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Gujarat Police busts terror module planning to kill prominent political leaders across the country, 3 including a maulvi arrested

ANI
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Gujarat Police busts terror module planning to kill prominent political leaders across the country, 3 including a maulvi arrested

In a major terror bust, the Gujarat Police claimed to have busted a module that was planning to kill prominent political leaders across the country.

Briefing media persons on the breakthrough, on Friday, Commissioner, Gujarat Police, Anupam Singh Gehlot said a maulvi (cleric), identified only by his first name Sohail, was arrested in connection with the matter and disgorged more leads on the terror module on being interrogated.

The commissioner added that the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the central elite anti-terror agency, was also involved in the ongoing probe into the module.

“In the first week of May, we arrested a maulvi by the name of Sohail from the Surat district. On being interrogated, he shared more leads on this terror module that he was associated with. We recovered two voter identity cards from the cleric,” Commissioner Gehlot told ANI on Friday.

He revealed further that the police also seized two birth certificates–one of Surat and the other of Nawapura in Maharashtra–from him.

Speaking on another accused person, Mohammad Ali alias Shehnaz, who was also arrested, the commissioner said, “She used a mobile phone SIM from Nepal. Using his mobile tower location, we tracked him down at Muzaffarpur. He earlier used to stay in Nepal. He used a single mobile handset but operated 17 numbers.”

The police commissioner revealed that Shehnaz also had 42 email IDs against his name, adding that he used his multiple SIMs and email IDs to threaten his targets.

“He had Nepalese citizenship in addition to an Aadhar card,” the commissioner added.

On the third accused, identified as Raza, the commissioner said, “He destroyed his mobile handset but we managed to retrieve some information with the help of FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory). We are in the process of gathering further details and data on him and the module. He used a Pakistani SIM card provided by his handler Dagar.”

Further investigation is underway, the police said.

This is a developing story and more details are awaited.

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

Dalit man who came from Switzerland under Dhruv Rathee’s influence to join Bharat Jodo Yatra recalls how he was mistreated, says commoners were asked for money to meet Rahul Gandhi

OpIndia Staff
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Dalit man who came from Switzerland under Dhruv Rathee’s influence to join Bharat Jodo Yatra recalls how he was mistreated, says commoners were asked for money to meet Rahul Gandhi

Congress prince Rahul Gandhi-led foot march Bharat Jodo Yatra phases one and two were in the news for all the wrong reasons. Now, an ardent supporter of Congress who came to India from Switzerland only to partake in the Yatra has exposed the truth behind the façade of “Mohabbat ki Dukaan”.

In an interview with Organiser, Nitin Parmar, who was a businessman in Switzerland, said he returned to India to join Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Yatra’ which began on 23rd August 2022 over alleged ‘threat’ to democracy. Parmer, who had been a part of the 91-day journey said that he had to face discrimination since he belongs to the Dalit community. Moreover, Nitin Parmar said that he faced exploitation due to his foreign background. He talked about the arrogance of the party leadership. Notably, Nitin Parmar’s father Karsandas Ukabhai Parmar was Lok Sabha MP.

The ”Democracy Khatre Mein Hai” fearmongering by YouTubers like Dhruv Rathee and Congress influenced Nitin Parmar to join Bharat Jodo Yatra only to witness a nightmare

Speaking to Organiser, Parmar recalled that he used to watch videos of propagandists like Dhruv Rathee and was influenced by Rahul Gandhi’s political approach. He was convinced that the Indian democracy would falter under the Modi government. When Bharat Jodo Yatra was announced by the Congress party, Nitin Parmer decided to join the Yatra, however, he faced immense difficulties in doing so.

“Upon his return to India in October, Parmar found himself embroiled in an administrative maze in the Congress party. Coordinators in Karnataka and Telangana offered vague responses, leading to last-minute changes in his joining location. Despite the hurdles, Parmar finally gained entry to the Yatra from Nanded, Maharashtra,” the Organiser report reads.

He said that most of the Yatra participants were more interested in catching a glimpse of Rahul Gandhi than the purpose of the Yatra. As the yatra entered Madhya Pradesh, there was no coordinator and Parmar had to invoke his father’s name to get and recount his journey from Switzerland to get access to a luxury bus. He was also allegedly bullied as a foreigner after he raised an objection over his missing track pants.

“Nobody is a follower, everyone is a leader” in Congress

Recalling Congress motormouth and former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh’s arrogance, Parmer said that Singh and his father were friends, however, Singh behaved as if he did not even know him when he raised concerns about the behaviour of party workers. He added that Congress leaders behaved as if they were doing an “upkar” [favour] by allowing people to join the Yatra.

“Ideally, they should have considered my efforts to travel from Europe to India for the yatra, rather than my family’s political history. If I compare this with the BJP, whose events I have attended, it is a completely wonderful experience, from the welcome to everything, it is something very down to earth,” Parmar said.

Highlighting the sharp contrast in the attitude of Congress and BJP, Parmar said that BJP has rooted volunteers regardless of being in power while Congress, eve though not in power, is rude and arrogant. “Our Prime Minister once described this ‘arrogant’ nature as ‘Ghamandiya,’ and it is still accurate today. This arrogance is what is causing the Congress to break apart. Nobody is a follower, everyone is a leader,” Parmar asserted.

The extravagance of VVIP camps vs low hygiene commoners camp

Parmer recalled that there were two types of camps in the Yatra, Type 1 for VVIPs and Rahul Gandhi, and Type 2 for the ordinary participants. He claimed that the VVIPs camp had a “picnic-like atmosphere” and were loaded with amenities surpassing even those of five-star hotels.

While VVIP camps had an extensive menu including soups, salads, starters, vegetarian and non-vegetarian main courses, various bread options, multiple desserts, ice creams and whatnot, the commoners camp offered low-quality food in unhygienic conditions.

“This is not BJP, live or die, we don’t care”: Nitin Parmar recounts Congress’s apathy towards Yatra participants

Parmer, when asked if there were any checks on participants at the start or end of the Yatra said, “This was not the BJP, but the Congress, where such practices were not followed. “Live or die, we don’t care, that’s their policy.”

Furthermore, Parmar recalled that he was not allowed on stage while celebrities used to dance on stage. He alleged that the party treated ordinary participants as “untouchables” and crowds. “We are untouchables, people from the slum, so we are only used as crowd. They used to order us, ‘Come together, join us in the rally,’ and after the rally, they would ask, ‘Who are you? Get out.’ We are used to it,” Parmar said.

Congress demanded fees to let participants meet Rahul Gandhi

Nitin Parmer told Organiser that Rahul Gandhi never visited the commoners’ camp although Kamal Nath, Sachin Pilot and others did pay a visit. He recalled that the Congress party sought money to meet Rahul Gandhi.

“They even asked for money to meet Rahul Gandhi, with rates varying by state. In Madhya Pradesh, the price started at 20,000 rupees and eventually dropped to 10,000 rupees, while in Punjab, it was 35,000 rupees,” Parmer claimed.

On being asked about his perception of the Congress party before and after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Nitin Parmar said that Congress’s attitude towards Scheduled Castes has not changed since the 1950s. The party, he said, continues to use Dalits as crowds adding that there is a “loot culture” in the party.

Rahul Gandhi’s ‘foot march’ with 59 luxury containers

While the Congress party and its media allies hyped the Bharat Jodo Yatra as yet another relaunch of Rahul Gandhi, it turned out that the Gandhi scion along with his team was rallying with 59 luxury containers equipped with beds, attached bathrooms, air-conditioners, couches, mini conference halls etc. As OpIndia reported earlier, the Congress party had spent around Rs 71 crore on Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Samajwadi party, Congress will send Ram Lalla to tent if they come to power, bulldoze Ram Mandir: PM Modi

OpIndia Staff
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Samajwadi party, Congress will send Ram Lalla to tent if they come to power, bulldoze Ram Mandir: PM Modi

On Friday (17th May), Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress and Samajwadi party for planning to bulldoze Hindu temples and send Ram Lalla to tent from the majestic Ram Mandir.

While addressing a public meeting in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi cautioned, “Samajwadi party, Congress will send Ram Lalla to the tent if they come to power. They will also bulldoze Ram Mandir.”

“Is this what you have learnt from Yogi Adityanath? Take tuitions from him about the right place to use the bulldozer,” he emphasised.

“They can stoop to any level. This is their track record. For them, nation (desh) means nothing. Only that that matters to them is their family and power. This is their game,” PM Modi lashed out at political dynasts.

American version of ‘we have changed strategy, not ideology’: Indian American lawmakers devise a new way to lecture India by saying that India should not be lectured

Sanghamitra
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American version of ‘we have changed strategy, not ideology’: Indian American lawmakers devise a new way to lecture India by saying that India should not be lectured

Lecturing India about imaginary ‘human rights’ and ‘communalism’ and dangers to democracy has been the favorite political habit of politicians, media, and the elite in Western nations. Unsurprisingly, some politicians of Indian origin pretend they are better at lecturing India than their white compatriots.

In a recent manifestation of this phenomenon, Indian American lawmakers Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal and others gave a demonstration of how to lecture India in ‘the correct way’.

Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, Shri Thanedar, and Ami Beria were attending the “Desis Decide” Summit of Indian American Impact. During a panel discussion moderated by Zohreen Shah of ABC Network, who asked them about PM Narendra Modi’s relations with the Muslim community, Khanna started a lecture on how lecturing India is ‘not the correct approach’.

Ro Khanna said that lecturing India on democracy doesn’t achieve much because the EAM Dr Jaishankar just doesn’t take it like previous ministers did. His sad frustration with Dr Jaishankar rejecting the lectures and sermons coming from USA was evident when he said, “India was colonised for over 100 years. So, when we’re having a conversation about human rights, and you’re having a conversation with (External Affairs Minister S) Jaishankar or someone else, you have to understand that just coming in from a perspective of lecturing India. When they say that we’ve had colonial powers lecture us for hundreds of years is not going to be productive.”

Ro Khanna, who is also co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, lectured further elaborating on how to lecture India in a better way. He advised a new strategy, adding that while lecturing India about the flaws in its democracy, the USA should first admit to flaws in its own democracy.

Ironically demonstrating how condescension and sanctimony in the Western colonial mindset works, Ro Khanna, said, “Having a conversation (with India) saying, here are the imperfections in our democracy, what are the imperfections in your democracy, and how do we collectively advance democracy and human rights, I think is a more constructive approach.

Khanna appeared unaware of the fact that the whole world knows how exactly US ideas of ‘democracy’ work and what kind of bombardments and wars happen when weaker countries with oil reserves do not agree with the USA’s ideas about flaws in their democracy.

Rep Pramila Jayapal, who is usually found in every single anti-India lobbying group, joined in, saying USA should not ‘lecture’ India, but instead, should criticise India just like it criticises the Chinese government for the alleged treatment of Uyghurs. USA’s stand on the Uyghur issue with China is rather hostile, way beyond ‘lecturing’ zone, but Jayapal probably thinks all Indians are stupid and she is the only smart person in the room, so she added some refined sanctimony in her statement, on how the partnership with India is important for the USA, because of the regional and global dynamics and an economic point of view.

Essentially, Jayapal insinuated that despite being aware that partnership with India is critical for the USA, India should be willing to accept lecturing and more lecturing from the USA from politicians like her, because they love lecturing India and they consider it their moral duty to be able to lecture India.

Now we know why Dr Jaishankar refused to even meet her.

Agreeing with whatever Ro Khanna said, Rep. Ami Bera added, “You see what is happening with the freedom of the press. You are not seeing a viable opposition party, or the opposition is being dismantled. A vibrant democracy must have these things, freedom of the press, freedom to push back, freedom of speech. I hope you don’t ever see a second Trump presidency, but if that happens, you would see our democracy survive the first time, push back and survive. I hope the democracy in India survives”.

Bera pretended to not be aware of what the whole world is watching: How the Biden government collaborated, used Federal institutions like FBI to control social media giants like Facebook and Twitter to silence, gag and de-platform political opponents, raided Trump’s residence, and use every possible means to stop him from contesting elections. The democracy they love to lecture so much about was being torn to pieces with stolen ballot boxes, corruption, and how their compliant media worked in harmony to suppress stories of the Biden family’s involvement with Burisma, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and much more.

Ro Khanna loves to lecture India, it is just that India doesn’t care much about his sermons

The last time Ro Khanna made news in India was when Rahul Gandhi was expelled from the Parliament after his conviction in Gujarat. He tried to pass some very highly worded lectures about democracy. He was duly reminded by Indians that his grandfather supported Indira Gandhi’s emergency and was a part of it.

When presented with facts, Ro Khanna acted all indignant and tried to claim otherwise, citing family anecdotes. But records from Indian parliament archives proved that Khanna’s maternal grandfather Amarnath Vidyalankar had indeed voted in favor of Indira Gandhi’s emergency.

Earlier, Khanna has been visibly trying too much to endear himself to the Left-liberal lobby in the USA and India, claiming Hindutva is all biased and discriminatory and had even tried to support the politically motivated ‘farmer protests’ in India back in 2020.

Pramila Jayapal has been trying to lecture India for years

As for Pramila Jaypal, she has been a part of every single anti-India lobbying effort in Washington DC. During PM Modi’s US visit in June 2023, Pramila Jayapal, along with US Senator Chris Van Hollen had sent a letter urging President Joe Biden to “discuss the need to protect human rights and democratic values in India during his meeting with PM Modi.”

The letter, signed by 75 members of the US Congress, was wholeheartedly supported and cheered by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party back in India. The Democrat US Representative from Washington 7th district is known for her anti-India and anti-Hindu bias.

She had taken a controversial stand against the Indian Government’s decision to abrogate Article 370. Following her resolution, MEA Jaishankar canceled his meeting in 2019 with a group of United States lawmakers following their refusal to exclude anti-India Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal from the delegation that was scheduled to meet him.

USA and its nasty habit of delivering sermons to every country in the world

The dominant political and media elite of the USA, and to an extent, the collective Western world, loves to play the role of delivering sermons. Perhaps a racial remnant from their past as colonisers and missionary zealots, they consider themselves the divine messengers who are in the world to teach pagan heathens how to live correctly.

While beneath the veneer of all these sermons lie subtle threats, deep behind all this lecturing is the classical US mentality of exploitation and extraction. When faced with weaker nations, their foreign policy involves bombs and war. With nations that are too difficult to intimidate via bombs, the USA engages subtler means of regime change, sanctions, political interference, and endless lectures on ‘democracy’.

From Venezuela to Ukraine, Afghanistan to Gaza, Libya to Syria, conflicts and crisis scenarios all over the world are more or less different stages of how this particular American hobby of ‘lecturing’ manifests itself.

‘Our identity as a Brahmin is primary’: Hindu student in Assam forced to remove janaeu for writing exam, college denies allegations

OpIndia Staff
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‘Our identity as a Brahmin is primary’: Hindu student in Assam forced to remove janaeu for writing exam, college denies allegations

On Wednesday (15th May), a Hindu student was forced to remove his sacred thread (janaeu) before appearing in the Common University Entrance Examination (CUET) examination.

The disturbing incident took place at an exam centre located in Bhawanipur Anchalik College in the Bajali district of Assam. The victim was identified as Dhritiraj Basistha, who was accompanied by his mother to the exam centre.

As per reports, the Hindu student was told to remove his janaeu if he wanted to sit in the exam centre. While speaking about the matter, the mother of the victim said, “I was not allowed to enter the college to inform the higher authority.”

According to her, Dhritiraj Basistha was stopped at the gate of the Bhawanipur Anchalik College and the officials checked for his identity card. The victim was denied entry after they realised that he was wearing the sacred thread under this shirt.

The Hindu boy called his mother and said that the college officials told him to remove his janaeu. As per his mother, the college administration claimed that a metal object was detected in his janaeu.

“Without the sacred thread, he can’t eat, speak or practice his Faith. Our identity as a Brahmin is primary,” the woman told News Live. She also displayed the janaeu that her son was forced to remove.

Akhil Bharat Brahmin Front to take legal action, college denies allegations

The incident has created an upheaval in the area for hurting the religious sentiments of Dhritiraj Basistha. On learning about the matter, the Akhil Bharat Brahmin Front launched an agitation and vowed to take legal action against the Bhawanipur Anchalik College administration.

In the meantime, the college has denied coercing the Hindu boy into removing his janaeu.

The principal of the Bhawanipur Anchalik College, Manas Kumar Chakraborty, claimed that Dhritiraj Basistha was only asked to remove the metallic ring attached to his sacred thread and not the janaeu in its entirety.

“We were following the instructions of the NTA that clearly stated that any metallic item is not allowed inside the exam hall. As per the instructions, we asked the student to remove the ring from his sacred thread, but instead he removed the sacred thread and handed it over to his mother,” he alleged.

Manas Kumar Chakraborty also claimed to have instructed the victim to not remove his sacred thread but the latter did not comply to his directive.

Slapped 5-6 times, kicked on chest: Shocking details of Swati Maliwal’s complaint emerge, alleges Arvind Kejriwal was aware of assault by Bibhav Kumar

OpIndia Staff
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Slapped 5-6 times, kicked on chest: Shocking details of Swati Maliwal’s complaint emerge, alleges Arvind Kejriwal was aware of assault by Bibhav Kumar

Delhi Police may visit the Chief Minister’s house on Friday to investigate and record the statements of the policemen and staff present there at the time of the alleged assault on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal, sources have said. 

Delhi Police filed an FIR at the Civil Lines police station on Thursday in connection with the alleged assault on the AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP a few days ago. She claimed that she was assaulted by Chief Minister Arvind Kejirwal’s personal secretary, Bibhav Kumar. 

The police will now have her statement recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. 

Under Section 164, a magistrate can record a person’s statement or confession during a police investigation before the trial. 

Maliwal had made a PCR call from the Chief Minister’s House at 9.34 pm on May 13. 

The Delhi Police may give notice to Bibhav Kumar and ask him to join the investigation, sources added. 

According to the police FIR, Maliwal in her complaint said that she was slapped, hit on stomach, attacked and kicked by Bibhav Kumar at the Chief Minister’s residence. 

Reportedly, according to the complaint filed by Swati Maliwal, Bibhav Kumar (the PA of Arvind Kejriwal), slapped her 5-6 times on the face and hit Maliwal on the chest and lower body. The complaint also reportedly says that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was in the house when the brutal assault took place and was in the know of what his PA was doing.

The Delhi police filed an FIR in connection with the alleged assault naming Bibhav Kumar. 

The FIR has been registered under sections 354, 506, 509, and 323 of the IPC, among other sections, for offences including assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, criminal intimidation, word gesture or acts of intent to insult and assault. 

Late last night, Swati Maliwal had gone to AIIMS for her medical check up after the brutal assault. According to reports, the check up lasted for over 3 hours. In the visuals which emerged later of Swati Maliwal reaching her residence post the medical check-up, it was clearly visible that Maliwal was experiencing difficulty in walking.

After lodging the complaint with the Delhi police, Swati Maliwal, in a post on X, requested the Bharatiya Janata Party to not do politics over the incident. Calling the incident “very bad”, Maliwal said that she gave her statement in this regard to the police. 

“What happened to me was very bad. I have given my statement to the police on the incident that happened to me. I hope that appropriate action will be taken. The last few days have been very difficult for me. I thank those who prayed for me. Those who tried to do character assassination, said that she was doing it on the instructions of the other party, may God keep them happy too,” the former DCW chief said in a post on Thursday after lodging a complaint with the Delhi police. 

(With inputs from ANI)

Pinarayi Vijayan and ‘Kerala model’: 431 bomb attacks since he came to power, no convictions, investigations abandoned because most accused belonged to CPIM

OpIndia Staff
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Pinarayi Vijayan and ‘Kerala model’: 431 bomb attacks since he came to power, no convictions, investigations abandoned because most accused belonged to CPIM

The Kerala government under the incumbent Communist Party of India (Marxist) rule has failed to secure conviction of a single terrorist, accused in 431 cases of bomb blasts in the State between June 2016 and August 2022.

As per a report by Onmanorama News, the police have filed chargesheets in only 162 cases while it closed 205 cases claiming lack of progress in the probe. Additionally, 2 other cases were shut citing lack of evidence.

The report also stated that the Kerala police did not probe most of the cases as the accused belonged to the ruling CPIM. “Often, top police officers exerted pressure on the investigation teams to sabotage the cases,” noted Onmanorama News.

Besides terror attacks, the report added that 142 chargesheets were filed in 150 cases of goonda attacks. While 6 of the accused were acquitted, only 5 of the criminals were sentenced.

‘Goonda’ is a term used to refer to criminals who had been convicted by a court or found complicit by a competent police officer under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007.

The cops lodged only 10 cases where the accused were found to be making bombs. They filed chargesheets in only 5 cases and closed two others.

“It is alleged that the police top brass showed little interest in ensuring that investigation teams presented foolproof evidence against the accused before the courts,” Onmanorama News stated.

The report added that in one case, the sub-inspector of Kazhakkoottam in Kerala’s capital city Thiruvananthapuram reached out to all history sheeters and requested them to sign the register at the police station.

The development comes amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections where the CPIM has been propagating the myth of the ‘Kerala Model‘ to justify its dubious claims of good governance in the State.

In reality, Kerala has been in deep financial distress, worsened by growing Islamic radicalisation and a lack of concrete governmental crackdown on the party’s largest vote bank in the State.

Ghatkopar hoarding collapse: Mumbai Crime Branch arrests Ego Media director Bhavesh Bhide from Udaipur

ANI
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Ghatkopar hoarding collapse: Mumbai Crime Branch arrests Ego Media director Bhavesh Bhide from Udaipur

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch arrested the owner of Ego Media, Bhavesh Bhide in the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse case on Thursday.

The Crime Branch of Mumbai Police arrested the main accused Bhavesh Bhide from Udaipur and is bringing him to Mumbai, said the Mumbai Police.

“16 people were killed and about 75 people were injured when hoardings collapsed in Ghatkopar, Mumbai,” added the police.

Expressing grief over the hoarding collapse incident in Ghatkopar, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said earlier on Thursday that it was a tragic incident and informed that the rescue operation has been completed.

“This was a tragic incident in which 16 people died. The rescue operation has been completed. Here is an active petrol pump; that’s why our rescue operation was delayed,” Gagrani said.

Earlier, Mumbai police had registered a case under IPC 304, 338, 337, and 34 against owner Bhavesh Bhide and others at Pantnagar police station.

A massive hoarding collapsed in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area on May 13 amid strong winds where 16 people were killed and about 75 people were injured.

Bhavesh Bhide is the director of Ego Media, the advertising agency and hoarding company responsible for erecting the collapsed hoarding in Ghatkopar.  

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

AAP to be made co-accused in Delhi Excise Policy Scam case, complaint against party in pipeline: ED tells Supreme Court

ANI
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AAP to be made co-accused in Delhi Excise Policy Scam case, complaint against party in pipeline: ED tells Supreme Court

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will be made co-accused in the money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy case.

Appearing before a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, for the ED, said a complaint against AAP is in the pipeline and there is direct evidence of its national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanding Rs 100 crore as kickbacks in the case.

Raju said there is evidence that Kejriwal demanded a bribe of Rs 100 crores which went to the AAP for Goa election expenses.

The ASG further contended that apart from vicarious liability as the head of the AAP, Kejriwal is also directly liable as the person who played a key role in formulating the excise policy.

He said there was evidence to show that Kejriwal’s stay in a seven-star hotel in Goa was partly funded by an accused.

The bench asked the ED whether the investigating officer could ignore exculpatory materials while exercising the powers of arrest.

The question was asked as Kejriwal’s counsel had earlier claimed that there were several witness statements exculpating him, which were ignored by the ED and that the officers cherry-picked incriminating materials to arrest him.

The hearing will continue tomorrow.

On May 10, the top court had granted him interim bail till June 1 in the money laundering case registered by the ED in connection with the Delhi excise policy, however, ordered that he shall not visit the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat.

The bench had asked Kejriwal to surrender on June 2.

The apex court was hearing Kejriwal’s appeal against a Delhi High Court judgement which dismissed his plea against arrest by the ED and his subsequent remand in the excise policy case.

Kejriwal, while filing an appeal in the apex court had contended that his arrest after the announcement of the General Elections was “motivated by extraneous considerations”.

On April 9, the High Court dismissed his plea for release from jail and rejected his argument of political vendetta amid the looming Lok Sabha elections.

The High Court had said that Kejriwal’s absence from nine ED summons over six months undermined any claims of special privilege as Chief Minister, suggesting his arrest was an inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

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

Mamata Banerjee supporting I.N.D.I.A. bloc to save her face in West Bengal: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

ANI
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Mamata Banerjee supporting I.N.D.I.A. bloc to save her face in West Bengal: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to extend outside support to INDIA bloc has come only after Trinamool Congress chief realised that she needs INDIA bloc to “save her face and fortune” in West Bengal.

The remarks of the West Bengal Congress chief came after Mamata Banerjee stated that TMC is “very much part of INDIA alliance” at the national level.

Addressing a press conference, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “Now, I think she has been able to read the situation which has been changing very fast across the nation. So, now she has been pleading for INDIA alliance because only the INDIA alliance can save the country from further destruction and despair. She has woken up from her political slumber. Only by citing and referring the INDIA alliance she can save her face and fortune in West Bengal. It is a ploy to save her fortune so that she does not get isolated.”

Chowdhury further said that Mamata Banerjee to date has not explained her “ignorance” towards the INDIA bloc. He also called Mamata Banerjee an “opportunist”.

“What triggered Mamata Banerjee to quit the INDIA alliance? INDIA alliance has been striding ahead and it is on the verge of forming a government, this is why as an opportunist political leader she thought of extending support in advance so that her support to the INDIA bloc will help her in fighting elections in the West Bengal. She now understands the crude reality on the ground that voters are gearing toward the INDIA bloc alliance,”

Mamata Banerjee in this vortex of political environment will be isolated because she is the leader who once boasted of heading the alliance. What triggered her towards quitting the INDIA alliance? This has not been elucidated by her to date…?” he asked.

Earlier West Bengal Mamata Banerjee had announced to extend an outside support to the INDIA bloc if it forms government at the Centre. West Bengal CM said that the INDIA bloc was her brainchild and TMC is very much a part of INDIA bloc.

Notably, elections in West Bengal are being conducted in all seven phases. The result of the elections will come on June 4th. 

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

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