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Bangladesh: Islamists attack Ahmadiyya community, torch houses, vandalise properties. Here is what we know so far

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladesh: Islamists attack Ahmadiyya community, torch houses, vandalise properties. Here is what we know so far

On Friday (March 3), Islamists attacked the minority Ahmadiyya community after the latter announced plans to hold a 3-day religious program (Jalsa Salana). The incident took place in Ahmednagar village in the Panchagarh district in the Rangpur Division of Bangladesh.

A mob of 500 Islamists gathered at the Chowrangi roundabout after offering Jumma Namaz at the local mosques. When the local police tried to stop them from agitating, they responded by attacking the cops with bricks and stones.

The police personnel retaliated by firing tear gas shells. The Islamists also set a traffic police post on fire in Dhakkamara and ransacked vehicles belonging to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Thereafter, they laid siege at the homes of Ahmadiyyas. Islamists vandalised and looted the properties of the minority community and then set their houses on fire. The attack, which began at around 2 pm, continued till late in the evening (around 8:30 pm).

Shops and goods belonging to Ahmadiyyas were also destroyed. Two journalists, Kamruzzaman Tutul (SA TV’s Panchagarh Correspondent) and Shamsuddin Chowdhury Kalam (Daily Karatoa) were also injured during the attack.

Islamists also burnt tires, blocked the Korotoa Bridge by setting up bamboo sticks, and disrupted the traffic. “Many Ahmadiyya families have fled the area,” informed local journalist Abdul Rahim.

Police officer Abdul Latif Mia informed that the Fire Service and Civil Defence helped douse the fire. Over 30 people including policemen were injured during the violence. Two people, namely, Zahid Hasan and Ariful Haque, died during the incident.

As such, a large contingent of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Rapid Action Battalion (RAF) were deployed in the area to bring the law and order situation under control.

Following the incident, the Panchagarh district administration directed the Ahmadiyya community to postpone their religious gathering. The development was confirmed by Mahmud Ahmed Sumon, ‘Jalsa Salana’ organiser.

Islamists clash with cops in Panchagarh, image via BDNews24

While speaking about the matter, Ahmad Tabsir Chowdhury said, “About 100 houses in the village were torched and vandalised by religious bigots.” He accused the Panchagarh district administration of negligence and not doing enough to protect the Ahmadiyya community.

Tabsir is the media cell coordinator (Panchagarh) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Bangladesh. He informed that three houses of Ahmadiyyas were set on fire while 6 others were vandalised on Thursday (March 2) as well.

While attacks on Ahmadiyyas are commonplace in Pakistan, the minority sect is now being regarded as ‘non-Muslims’ even in Bangladesh. Several Islamist groups in Bangladesh had even called for a ban on the activities/ religious programs of Ahmadiyyas.

As such, it comes as no surprise why Islamists were agitated after learning about the three-day Jalsa Salana of the minority sect. Despite tightened security, law enforcement could not protect the Ahmadiyyas from being attacked by the extremists.

Bihar government to send a four-member team to Tamil Nadu to probe reports of attacks on Bihari migrants

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar government to send a four-member team to Tamil Nadu to probe reports of attacks on Bihari migrants

The Bihar administration has made the decision to send a four-member team to Tamil Nadu on Saturday in order to investigate the reports of attacks on Biharis in the South Indian state. The team will also try to support workers who are attempting to return to their home state. The team will submit a report after evaluating the situation.

Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, issued a directive to this effect on Friday, in response to demands by the BJP for his intervention.

A team from Bihar would travel to Tamil Nadu, as per the leader of the opposition in Bihar, Vijay Kumar Sinha, who also mentioned that the CM promised to discuss the issue with the Tamil Nadu administration.

Following reports of attacks on Bihari migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu, BJP staged a walkout from the assembly on Friday. They demanded that a team of House members be sent there to verify these reports.

CM Nitish Kumar gave the order to Chief Secretary Amir Subhani and director general of police (DGP) Rajwinder Singh Bhatti to deploy a special team to the southern state to investigate the situation.

D. Balamurugan, secretary of rural development, P. Kanan, IPS (IG CID), Shree Alok, special secretary of labour, and an IPS officer make up the four-person panel.

Nitish Kumar had earlier tweeted his concern over the incident.

In an earlier discussion in the Bihar Assembly, deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav informed that senior Bihar officials are communicating with their counterparts in Tamil Nadu.

He declared that the videos were of previous instances in Tiruppur and Coimbatore, and weren’t of any latest incident, quoting the Tamil Nadu DGP.

In a statement on March 2, that contended migrant labourers from Bihar were not being targeted in the state, DGP Sylendra Babu of Tamil Nadu had previously disputed the veracity of the reports of the attacks.

Tamil Nadu labour minister, C. V. Ganesan also dismissed the accusations and said, “There is no truth in the reports.”

“The peaceful society and industrial growth of Tamil Nadu are well-known. Action is being taken to stop the canards from propagating,” he added in a statement, noting that the state had long employed people from other regions.

Migrant labourers from various states are happily coexisting in Tamil Nadu, according to the minister. He stated, that the allegations made on social media that workers from north India are being attacked by locals are unfounded.

Australia: Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane vandalised, Khalistan supporters blame Indian National Congress for the attack

OpIndia Staff
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Australia: Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane vandalised, Khalistan supporters blame Indian National Congress for the attack

Another incident of vandalism of a Hindu temple has come to the fore in Australia. On Saturday, March 4, Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane’s Burbank suburb was vandalised with anti-Hindu and anti-India graffiti defacing its walls. According to local media reports, the vandalism was carried out by pro-Khalistani supporters. However, some other media reports suggest that the Khalistani extremists blamed the Indian National Congress party for the defacing of the temple’s boundary wall.

The miscreants wrote anti-Hindu, anti-India and pro-Khalistani slogans on the walls near the temple during the vandalization.

The vandalism was noticed when devotees came for their morning prayers on Saturday morning.

A resident, Ramesh Kumar, who lives near the temple, told The Australia Today: “I am aware of what has happened at Melbourne Hindu Temples, but facing this hate ourselves is a very distressing experience.” 

The Australia Today spoke to Temple President Satinder Shukla who said: “Temple priest and devotees called this morning and notified me about the vandalism on the boundary wall of our temple.”

Meanwhile, Sarah Gates, who is the Director of Hindu Human Rights told the local media house, “This latest hate crime is a pattern of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) globally, clearly attempting to terrorise Australian Hindus. Coupled with a barrage of propaganda, illegal signs, and cyberbullying, the organisation intends to present all-pervasive threats, fear, and intimidation.”

Hindu temples vandalised by pro-Khalistani supporters in Australia

Reportedly, this is the fourth such incident involving a Hindu temple in Australia in the last two months. In January, Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Australia’s Carrum Downs was vandalised with anti-Hindu graffiti.

‘Target Modi’, ‘Modi Hitler’, and ‘Hindustan Murdabad’, read the slogans that were painted on the walls of the temples during vandalization. According to the reports, the attack is said to have happened on January 16 days after Khalistan supporters allegedly attacked and vandalized BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Melbourne’s northern suburb of Mill Park on January 12. This temple was also vandalised by anti-India elements with anti-India slogans written on the temple’s walls.

The management of Melbourne’s International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple also known as the Hare Krishna Temple found the temple walls vandalised with anti-India graffiti.

The attack on the Hindu temples has been condemned by the Jewish Community Council of Victoria and Gurdwara Siri Guru Nanak Darbar, Victorian Council of Churches and the Buddhist Council of Victoria. According to the Councils, death threats against Hindus are a significant concern, since the Indian-Australian community is now living in terror of Khalistan sympathisers.

Later, the Indian High Commission in Canberra condemned the “deeply disturbing” incidents of vandalisation of three Hindu temples in Melbourne and asked the Australian Government to ensure the safety and security of members of the Indian community and their properties in the country.

No religious minority can freely practice its religion in Pakistan: India highlights Pakistan’s abysmal human rights record at UNHRC

OpIndia Staff
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No religious minority can freely practice its religion in Pakistan: India highlights Pakistan’s abysmal human rights record at UNHRC

On Saturday, India slammed Pakistan at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) over the issue of religious minorities and terrorism.

Exercising the Right to Reply, India’s representative Seema Pujani outlined the fact that religious minorities in Pakistan are faced with persecution merely for practicing their faith. 

“Pakistan’s representative has once again chosen to misuse this august forum for its malicious propaganda against India. No religious minority can freely live or practice its religion in Pakistan today. The Ahmadiya community continues to be persecuted by the state for simply practicing their faith,” Pujani said.

India raises the issue of forced disappearances 

Highlighting the issue of forced disappearances in Pakistan, India’s representative stated, “In the last decade, Pakistan’s own commission of inquiry on enforced disappearances has received 8,463 complaints. The Baloch people have borne the brunt of this cruel policy. Students, doctors, engineers, teachers, and community leaders are regularly disappeared by the state, never to return back.”

Pujani also underscored the condition and mistreatment of Christians in Pakistan. “Equally worse is the treatment of the Christian community. It is frequently targeted through draconian blasphemy laws. State institutions officially reserve sanitation jobs for Christians,” the Indian representative said. 

‘Non-Muslim underage girls are converted to Islam by a predatory state and an apathetic judiciary‘: India at UNHRC

Voicing concern about a “predatory state and an apathetic judiciary” in regard to the forced conversion of underage girls belonging to minority communities, the Indian diplomat said, “Underage girls from the community are converted to Islam abetted by a predatory state and an apathetic judiciary. In both the Hindu and Sikh communities, underage girls are forcibly converted, and their places of worship are frequently attacked. The state’s repression of people who wish to speak out against any of these heinous policies is incomparable. A bill, which proposes a five-year jail term for anyone who scandalizes or ridicules the military or the judiciary is currently on the table in Pakistan’s parliament.”

Pakistan’s misplaced priorities

Even at a time when Pakistan is hit by a multi-faceted crisis, the country remains fixated on India. Stressing Pakistan’s ‘obsession’ with India, Seema Pujani gave a piece of advice to Pakistani leadership and representatives to channelize their energies for the welfare of their citizens instead of peddling malicious propaganda against India.

“Pakistan’s obsession with India, while its population battle for their lives, livelihood, and freedom. is an indication of the state’s misplaced priorities. I would advise Pakistan’s leadership and officials to focus their energies on working for the benefit of their own population instead of baseless propaganda,” Pujani said. 

‘Pakistan has nurtured terrorists for decades’

The Indian diplomat further criticized Pakistan for aiding terrorism, stating, that Pakistan’s security agencies have fostered and protected UNSC-designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar for decades.

“Pakistan actively lends its energies to aiding, hosting, and abetting international terrorists when it is not entirely focused on suppressing its own populace. It has the unique distinction of hosting the most number of UNSC-designated terrorists and terror organizations,” Pujani said.

The Indian diplomat also took the opportunity to remind the council of Pakistan’s history of supporting terrorism.

“Allow me to recall that Osama bin Laden lived next to Pakistan’s premier military academy. Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azar have been nurtured and sheltered by Pakistani security agencies for decades. These are but a few dreaded names from the annals of Pakistan’s history of supporting terrorism,” Pujani stated.

This comes after Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on Thursday expressed her ‘concern’ to a high-level panel via a video link from Islamabad over the “generous” supply of conventional and non-conventional weaponry to the largest country in the region. She claimed that this was seriously undermining South Asia’s strategic stability and jeopardizing Pakistan’s “national security”.

Without explicitly naming India Khar said, “The largest country in the region continues to be a beneficiary of nuclear exceptionalism, in violation of established non-proliferation norms and principles.” 

NCPCR seeks probe against AAP leader Atishi for using minors for furthering political agenda

OpIndia Staff
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NCPCR seeks probe against AAP leader Atishi for using minors for furthering political agenda

The Delhi Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Police have received a letter from the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) requesting an investigation and action against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi for allegedly using children and posting their images on Twitter for political purposes.

The child rights organization said in its letter that it had received a complaint over Atishi’s social media posts in which pictures of underage children holding Manish Sisodia posters in schools were posted.

“The Commission is in receipt of a complaint wherein it has been informed that Atishi Singh has uploaded images on their Twitter handle wherein minor children are seen holding posters for Manish Sisodia in schools,” the NCPCR said in a letter.

Manish Sisodia, a former minister in the Delhi government and leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for suspected irregularities in the formulation and application of the GNCTD excise policy. The commission further noted that the leader reportedly published the pictures in an effort to draw attention away from the CBI’s existing or upcoming inquiries against Manish Sisodia.

“It is alleged that the said images are uploaded by Atishi Singh in order to divert attention in the ongoing/pending investigation by CBI against Manish Sisodia in Delhi Liquor Policy Case in furtherance of their personal agenda. Further, the Commission also observes that the posts uploaded by Atishi Singh showing images of children clearly indicate misuse of the students studying in Schools in Delhi for personal agenda which may adversely affect the psychosocial behaviour of young children for the glorification of accused person in liquor scam,” the Commission said.

The authority further noted that Aam Aadmi Party members had set up booths in and around the school’s grounds and that they were using the kids to further their own political and personal agendas in support of the accused Manish Sisodia.

“Furthermore, it is also seen that Aam Aadmi Party workers have installed stalls in and around the school campus and the children are being used for their political campaigning and personal agenda favouring the accused Manish Sisodia. The Commission primarily observed that this action seems to be in violation of Section 75 and Section 83 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and other relevant provisions of IPC,” it said.

The panel has ordered the Delhi Police to take the proper legal action in accordance with the Information Technology Act and the Juvenile Justice Act. The Commission determined that it is appropriate to file a complaint under Section 13(I)(j) of the CPCR Act of 2005 in light of the allegations made in the complaint and that there has been a prima facie violation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2015, the IPC, and the Information Technology Act.

“Therefore, in view of the sensitivity of the matter the Commission requests your good offices to investigate the matter urgently by lodging an FIR against Atishi Singh for misusing her position and power for her personal agenda by involving children, posting and using images of minors without their consent. Further, an Action Taken Report in this regard may be submitted within 3 days of receipt of his letter,” the Commission added.

NCPCR, a legislative agency established under Section 3 of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005 is responsible for defending children’s rights and other relevant issues throughout the nation.

The Commission is also responsible for making sure that the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act of 2009, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act of 2012 are being properly and effectively implemented.

Rajasthan: Girl studying in 10th class ends her life owing to board exams pressure, wrote ‘can’t score more than 95%’ in suicide note

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Girl studying in 10th class ends her life owing to board exams pressure, wrote ‘can’t score more than 95%’ in suicide note

On Friday, March 3, a 10th-class girl student committed suicide in the Dausa district of Rajasthan leaving behind a suicide note. In the note, she stated that she was tense due to her 10th-class board exams and that she was unable to handle the pressure of scoring more than 95% in exams. The girl has been identified as Khushbu Meena (15) and was preparing for her board exams.

According to the reports, the girl was studying at her home in the Lalsaut area of Dausa with her brother who studies in class 4. She committed suicide by hanging herself with a rope when her parents were not at home. The girl left a short suicide note which read, “I am sorry Mummy and Pappa. I can’t do this. I feel pressured due to the 10th board exams. I won’t be able to score more than 95% in the exams. I love you Papa, Mummy, and Rishabh. I am so sorry.”

The incident is said to have happened when the girl’s mother had gone to the school to pay her son’s school fees. She returned home around 11 AM to find her daughter’s body. The local police were informed who arrived at the spot and investigated the matter. The girl was immediately shifted to the hospital where the doctors declared her dead.

Reports mention that Khushbu’s father, Basram Meena, is a school teacher and works at a government school in Jalore city of Rajasthan. He rushed to Dausa after learning about his daughter’s suicide. He said that he and his wife never pressured Khushbu for marks. “She was studious and so intelligent. We never thought she could do something like this,” her father said.

Meanwhile, Khushbu’s mother, who fainted at the hospital after the doctors confirmed her death said, “We never pressured her for studies. But she wanted to always rank first at the school. We are actually clueless thinking why she did what she did.”

The teachers at Khushbu’s school were also questioned about her death. They said that she was intelligent and would always score good marks in exams. School principal Vishram Gurjar also confirmed that she was intelligent but was not confident that she would score more than 95% in the exams. “We had relieved all the 10th class students on February 16 so that they could prepare well for the exams scheduled to start on March 16. We really feel sad that we lost such a bright student,” he was quoted as saying.

The Police have seized the suicide note and have begun the investigation into the case.

[This report can be triggering. Please note that suicide is preventable. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata)]

Twitter was asked to restrict ‘Hindu nationalists’ associated with BJP based on fake TekFog database by TheWire: The web of deceit

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter was asked to restrict ‘Hindu nationalists’ associated with BJP based on fake TekFog database by TheWire: The web of deceit

A day after ‘Twitter Files’ revealed how the US-based Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab provided a list of Indian accounts, associated with Hindu nationalism and BJP to the Twitter Trust and Safety Team, it has accused leftist propaganda outlet The Wire of providing the misleading dataset.

In a Medium blog post (archive) on Friday (March 3), DFRLab informed that it had received a dataset of 40,000 Twitter accounts in 2021 from one of the reporters of The Wire but it failed to meet its ‘research standards’.

“The dataset was part of an investigation into alleged coordinated disinformation and online harassment in India, conducted in parallel with the Indian outlet The Wire,” it said.

Screengrab of the Medium blogpost by The Wire

“One of their reporters at the time collected the dataset and shared it with our team; he attributed the tweets to the BJP, but his analysis failed to meet our research standards. The DFRLab, therefore, decided not to publish that investigation, terminating our collaboration with The Wire in October 2021,” it further emphasised.

The US-based DFRLab claimed that despite being well aware that the dataset could not be linked to the BJP, it nonetheless provided the list to social media platforms (including Twitter) as part of ‘due diligence.’

“As neither our internal research staff nor Twitter could find a connection between this particular dataset and the BJP, we decided to not move forward with the research,” it said.

“We stand by that decision. The Wire eventually published its own investigation in early 2022 but later retracted it after losing confidence in their report’s accuracy,” DFRLab highlighted.

The Wire, Devesh Kumar, and the Tek Fog saga

While the Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab did not explicitly mention the name of the reporter, it is crystal clear from its statement that the said scribe is none other than Devesh Kumar.

When the same statement is analysed in the context of retraction of The Wire‘s own investigation, it also becomes evident that the story is related to Tek Fog (a non-existent app that the leftist propaganda outlet claimed was used by BJP to spread disinformation).

It must be mentioned that the ‘lead investigator’ of the Tek Fog story was Devesh Kumar, and even conducted an ‘Ask me Anything’ session on the matter along with DFRLab’s south Asia research analyst, Ayushman Kaul.

Devesh had stated that he ran a ‘parallel IT cell’ against the BJP from his home and he deployed some 40 servers on Amazon Web Services (AWS) for the task.

It is now clear that he fed the same list to the Digital Forensic Research Lab in the hopes of getting Hindu nationalists and BJP supporters censored on social media platforms.

Interestingly, Ayushman Kaul, who was an employee of DFRLab (April 2019-January 2022) at that time, worked in close coordination with Devesh Kumar. He had collaborated with The Wire on many tech-related projects, including the one on Tek Fog.

Kaul has contributed to multiple stories on The Wire such as ‘Tek Fog: An App With BJP Footprints for Cyber Troops to Automate Hate, Manipulate Trends’, and “Anonymous Complainant Targeting Zubair Tweet Linked to Tek Fog App, BJYM Leader in Gujarat”.

In fact, Devesh and Kaul, along with The Wire’s Naomi Barton, had claimed how Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was ‘attacked’ online using Tek Fog. According to DFRLab, it stopped collaborating with The Wire in October 2021 after its story failed to meet its editorial standards.

Interestingly, this did not stop the leftist propaganda outlet from going ahead with its fake investigation and embarrassing itself in this process. Ayushman Kaul coincidentally also left the US-based organisation around the time The Wire retracted its stories.

As per his LinkedIn account, Kaul now works as a Senior Analyst at Logically. He joined the company in January 2022.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) later published a report citing the dubious Tek Fog allegation as an example of a lack of religious freedom in India

The revelations made by Twitter Files

On Thursday (March 2), a new tranche of ‘Twitter Files’ was released, which revealed how the US-based Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab flagged Twitter handles, allegedly associated with ‘Hindu nationalism’, and particularly with the BJP.

An analyst named Andy Carvin wrote to top Twitter executives on June 8, 2021, “Hi guys. Attached you will find… around 40k Twitter accounts that our researchers suspect are engaging in inauthentic behaviour… and Hindu nationalism more broadly.”

The DFR Lab analyst flagged over 40,000 accounts, claiming that they were paid employees/ unpaid volunteers of India’s largest party, namely, the BJP. Contrary to the wishes of the DFR Lab, the top Twitter executives refused to act on the flagged Twitter accounts. 

Opindia had found that at least 66 prominent and verified Indian Twitter handles were sent by US-funded Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab to the top executives of the social media giant.

Hathras conspiracy case: PFI member with Rs 25,000 bounty on his head arrested by UP STF

OpIndia Staff
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Hathras conspiracy case: PFI member with Rs 25,000 bounty on his head arrested by UP STF

On Friday, March 3, Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) arrested a member of the now-banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) from  Melattur in the Malappuram district of Kerala.

According to the police, the PFI member Kamal KP attempted to stir up unrest and incite protests in Hathras in 2020 after the death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman there. The UP STF had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for information leading to Kamal KP’s arrest. 

Detailing Kamal KP’s suspected role, Additional Director General, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said that a voice note was received from ‘journalist’ Siddique Kappan’s mobile phone during the investigation of STF.  The said voice note was sent to Kamal KP in which code word was used for calling a secret meeting. In this meeting, a conspiracy was hatched to instigate riots in Hathras. 

ADG Prashant Kumar also added that Kamal KP was a member of the PFI’s ‘hit squad’ and a mentor of one Anshad Badruddin who along with his aide Firoz Khan was apprehended with improvised explosive devices (IED) in Lucknow in 2021. Kamal KP was also among the top five members of the PFI. 

Notably, both Badruddin and Firoz Khan were natives of Kerala who arrived in Uttar Pradesh to execute multiple bomb blasts in Lucknow and other parts of UP.

ADG Kumar informed that Kamal KP will soon be presented before the court in Lucknow and police will take him on remand for further investigation. 

Earlier on Thursday, March 2, an SC-ST court in Uttar Pradesh acquitted three people accused in the Hathras case and held only one guilty. Out of the four accused, namely, Sandeep Sisodia (20), Ravi (35), Luv Kush (23), and Ramu (26), the court held that Sandeep was guilty of the crime and sentenced him to life imprisonment. 

Notably,  in April 2021, the UP police submitted a 5000-page charge sheet against Kerala-based ‘journalist’ Siddique Kappan and seven others for conspiring to create communal tension in Hathras. The UP Police arrested him on October 5, 2020 while he was proceeding to cover the Hathras case. Kappan however, was in February this year released from jail after Lucknow Sessions Court approved bail orders. Kappan, detained in October 2020 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), was released from the Lucknow jail cell on February 2 after serving more than two years behind bars.

The charge sheet was filed before the Additional District Judge’s Court in Mathura. Besides Siddique Kappan, radical Islamist outfit PFI members Masood Ahmed, Rauf Sharif, Anshad Badruddin, Atiqur Rahman, and Firoz Khan were also booked by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF). 

CPI leader arrested for molesting a minor in Kerala

ANI
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CPI leader arrested for molesting a minor in Kerala

A CPI leader was arrested for allegedly molesting a 14-year-old girl in Arthungal area of Alappuzha district, the police said.

Officials said that the accused, identified as Satheeesan, a CPI leader, was arrested by Arthungal police on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim on Friday. A case has been registered under the POCSO Act against him.

The minor, in her complaint, has stated that she was molested on multiple occasions by the accused, they said.

According to police, the victim belongs to the scheduled caste community and revealed about the incident during a counselling session at the school.

Both Satheesan and the girl’s family were known to each other and the accused was the president of SC community co-operative society, said the police.

The accused CPI leader was produced before court and has been sent on police remand, they added.

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

Foxconn announces investment in Karnataka, expected to generate over 1 lakh jobs

OpIndia Staff
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Foxconn announces investment in Karnataka, expected to generate over 1 lakh jobs

In a big boost to India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat ambitions, Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) has announced a major investment in Karnataka that will generate over one lakh jobs, according to an official statement on Friday.

As much as 300 acres of land has been identified for this purpose near the Bengaluru International Airport in Doddaballapura and Devanahalli taluks. A team from Foxconn — led by Young Liu, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, and comprising 16 senior leaders — was in Bengaluru on Friday.

They were welcomed at the airport by C N Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education, IT and Biotechnology, Science and Technology and Skill Development.

The visit began with a walkthrough of the world-class new terminal 2, recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, followed by a detailed presentation by senior executives from Bengaluru Airport International Limited (BIAL) on cargo infrastructure and facilities at the airport. The team then proceeded to the site view of the proposed area.

Chief Minister and Young Liu discussed Foxconn’s investment plans and Bommai assured full support for the project. The electronics manufacturing project is expected to generate more than 1,00,000 employment opportunities in the next 10 years within the state, the CM said.

Foxconn is the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, with total revenue exceeding New Taiwan dollar 6 trillion in 2022. As of last year, it ranks 20th in the Fortune Global 500.

The company has 173 campuses and offices in 24 countries or regions around the world. The primary product segments for the company include Smart Consumer Electronics, such as smartphones, TVs, game consoles, Cloud and Networking Products which comprised servers, and communication networks; computing products such as computers, tablets, and components and others such as connectors, mechanical parts, services, etc.

(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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