of the camera feeds away with them.

The report further says ATS and NIA teams are now exploring ways to retrieve the lost CCTV footage from Vaze’s society. Significantly, several questions are being raised now after it was discovered that Mumbai Police officials had seized the CCTV footage from Vaze’s society.

‘Who sought the CCTV footage? Whether it was done at the behest of Sachin Vaze? Was it done with the explicit purpose of destroying the evidence?’ are some of the questions that have come to the fore in the wake of the missing CCTV footage.

Already the case has had myriad twists and turns so far, with the mystery surrounding the attack against Mukesh Ambani deepening day by day. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made a sensational disclosure on March 5 in Vidhan Sabha when he claimed that Assistant Police officer Sachin Vaze was in touch with Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the Scorpio car that was found laden with explosives outside the Ambani residence.

Fadnavis has alleged conspiracy behind the attack against Mukesh Ambani, alleging that it could not be a coincidence that the car was stolen from Thane, the route they followed was also from Thane and the IO investigating the case also lived in Thane.

NIA arrests Sachin Vaze in connection with Antilia bomb scare case

Shortly after Fadnavis’ revelation, Mansukh Hiren was found in a creek in Thane. Hiren’s wife has accused Vaze of murdering her husband. The case was transferred to the Anti-Terrorism Squad on March 6 and Vaze was removed from the Mumbai Police Crime Branch after his name surfaced in connection with the matter.

After the case was transferred to the ATS, the National Investigation Agency(NIA) was called in to handle the probe related to the recovery of explosives from a car parked near Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai. On Saturday night, Sachin Vaze was arrested by the NIA after hours-long interrogation in the Antilia bomb scare.

On Sunday, a white Innova car, that was tailing the explosive-laden Scorpio was found from the office of the Mumbai Police commissioner and was used by Vaze’s Crime Investigation Unit (CIU). In fact, some reports even suggest that the car was used by Vaze himself. Vaze has also reportedly named Shiv Sena leaders in the Antilia case.

NIA gains access to CCTV footage and fingerprints at Vaze’s CIU office

Recently, NIA said it has accessed the CCTV footage, fingerprints and other evidence against Sachin Vaze. As per a TV9 Marathi report, NIA has gained access to CCTV footage covering a 2 km radius of Sachin Vaze’s CIU office from 25th February to 5th March 2021. 

As per NIA, the CCTV footage confirms that Sachin Vaze met Mansukh Hiren on 25th February, the same day, gelatin laden Scorpio was discovered at Mukesh Ambani’s residence. The report also suggests that the fingerprints found on the Scorpio match that of Sachin Vaze. On basis of the CCTV footage recovered, NIA is conducting an in-depth investigation to track his whereabouts, places he visited and the people he met on the dates mentioned above.

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