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ED attaches three properties of Hero Group Chairman Pawan Munjal worth ₹25 crore in money laundering case

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ED attaches three properties of Hero Group Chairman Pawan Munjal worth ₹25 crore in money laundering case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached three immovable properties belonging to CMD and Chairman Hero MotoCorp, Pawan Kant Munjal. The properties are located in Delhi and are estimated to be worth Rs 24.95 crore.

In a release Friday, the central enforcement agency said it initiated an investigation on the basis of a prosecution complaint filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence against Munjal and “others” for taking foreign exchange or currency out of India illegally.

The prosecution complaint alleged that foreign currency/foreign exchange equivalent to Rs 54 crore was illegally taken out of India.

The investigation claimed that Pawan Munjal got issued foreign exchange/ foreign currency in the name of other persons and thereafter utilised the same for his personal expenditure abroad.

“The foreign currency/ foreign exchange was drawn from authorised dealers by an event management company in the name of various employees and thereafter handed over to Pawan Kant Munjal’s relationship manager. The relationship manager carried such foreign currency/ foreign exchange in cash/ card secretly, for the personal expenditure of Pawan Kant Munjal during his personal/ business trips,” the ED release stated.

The modus was adopted to override the limits of USD 2.5 Lakh per annum per person under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme of RBI, it added.

The agency ED had earlier conducted search operations on August 1, 2023 with respect to P K Munjal and related entities/persons and seized valuables worth Rs 25 crore along with digital evidences and other incriminating evidences. The total value of seizure and attachment now stands at about Rs 50 crore. 

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

Muslim man known to victim’s mother blackmails married woman to establish sexual relations, forces her and her 12-year-old sister to accept Islam, arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim man known to victim’s mother blackmails married woman to establish sexual relations, forces her and her 12-year-old sister to accept Islam, arrested

On Friday (10th November), the Madhya Pradesh Police arrested one individual identified as Rahim Khan for threatening and blackmailing a married woman and her minor sister to convert to Islam. The accused forced and blackmailed the woman to follow the Islamic rituals and divorce her husband to marry him.

According to the reports, the Police took cognizance of the event and arrested the individual based on the complaint filed by the woman. The woman stated in the complaint that the accused was known to her mother and had arrived at their home for the birthday party of her 12-year-old sister. He then deceptively transferred the photos of her mother to his phone.

The next thing he did was to put pressure on the woman to establish sexual relations with him. He uploaded the picture of the victim woman over the internet and also made derogatory comments about it. He later blackmailed the woman to establish sexual relations with him.

Rahim would force the woman to give divorce to her husband and marry him instead. He also forced the woman to follow Islamic rituals and convert her religion to Islam. On refusing, the man would say, “We are allowed to have four marriages in our community.”

Further, he wanted the woman to make her 12-year-old sister learn some Islamic rituals and practices.

He tried to convert the woman and her sister to Islam. He would also ask the minor girl to read Fateha-Sifara. ACP Kunan Mandloi commented on the matter and said that the accused has been booked under various sections of the law. The accused has been arrested and now is being interrogated by the Police.

​UK Home Secy Suella Braverman goes all guns blazing in her article criticising pro-Palestinian “hate marchers” ahead of protests allowed by Met police on Armistice Day​

OpIndia Staff
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​UK Home Secy Suella Braverman goes all guns blazing in her article criticising pro-Palestinian “hate marchers” ahead of protests allowed by Met police on Armistice Day​

The Rishi Sunak-led UK government has minced no words in its opposition to the pro-Palestinian march planned for 11th November, when the United Kingdom marks Armistice Day. Pro-Palestinian groups in London have decided to organise a march calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on Armistice Day, which commemorates the signing of the Armistice which brought an end to the First World War and remembers those who died in the war.

On 3rd November, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak underlined the potentially violent nature of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, something that countries around the world have witnessed.

He said, “To plan protests on Armistice Day is provocative and disrespectful, and there is a clear and present risk that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated, something that would be an affront to the British public and the values we stand for.”

The UK PM and the chief of Metropolitan Police have been at loggerheads over the issue.

On 8th November, UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay said that it’s “provocative to have a protest like that on that day” even as he supported the right to protest. This was followed by an article written by Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Braverman categorically stated that while vigils held by the British Jewish community in London have been dignified, “it is the pro-Palestinian movement that has mobilised tens of thousands of angry demonstrators and marched them through London every weekend”.

“From the start, these events have been problematic, not just because of violence around the fringes but because of the highly offensive content of chants, posters and stickers. This is not a time for naiveté. We have seen with our own eyes that terrorists have been valorised, Israel has been demonised as Nazis and Jews have been threatened with further massacres,” Braverman wrote.

Braverman did not mince her words when objecting sternly to the planned pro-Palestinian protests. She wrote, “Now as we approach a particularly significant weekend in the life of our nation, one which calls for respect and commemoration, the hate marchers — a phrase I do not resile from — intend to use Armistice Day to parade through London in yet another show of strength.”

The Home Secretary also pointed that some of the organisers of the planned march have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas.

Braverman pointed out that there is a “perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters”. She wrote, “Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law? I have spoken to serving and former police officers who have noted this double standard.”

Braverman also mentioned that football fans are policed more as compared to the “politically connected minority groups who are favoured by the left”. One of the possible reasons for this, she pointed out, could be the concerns among the police force about facing flak for taking action against such groups.

Braverman concluded her op-ed with what appeared to be both, a warning of sorts and a call to the police to display an “assertive and proactive approach to any displays of hate”.

“If the march goes ahead this weekend, the public will expect to see an assertive and proactive approach to any displays of hate, breaches of conditions and general disorder,” the Home Secretary wrote.

Notably, last month, Braverman sought answers from the chief of the Metropolitan police regarding the force’s decision not to arrest pro-Palestinian protesters calling for “jihad” against Israel. The Metropolitan Police had downplayed open calls for jihad which were raised by Hamas supporters in Central London during a protest on 21st October (Saturday).

Instead of taking cognisance of the matter, the UK’s Metropolitan Police came out in defence of the Islamists and said that calls for jihad against Israel had nothing to do with terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Met chief has said that there is no legal ground as yet to ban the pro-Palestinian march on 11th November.

Metropolitan police chief Sir Mark Rowley said, “If over the next few days the intelligence evolves further and we get to such a high threshold – and it’s only been done once in a decade where we need to say to the home secretary ‘we think we need to ban the march element’ – then of course we will do.”

He added that this is, however, a last resort which the force has not reached yet. “There will be a protest this weekend – the law provides no mechanism to ban a gathering, a static protest, a rally, anything like that… if the organisers want that, then it will happen.”

Moreover, UK PM Rishi Sunak has reportedly said that he will hold the Met police Chief “accountable” for allowing the demonstration on Armistice Day. This came after the UK PM held a meeting with the Met Chief to discuss the protest.

The UK security forces and local government agencies have often been criticised for not acting against radical Islamism for fear of being labelled racist and Islamophobic. The prevailing grooming gangs in the country are a case in point.

Interestingly, the Met police have given a green flag to the 11th November march despite having stated on 28th October that antisemitic hate crimes have seen a 14-fold increase ever since the 7th October attacks in Israel by Hamas terrorists.

On 31st October, a Palestine supporter in Birmingham threw a box full of rats painted in the colours of the Palestinian flag inside a McDonald’s outlet.

Lucknow: Mohammad Mazhar poses as Rahul to entrap a Hindu woman, rapes and pressurises her to convert to Islam

OpIndia Staff
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Lucknow: Mohammad Mazhar poses as Rahul to entrap a Hindu woman, rapes and pressurises her to convert to Islam

In a shocking case of love jihad in Lucknow, a Muslim youth named Mohammad Mazhar posed as a Hindu named Rahul to lure a married Hindu girl into his love trap, record her obscene videos, and use it to blackmail and rape her multiple times. The accused had drugged the victim before raping her and recording the act.

The matter pertains to the Madiyaon police station precinct wherein a Sitapur resident victim had a dispute with her husband and she came to Lucknow’s Madiyaon a few months ago. While searching for rented accommodation, the victim woman met petrol pump operator Mohammad Hasan.

Subsequently, Mohammad Hasan gave the Hindu woman’s mobile number to accused Mazhar who talked to the victim pretending to be Rahul and promised to help her in finding a rented home. The two soon started talking over the phone frequently and the accused posing as Rahul promised the victim to marry her.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Mazhar raped the Hindu victim by intoxicating her and filming an obscene video. Using that video, the accused began sexually abusing the woman repeatedly. Later when the victim learned about the real identity of Rahul, she confronted the accused.

The victim has alleged that Mazhar was pressuring her to convert to Islam along with her children, perform Nikah with him and move to Pakistan. Accused Mazhar said that he would arrange fake passports and visas as well. However, when the victim objected to this, he threatened to kill her, along with her husband and children.

The police have registered a case against accused Mohammad Mazhar, his brother-in-law and a friend under relevant sections. The accused has been arrested and further investigation into the matter is underway.

Notably, a similar love jihad case was reported from Lucknow recently wherein a Muslim man named Saud Alam posed as a Hindu named Raj to lure a Hindu girl staying in Lucknow into his love trap and had sexual relations with her. But when the man vanished after some days, the girl arrived at his house, only to find that he is a Muslim. Following this she filed a police complaint.

Pakistan: Citizens face difficulty as the country is unable to print passports due to a shortage of lamination paper, many unable to travel

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Citizens face difficulty as the country is unable to print passports due to a shortage of lamination paper, many unable to travel

In addition to massive flour shortage, soaring inflation, exorbitant electricity bills and depreciating currency among other things, Pakistani citizens are now facing difficulties in securing new passports due to scarcity of lamination paper used in printing passports, which is yet another evidence of the crippling state of affairs in the country.

According to a report in The Express Tribune, the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports (DGI&P) informed that a lack of lamination paper which is used in passports and usually imported from France has caused a shortfall of travel documents across the country and it has led to delays in their issuance.

Therefore, thousands of individuals who require the green book to travel overseas for employment, school or leisure are stuck in the country and there does not appear to be a way out of their present predicament. One such person is Zain Ijaz from Gujrat who had always wanted to go to university in the United Kingdom. His dream seemed to be within reach when he was eventually accepted to an institution in the western nation. However, his dreams are now in jeopardy due to the delay in receiving his passport.

Another person named Gul who is a native of a far-flung area in Punjab also shared his distress and lamented, “I was all set to move to Dubai for work soon. My family and I were beyond ecstatic that our fortunes would finally change but the mismanagement of DGI&P seems to have cost me my golden ticket out of poverty and this country.”

Hira, a Peshawar student, resonated with Gul’s plight. “My student visa for Italy was recently approved and I had to be in the country in October. However, the unavailability of a passport robbed me of an opportunity to leave,” an obviously irate Hira bemoaned and added that it was wrong that she was having to bear the brunt of an incompetent government agency.

It is important to note that this inefficiency is a recurring problem. The DGI&P’s debt to printers and a dearth of lamination sheets caused passport printing to come to an identical standstill in 2013.

Qadir Yar Tiwana, the Director General for Media of the Ministry of Interior which is the parent ministry of DGI&P responded to inquiries regarding the ineptness of the department claiming that the government was working its hardest to resolve the problem. He assured, “The situation will soon be under control and passport issuance will continue as normal,” and alleged that the department had already seen a consistent decrease in the backlog.

Faizan, a resident of Karachi’s North Nazimabad neighbourhood, which according to government estimates receives 3,000 passport applications daily, does not, however, believe the official’s guarantees. “I submitted my application more than 2 months ago and have not received my passport yet,” he revealed and blamed DGI&P’s poor administration which forced him to postpone his vacation.

Amir, a city dweller in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal region agreed with Faizan and asserted that the DGI&P was deceiving the public regarding the reduction in the backlog of travel documents. He mentioned that although he was provided with an SMS last month from the DGI&P indicating that his passport was available for pickup, the workers at the relevant office informed him that it had not yet arrived. “My passport has not arrived to date and I have had to cancel all my plans for travelling abroad,” he complained.

Muhammad Imran, a Peshawar resident who is facing the same scenario is fed up with the DGI&P misleading applicants rather than providing them with the facts. “Ever since September, the passport office has been stating that your passport will come next week but multiple weeks have passed and they keep repeating the same.” His local passport office did not provide him with a specific timeline and he was forced to cancel his Umrah reservations in Saudi Arabia.

Regional passport offices located in multiple cities were reportedly unaware of a specific schedule as well. For example, under the condition of anonymity, a senior officer of the passport office in Peshawar unveiled that they could only process 12 to 13 passports per day compared to 3,000 to 4,000 passports per day previously and they had no idea when the pendency would improve. He disclosed, “People may have to wait for another month or two.”

Saeed Ahmed Abbasi, Director of Passports and Immigration at the Zonal Office Saddar, Karachi, refused to reply when pressed for a deadline and claimed that he was not authorised to do so.

Notably, Pakistan has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. The South Asian country has gained notoriety for its faltering economy, growing terrorism, tumultuous politics and mounting debt for the past many years with no end to its escalating woes in sight.

Multiple log-ins from UAE, refusal to answer questions, and Danish Ali’s repeated interruptions: What we know about Ethics Committee report against Mahua Moitra

OpIndia Staff
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Multiple log-ins from UAE, refusal to answer questions, and Danish Ali’s repeated interruptions: What we know about Ethics Committee report against Mahua Moitra

On 9th November, it came to light that the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee’s draft report accused Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra of “unethical conduct”. The report stated that she shared her login credentials with unauthorised individuals. The draft revealed that Moitra made multiple trips to UAE, and her account was logged in 47 times from Dubai. The Ethics committee sought a report on IP addresses and emphasised the legal consequences of the MP’s action.

Recommending Moitra’s expulsion, the report called it “unethical conduct” and “contempt of the House” while seeking a government inquiry into the matter. OpIndia accessed a portion of the report draft containing conversations between the committee members with Mahua Moitra and Danish Ali.

The discussion between the committee members and Mahua Moitra revolved around her foreign trips and where she stayed. The questions led to a heated exchange centred around the “appropriateness” of the questions. Moitra and the opposition leaders vehemently raised objections to the questions.

Calling them “intrusive” questions, Moitra expressed her frustration and tried to play a victim card. She adamantly said, “This is absolutely no business of the Ethics Committee.” She further expressed her intent to file a formal complaint against the Ethics Committee member and the chairman, asserting, “I will file a complaint against the Ethics Committee and against you. I will file as a Member of Parliament.”

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Kunwar Danish Ali, Janata Dal (United) MP Giridhar Yadav, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sunita Duggal, BJP MP Subhash Ramrao Bhamre and others were present at the hearing. Yadav, and Ali had a heated conversation over the aaleged intrusive nature of the questions. Ali condemned the questions asked about Moitra’s travel and perceived it as an insult to a female MP. He said, “You cannot insult a female MP like this.” He further accused the committee members of following a script and questioned the chairman’s understanding of the questions that were being asked. Ali disrupted the meeting multiple times.

Sunita Duggal tried to intervene, saying, “It is her prerogative, her right to reply or not.” As the conversation continued, the chairman proposed a vote to determine the course of action. However, Yadav objected to it and said, “We won’t listen to anything you say. You have been asking questions for an hour. You will ask 100 questions, what does it mean?”

Moitra accepted she shared credentials with Hiranandani’s office

In the parts of the conversation that OpIndia accessed, Moitra accepted twice that she had shared credentials with Darshan Hiranandani. Agitated by the so-called “personal questions”, she said, “We are here to determine two things. Number one, whether I gave the login and password to Darshan Hiranandani, to which he had unauthorized access. I have already told you since 2019, he has had a person in his office typing my questions. The questions were mine but not unauthorized because it was my OTP. So he did not have access. The first question has already been answered.”

Moitra categorically refused to accept that she received kickbacks from Hiranandani in exchange for the questions asked in the Parliament. She claimed that the assertion that she received kickbacks was based on the ex-boyfriend’s complaint, referring to Supreme Court Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai.

She added, “Second question, what did he give you? You tell me what proof you have or what he gave you. I do not have to disprove it. You give me the evidence of what you have. I will not sit here and answer the long list of what some ex-boyfriend has given you. That is not the job of the Ethics Committee of the Parliament of India, and a Member of Parliament does not have to answer it in front of anybody. You tell me. If there is proof that Darshan Hiranandani has given me X, you ask me yes/no to a pointed question, and that is that. I cannot sit here and answer this as to where I have gone and who I have stayed with. I suggest you deviate from your script. I suggest you deviate from your script, and I will say this on record.”

She continued, “Just because I am a witness here, you cannot follow a political ideology and read out these completely demeaning unethical questions, Mr. Chairman. I take strong umbrage, and I would request my fellow Members to follow their conscience and do a voting on this.”

Mahuagate

On 14th October, the Indian political scene experienced a major tremor as BJP MP Nishkant Dubey wrote to the ethics committee seeking an inquiry against TMC MP Mahua Moitra in the ‘Cash for Query’ matter. He based his complaint on the letter written by Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, who alleged that most of the questions asked by the TMC MP in Lok Sabha directly or indirectly benefit businessman Darshan Hiranandani. Dehadrai also accused Moitra of “kidnapping” his pet dog Henry, adding another layer of complications to Mahuagate.

Moitra filed a case against Dubey and Dehadrai but never denied accepting gifts. Interestingly, she has also been accused of sharing her Lok Sabha credentials with Hiranandani so he can post questions independently. Hiranandani has reportedly turned approver in the case and submitted an affidavit suggesting the allegations against Moitra are true. Dehadrai and Dubey were called to submit evidence of Moitra’s alleged wrongdoings in front of the ethics committee on 26th October. When the Ethics Committee initially called Moitra, she refused, claimed to have prior engagements and sought another date. She got another date for the hearing, and on the day of the hearing, she played the victim card while coming out, claiming she faced “cheerharan” like Draupadi from Mahabharat.

Meanwhile, Henry has been returned to Dehadrai.

After Nitish Kumar’s outburst against him, Jitan Manjhi and BJP leaders stage protest inside Bihar Assembly premises, demand CM’s resignation

OpIndia Staff
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After Nitish Kumar’s outburst against him, Jitan Manjhi and BJP leaders stage protest inside Bihar Assembly premises, demand CM’s resignation

On Friday, November 10, a day after Nitish Kumar openly insulted former Bihar CM and Dalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi in the Bihar assembly, Manjhi along with several BJP leaders staged a protest inside the Assembly premises. The leaders raised slogans and demanded the resignation of the Bihar CM.

The protest was launched after the Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, yesterday (November 9, Thursday) courted controversy as he yelled at his former confidante, Jitan Ram Manjhi, inside the state assembly. In a fit of rage, Kumar said Manjhi became the chief minister of Bihar because of his stupidity otherwise he knows nothing.

According to reports, while delivering his address on the Reservation Amendment Bill Majhi raised apprehensions on the caste census done in Bihar. This is when Nitish Kumar lost his cool and interrupted him mid-way and said, “He keeps saying he too has been a chief minister. He became a chief minister because of my stupidity. Does he have any sense (ye bolta hai ki hum Mukhyamantri the. Meri moorkhta ki vajah se mukhyamantri bana. Isko koi sense hai)”, Nitish Kumar yelled, causing a commotion in the House.

Soon after the video went viral, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed Kumar and accused him of insulting the Dalits. 

Talking to reporters outside the House later, Manjhi retorted strongly to the open humiliation he faced at the hands of Nitish Kumar in the state Assembly. He asserted that the CM has lost his mental stability and is not fit to remain in the post.

“I will complain against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the governor and Union home minister. I will demand his dismissal and clamping of the President’s Rule in the state. Only a couple of days ago he had brought shame to the state through his remarks about women. His repeated misconduct shows he is no more in a sound state of mind and cannot be entrusted to hold such an important post,” Manjhi told the media.

Assam: 200-year-old Shiv-Narayan temple set on fire in Karimganj, local women say arson carried out to hurt Hindu sentiments

OpIndia Staff
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Assam: 200-year-old Shiv-Narayan temple set on fire in Karimganj, local women say arson carried out to hurt Hindu sentiments

On Monday (6th November), a 200-year-old Hindu temple was set ablaze by unidentified miscreants in Barman Basti village in Ratabari in Karimganj district of Assam.

As per reports, a group of criminals set fire to the ancient Shiv-Narayan Mandir in the wee hours of the night. The area falls under the jurisdiction of the Ratabari police.

After the news of the incident spread, the locals rushed to the temple. They demanded strict action against those involved in the temple’s destruction.

Following the incident, the District Commissioner Mridul Yadav and SP Partha Pratim Das rushed to the crime scene. A contingent of paramilitary forces was deployed to maintain the law and order situation in the area.

During the initial investigation, three gallons of fuel were reportedly recovered by the police. A manhunt has been launched to apprehend all those involved in the incident. BJP leader Jitendra Lal and Subrata Bhattacharjee have asked authorities to take swift action in the case and bring the culprits to justice.

According to SP Partha Pratim Das, a probe has been initiated into the case and the situation in the area has been brought back to normalcy. He has appealed to the locals to not fall for rumours surrounding the destruction of the 200-year-old Hindu temple.

Villagers gathered around the destroyed Hindu temple, image via East Mojo

As per a report by NorthEast Now, the incident took place on Tuesday (7th November). The temple is revered by the tribal community and was reportedly built in the 19th century.

According to the local women, the temple was deliberately set on fire to hurt Hindu sentiments and create communal tension. The Ratabari area is known for communal dispute over land sharing between two communities.

According to a report by Barak Bulletin, the Director General of Police (DGP) GP Singh has directed the local police to ensure the restoration of the temple. The repair work is being carried out in accordance with Hindu religious customs, including ‘Suddhi Puja’.

“Under the guidance of DGP Sir, we have initiated the repair work in earnest, and it will be conducted with utmost priority,” informed SP Partha Protim Das.

17-year-old in Karnataka becomes Muslim, skull cap found in his bag: Father and son duo booked for forced conversion to Islam

OpIndia Staff
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17-year-old in Karnataka becomes Muslim, skull cap found in his bag: Father and son duo booked for forced conversion to Islam

In the Chitradurga district of Karnataka, a father-son duo has been booked for allegedly converting a Hindu boy belonging to the Kuruba community to Islam forcefully. This is the first time that a minor boy has been booked under the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act 2022, popularly called the anti-conversion law. Both the accused boy and the victim were classmates.

The case against the 17-year-old Muslim boy and his father Garib was registered on the complaint lodged by the victim’s father Chitradurga’s Parashurampura on October 29.

In his complaint, the 17-year-old Hindu victim’s father stated that he grew suspicious of the attitude of his son, a pre-university college student in Challakere taluk when he stopped doing pooja and worshipping Hindu deities. The complainant added that his son recently declined to take part in the Dasara (Dussehra) festivities.

He stated that after searching his son’s backpack, he found Islam-related literature and a skull cap. The father added that he searched the boy’s phone and found ganja and other drug-related chats.

Islamic books recovered from the minor victim (Image via Power TV News)

“When I inquired, I found that the minor and his father had taken my son to mosques in various towns of the Chitradurga district and converted him to Islam without permission,” the complainant said.

According to a police officer, the accused underage boy’s father runs a cycle repair shop. The officer added that no arrests have been made in the case so far, although statements from both sides have been recorded.

The case against the accused father-son duo has been lodged under Section 5 of the 2022 Act (prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or marriage promise). Dharmendra Kumar Meena, SP of Chitradurga, informed reporters, “We are collecting details from both the victim and the accused as part of the investigation.”

NIA chargesheet reveals how accused in Pune ISIS module, one of whom was connected to Sharjeel Imam, wanted to kill kafirs, considered Constitution haraam and more

OpIndia Staff
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NIA chargesheet reveals how accused in Pune ISIS module, one of whom was connected to Sharjeel Imam, wanted to kill kafirs, considered Constitution haraam and more

The National Investigating Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet against 7 arrested terrorists who belonged to the Pune ISIS module. In the chargesheet, there are startling revelations about the working of the ISIS module and how it was making Muslim youth pledge allegiance to ISIS. The chargesheet reveals that the accused were planning attacks against non-Muslims, talked about killing ‘Kafirs’ and discussed various methods to eliminate them. According to the chargesheet, the ISIS terrorists had planned to establish Sharia in India.

The NIA investigation led them to interrogate several witnesses whose statements have been included in the chargesheet which has been filed by the NIA. One witness, whose identity has been withheld, spoke extensively about how the arrested accused had added him to a WhatsApp group where they were propagating the ISIS ideology and urging Muslims to pledge their allegiance.

The chargesheet says that Padgha village resident Zulfikar Ali Barodawala and Pune resident Zubair Shaikh had started radicalising youth in 2015 and had created the group on WhatsApp where they posted messages in support of ISIS.

What the witness revealed about the Pune ISIS terrorists’ modus operandi and their dangerous ideology

The protected witness that NIA quotes says that he came in touch with Zubair Shaikh, who has been arrested in another case by NIA, in 2011-2012. The witness claimed that in 2014, Shaikh had added him to a WhatsApp group called ‘Unity in Muslim Ummah’ and ‘Ummah News’.

The witness said that Zubair Shaikh would post articles related to Palestine, Syria, and ISIS ideology. He claimed that apart from Zubair, one Talha Khan, Abdullah Shaikh (a wanted accused who is said to be in Oman), Barodawala, Abdul Kadeer, and Simab Kazi were the members of that WhatsApp group who supported ISIS and propagated the ideology of the terror group. The witness claimed that he had left the group but was added again in 2017.

The protected witness, whose statement is added in the NIA chargesheet, said that he was close to Barodawala. Barodawala moved out of Pune to Padgha village in Bhiwandi taluka in 2022. When the witness asked him why, Barodawala told him that Padgha was a free zone where Sharia was followed, mosques were open even during the pandemic and the village was like Al-Shaam (Greater Syria region where ISIS ruled).

In the group, mythical atrocities against Muslims was discussed extensively in order to radicalise Muslim youth.

The witness explained how he had met accused Simab Kazi who was conducting ‘E-dars’ online during the COVID lockdown. In 2021, he was introduced to the accused Zulfikar Ali Barodawala and Abdul Kadeer Pathan and he started meeting them frequently as he was jobless at that time. 

The witness quoted by the NIA also went into great detail about the kind of messages that were being shared by the accused ISIS terrorists in the WhatsApp group they were using the recruit.

According to a MidDay report, the witness said in his statement, “In our initial meetings, we had friendly and casual talks. However, gradually Zulfikar alias Lalabhai, Simab Kazi and Talha Khan started discussing topics like shirk, khalifah, jihad, Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS), bay’ah etc. Many times, they tried to convince other members including me to join ISIS and pledge allegiance to ISIS”.

“They would say that voting in any form of election is haram in Islam. They always used to give examples of mob lynching of Muslims in India to incite us to do something violent against it. They would say that Islam does not allow women to go outside their houses. Hence, they were against the participation of Muslim women in CAA/NRC agitations.” the statement reads further.

The goal of the accused was to ensure that Muslims join ISIS for the sake of the establishment of an Islamic state in India. Further, they would also say that the Constitition is haraam and for Muslims, the only law is that of Allah.

Killing non-Muslims was also an agenda that was discussed extensively in the group. The witness said that the accused ISIS terrorists would say, “Hame kafiron ko marana hai aur usse anjam dene ke liye hamare paas sari cheeje hai. Aur sahi time ayega tab tumhe sab bata denge”.

Some of the statements the accused ISIS terrorists would make in the group

The MidDay report mentions 5 crucial statements that the witness says the accused ISIS terrorists would make in the WhatsApp group.

  1. India ka Constitution apne liye nahi hai, apana kanoon sirf Quran hai (The Indian Constitution is not for us, the only we follow is the Quran)
  2. Jihad karana har Muslim ka farz hai (Jihad is the duty of every Muslim)
  3. Koi bhi Muslim jamaat ya tanzeem sahi nahi hai, sirf ISIS sahi hai, kyonki woh Khalifah ke liye ladate hai, Khalifah kayam karane ke liye mehnat karate hai… Khalifah yaane ki puri duniya par Shariat ka amal hona (No other Islamic council or organisation is right except for ISIS as they work for the caliphate and put in efforts to expand its rule… and the caliphate means to bring the entire world under Sharia law)
  4. Tirange jhande ko salami dena ya national anthem ke wagt khade rehna shirk hai, kyonki woh Islam se bada nahi hai (Saluting the Indian tricolour or standing when the national anthem is being recited is haram as they are not greater than Islam)
  5. Shia aur dargah jaane wale musalmaan qafir hai aur unke khilaf bhi jihad kar sakte hain (Shias and other Muslims who visit dargahs are infidels and jihad can be carried out against them as well)

The connection between the Pune ISIS module and Delhi anti-Hindu riots

As reported earlier, the Pune ISIS module has a link to the Delhi anti-Hindu riots as well. One of the ISIS terrorists arrested earlier in October, Arshad Warsi, was in regular touch with one of the Delhi Riots mastermind Sharjeel Imam through the initial planning phases of the violence in December 2019. A detailed report on the connection between the Pune ISIS module and the Delhi Riots can be read here.

Arshad Warsi played a significant role in orchestrating the conspiracy behind the communal violence during the CAA-NRC protests in Delhi. Moreover, his active involvement in setting up the protest site at Shaheen Bagh has also been revealed in the investigations. 

The chargesheet, which spans a substantial 2,700 pages and pertains to FIR 59/2020, notably allocates nearly 700 pages to detailing the chronology of the plotted conspiracy. What stands out in the chargesheet is the Delhi Police’s impressive ability to unearth the conspiracy’s timeline, tracing it all the way back to December 5, 2019, just one day after the Citizenship Amendment Bill was introduced in both houses of Parliament.

According to the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police, after CAB was tabled in both houses of the parliament on the 4th of December, on the 5th of December a group called Muslim Students of JNU (MSJ) was formed by Sharjeel Imam who was the main member of the group and its creation was also his brainchild.

The chats that been procured by the Delhi police after a perusal of the phones confiscated from Sharjeel and the other accused, it was revealed that Sharjeel Imam and Arshad Warsi (a student of Jamia) were in constant touch and Sharjeel was also in touch with “radical communal group” Students of Jamia (SOJ).

On the 6th of December, pamphlets which were written by Sharjeel Imam himself were distributed in the Jama Masjid area by the MSJ group. This fact was revealed by the chats recovered between Sharjeel Imam and Mohammad Arshad Warsi. The pamphlets were communal in nature and essentially aimed to incite hate in the Muslim community by invoking the Supreme Court decision in the Ram Janmabhoomi case.

Some of the pamphlets read “Law of Allah above all else” and “The command of Allah is above every law”. The pamphlets that were distrusted in mosques on the 6th of December also had a call to join the protest called by ‘United Against Hate’ at Jantar Mantar in large numbers and to “mobilise mob”.

The charge sheet says, “Sharjeel Imam revealed his intention of joining the protest of United Against Hate, at Jantar Mantar on 7 December 2019 in his chats to Arshad Warsi of SOJ.” The chargesheet includes screenshots of this conversation, revealing that Imam had reached out to Mohammad Arshad Warsi for the purpose of “mass mobilisation” in connection with the Delhi riots. Details of the same can be read here.

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