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Army to have a common uniform for officers of Brigadier, above ranks from August 1

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Army to have a common uniform for officers of Brigadier, above ranks from August 1

In an attempt to do away with differences in the Officers’ uniform from the rank of Brigadier and above, the Indian Army have decided to adopt a common uniform irrespective of the parent cadre and appointment.

According to official sources, the move is aimed at bringing a common identity and approach in service matters amongst senior leadership, which goes beyond the boundaries of regimentation. 

“This will also reinforce the Indian Army’s character to be a fair and equitable organisation. The decision was taken after detailed deliberations during the recently concluded Army Commanders Conference and extensive consultations with all stakeholders,” they said.

“The changes will be implemented from August 1 this year. There is no change to the uniform worn by Colonels and below-rank officers of the Indian Army,” they added.

Sources further said that the move is aimed at promoting and strengthening common identity and approach in service matters amongst senior leadership, beyond the boundaries of regimentation.

There would be a common uniform for Brigadier and above rank officers irrespective of the parent cadre and appointment.

“The headgear, shoulder rank badges, gorget patches, belts and shoes of senior officers of flag rank (Brigadier and above) will now be standardised and common. The flag-rank officers will now not wear any lanyards,” they said.

“A standard uniform will ensure a common identity for all senior-rank officers while reflecting the true ethos of the Indian Army,” sources explained.

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

After Atiq Ahmed episode, Allahabad HC bars media interactions with Mukhtar Ansari, directs UP Police to ensure ‘full security’ to him

OpIndia Staff
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After Atiq Ahmed episode, Allahabad HC bars media interactions with Mukhtar Ansari, directs UP Police to ensure ‘full security’ to him

The Allahabad High Court has instructed the state police to provide ‘full security’ for former MLA Mukhtar Ansari weeks after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead on live television while being led away by the Uttar Pradesh Police. The court also prohibited journalists from speaking with him.

The Court on May 3 took into consideration the fact that Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were killed on April 15 by three individuals who posed as journalists. The division bench of the court was led by Justices Dr Kaushal Jayendra Thaker and Shiv Shanker Prasad.

In response to a petition submitted by Ansari’s wife Afsha Ansari in 2021, the court instructed the concerned officials, including the state director general of police, to give Ansari “full security” while he would be moved from one jail to another and while being produced before any court from that jail and while travelling there or to any other location.

“Media person would not be permitted to interview him. He would be accompanied by police personnel during his ingress and egress from jail,” said the bench. “Though we are not against media taking interview of the accused persons but looking to the recent episode this restriction would be in the interest of the under trial prisoner for their safety and security,” the Court further clarified.

Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead on April 15 while they were being taken to the hospital. The three accused individuals who fired several shots at the duo surrendered immediately before the police present at the spot and were subsequently taken into custody.

Atiq Ahmed was murdered only a few days after Asad Ahmed, his third son was killed by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in an encounter in Jhansi along with his aide Ghulam Muhammad. Both Asad Ahmed and Atiq Ahmed were named as accused in the Umesh Pal murder case.

The court was hearing a petition that Mukhtar’s wife, Afsha Ansari, who is currently missing, had filed in 2021. In her petition, Ansari requested that the court order the state government and other relevant officials “to provide adequate safeguards and protection” to her husband while he is detained or when he appears before any court in the state. Upendra Upadhyay, an attorney, presented the case in court on behalf of Afsha Ansari.

The state government replied in an affidavit saying that “jail authorities and the police are taking every precaution for the security of the petitioner’s husband while keeping him in jail or bringing him outside the jail to produce him before the trial court.” 

The state further stated in the affidavit that one inspector, two sub-inspectors, two head constables, eight constables, and two drivers will be employed to provide security when Ansari leaves from custody. The state added that the additional superintendent of police in Ghazipur had been designated as the nodal official responsible for ensuring perfect security while bringing the petitioner’s spouse before the court.

Additionally, the court was told that Ansari has been given “maximum security” in the Banda jail and that “the security has been provided in accordance with the norms and standard provided in Chapter-XXXV of the Jail Manual”.

The jail has a total of 70 CCTVs in place, and both the inspector general of jails and the inspector general of police keep an eye on them.

The bench stated that it requests the UP Director General of Police, who was a respondent in the case, “to ensure the safety of the petitioner’s husband as he is apprehending threat to his life in the jail, where he is incarcerated”

The crime empire of mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari has crumbled in the last few years but there was a time when he was one of the most dreaded names in the world of crime in Uttar Pradesh. His clout and terror were such that not only police officials but even District Magistrates and politicians feared him.

Political patronage under governments by the BSP and the SP emboldened Mukhtar at his peak. Mukhtar Ansari roamed around freely in open jeeps brandishing guns and weapons, but no one had the courage to stop him. For more than 15 years, he contested and even won elections from jail. This representative of people, booked under scores of cases of ransom, kidnapping, murders, etc., for all these years, has operated his crime syndicate with impunity from jail.

However, with BJP coming to power in the state in 2017 and Yogi Adityanath becoming the chief minister, the crackdown on Mukhtar Ansari intensified. The UP government was quick to bring in a new law aimed at dealing a blow to organised crime networks. Properties worth Rs 192 crore related to Mukhtar and his gang members were either demolished or attached.

Today the same mafia Mukhtar Ansari is lamenting in jail and is living his life in fear. Despite the fact that the court last month sentenced him to ten years in prison in the Krishnanand Rai murder case, there are still numerous cases against him awaiting judgement. The gangster had committed murders in the years 1978, 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1992. OpIndia has chronicled Mukhtar Ansari’s entire criminal record here.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister and PTI chief Imran Khan arrested from outside the Islamabad High Court

OpIndia Staff
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Former Pakistan Prime Minister and PTI chief Imran Khan arrested from outside the Islamabad High Court

Former Pakistan Prime Minister and PTI chief Imran Khan has been arrested from outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) by Pakistani Rangers, news agency ANI quoted Pakistan’s Dawn News as reporting today (May 9, Tuesday). Imran Khan had reportedly gone to the Islamabad HC to seek bail in multiple FIRs registered against him.

According to local media, the PTI chairman was taken in a black Vigo by the law enforcement agency.

The PTI chief reportedly has been arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case of the National Accountability Bureau as well as the Toshakhana case.

Islamabad Police, meanwhile, took to its official Twitter handle to confirm that Imran Khan was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case, adding that the situation is under control.

Taking to his Twitter, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry alleged that Khan had been “abducted” from the court premises while a score of lawyers and general people had been “tortured”.

“Imran Khan has been whisked away by unknown people to an unknown location,” he claimed.

“They are torturing Imran Khan right now…they are beating Khan sahib. They have done something to Khan sahib,” PTI leader Musarrat Cheema shared a video where she is making this statement.

In March this year, a Pakistan court judge had said that he would halt the arrest of the country’s former prime minister Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case, only if Khan surrendered in the court.

Additionally, reports emerged that the court in Islamabad cancelled Imran Khan’s arrest warrant after intense clashes between police and the former prime minister’s supporters outside the judicial complex.

A report published in Dawn read legislators from the ruling coalition filed the reference last year, alleging that Imran had not disclosed information about the gifts he had received from the Toshaskhana (during his tenure as prime minister) and the money from their alleged sales. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reached the conclusion that the former premier had in fact made “false statements and erroneous declarations” about the presents on October 21.

The Toshakhana is a division of the Cabinet Division that houses presents that foreign dignitaries and the heads of other states have given to monarchs and officials.

Imran was declared ineligible according to Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution, according to the order.

The ECP then submitted a copy of the reference to the Islamabad Sessions Court, requesting that Imran be charged with a crime for allegedly lying to officials about the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries while serving as prime minister, Dawn reported. 

‘Old scores would be settled when the govt changes’, Twitter user ‘The Sajjad Mughal’ booked for issuing threats after the death of Atiq Ahmed

OpIndia Staff
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‘Old scores would be settled when the govt changes’, Twitter user ‘The Sajjad Mughal’ booked for issuing threats after the death of Atiq Ahmed

The Prayagraj police in Uttar Pradesh have lodged an FIR against a Twitter handle ‘The Sajjad Mughal’ for posting a threatening message over the killing of mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed. The case was lodged on Monday (May 8) after instructions were issued in this regard by ADG (Law and Order) and SP Cyber Crime.

The Twitter user shared a video clip wherein Atiq Ahmed’s son Ali Ahmed, currently lodged in Naini jail, was seen addressing a gathering and claimed that the wind would change in Uttar Pradesh when the BJP government in the state loses power. He added that Atiq Ahmed’s son Ali would settle old scores and avenge the death of his father. He also asserted that the name Prayagraj would be reverted to Allahabad.

In a tweet posted in Hindi on April 25, the user wrote, “Atiq’s lineage has not ended. Atiq’s son Ali is still alive. God willing, the situation and government will change, then the city will again be called Allahabad, and all scores will be settled.”

When this tweet (the archived version can be viewed here) started going viral, UP’s ADG Law and Order Prashant Kumar, taking cognizance, sent a letter to Prayagraj’s cyber crime station and directed them to take action. After this, the cyber cell of the police registered a case against that Twitter handle under section 505 and section 66 of the IT Act.

Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed were accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. Umesh Pal was a witness in the Raju Pal murder case of 2005. Umesh Pal was killed by Atiq Ahmed’s henchmen on 24th February 2023. Atiq’s son Asad Ahmed led this planned murder.

Vivek Agnihotri sends legal notice to Mamata Banerjee for defaming ‘The Kashmir Files’. Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
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Vivek Agnihotri sends legal notice to Mamata Banerjee for defaming ‘The Kashmir Files’. Here is what happened

On Tuesday (May 9), film director Vivek Agnihotri sent a legal notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her defamatory remarks about his movie ‘The Kashmir Files.’ A copy of the notice was posted by him on his official Twitter handle.

“For the reasons best known to you alone, when the movie was released on 11-03-2022, you made statements before media, which was telecasted and broadcasted on several television channels and newspapers, wherein you called said movie a “conspiracy” and that it is mostly fiction and planned,” the notice read.

It further stated, “You had tweeted the same and also made a statement on the floor of the assembly without taking the name of the movie. You further stated that the movie is funded and created and that there is a conspiracy to create unrest. You also urged the people not to watch the movie.”

The legal notice sent by Vivek Agnihotri pointed out that the statements made by Mamata Banerjee caused grave damage to the reputation of the director and impacted the profit of the movie.

It added how the director was abused and threatened with FIRs by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers following the announcement of his 2024 movie ‘The Delhi Files.’ It also highlighted the cancellation of the book signing event of Vivek Agnihotri in Kolkata.

In his legal notice, Vivek Agnihotri said that Mamata Banerjee made baseless allegations about his movie being funded by the BJP and that she has falsely accused him of defaming Kashmiri people.

“With stroke of single statement made by you, all the hard work, commitment, truthfulness of my clients and appreciation received by them has got damaged bringing bad name to movie and my clients and the same is irreparable,” it emphasised.

The legal notice sought either authenticated proof from Mamata Banerjee to substantiate her claims or an unconditional apology and withdrawal of her defamatory statements.

The Background of the Controversy

On Monday (May 8), West Bengal CM courted controversy by labelling ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘The Kerala Story’ as ‘distorted movies.’

During a press conference at Nabanna (State Secretariat), she claimed, “If the political party play with fire, casteism or divide and rule…Why this “Kashmir Files’? To humiliate one section. What is this Kerala File? Though I do not support the CPI (M) because they are working with BJP.”

“I am talking about the people…Instead of me, it was their duty (CPIM) to criticise it…That BJP is showing ‘The Kerala Files’…A distorted story,” Banerjee brazened it out.

The West Bengal CM went on to allege that the movie’s cast was sponsored by the BJP, which came to Bengal to promote ‘The Kerala Story’. She suggested that movie makers have no qualms about making Kashmir Files and supposedly ‘condemning’ Kashmiri people.

“What is the fault of people? We respect each and everybody. That is our Constitution. Now they are defaming the Kerala people and State. Their narrative is to defame the Bengal also,” Mamata Banerjee concluded.

The demonisation of ‘The Kashmir Files’

‘The Kashmir Files’ film takes viewers back to 1989, when due to rising Islamic Jihad, a huge conflict erupted in Kashmir, forcing the Kashmiri Hindus to flee the valley.

Ever since the movie hit the theatres, it came under attack from the left-liberal cabal and politicians accused of minority appeasement. They sought to denigrate the movie and term the real-life incidents showcased in it as the figment of the director’s imagination.

“Why no action against them?” Kerala HC tears into Pinarayi Vijayan govt over boat tragedy

ANI
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“Why no action against them?” Kerala HC tears into Pinarayi Vijayan govt over boat tragedy

The Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday expressed shock over the recent boat capsize tragedy at Tanur in the State’s Mallapuram district that had claimed the lives of at least 22 people.

The court made the observation after initiating a suo motu case into the matter. The High Court also directed the Malappuram District Collector to file a report on May 12. The Court also sought the details of the port officer in charge of the area.

The court also criticised the Kerala Government for its inaction against officers responsible for the tragic boat incidents. “Why there is no action against them,” the court asked.

The Division Bench headed by Justice Devan Ramachandran observed, “This is not the first time. There would be some investigation or recommendations whenever there is an incident like this. Everything is forgotten. It’s happening again. People die. Nobody is responsible, except the operator. Who is in charge of inland navigation?”

“We do not know the details. We are proposing to initiate action. Some crime is registered. This has been done in this case also. But no operator can do all this on his own. It’s all because some support is received, either deliberately or otherwise. We have to come to the route of the problem. It’s shocking to see so many deaths and that too in a State like Kerala. Who is the port officer in that area?” the bench said further.

“There was no one to monitor even the police. Why? Our endeavour is to ensure that this will not happen in the future. Every time large lives are lost. Our heart is bleeding as several children died,” it said.

“Mahakavi Kumaranasan died by drowning, when Redeemer, the boat he was travelling capsized in River Pallana in 1924. Similar incidents are still happening. How many more will have to see?” the bench added.

The court concluded the order by saluting the people of Tanur, Parappanangadi, etc who risked their lives in order to save others. 

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

‘After listening to Ashok Gehlot, it seems like his leader is Vasundhara Raje, not Sonia Gandhi’: Sachin Pilot

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‘After listening to Ashok Gehlot, it seems like his leader is Vasundhara Raje, not Sonia Gandhi’: Sachin Pilot

Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Tuesday took a sharp jibe at Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, saying that his speech in Dholpur showed his leader “is not Sonia Gandhi but Vasundhara Raje Scindia”.

Gehlot had claimed that Vasundhara Raje was among BJP leaders who helped him save his government during the revolt by Pilot and some Congress MLAs in 2020 seeking change in leadership in the state. Addressing a press conference, Pilot also said that he has now understood why Gehlot “has not acted” on his allegations of corruption during the BJP government in the state.

“After listening to Ashok Gehlot’s speech in Dholpur, it seems like his leader is not Sonia Gandhi but Vasundhara Raje Scindia… For the first time, I am seeing someone criticize MPs and MLAs of their own party. Praising leaders from BJP and dishonouring Congress leaders is beyond my understanding, this is absolutely wrong,” Pilot said.

“I have now understood why the CM (Ashok Gehlot) has not acted against corruption,” he added. Pilot’s attack amounts to an escalation of his conflict with Gehlot in the crucial state which will go to the polls by the end of this year.

The attack on Gehlot came a day before polling in Karnataka polls in which Congress is fighting a crucial battle.

Pilot,a former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister, announced that he will hold a five-day-long ‘Jan Sangarsh Yatra’ from Ajmer to Jaipur starting May 11. “This yatra is against corruption. Any further decision will be taken after this yatra,” he said.

Pilot had held a day-long fast last month, even as the party leadership had cautioned him against it, over his demand for action by the Gehlot government for alleged corruption during the BJP rule in the state. BJP leader Vasundhara Raje had countered Ashok Gehlot’s claims, saying Rajasthan Chief Minister is lying out of fear of losing the 2023 Assembly elections and his false allegations show he is rattled by the rebellion in state Congress unit.

Gehlot had credited Vasundhara Raje and two other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for having helped him save his government during the 2020 crisis when some Congress MLAs revolted.

“Gehlot’s statement against me is a conspiracy. Nobody can insult me as much as Gehlot has done. He is lying out of fear of losing the 2023 Assembly elections and has made such false allegations as he is rattled by the rebellion in his own party,” Raje had said. Addressing a programme in Dholpur on Sunday, Gehlot alleged that there was a conspiracy against his government.

“Former Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Shobha Rani and Kailash Meghwal knew their party people were toppling the government.

Vasundhara Raje Scindia and Kailash Meghwal had said that it has never been our tradition to topple the elected government on the basis of money. They did not support those who toppled the government due to which our government survived,” Gehlot had said. Both Pilot and Gehlot have taken potshots at each other in the past forcing the party leadership to intervene.

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

Ravish Kumar uses misleading news to call Gujarat “lab of Hindutva”, continues to create hysteria even after truth emerges

Dibakar Dutta
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Ravish Kumar uses misleading news to call Gujarat “lab of Hindutva”, continues to create hysteria even after truth emerges

On Sunday (May 7), ‘journalist’ Ravish Kumar took to Facebook to fear-monger about ‘missing’ 40000 women from the Indian State of Gujarat.

While sharing the screenshot of a misleading article by The New Indian Express, he wrote, “Ask Narendra Modi, where did the girls of Gujarat disappear? Can Modi, who talks about the pride of 6 crores Gujaratis, tell us about the whereabouts of 40000 missing girls?”

The propaganda artist then went on to dub Gujarat, the ‘laboratory of Hindu Rahstra.’ He inquired, “Which experiment is being run in this laboratory of Hindu Rahstra to disappear girls?”

Screengrab of the Facebook post of Ravish Kumar

In a bid to spread hysteria, Ravish Kumar further asked, “Isn’t this dangerous? What could have happened?” The ‘journalist’ who pretends to be a harbinger of ‘truth’ carefully left out a key piece of information i.e. 94.9% (~95%) of the missing women have been found by the Gujarat police.

The half-baked information about 40000 ‘missing’ women was amplified by the left-liberal ecosystem in the hopes of deviating public discourse from ‘The Kerala Story’ to Gujarat.

In a series of tweets, the Gujarat police informed that while 41,621 women had gone missing between 2016-2020, about 39,497 or approximately 95% of the women were traced and reunited with their families.

“The investigation has revealed that women go missing due to family disputes, elopement, failure in examinations etc. However, the investigation into missing person cases has not revealed episodes of trafficking for sexual exploitation, organ trafficking etc,” the police emphasised.

This was stated in reference to propaganda artists, who targeted Gujarat and drew an equivalence with assertions made in The Kerala Story movie that over 30,000 women had gone missing in the State and had possibly become victims of Islamic radicalisation.

After being left red-faced, Ravish Kumar took to Facebook on Tuesday (May 9) to do damage control and restore his dwindling credibility. The ex-NDTV news anchor shrewdly blamed his lack of due diligence on the contentious article published by The New Indian Express.

Screengrab of the Facebook post of Ravish Kumar

In his Facebook post, he wrote, “According to Gujarat police, 94% of missing women have been traced.” This is despite the fact that 94.9% or approximately 95% of missing women were recovered by the cops.

“Besides this success of the Gujarat police, we must introspect about the cause of exodus/ abduction/disappearance of such a large number of women,” Ravish Kumar acknowledged the mammoth task undertaken by the cops half-heartedly.

“The other side of The New Indian Express report of 40000 missing women is that most of them have been traced,” he shrewdly laid the foundation to blame the newspaper and absolve himself of any wrongdoing.

“The paper did not mention the other facet of the case and exposed us to half-baked information. Correcting the mistake,” Ravish Kumar concluded.

Ravish Kumar and his history of peddling disinformation

This is not the first time that ‘Ramon Magsaysay’ awardee had resorted to peddling misleading information and half-truths. In May 2020, Ravish Kumar shared a fake cover of Time magazine to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Ravish Kumar Facebook post deemed fake by fact-checkers

In January 2021, he had to apologise to the public for spreading fake news about paddy procurement by the Union government. The eminent ‘journalist’ cropped a tweet by Minister Piyush Goyal to falsely claim that the Centre was lying about the data.

Facebook Post by Ravish Kumar where he apologises for spreading fake news
Facebook Post by Ravish Kumar where he apologises for spreading fake news

In the past, Ravish Kumar has tried to pass off ‘anti-Hindu Delhi riot’ accused Shahrukh Pathan as ‘Anurag Mishra.’ He had also courted controversy for claiming ‘mob has no religion,’ following the Bengaluru riots, but effectively blaming the Hindu community for the lynching of Pehlu Khan.

Shraddha Walkar Murder Case: Court frames charges of murder and disappearance of evidence, Aftab Amin Poonawala pleads not guilty

OpIndia Staff
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Shraddha Walkar Murder Case: Court frames charges of murder and disappearance of evidence, Aftab Amin Poonawala pleads not guilty

On May 9, a Delhi Court framed charges of murder and disappearance of evidence against Aftab Amin Poonawala in the Shraddha Walkar Murder case. Poonawala is accused of killing and chopping off Shraddha’s body into pieces. He allegedly kept her dismembered body in a fridge for days and disposed of them over the next few weeks after killing her.

Additional Sessions Judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar of Saket court framed charges against him under Sections 302 (murder) and Section 201 (disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Poonawala has pleaded not guilty and will face trial. The matter has been listed for recording prosecution evidence on June 1, 2023. The court had reserved an order on framing charges in April 2023.

Shraddha Walkar Murder Case

In November 2022, Aftab Amin Poonawala was arrested by Delhi Police after Shraddha Walkar‘s father filed a missing person complaint. Shraddha and Aftab were in a live-in relationship. Aftab killed Shraddha in May 2022, six months before his arrest. He allegedly killed her and chopped her body into 35 small pieces. He then bought a new fridge and stored her chopped body parts for days. Over the next few weeks, he disposed of Shraddha’s body in different locations across Delhi.

Several shocking details of the case came to the fore during the investigation. Aftab chopped her body into pieces and allegedly ground her bones into powder to scatter on the road. In January 2023, Delhi Police filed a 3,000 pages chargesheet against Aftab with around 100 testimonies. Shraddha was reportedly assaulted multiple times over the years by Aftab. There was a police complaint against him for the same, and Shraddha had left him after getting assaulted.

However, she chose to go back after Aftab requested her. Her father did not receive any communication from Shraddha for six months, and her friends were also unaware of the whereabouts, after which her father filed a police complaint in Mumbai. During the investigation, Mumbai police found they shifted to Delhi and transferred the case to Delhi police, which later found that Aftab killed her in May 2022.

Aftab was subsequently arrested in November 2022. During interrogation, he confessed to killing Shraddha six months before his arrest.

NCP leader Jitendra Awhad, who had once inaugurated ambulance in Ishrat Jahan’s name, wants ‘The Kerala Story’ producer to be hanged in public

OpIndia Staff
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NCP leader Jitendra Awhad, who had once inaugurated ambulance in Ishrat Jahan’s name, wants ‘The Kerala Story’ producer to be hanged in public

‘The Kerala Story’, directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, which is running successfully in theatres, has been targeted by yet another politician. After Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee talked about banning the film in the state, now Maharashtra politician Jitendra Awhad has come out strongly against the film.

The NCP politician made a shocking statement when he said that the producer of the Kerala story should be hanged to death. While addressing the media, the former cabinet minister in Maharashtra accused the film’s makers of ruining the image of Kerala. He added, “They have not only tarnished the image of Kerala but have also insulted the women of the state.”

Awhad went on to attack the film and said that such films are made with the calculation of creating violence and hatred on the basis of lies, and then used for winning elections through the same. He went on to say that the producer of this film should be hanged to death in the middle of the road.

Awhad also accused the film’s makers of distorting facts and inflating the number of women who joined the Islamic State from Kerala.

Jitendra Awhad’s controversial past

The NCP leader has a chequered past and is no stranger to controversies. Back in 2011, Awhad attracted controversy when he inaugurated an ambulance service in the name of terrorist Ishrat Jahan. The Lashkar-e-Taiba operative was shot dead in 2004 in an encounter by Ahmedabad Police.

In 2022, Jitendra Awhad was arrested by Vartak Nagar police in Thane on Friday for stopping the show of a Marathi film titled ‘Har Har Mahadev’. Alleging that the film based on the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was distorting history, the NCP workers appealed to the audience to go out of the cinema hall. After this, there were incidents of controversy after NCP workers beat up the audience sitting in the cinema hall. One of the audience members was also injured in this attack.

Recently, Awhad attracted controversy again by saying that he sometimes feels that festivals like Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti are made for riots only.

The Kerala Story banned in West Bengal

On Monday (May 8), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee banned the movie ‘The Kerala Files’ (sic) in West Bengal, citing the need to maintain ‘peace’ in the State.

“West Bengal govt has decided to ban the movie ‘The Kerala Story’. This is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence, and to maintain peace in the state,” news agency ANI quoted her as saying.

The film becomes tax-free in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh

While the film is facing attacks from some politicians, it has found support from some quarters as well as the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have decided to make the film tax-free.

Stating that the ‘The Kerala Story’ “exposes the conspiracy of love Jihad, religious conversion and terrorism,” Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said that the newly released movie has been made tax-free in the state.

“The Kerala Story exposes the conspiracy of love Jihad, religious conversion and terrorism and brings out its hideous face. The film tells how the daughters get entangled in the trap of love jihad in momentary sentimentality and how they are ruined. The film also exposes the design of terrorism. This film makes us aware,” the Chief Minister said in a video posted on his official Twitter handle.

The movie ‘The Kerala Story‘ revolves around the tragic reality of ISIS brides, with the Adah Sharma playing the role of one Shalini Unnikrishnan, who is brainwashed by her Muslim friends and gets converted to Islam. She later travels to IS (Islamic State) controlled area with her spouse.

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