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Delhi Excise Policy Scam: Rouse Avenue Court extends judicial custody of Arvind Kejriwal till 25 July

ANI
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Delhi Excise Policy Scam: Rouse Avenue Court extends judicial custody of Arvind Kejriwal till 25 July

The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday extended the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court granted Kejriwal interim bail in the Enforcement Directorate case related to the excise case.

Special judge Kaveri Baweja extended the judicial custody of Arvind Kejriwal till July 25. He was produced through video conferencing from Tihar Jail. The court directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to supply a copy of the supplementary charge sheet to the counsel of Kejriwal and the other accused.

National Secretary Pankaj Gupta and an official representative of the party appeared for the Aam Aadmi Party before the court.

The accused, Vinod Chauhan, was also produced before the court.

Another accused, Ashish Mathur, was granted bail on a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh. He was charged sheeted without arrest by the ED.

On July 9, the court took cognizance of the supplementary charge sheet filed against Arvind Kejriwal and AAP. The court had also taken cognizance of the supplementary charge sheet filed against Vinod Chauhan and Ashish Mathur.

The court had taken cognizance of the charge sheets and had issued production warrants for Arvind Kejriwal, Vinod Chauhan and AAP. Summons through the Investigating Officer (IO) were issued to Ashish Mathur. These are the seventh and eighth supplementary charge sheets in the money laundering case linked to the Delhi Excise policy.

Enforcement Directorate had filed a supplementary prosecution complaint (charge sheet) against Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party on May 17. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21. Another supplementary prosecution complaint was filed by the ED against Vinod Chauhan and Ashish Mathur on July 1.

In this money laundering case, ED arrested Manish Sisodia, BRS leader K Kavitha, Sanjay Singh, Arvind Kejriwal and others including businessmen.

Opposing the bail plea of Arvind Kejriwal, ASG SV Raju had submitted that there is evidence that Kejriwal demanded a bribe of Rs. 100 crores, which went to the AAP for Goa election campaign.

It was also argued that Rs 45 crore was sent by Vinod Chauhan to Chanpreet Singh through hawala dealers. Chanpreet Singh was looking after the AAP Goa election campaign.

The ED while seeking remand, had submitted that the arrestee (Kejriwal) was shown evidence of Hawala transfers to the tune of Rs 45 crore approx, which is corroborated with CDR locations, call records, IT seized data of Hawala firm in Goa, proof of payments being done in part cash and part bill and WhatsApp showing this arrangement. He was also shown multiple statements of witnesses who worked on the AAP campaign in Goa who received cash from one Chanpreet Singh who was working for the AAP campaign in Goa.

While opposing the bail application, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju submitted that “bribe money” was sent for the Goa election by Hawala transactions, and Arvind Kejriwal was in touch with Angadiya (Hawala dealers). The bribe money was sent by Vinod Chauhan and it was received by Chanpreet Singh Rayat, who was handling the election of AAP in Goa.

ASG had also referred to the statement of Sagar Patel. As per the statement, three people received cash, including Chanpreet Singh.

ASG submitted that the instructions were given by Vinod Chauhan to make payments to Chanpreet at Goa and others. The photo of the matching note (used for Hawala transactions) has been found on the phone of Vinod Chauhan.

ASG SV Raju also submitted that Arvind Kejriwal was in touch with Vinod Chauhan through chats. Acknowledgement by Arvind Kejriwal to chats shows proximity with Vinod Chauhan. It was also submitted that Rs One crore has been recovered from Vinod Chauhan. It was also submitted that Section 70 of PMLA directly applies to Kejriwal as he is the incharge of AAP, which is a company in terms of Section 70 of PMLA, ASG contended.

Kejriwal is national convenor of AAP and in charge of the affairs of the party, ASG had said.

 (This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Modi government declares 25th June as Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas to remind people what happened when the Constitution was trampled over during the emergency

OpIndia Staff
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Modi government declares 25th June as Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas to remind people what happened when the Constitution was trampled over during the emergency

The Narendra Modi-led union government of India has declared 26th June as the Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas, which translates to ‘Constitution Murder Day’, to pay tribute to the victims of the emergency. The Union Home Ministry on 11 July issued a gazette notification saying that the Government of India has declared 25th June as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas”.

The notification states that a proclamation of Emergency was made on 25th June 1975, following which there was gross abuse of power by the Government of the day and the people of India were subjected to excesses and atrocities. It adds that the people of India have abiding faith in the Constitution of India and the power of India’s resilient democracy.

The gazette notification states “Therefore, Government of India declares 25th June as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas (संविधान हत्या दिवस)” to pay tribute to all those who suffered and fought against the gross abuse of power during the period of Emergency and to recommit the people of India to not support in any manner such gross abuse of power, in future.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on ? that observing 25 June as Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas will serve as a reminder of what happens when the Constitution of India was trampled over. He said, “It is also a day to pay homage to each and every person who suffered due to the excesses of the Emergency, a Congress unleashed dark phase of Indian history.”

Posting the notification on ?, Home Minister Amit Shah said that “on June 25, 1975, the then PM Indira Gandhi, in a brazen display of a dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of our democracy by imposing the Emergency on the nation. Lakhs of people were thrown behind bars for no fault of their own, and the voice of the media was silenced.”

He added, “The Government of India has decided to observe the 25th of June every year as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas.’ This day will commemorate the massive contributions of all those who endured the inhuman pains of the 1975 Emergency.”

The union home minister further tweeted that the decision of the govt is intended to honour the spirit of millions who struggled to revive democracy despite facing inexplicable persecution at the hands of an oppressive government. “The observance of ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ will help keep the eternal flame of individual freedom and the defence of our democracy alive in every Indian, thus preventing dictatorial forces like the Congress from repeating those horrors,” he added, using the hashtag #SamvidhaanHatyaDiwas.

As Rahul Gandhi bas been accusing the BJP of trying to change the constitution, the Modi government is using emergency to counterattack him. The emergency was mentioned by the president in her address to the parliament, and the Lok Sabha speaker moved a resolution condemning the same.

The emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi govt lasted for 21 months, during which rights of the citizens were suspended in the country. The proclamation of emergency issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution gave the prime minister the authority to rule by decree, allowing elections to be cancelled and civil liberties to be suspended.

During the emergency, most of political opponents of Indira Gandhi were jailed, and the press was censored. The govt said that the emergency was imposed due to prevailing “internal disturbance”, but it was the result of Allahabad High Court declaring Indira Gandhi’s election null and void after finding her guilty of using state machinery in election campaigning.

When the Supreme Court upheld the High Court verdict but allowed Indira Gandhi as PM pending her appeal, this led to massive protests by Indira Gandhi’s supporters and the opposition. After that, Indira Gandhi asked President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed to proclaim a state of emergency, without consulting the cabinet.

The Emergency ended on 21 March 1977 and Indira Gandhi called fresh elections, which she lost and Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India.

Libya-based ISIS terrorist among two charge-sheeted by NIA in Aurangabad terror conspiracy case

ANI
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Libya-based ISIS terrorist among two charge-sheeted by NIA in Aurangabad terror conspiracy case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday charge-sheeted two persons, including a Libya-based terrorist in the ISIS terror conspiracy case connected with the global terror network’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad), Maharashtra, linked module.

The anti-terror agency filed the chargesheet against Libya-based Mohammed Shoeb Khan and Mohammed Zoheb Khan in the conspiracy to promote the ISIS’ anti-India agenda, said the National Investigation Agency.

Zoheb was earlier arrested by the probe agency in February of this year following searches across multiple locations.

Both Shoeb and Zoheb had conspired to “recruit vulnerable youth to carry out terror attacks at sensitive installations across India”. The NIA named the two terrorists as “key conspirators in the case” and charged them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The chargesheet was filed before the NIA Special Court in Mumbai.

The NIA, in the chargesheet, has exposed international linkages in the conspiracy with the involvement of foreign-based handlers of ISIS.

“Investigations in the case earlier by the anti-terror agency had revealed a web of anti-India activities involving the two accused,” said the agency.

The NIA, which has been working relentlessly to dismantle the ISIS network of modules in India, had found that the two men had taken ‘bayath’ (pledge of allegiance) towards the self-proclaimed Khalifa of ISIS.

“The accused, who had planned to flee to Afghanistan or Turkey after executing a series of terror attacks in India as part of the conspiracy, were also found to be actively involved in developing a website for the promotion of extremist and violent ideology of ISIS. They planned to attract youth from across the world into the ISIS fold through the website,” said the NIA.

Investigations further revealed that Zoheb, who was recruited by Shoeb, had created a WhatsApp group. “Zoheb had added more than 50 youth from Aurangabad area to the group with an intent to radicalise and recruit them for furthering the nefarious activities of ISIS in India.”

“The accused had been sharing videos related to the manufacturing of explosives and the fabrication of IEDs. They had also prepared a detailed plan of action, which included planning, preparation and execution of terror attacks at multiple places in India and actions to be taken after the execution of attacks. The accused persons had conspired to endanger the safety and security of India, its secular ethos and culture, and the democratic systems of governance,” reveals the NIA investigation.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Tamil Nadu: Unlicensed shelter home for people with mental illnesses sealed after police discovered 20 bodies buried inside the premises

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Unlicensed shelter home for people with mental illnesses sealed after police discovered 20 bodies buried inside the premises

An illegal facility for those suffering from mental diseases and intellectual disabilities was shut down in Pandalur, Nilgiris district by the Tamil Nadu Revenue Department. Authorities reported discovering a cemetery on the property of the residence, where about twenty bodies, possibly those of deceased inmates, were interred.

The Loveshore Charitable Trust has been operating in Pandalur taluk’s Kunthaladi village for the previous 25 years, according to officials. Revenue Divisional Officer (Gudalur), A. Senthil Kumar stated that although the institution had been registered as a charitable trust, it lacked name boards and approval to admit individuals with mental illnesses. A charitable organization must get licenses from the Institute of Mental Health, Chennai, and the Commissionerate of Differently-abled Persons, respectively, to admit individuals with mental diseases or intellectual disabilities.

The disturbing revelation surfaced as a result of a complaint brought up at last week’s meeting, which was presided over by the district governor of Nilgiris. As a result, the shelter was inspected by the Gudalur Revenue Commissioner and the Dewala Deputy Superintendent of Police. The facility was found to be operating without a license on 8th July 2024, after a comprehensive inspection by authorities. They observed that the people with mental disabilities were living in appalling conditions and without even the most basic utilities.

Furthermore, more than 20 dead bodies had been buried on the land without the knowledge or approval of government officials. The illegal burials prompted Shanmugam, the village administrative officer, to complain to the Nelakottai police station. This complaint led to the registration of a case and the start of an inquiry by the police into the identity of the deceased. Additionally, suspicions exist that there might have been attempts to sell the deceased’s body parts and the cops are looking into it.

“Loveshore” was run by a trust and its managing director was Augustin from Calicut. The house in Kunthaladi Bekki was not far from Augustin’s residence. Augustin, however, was conspicuously missing from the scene when revenue officers arrived to seal the premises. Ten people, including the shelter’s owner, have been asked by the Nilgiris district authorities to appear for probe. The summons comes after thirteen mentally challenged people were rescued from the institution. Saravanan, the Deputy Superintendent of Police from Dewala, is in charge of the investigation. The 10 people who were called will be questioned to learn more about the shelter’s unlawful activities and the condition of its residents.

A. Senthil Kumar added, “We conducted an inspection on Monday, July 8, and found 13 people staying at the home. The people running the facility do not have any permissions to run it, and also do not have any records of their patients, about where they are from or any of their families.” He added that although there was a police complaint against the trust, there did not appear to be any indications of abuse having been inflicted on the inmates. The Revenue Department sealed the property after the inspection. On 9th July, a team made up of representatives from the Revenue, Health and Police departments went to the institution and rescued all 13 residents. They were brought to a licensed Coimbatore establishment.

This is not the first time a specific shelter has been the subject of such inquiry. The old and impoverished St. Joseph’s Charity Home in Vellore was the subject of an investigation into allegations of resident abuse and harvesting bones of dead inmates, in October 2022. 69 elderly people were saved and given medical attention in government hospitals as a result. Four people connected to Anbu Jothi Ashramam, a Christian institution for the impoverished, were nabbed in February 2023 at Vizhuppuram on several charges, including rape. Reports of sexual assault, physical abuse and torture came to the fore after which 142 residents were saved. The unregistered establishment attracted impoverished people with false promises of food and jobs since it opened in 2005.

Viral video of large crowd at venue of a job interview: How Congress spread false claims of ‘too many unemployed youth in Gujarat’

OpIndia Staff
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Viral video of large crowd at venue of a job interview: How Congress spread false claims of ‘too many unemployed youth in Gujarat’

A video went viral on social media and Gujarati media on July 11 claiming that a large crowd of educated but unemployed youth gathered at a private company at Ankleshwar. Visuals showed a large number of men struggling to stand in a small space and eventually, the railing collapses due to the crowd pushing and shoving each other.

The interview and the rush is true, however, the video has been shared with misleading claims. It is being claimed that this demonstrates the high number of qualified yet unemployed individuals in the state. The Congress party and the Gujarati media started their usual propaganda with inaccurate information.

The official X handle of Congress used the video of crowd for political attack against Modi. According to the post headlined “Narendra Modi’s Gujarat model,” the Modi administration is allegedly causing an increase in unemployment nationwide. It added, “Many jobless individuals congregated at a hotel in Bharuch, Gujarat, hoping to find work. The hotel’s railing collapsed as a result of the situation, exposing the Gujarat model. This is the model of unemployment that Narendra Modi is imposing on the nation.” Furthermore, hundreds of Congress supporters reposted the clip with the same description and questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party administration.

Reports with similar allegations were also published by a few prominent media houses in Gujarat and elsewhere. Media outlets such as Gujarat Samachar and Divya Bhaskar also alleged that unemployed youth in Gujarat struggled to get jobs and a railing was broken. The X handle of “Jamawat” a channel that has earlier spread fake news, also posted the footage and claimed that “a crowd of unemployed people had assembled.”

The truth behind the viral video

Notably, as soon as the video surfaced, the advertisement clip of the company conducting the interview also went viral and the disinformation was exposed. It was uploaded by the official handle of BJP Gujarat too. The advert was not for fresher candidates. The claims of ‘high number of qualified but jobless youth’ would have been logical if the jobs on offer in the interview were fresher level jobs. But the company advert clearly stated that the interview is for candidates with years of experience in chemical factory.

The job was offered by a chemical company and it was mentioned that they were setting up a new plant at Zaghadia GIDC and wanted “experienced” persons. The job posting makes it quite obvious that candidates with three to ten years of experience are to apply. Candidates with 6 to 10 years of experience for the position of a shift in charge, 3 to 8 years as a plant operator, 3 to 8 years as a mechanical fitter, 4 to 7 years as a DSC supervisor and 4 to 7 years for ETP executives are being sought after by the company.

All of these young individuals might be working somewhere else currently and appeared for the interview in hopes of finding better opportunities. That the venue was unequipped to handle a large number of applicants maybe a management issue. But claiming that there are a large number of qualified young men in Gujarat without any job opportunities is a misleading statement.

‘People want development but there is no money’: Financial advisor to CM Siddaramaiah exposes how Congress is ruining Karnataka with freebies

OpIndia Staff
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‘People want development but there is no money’: Financial advisor to CM Siddaramaiah exposes how Congress is ruining Karnataka with freebies

On 11th July, Basavaraj Rayareddy, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s financial advisor said that the state lacks funds for development projects due to guarantee schemes. The crisis arose as enormous amounts of funds had to be set aside for Congress’ freebies.

Speaking at an event at Mangaluru village in Yelburga taluk in Koppal district, Rayareddy said: “Many MLAs are demanding funds for development works in their constituencies, however, there is no money with the government. We are spending approximately Rs 65,000 crore on guarantee schemes. Since I am the financial advisor, I somehow manage to get the grant for lake development project.”

“People want development. But believe me, there is absolutely no money. Since I am the financial advisor, I managed to get funds for the lake development project here,” he emphasised.

Karnataka MLAs have found it practically impossible to acquire funding for projects in their constituencies. “Internally, I know the financial stress,” stated the Yelburga MLA.

Two days ago, BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi informed that the Congress government in Karnataka is taking up development projects in Bengaluru alone since it has no money left in the state exchequer. Due to this, the rest of Karnataka is being neglected.

“The main reason is that the State government has no money for such development works. It is only concentrating on Bengaluru using the little money it has. It is nothing but grave injustice,” Jarkiholi said.

The BJP MLA also alleged that the Congress government is deliberately neglecting the implementation of development schemes launched by the prior BJP government.

For example, as Irrigation Minister, I started work on the Basaveshwar and Ammajeshwari irrigation schemes in Athani. But now there is no work going on under these projects. Athani MLA Laxman Savadi joined the Congress after making great claims about developing his constituency under the Congress government,” the BJP MLA said.

Notably, the Congress government in Karnataka has been squandering freebies under its five guarantee schemes. These include Griha Jyothi, Griha Lakshmi, Anna Bhagya, Shakti Yojana, and Yuva Nidhi.

Despite these extensive promises, there has been criticism from within the Congress party regarding the effectiveness of these guarantees. Some Congress leaders have argued that the guarantees did not yield the expected electoral support, leading to calls for a reassessment of these schemes​. While launching populist schemes is easy, sustaining them is a mammoth task.

US envoy Eric Garcetti pontificates India on PM Modi’s Russia visit: Why America has no moral authority to dictate foreign policies for its allies

Amit Kelkar
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US envoy Eric Garcetti pontificates India on PM Modi’s Russia visit: Why America has no moral authority to dictate foreign policies for its allies

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent trip to Russia and his visible bonhomie with President Vladimir Putin has expectedly irked many in the West who have been slamming the close ties between the two countries under the guise of the Ukraine war. Now, the United States Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has launched a veiled attack on the Indian prime minister and went so far as to threaten ties with the Western power. He, while speaking at the Defence News Conclave organised by CUTS International in Delhi on 11th July stated that India likes its strategic autonomy, however, no such thing exists during a conflict.

Eric Garcetti remarked that “no war is distant any more” in today’s interconnected globe and that in addition to advocating for peace, people need to take proactive steps to ensure that those who don’t follow the norms of peace, their war machines “cannot continue unabated.” He mentioned, “I know and I respect that India likes its strategic autonomy. But in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy. We will, in crisis moments, need to know each other. I don’t care what title we put to it. Still, we will need to know that we are trusted friends, brothers and sisters, colleagues that, in times of need, in the next day, be acting together.” He specifically emphasised that the India-US relationship was wider and deeper than it’s ever been. Still, it was not profound enough to be taken “for granted.”

“It’s important for us as Americans and as Indians to remember the more we put into this relationship, the more we will get out. The more we insist on a kind of cynical calculation in the place of a trusted relationship, the less we will get. As I also remind my Indian friends, while it is wider and it is deeper than it’s ever been, it is not yet deep enough that if we take it for granted from the Indian side towards America. I’ll fight a lot of defence battles trying to help this relationship ahead,” he conveyed while talking about the relationship between the two nations. His scathing remarks were made just hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to Delhi after his two-country tour of Russia and Austria which have been a source of concern for the US State Department. It hopes that New Delhi will use its long-standing ties with Moscow to urge President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

The US diplomat claimed that in today’s interconnected world, “No war is distant anymore and we must not just stand for peace, we must take concrete actions to make sure those who don’t play by peaceful rules, that their war machines cannot continue unabated,” and added that US and India need to know this together. The American diplomat further voiced that India will have to decide between Russia and the US for its long-term military needs, acknowledging New Delhi’s dependency on Moscow for replacement parts for vintage Russian military hardware that makes up a sizable portion of the Indian armed forces’ inventory. According to him, US defence equipment exports have increased from “near zero in 2008 to approximately $25 billion in 2023.”

He also attempted to draw parallels between the situation on India’s northern border and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pointing out that the world has “witnessed countries who ignore sovereign borders.” He remarked, “The past three years, we’ve witnessed countries that ignore certain borders. I don’t have to remind India how important borders are. That’s the central principle of peace in our world. That is when we stand on those principles and stand together. We can show that principles are the guiding light of peace in our world, and together, the world’s two largest democracies can enhance the security and the stability of our region.”

While the United States brushes aside concerns raised by its allies in pursuing its self-interest, it is always eager to lecture others when they follow the same policy— keeping self-interest above perceived notions of morality imposed by others. Unsurprisingly, these notions of morality do not apply to the US, which is still protecting Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a Khalistani extremist deemed a terrorist by its ally, India. Instead, it has also extradited an Indian supposedly linked with an assassination plot to eliminate Pannun from Czech while showing no qualms in waging wars and missile strikes in the Middle East in pursuing its objectives of neutralising terrorists that pose a threat to the US interests in the region.

By contrast, PM Modi visited Russia, a strategic partner for India whose ties with New Delhi predates the relatively recent US-India bonhomie. Even during his visit, PM Modi emphasised the need to end the Ukraine war and told Vladimir Putin in an informal meeting that no solution can be found on the battleground. India has been forefront of the efforts to end the war in Ukraine, constantly making appeals to the warring sides to relinquish arms and engage in dialogue for a peaceful and amicable solution.

For its part, India has been constantly appealing to the warring sides to relinquish arms and engage in dialogue for a peaceful and amicable solution. However, the United States’ expectations that India will backstab its oldest strategic partner and take a maximalist stand on the Russia-Ukraine war are misguided and run counter to India’s longstanding stance of engaging in dialogue and espousing neutrality.

In philosophical terms, the US is ailing from moral relativism, imposing its dynamic sense of morality on its allies and expecting them to abide by it. But no self-respecting nation should be expected to shun morals it holds dear and hew to ethics completely alien to its culture and tradition.

The US’ penchant for meddling in the affairs of India

Notably, Eric Garcetti has a nefarious habit of meddling in India’s affairs. Last year, he faced criticism for pontificating on the bloodshed in Manipur and making derogatory comments about the status of affairs in India while blatantly ignoring the fact that there have been 332 gun attacks in his nation in 2023, accounting for nearly 21,000 fatalities. He alleged, “I don’t think it’s about strategic concerns, it’s about human concerns. You don’t have to be an Indian to care when children or individuals die in this sort of violence.”

He added, “We know peace is a precedent for so many good things. There has been so much progress in the Northeast and the East. The country has done some remarkable things in the East and those can’t continue without peace. We stand ready to assist in any way if asked. We know it’s an Indian matter and pray for that peace and that it may come quickly. Because we can bring more collaboration, projects, and investment if that peace is in place.”

The discontent expressed by the US and its Western allies following the meeting between PM Modi and President Putin is reminiscent of the popular statement made by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar that “Europe has to grow out of the mindset that its problems are world’s problems, but world’s problems aren’t Europe’s problems.” The Western nations have long been uncomfortable with India’s strong connection to Russia.

They have also long sought to control India’s foreign policy on matters that do not even concern them, all the while ignoring the latter’s genuine worries about funding Pakistan, which is known to be a haven for terrorists and has repeatedly violated the country’s borders. Interestingly, in the case of India, neither America nor other European nations appear to place the same weight on the necessity of respecting borders to preserve international peace.

The case of Victor James Raja: How a defamatory mail to PMO exposed PhD scholar’s involvement in child pornography and abuse

Dibakar Dutta
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The case of Victor James Raja: How a defamatory mail to PMO exposed PhD scholar’s involvement in child pornography and abuse

The day was 16th March, 2023. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) picked up a 35-year-old man named Victor James Raja from his residence in Saliyamangalam in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu.

At that time, Victor was a research scholar at the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management in Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T). He had fired off e-mails to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which led to his detention and interrogation by the special CBI team.

On 17th March of that year, Victor was remanded to judicial custody. The content of the email sent by the accused to the PMO remains unknown. However, some media reports suggested that the mail was offensive, disparaging and defamatory in nature.

Interestingly, locals claimed that the accused habitually wrote emails to higher officials and showcased his research on social media. They alleged that Vicor had ‘no history’ of committing any wrongdoing.

“According to local people, Raja used to write emails to higher officials and also share information on his research on social media platforms. He did not have any past history of being on the wrong side of law, they added,” the locals told DTNext.

Little did Victor know that his one ‘mistake’ of sending an email to the Prime Minister’s Office would expose his history of heinous sexual crimes.

CBI probe exposed Victor James Raja

During the investigation, the CBI found images and recordings of child sexual abuse in the database of Interpol. Using digital forensic tools, the central agency tracked it back to Victor James Raja.

It came to light that the ‘research scholar’ offered tuition services to school children. During the course of his private classes, he sexually abused the children, recorded obscene videos and uploaded them on a particular website for quick money.

The site is said to be controlled by the international mafia. Agents from as many as 21 States in India upload child pornography to the website for their paid clients.

The child pornography videos, uploaded by Victor James Raja, had a large viewership. Based on a tipoff from Interpol, the CBI recovered devices and incriminating evidence from the residence of the accused.

According to the Indian central agency, Victor was sexually abusing a 10-year-old child for 4 years and uploaded her naked pictures and videos to his Google account

He had also forced a minor boy and girl to engage in sexual acts among themselves and other minors. The accused also threatened the children about putting out their information online and used intimidation tactics against them to bring in more children.

In total, the research scholar sexually abused a total of 8 children between the ages of 5 and 18. Most of his victims were aged 12 and below

Victor coerced the children into performing penetrative sexual acts, recorded their sexual abuse, criminally intimidated them, forced and instigated them to perform sexual activities with him and other minors.

Action against the PhD scholar

In March last year, the CBI booked Victor James Raja under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 120 (B) for criminal conspiracy and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Information Technology Act.

Two months later in May 2023, the central agency filed a chargesheet against him for creating, seeking, collecting. browsing, downloading and distributing material “depicting children in sexually explicit acts in electronic form.”

The biggest development in the case has now come after a period of 14 months.

On Tuesday (9th July), the CBI informed in a press release that a special court sentenced Victor James Raja to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹6.54 lakhs for his crimes.

The court awarded a compensation of ₹4 lakhs each to the children who were sexually abused by the accused.

“The trial of this case was concluded in a time-bound manner with the assistance of Special POCSO Court, Thanjavur and a total of 34 witnesses were and examined/cross-examined and various documents & articles were exhibited,” the CBI said in its press release.

When Victor James Raja was promoted as ‘organic farmer’

OpIndia found that the child sexual abuser was promoted as an ‘organic farmer’ and agriculturist by the popular Tamil channel Pasumai Vikatan in February 2021.

“Victor James Raja hails from Poondithopuk village on the Thanjavur-Ammapet road. An M.Com graduate, he is currently researching for a Doctoral Degree (PhD) on Ecotourism in Tamil Nadu. He is also creating awareness among the farmers about organic farming,” the caption of the YouTube video read.

Had it not been for his offensive email to PMO, the CBI may not have probed Victor James Raja and exposed his heinous crimes.

He could possibly have been a free man, sexually exploiting vulnerable children as before for quick money.

Pro-Khalistan MP Amritpal Singh’s brother Harpreet Singh arrested in drug case by Jalandhar Police in Punjab

ANI
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Pro-Khalistan MP Amritpal Singh’s brother Harpreet Singh arrested in drug case by Jalandhar Police in Punjab

Jailed Lok Sabha MP Amritpal Singh’s brother, Harpreet Singh has been arrested by Jalandhar Police in a drug case, police said on Friday.

Harpreet Singh was arrested along with two others, namely Sandeep Arora and Lovepreet on Thursday evening, an official said.

The police also confiscated 4 grams of ice (a synthetic drug) from them, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ankur Gupta, Jalandhar Dehat Police said.

“Three people identified as Lovepreet, Harpreet and Sandeep Arora have been arrested. They were arrested last night. 4 grams of ice (a synthetic drug) have been recovered…” Gupta said.

Amritpal Singh, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Khadoor Sahib, is originally a resident of Jallu Kheda village in Amritsar and is currently lodged in jail in Assam’s Dibrugarh district.

He used to live in Dubai prior to his return to Punjab in 2022, after the death of Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu. After his return, he became the chief of Deep Sidhu’s pro-Khalistani organisation, Waris Punjab De.

He was arrested from Moga’s Rode village after he and his supporters on February 23, 2023 staged a protest at the Ajnala police station and clashed with police personnel in an attempt to free one of his aides who was taken into custody for making inflammatory and pro-Khalistan statements.

Punjab Police registered a case against Amritpal Singh under the National Security Act (NSA) and he was sent to Dibrugarh Jail in Assam.

In the 2024 parliamentary elections, Amritpal Singh won from the Khadoor Sahib seat. He was recently granted a four-day custody parole and brought to Delhi so that he could take oath as a Lok Sabha member.

 (This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Bail denied to Shoeb Akhtar, who beheaded his friend’s Hindu wife for not converting to Islam: The full details of the case and what the HC order says

OpIndia Staff
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Bail denied to Shoeb Akhtar, who beheaded his friend’s Hindu wife for not converting to Islam: The full details of the case and what the HC order says

On the 9th of July, the Allahabad High Court denied bail to one Shoeb Akhtar, accused of beheading a Hindu girl since she refused to convert to Islam after marrying co-accused Ajaj Ahmed, in 2020.

Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh found no compelling cause to release the accused on bail, taking into account the nature of the offence, the role assigned to applicant Shoeb Akhtar, and the stage of the trial. Notably, Shoeb Akhtar was booked by Chopan Police in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh under IPC sections 302 [punishment for murder] and 201 [causing the disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information to screen the offender].

According to the prosecution, accused Shoeb Akhtar decapitated Priya as she refused to convert to Islam after marrying co-accused and Akhtar’s friend Ajaj Ahmad.

As OpIndia reported back in 2020, accused Ajaj was unwilling to bring the Hindu victim to his home unless she converted to Islam. As the victim was reluctant to abandon her Hindu identity, Ajaj kept her in a rented room in the Obla area. Here, he was persistently pressuring the victim to convert to Islam. As the Hindu girl refused to convert, the angry Ajaj called upon another friend Shoeb Akhtar. The two Muslim youths carried Priya to a nearby forest area and killed her.

According to the horrifying details mentioned in the court order, the dead body of the Hindu girl with a chopped head was lying in the drain towards the forest on the western side of the road.

This is the second bail application moved by accused Shoeb Akhtar through his counsel Saurabh Pandey. He had earlier applied for bail through his counsel in January last year. The court, however, had rejected the plea then also “considering the facts that as per the postmortem report, death of the deceased was due to ante-mortem separation of neck from the body.”

The deceased victim’s sister Sharmila in her statement said that the Priya used to tell her how Ajaj Ahmad and his friend Shoeb Akhtar were pressurising her to convert to Islam even though she was not willing to do so. “Since deceased was not accepting Muslim religion, therefore she has been murdered by co-accused Ajaj Ahmad and present applicant- Shoeb Akhtar. Both the accused were apprehended together and on their disclosure, incriminating materials were recovered,” the court order reads.

Representing the State, an Additional Government Advocate opposed Akhtar’s second bail plea emphasising the gravity and heinous nature of the act and said that Ajaj gained bail by hiding the 24th January 2023 judgement that denied Shoeb’s first bail petition.

In addition, the State’s representative contended that a wrong argument was attributed to the State in the court order while granting bail to Ajaj. The Court stated in that ruling that ‘it is admitted fact that applicant is in jail since the last eight and a half years’.

The court found merit in the State’s argument that the court overlooked the order of rejection of the first bail plea filed by Shoeb Akhtar while granting bail to Ajaj Ahmad in October 2023.

“I also find substance in the submission of learned Additional Government Advocate that while passing the order dated 05.10.2023 of co-accused as noted above, the order dated 24.01.2023 has not been taken into consideration and wrong period of detention of the accused- Ajaj Ahmad @ Asif has been mentioned as noted above. Considering the gravity of offence, role assigned to the accused-applicant and the stage of trial, I do not find any good ground to release the applicant on bail. Accordingly, the bail application is rejected,” the court order reads.

Images: Excerpts taken from the Allahabad High Court’s order dated 9th July

Therefore, considering the gravity of the crime, the Court considered it appropriate to reject Shoeb Akhtar’s second bail application.

The court ordered Superintendent of Police, Sonbhadra, to ensure the presence of all remaining prosecution witnesses on the next trial date. Notably, out of 25 prosecution witnesses, 9 prosecution witnesses have already been examined before the trial court so far.
The court also ordered the trial court to expedite the trial without granting adjournment for either side.

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