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Former Congress Leader Urmila Matondkar compares CAA to Rowlatt Act: Here is how she is wrong

Dibakar Dutta
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Former Congress Leader Urmila Matondkar compares CAA to Rowlatt Act: Here is how she is wrong

On Thursday, former Congress leader Urmila Matondkar had compared the humanitarian Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to the contentious Rowlatt Act of 1919 at Gandhi Bhavan memorial in Pune. The former Congress politician made those remarks during an event held on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.


She said, “After the end of the Second World War in 1919, the British knew that unrest was spreading in India and that may arise after the Second World War was over. So, they brought a law commonly known as the Rowlatt Act. That 1919 law and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 will be recorded as black laws in history.” Besides refusing to accept the law, she alleged that CAA is against the poor and the idea of “Bhartiyatva.”

Read: Inefficient, dishonest, and lack of coordination: Urmila’s letter slams two of Sanjay Nirupam’s aides for her ‘disastrous campaign’

Essentially, Urmila Matondkar compared the CAA with the Rowlatt Act in her ignorance and to deride the Modi government.

Here is why she is wrong

The Rowlatt Act of 1919 (also called Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919) was enacted by the colonial British government to detain political leaders whom they perceived as “threats”, for an indefinite period. It empowered the government to arrest individuals without a warrant and incarcerate them for up to 2 years without trial.

The accused were to not receive any evidence used against them in the trial or know the identity of the accusers. People were restricted from participating in religious and political activities. The said Act was designed to curb revolutionary nationalist movements that had started gaining momentum in India and could undermine the Imperial Government.

Read: How to debate the Citizenship Amendment Act with ‘liberal’ idiots

Mahatma Gandhi organised a non-violent Satyagraha movement against the black Act that led up to the infamous Jalliwana Bagh Massacre and the Non-Cooperation Movement. The Act was repealed in March 1922.

CAA, on the contrary, is a humanitarian Act designed to fast-track the citizenship of minorities belonging to 6 religions who have been persecuted on religious grounds in the 3 neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The cut-off date for the said Act is Dec 31, 2014.

CAA does not have provisions to withdraw or annulate someone’s existing nationality. It can neither be used to detain someone indefinitely or arrest without warrant. At this point, it becomes clear that the “Black Act” has no similarity with CAA and the comparison, therefore, is absurd and intellectually dishonest.

Here is the law that came close to the Rowlatt Act

The Rowlatt Act saw its resurgence in 1971 when Indira Gandhi passed the contentious Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). Through the 39th Amendment to the Constitution, the said Act was placed under the 9th Schedule.and thus kept it beyond the purview of a judicial review. The move was well-thought-out.

Due to the broad nature of the law, individuals could be kept under preventive detention, private properties could be searched and seized without any warrant by law enforcement.  This law was subsequently misused during the dark days of Indian Emergency (1975-1977) to put the opposition leaders behind bars.

Read: Sanjay Gandhi had him imprisoned because he refused to help Adil Shahryar, claimed planning commission member in 1977

By implementing this law, Indira Gandhi assumed extra-judicial powers. People were tortured, coerced and arrested using MISA. The law infringed upon the Fundamental Rights of people and was hence repealed in 1977 by the Morarji Desai led Janta-Party government.

It is evident now that the law that closely mirrored the Rowlatt Act was, in fact, MISA and not CAA. Having said that, it is ironical that in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Urmila Matondkar contested from the ticket of the Indian National Congress, the same party that once reminded India of the Black Act.

Jharkhand: High School celebrates Saraswati Puja after 50 years, was disallowed earlier due to majority Muslim students

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand: High School celebrates Saraswati Puja after 50 years, was disallowed earlier due to majority Muslim students

In a small village called Gidaur in Jharkhand, Hindu students celebrated Saraswati puja after 50 long years amidst heavy police presence. The Hindu students had not celebrated Saraswati Puja in Manjhgawantri High School because majority of students who were studying in the school were Muslims. This year, amidst police presence, the Hindu students celebrated their festivals, reported Jagran.

On the Saraswati Puja celebration, Block Development Officer Poonam Kujur, Magistrate Ajay Bhagat, DSP Prabhu Dev Kujur, Station In-charge Sushil Kumar, Panchayati Raj Officer Mo. Nasim Uddin Ansari, deputed magistrate Rupesh Mahato and district police force personnel were deployed.

For long, the village was on tenterhooks as there was tension prevailing between the Hindu and Muslim communities of the village. The tension was mainly due to Hindu students of the High School not being allowed to celebrate Saraswati Puja because of the Muslim students of the school. Reportedly, even in the Peace meetings of the community, this issue was often the dominant issue discussed.

Read: 8 attacks on Durga Puja and Dussehra processions in just 2 days, Durga idol vandalisation reported across India

Manjhgawantri High School in Gidaur was established in 1972 as a Primary School first. In the year 2006, the school was upgraded to a middle school and thereafter, in 2010, it was converted into a High School. For several years, Hindu students were paltry in this school and the student population was dominated by Muslim students. Owing to this, Saraswati Puja was not celebrated in the school, however, after the school turned into a high school, more Hindu students took admission and the demand for Saraswati Puja celebration only grew louder.

The demands to celebrate the Puja also gave rise to communal tension in the village.

On January 28, an application was made by the school children to celebrate Saraswati Puja at the block office and local police station. Subsequently, the administration deployed police personnel in the school a day before. After which, on Thursday, a statue of Goddess Saraswati of Vidya was installed and worshipped.

Missing woman from Meerut recovered from Shaheen Bagh, accused Shahzad arrested, family alleges forced conversion attempt

OpIndia Staff
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Missing woman from Meerut recovered from Shaheen Bagh, accused Shahzad arrested, family alleges forced conversion attempt

A woman missing from Meerut’s Partapur area has finally been found by the police. The woman was missing from Saturday. As per reports, the police have arrested a man named Shahzad for the alleged kidnapping.

Interestingly, the search for the woman led the police to Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, the place where Muslims have been protestings against the Citizenship Amendment Act for over a month.

A man named Shahzad was arrested and the woman was recovered when Partapur police traced the accused Shahzad to Shaheen Bagh. After an initial inquiry and the woman’s statement, the police had arrested Shahzad.

The family members of the woman had filed a police complaint reporting her missing. They have alleged that Shahzad wanted to forcefully convert the woman into Islam.

Brahmapuri CO Chakrapani Tripathy, however, has stated that the police are yet to officially confirm whether it was a kidnapping. The woman had been sent for medical examination and was produced in court on Thursday 30 January.

The woman is a resident of a village near Partapur. The accused Shahzad is from Modinagar. The woman’s family members had alleged that Shahzad’s intentions behind taking her to Shaheen Bagh should be investigated. The arrest was made by Modinagar police and the accused was later handed over to the Partapur police.

Late night drama at Shaheen Bagh: To speak to the media, or not to speak

OpIndia Staff
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Late night drama at Shaheen Bagh: To speak to the media, or not to speak

The drama by the crowd congregated at Shaheen Bagh to oppose to Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC never stops. Late last night, news emerged that Shaheen Bagh protestors were to hold a press conference after different political parties had referred to the protests during the campaign trail for Delhi elections.

By 9:30 PM, the news of the press conference was all over the media.

Saahil Murli Menghani, a journalist who has been covering Shaheen Bagh protests extensively, tweeted that Shaheen Bagh had called for an urgent press conference at 11 PM on Thursday.


Saahil had also tweeted that the press conference was likely about the road which has not been blocked by Shaheen Bagh protestors but barricaded by the police itself.

Several media houses too reported that Shaheen Bagh was all set to deliver a press conference. Speculations were that the press conference could be about the politicians talking about the protest, the incident at Jamia earlier where a youth had fired a shot towards the Jamia anti-CAA protestors or more.

Read: A lawyer and writer heckled at Shaheen Bagh while Rahul Kanwal walked off deliberately: Here is what really happened

However, the drama was only beginning.

Soon, Saahil tweeted that there was no press conference at Shaheen Bagh and that the protestors claimed that this was planted fake news. However, evidently, there was a tussle between two groups of the protestors with one wanting to hold the press conference and the other opposing the move.


Evidently, the fight at Shaheen Bagh was about opening one side of the road that the protestors were not using.


One section of the protestors at Shaheen Bagh wanted to open the road not being used by the protestors, however, one section of the protestors believed that if they open that side of the road, they would leave themselves open to an attack.

Interestingly, while the media was present at Shaheen Bagh, they were asked to shut their cameras and not record.

Read: Please come fast or my wife will die: Man pleads, but Shaheen Bagh ‘protestors’ don’t let an ambulance pass

Then, the media was asked to leave and apparently, “recording was not allowed”. The road was to remain shut and there was no press conference after all.


It is interesting to note that the media seems to comply rather willingly and submit to the demands of Shaheen Bagh protestors when they ask them to ‘not record’ what is happening at a very public protest.

There were some updates that suggested that the two groups of Shaheen Bagh had even got into a tussle.


It was reported that the two groups at Shaheen Bagh were allegedly throwing slippers at each other while on stage. OpIndia at this point could not verify these claims independently.

While the Shaheen Bagh protests have long been touted as an organic protest by women, the sequence of events points to anything but that. After Sharjeel Imam, the mastermind of Shaheen Bagh was arrested for his seditious speeches, Shaheen Bagh tried to distance themselves from Imam saying that the protests had no organising committee. However, everything that has happened so far, from tweeting these updates by their official Twitter account to these factions fighting about talking to the media and beyond, it points to a well-oiled protest that is being organised and funded externally.

A bus conductor in Bengaluru didn’t clear IAS exam, he misled media: Here is the truth

OpIndia Staff
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A bus conductor in Bengaluru didn’t clear IAS exam, he misled media: Here is the truth

It was reported earlier that a 29-year-old bus conductor in Karnataka named Madhu NC employed at the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has recently cleared the coveted Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Main exam in January.

Reportedly, he was said to be overjoyed when he found out that he has cleared the mains exam and was looking forward to the interview round to be held on 25th March.

Bangalore Mirror had reported that Madhu had stated that his parents are overjoyed, though they do not even fully understand what exams he has cleared or what it may mean.

Read: Coolie clears civil services exam after studying with the help of Indian Railways’ free WiFi

However, it is now revealed that the news seems to be untrue. The BMTC conductor who was said to have cleared his IAS examination had misrepresented his marks. Mumbai Mirror reported that the mark sheet that was shown to the paper actually did not belong to him but someone else called Madhu Kumari.

Reportedly, BMTC is now probing how the conductor misrepresented his results and investigating the matter further.

Note: We had curated the report by Mumbai Mirror. Once the Mumbai Mirror updated their report with new information, we have modified our report accordingly. We regret the error made. 

Coronavirus: Pakistan to not evacuate its citizens in China as an ‘act of solidarity’ towards its ally

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: Pakistan to not evacuate its citizens in China as an ‘act of solidarity’ towards its ally

Pakistan has announced that it will not evacuate its citizens from Wuhan and other places in China the midst of the Coronavirus crisis. Its decision, according to the Imran Khan-led government, is an ‘act of solidarity’ towards its ‘all-weather ally’ China. Four Pakistani citizens have been affected by the virus thus far. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza said that it was not advisable to evacuate Pakistanis from China, saying that the government will demonstrate responsible behaviour and not become a part in spreading the virus.

He said that WHO has also advised that foreigners currently in China should not be evacuated, and at present China is also not allowing this.

Although Pakistan claims that it is motivated by its goodwill towards its ally China, it is much more likely that the government does not wish to take back its citizens because there’s a likelihood that it might spread to other Pakistanis as a consequence. It is more likely that Pakistan’s decision is motivated by cold-blooded pragmatism rather than any other reason.

As per reports, there are up to 800 Pakistani students studying in Wuhan, the city which has been quarantined by the Chinese regime in response to the crisis. “We believe that right now, it is in the interest of our loved ones in China (to stay there). It is in the largest interest of the region, world, country that we don’t evacuate them now,” Dr Zafar Mirza was quoted by Pakistani media as saying.

“This is what the WHO is saying, this is China’s policy and this is our policy as well. We are standing with China in full solidarity,” he said. “Right now the government of China has contained this epidemic in Wuhan city. If we act irresponsibly and start evacuating people from there, this epidemic will spread all over the world like wildfire,” Dr Mirza said. However, some Pakistani students in Wuhan have complained that they are not being taken care of by the Chinese authorities.

The death toll has already reached a staggering number of 132, most of whom lived in China’s Wuhan city. There have been more than 6100 confirmed cases of coronavirus exposure since the outbreak began almost a month ago. Most patients are between 55-87 years old. As such, many tourist places have been shut down and festivities cancelled. Meanwhile, India’s first confirmed case has been reported from Kerala.

Most affected is the Wuhan city, where the virus outbreak was first reported. Along with Wuhan, the Chinese authorities have locked down 18 cities in the country to prevent the virus from spreading. All flights, trains and other modes of transportation going out these cities have been suspended, meaning people in these places can’t leave the cities.

‘Sharjeel Imam’s hands should be cut off and put on chicken’s neck corridor. Amit Shah should finish insects like Sharjeel’, Shiv Sena says in its mouthpiece

OpIndia Staff
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‘Sharjeel Imam’s hands should be cut off and put on chicken’s neck corridor. Amit Shah should finish insects like Sharjeel’, Shiv Sena says in its mouthpiece

Amidst sustained protests in the Country against Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens, Shiv Sena on Thursday alleged that attempts were being made to create a civil-war like situation in the country in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana.

The Shiv Sena alleged that India’s social and religious unity has ended. “Attempts are being made to escalate the dispute between Hindus and Muslims. Attempts are also being made to create anarchy and a civil war-like situation that exists in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the Shiv Sena, which leads the coalition government in Maharashtra along with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, said in the editorial.

The editorial also tore into JNU student Sharjeel Imam, who has been arrested by the Delhi Police from Bihar’s Jehanabad for making an inflammatory speech at the Aligarh Muslim University. Sharjeel had called for cutting off Assam from the rest of India amid protests against the CAA and NRC, and a video of his speech had gone viral. A case of sedition has been filed against the JNU student over his inflammatory speech.

In strong words, the Shiv Sena editorial said: “Sharjeel Imam wanted to take over chicken’s neck and divide India. His hands should be cut and kept on display at the chicken’s neck highway. Home minister Amit Shah should immediately finish insects like Sharjeel. But he (Amit Shah) should also stay away from indulging in politics in Sharjeel’s name.”

Sharjeel could be heard saying in the viral video: “If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannot do it permanently, then at least for one to two months, we can do this. It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. When this happens, only then the government will listen to us.”

The party called on the government to ensure no other Sharjeel emerges in the country. Sena said statements made by Sharjeel Imam had caused great damage to peaceful anti-CAA protests going across the country. “There have been protests all over the country against the new citizenship law, but no one has made any anti-national statements in this entire movement,” the editorial on Saamana said

“Urban Naxalism is already here. One Sharjeel is has been arrested but the responsibility lies on the government’s shoulders that no other Sharjeel should emerge. Sharjeel’s statement has given an issue to the BJP for free in the Delhi Assembly polls. His statement is ‘anti-national’ and ‘separatist’,” it added.

Sharjeel Imam, who masterminded the Shaheen Bagh road blockade to protest against the CAA, was arrested by Delhi Police from Bihar after multiple FIRs were filed against him for his seditious speech. Addressing a gathering at Aligarh, Imam had urged Muslims to come together and cut off the Siliguri Corridor aka the chicken’s neck, which connects the seven northeastern states to the rest of India. He had also earlier made provocative speeches where he had asked Muslims to come out and block roads of India and bring it to a standstill so as to get international media attention. Imam is a columnist at The Wire.

Jharkhand: 22 arrested over Lohardaga attack on pro-CAA rally that resulted in death of Neeraj Prajapati

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand: 22 arrested over Lohardaga attack on pro-CAA rally that resulted in death of Neeraj Prajapati

Twenty-two persons have been arrested by the Jharkhand Police in connection with the violence at Lohardaga which resulted in the death of Neeraj Prajapati. He was an artist and an idol maker. The violence had erupted after a Muslim mob attacked those attending a pro-CAA rally.

The administration had imposed a curfew in the region following the violence which it is lifting in phases. The Police are also saying that it is investigating the involvement of others in the matter as well.

In Jharkhand’s Lohardaga, When a pro-CAA march was passing through a Muslim locality near Amla Toli on 23 January, stones and petrol bombs were hurled at the participants by the local Muslims. Women became the specific targets of the ruthless mob. Shops and homes belonging to the Hindus were set on fire. This created a state of panic and resulted in a stampede. Roughly, 100 participants and 24 policemen had sustained injuries during the unprovoked attack by the violent mob.

Neeraj Ram Prajapati, who was brutally injured when a Muslim mob had attacked the pro-CAA rally, had died on Monday. Neeraj was initially treated at Orchid Hospital in Ranchi but was later transferred to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS).

The police informed that primary investigations have revealed that Prajapati died due to cardiac arrest caused by “a septic shock from brain stem bleed”, according to a medical report from Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences.

Delhi: Zee News crew members attacked by anti-CAA rioters near Sukhdev Vihar metro station, camera and equipment damaged

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi: Zee News crew members attacked by anti-CAA rioters near Sukhdev Vihar metro station, camera and equipment damaged

It is now a well-established fact that the nationwide anti-CAA stir, which has been extremely unruly and violent, is nothing but a part of a planned, organised conspiracy by the leftists, opposition parties like Congress, AAP, Samajwadi Party, and various Islamic organisations to advance their break-India agenda. The Jamia and Shaheen Bagh area in Delhi has become the hunting grounds for such rioters. During anti-CAA protests, several journalists who are not perceived as from the left-wing have also been attacked by protesters.

In another such episode today, a Zee News team was heckled and assaulted by the protesters from Jamia area of Delhi. Zee News senior reporter Jitendra Sharma and his associate Neeraj Gaur had arrived at Sukhdev Vihar metro station in Delhi to cover the ongoing anti-CAA protests along with cameraperson Qamar Khan when they were attacked by the rioters.


During the violent incident, the anti-CAA rioters tried to snatch the mobile phone and personal belongings of Jitendra Sharma and Neeraj Gaur. The channel’s camera and recording equipment were completely damaged by these miscreants, who also shouted anti-government slogans.

Narrating the whole incident, Sharma said that he along with his team had gone there to cover the ongoing anti-CAA protests and talk to the protesters but they attacked them and damaged their equipment. The Zee News team was dragged by the protesters for several meters and attempts were made to thrash them, snatch their belongings.

Earlier, Consulting Editor of News Nation Deepak Chaurasia was attacked at Shaheen Bagh by people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act on January 24. The mob did this to stop him from reporting about the ongoing protests against the CAA. The video journalist accompanying Chaurasia was attacked as well and the camera was destroyed.

On January 27, a video journalist associated with News Nation was attacked and beaten up by unidentified assailants when she had gone to cover the Anti-CAA protests in South Mumbai’s Nagpada area. The protestors had gathered at “Mumbai Bagh” on lines of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi where the media crew had gone to cover them. On wee hours of Monday morning, the ‘protestors’ in Mumbai’s Nagpada attacked the News Nation crew and broke their camera.

Apart from there, several incidents of assault on journalists at anti-CAA protests had taken place in the last few weeks, including several in Delhi.

Read- Here are 10 incidents in last three months when journalists were attacked at ‘tolerant and secular’ gatherings

Prior to this incident, it was reported how a man had brandished a gun and fired a shot outside the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi during the ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. One person was injured from that attack.

He has now been taken into police custody and one individual has been injured. The injured man has been taken to the hospital for treatment. In a video that has surfaced depicting the scene of events, the man can be seen brandishing a gun and raising slogans that are not entirely audible.

The man who was shooting in Jamia identified himself as ‘Gopal’ and has said that he did this to avenge the death of Chandan Gupta, a boy who was killed by Islamists during a Tiranga yatra.

While more details are yet to emerge and we are not sure if this is a stage-managed event or genuine disgruntlement with the whitewashing of Islamic terrorists, the assorted ‘liberals’ have already started peddling the “Hindu terrorism” bogey without a factual basis.

Shashi Tharoor faces setback in Sunanda Pushkar death case, Delhi court rejects his plea to include her tweets in the case records

OpIndia Staff
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Shashi Tharoor faces setback in Sunanda Pushkar death case, Delhi court rejects his plea to include her tweets in the case records

In a major setback to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, today Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court dismissed his plea to incorporate the tweets of his wife Sunanda Pushkar in the case related to her mysterious death. Tharoor’s lawyer had sought that the tweets Sunanda had tweeted just before her demise should be made part of the charge sheet in the case.


Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar dismissed the application saying that “at the stage of (framing of) charge such a roving inquiry by the court is not expected”.

Tharoor’s counsel had pressed for a psychological evaluation of Sunandan Pushkar to clear him of charges of abetment of suicide and domestic violence for which he’s facing prosecution before the trial court.

Vikas Pahwa, a senior advocate appearing for Shashi Tharoor, had moved an application before the court under section 91 of CrPC stating that the prosecution has not provided all the necessary documents before the court and asked the court to direct the prosecution to provide the data inferred from the twitter handle of Sunanda Pushkar.

The application of Tharoor further said that there had been numerous exchange of the letter between the US Department of Justice and Home Ministry wherein the latter has requested for the retrieval of data. He claimed that since the prosecution has data and that data is crucial to the case, the application should be allowed.

Read- When Twitter ‘murdered’ Sunanda Pushkar

Vikas Pahwa had told the court that “the documents/tweets are of sterling quality and need perusal by the court as they will assist the court in framing the charge or discharge the accused.”

Tharoor’s lawyer had said that the tweets clearly indicate that the deceased was not having any ”suicidal ideation” as is sought to be alleged by the prosecution. “Rather, the deceased was in a positive frame of mind and was quite optimistic about her relationship with the applicant (Tharoor). Despite such overwhelming material, the police has sought to conclude that the deceased allegedly committed suicide due to her differences with the applicant,” he had said.

The public prosecutor in the Sunanda Pushkar murder case, Atul Srivastava, had objected to the application affirming that an accused cannot move such application as the court itself gives direction to the prosecution to supply additional documents if required in the interest of justice. Pahwa countered by mentioning a judgement, that in case, the evidence is of sterling quality, the court upon satisfaction could allow it to be added in the evidence.

Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in mysterious circumstances in The Leela Palace Hotel, Delhi on January 17, 2014. The trial against Tharoor had begun on February 21, 2019. Recently, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had alleged that Delhi police had tampered with the evidence in the case.

Shashi Tharoor was charged for the abetment of suicide according to a 3,000-page charge sheet filed by the Delhi police in the case. The case was transferred from the Magistrate’s court to the sessions court by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal for fast track hearing on February 4, 2019.

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