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Kapil Sibal deems Law Minister’s comments against Supreme Court ‘unacceptable’; here is what he had said about the SC only a few months ago

OpIndia Staff
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Kapil Sibal deems Law Minister’s comments against Supreme Court ‘unacceptable’; here is what he had said about the SC only a few months ago

Former Congress leader, Kapil Sibal, has courted controversy over his doublespeak on the functioning of the Supreme Court of India.

In an interview with ‘journalist’ Swati Chaturvedi for Gulf News, the veteran advocate and former Law Minister chided current Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju for criticising the collegium system (which is employed for the appointment of new Judges in the apex court).

Sibal alleged, “As far as the law minister’s (Kiren Rijiju’s) attacks (on Supreme Court) are concerned, they are driven by the desire of the government to have the final say in the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary.”

Screengrab of the report by Gulf News

“That is simply unacceptable and will be disastrous since future judges will look to the executive for their elevation. The end result will be a committed judiciary; committed to the executive,” Sibal further added.

While Kapil Sibal mouthed platitudes about the independence of the judiciary and the need to preserve constitutional values during the interview, he has been at the forefront of casting aspersions on the integrity of the apex court in the past.

When Kapil Sibal targeted the Supreme Court

While speaking at an event called “People’s Tribunal on the Judicial rollback of Civil liberties” in August this year, the veteran leader made controversial remarks about the judiciary and the processes being followed by the Supreme Court of India.

During his speech, Kapil Sibal said, “I do not want to talk like this about a Court where I have practised for 50 years but the time has come. If we don’t speak it, who will? The reality is such that any sensitive matter which we know has a problem is placed before certain judges and we know the outcome.”

Sibal also went on to question the independence of the judiciary and raised questions about the procedure through which different benches are constituted for different cases. Sibal even went on to remark that those hoping to get relief from Supreme Court are highly mistaken.

“The court where the judges are made through a process of compromise, the court which has no system of who will hear what kind of cases, the court where the CJI decides that this matter will go to this bench, when the case will go, when it will be heard- there is no system- that court can never be independent,” he had claimed.

In another interview with the news agency PTI in July, Sibal said, “When the judiciary turns a blind eye to ex-facie violations of the rule of law one wonders why an institution designed to protect the rule of law allows the rule of law to be infringed with open eyes.”

After casting aspersions on the Supreme Court and its functioning all this while, Kapil Sibal has now decided to come out in defense of the apex court.

Tunisha Sharma death: Vasai court sends accused Sheezan Khan to 14-day judicial custody

ANI
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Tunisha Sharma death: Vasai court sends accused Sheezan Khan to 14-day judicial custody

The Vasai court in Maharashtra on Saturday sent TV actor Tunisha Sharma’s death case accused, Sheezan Khan, to 14-day judicial custody.

The Waliv police produced the 28-year-old actor in court after his police custody ended on Saturday. Sheezan Khan is the reported former boyfriend and co-star of 21-year-old Tunisha, who was allegedly found hanging at a TV serial set on December 24, a fortnight after the two broke up their few-months-long relationship.

The Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul actor was arrested on charges of abetment to suicide on December 25. So far, the police have recorded the statements of 27 people in the matter.

In the application submitted by the Waliv police seeking Sheezan’s five-day remand from the court on Friday, the officials alleged that Sheezan Khan was having an affair with another girl apart from Tunisha Sharma and had also deleted many chats from his mobile after being detained in Tunisha Sharma’s death case.

According to the police, Sheezan was not cooperating with the investigation and repeatedly changed his statements when asked about the chats with his “secret girlfriend”.

According to some chats which have been recovered, the accused used to talk to many other girls also, the police said.

“Many important chats have been found on the mobile of the accused, during the investigation which has revealed that the accused started avoiding Tunisha after the breakup. Tunisha used to message him repeatedly, but the accused avoided her by not replying to her,” the police said yesterday.

Tunisha’s mother Vanita Sharma, addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Friday made several allegations against Sheezan and also raised suspicion of “murder”.

“Sheezan took her from the room but did not call the Ambulance. This could also be a murder, how is it possible that she was found in Sheezan’s room and it was Sheezan only who brought her down, but did not call the ambulance or doctors? Sheezan forced her to wear Hijab as well,” Vanita Sharma said addressing a press conference on Friday.

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

Bihar hooch tragedy: Police arrests mastermind behind spurious liquor case from New Delhi

ANI
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Bihar hooch tragedy: Police arrests mastermind behind spurious liquor case from New Delhi

The Delhi Police Crime Branch on Saturday claimed to have arrested one of the key accused in the Chhapra spurious liquor case which took over 70 lives earlier this month.

The accused, identified as Ram Babu Mahto was arrested from Dwarka area, the police said, adding, that he was previously involved in seven other cases.

According to special Commissioner of Police (CP) Crime Branch Ravinder Yadav, “Information was received and developed by the Inter-State Cell, Crime Branch, Chankyapuri, Delhi that one Ram Babu Mahto wanted in the case related to spurious liquor tragedy in Bihar, may be hiding somewhere in Delhi”.

“On the basis of technical surveillance as well as specific inputs, the accused Ram Babu Mahto from Bihar’s Doila, was arrested from the area of Dwarka in Delhi,” Yadav said.

“Appropriate legal action is being taken and information about the arrest of the accused has been shared with Bihar Police for further action,” CP Yadav added.

Yadav added that Bihar Police was contacted and it was established that accused Ram Babu Mahto is one of the most wanted in 2022 case under the Bihar Excise Act- 2016 registered at Police Station Mashrak, District Saran in Bihar.

“Ram Babu Mahto was one of the key players in the entire episode where several people lost their lives. When Bihar Police were searching for him, he fled from Bihar,” Yadav added.

Police said Ram Babu belongs to a farming family and has four brothers and two sisters. He is a Class 8 dropout.

“Ram Babu claimed that his family is in bad financial condition. However, owing to the prohibition of liquor in the state of Bihar, he sensed an opportunity to make quick and easy money and indulged in manufacturing and selling spurious Liquor,” Yadav said.

As per the information available so far, he is involved in several cases of illicit liquor business, the police said.

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

True spirit of a Karmayogi: Just as he returned to work after the last rights of his mother, PM Modi returned to work after his father’s demise in 1989

OpIndia Staff
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True spirit of a Karmayogi: Just as he returned to work after the last rights of his mother, PM Modi returned to work after his father’s demise in 1989

On December 30, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother Heeraben Modi passed away at the age of 100. PM Modi performed the last rites of his mother in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.  Soon after performing his duties as a son, PM Modi resumed his duty as the ‘Pradhan Sevak’ of the country. 

PM Modi did not make any changes in his schedule and attended programs and meetings as usual.  Hours after cremating his mother, PM Modi joined the flagging-off ceremony of the Vande Bharat express in West Bengal through video conferencing. PM Modi apologized to the people of Bengal for not being able to attend the program in person. West Bengal’s first Vande Bharat train runs between Howrah and New Jalpaiguri Station.

PM Modi was scheduled to attend the ceremony in person, however, PM Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express through video conferencing.  During his address via video conferencing, PM Modi apologised to the people of Bengal for not being able to join the event in person due to some “personal reasons”.

After this, PM Modi carried on with his other meetings including the National Ganga Council meet. 

Interestingly, this is not the first time that Narendra Modi returned to work after enduring a personal loss. In 1989, when PM Modi’s father Damodardaas Modi passed away, Narendra Modi showed similar dedication towards his duty. 

Recalling the incident, Dileep Trivedi, General Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Gujarat unit said that Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) workers had assembled in Ahmedabad for a pre-scheduled meeting, which was supposed to be joined by Narendra Modi also. 

“We had a important meeting scheduled, and we inquired about why Narendrabhai has not arrived yet, we were then informed that Narendra Modi’s father has passed away so he had gone to Vadnagar. We thought he will not be able to join the meeting today. However, to everyone’s surprise, Narendrabhai arrived at the venue in the afternoon. We were surprised that his father has just passed and he (Narendra Modi) has come here,” Trivedi recalled.

Dedication towards duty

Dileep Trivedi continued by saying that everyone instinctually asked Narendra Modi why he came back to Ahmedabad to attend a party meeting despite the fact that his father passed away today.

To this Narendra Modi answered, “The last rites have been performed and I have returned to fulfil my duty towards the party, as I have to continue with the work.”

“It was inspiring moment for all the workers. This dedication towards duty even after suffering a loss as huge as losing one’s father is inspirational for everyone,” Trivedi concluded.

It is pertinent to mention that after PM Modi himself had decided not to cancel or postpone any of his scheduled meetings. 

Informing about the same Defence Minister Rajnath Singh while speaking at a program in Kerala said, “PM Modi’s mother Hiraben Modi passed away today. PM Modi said that no one will cancel any of their programs anywhere and will only return to Delhi after the completion of their programs. I pay homage to her.”

Delhi: Md Imran issues death threats to a Hindu ‘friend’, asks her to divorce her husband while forcing her to wear Burqa, rapes her assuring ‘Nikah’, booked

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi: Md Imran issues death threats to a Hindu ‘friend’, asks her to divorce her husband while forcing her to wear Burqa, rapes her assuring ‘Nikah’, booked

Another case of Love Jihad has come to the fore from the capital city of India. The Delhi Police have registered a complaint against a Muslim person named Mohammad Imran for issuing death threats to a Hindu woman and raping her several times since 2021. The accused also forced the woman to wear a burqa and send pictures of her wearing the same. Imran is a resident of Meerut. He works in R System, an IT company located in Sector 59 of Noida.

According to the report, the Police are said to have registered the FIR on November 29. However, the woman confirmed that the accused had not yet been arrested by the Police. The woman in the complaint mentioned that she met the accused at the coaching centre in Noida 11 years ago and had been friends with him since then.

The saga began when the victim woman got married to a Hindu man named Abhishek in the year 2018. However, the accused who had continued to be friends with the woman even after her marriage engaged her into a love affair after Abhishek, her husband shifted to Bihar for his job. “We were friends. After Abhishek went to Bihar, Imran started suggesting I divorce my husband. He wanted me to marry him instead. Later he issued death threats to me saying that he would murder me if I failed to divorce Abhishek and marry him instead,” the woman said in the complaint.

As per the complaint further, the accused barged into the house of the victim woman in the Chhatarpur area of Delhi and raped her. He assured her that he would marry her as she cried and restrained him from continuing with the assault. The woman said that the accused stayed at the victim’s house for 4 days and continued to rape her.

The woman added that she filed for divorce from her husband in September 2021 in Delhi’s Saket court due to the pressure and fear of Mohammad Imran. During this, Imran kept calling the victim to meet him in the Qutub Minar area. In December 2021, the victim changed her house from Chhatarpur in Delhi to her own house in the Palam Vihar area. Imran discovered this location too. He again barged into her new home and raped her several times in 2021.

It has been further mentioned in the complaint that as the divorce between the victim woman and her husband got confirmed, Imran blocked her. Since then Imran did not meet her. According to the victim, Imran is a resident of Meerut. He works in R System, an IT company located in Sector 59 of Noida. It is alleged that even after the FIR was registered, the company has not fired him and he continues to work there.

Talking to OpIndia, the victim said that she had to face a lot of problems initially to register an FIR at the Police station. She said that the police made her visit a lot in different police stations for the complaint. “It’s almost been a month since the case has been registered but no action has been taken against Imran. He often asked me to send my photographs wearing a burqa. Earlier I did not believe in the Hindu-Muslim divide, but now I feel that a particular gang is targeting Hindu girls,” the victim woman said.

OpIndia also obtained the victim’s WhatsApp conversations with Imran. Imran in the chats is seen assuring the woman to take her to Banglore after her sister’s wedding. He could also be seen prohibiting the victim from sharing anything about their relationship on social media or with any other person. 

The police have registered a case against the accused under sections 376 (2) and 506 of the IPC. The accused is absconding at present. FIR copy is available with OpIndia.

Ghulam Nabi Azad rubbishes reports of re-joining Congress, blames party leaders for planting stories to demoralise his supporters

OpIndia Staff
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Ghulam Nabi Azad rubbishes reports of re-joining Congress, blames party leaders for planting stories to demoralise his supporters

On Friday (December 30), ‘Democratic Azad Party’ chief Ghulam Nabi Azad slammed the Congress for planting stories in the media about his ‘comeback’ into the grand-old party. The former Congress leader took to Twitter to express his displeasure about an ANI report which cited sources to allege that a ‘possible reconciliation with the Congress’ was on the cards.

While hitting out at the Congress party, Azad tweeted, “…Unfortunately such stories are being planted by a section of leaders in the congress party right now and are doing this just to demoralise my leaders and supporters. “

Without mincing any words, Ghulam Nabi Azad made it clear that he has no intention to rejoin Congress despite his previous association of a whopping 52 years.

“I dont have any ill will against congress party and its leadership, however I request them to tell these habitual story planters to refrain from doing so.
Once again I would like to insist that this story is completely baseless!” he reiterated.

It must be mentioned that a senior journalist Pallavi Ghosh had earlier alleged that the Congress party had asked its friends in the media to aggressively bash Ghulam Nabi Azad, following his resignation from the party on August 26 this year.

Ghulam Nabi Azad and his estranged relationship with the Congress party

Azad’s discontentment with Congress became evident when he joined the G-23 rebel group in Jammu last year. He had also showered praise upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and hinted at the lack of ‘reality check’ within the Congress.

After being unceremoniously ousted from the disciplinary committee and the party’s list of star campaigners before the 2022 Punjab elections, the resignation was on the cards.

The last nail in the coffin was perhaps his ‘downgrade’ appointment to 2 committees of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress on August 17 this year. In his parting note, Ghulam Nabi Azad did not mince any words in holding the Congress high command accountable for the party’s downfall.

He squarely blamed Congress scion Rahul Gandhi for single-handedly destroying the consultative mechanism within the party. Ghulam Nabi Azad, in his letter, drew attention to the childish, immature and non-serious attitude of Rahul Gandhi towards Congress and national politics. 

Bank gross NPA at 7-year low at 5%, net NPA at 10 year low: What the RBI Financial Stability Report says

OpIndia Staff
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Bank gross NPA at 7-year low at 5%, net NPA at 10 year low: What the RBI Financial Stability Report says

On December 29, Friday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its Financial Stability Report (FSR). In September 2022, the gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) fell to a seven-year low of 5%.

According to the FSR report, net non-performing assets (NNPA) fell to a 10-year low of 1.3 percent in September 2022.

In terms of sectoral asset quality, the RBI’s Financial Stability Report noted that banks’ gross non-performing assets improved in most of the sectors. The GNPA ratio continued to improve in the industrial sector, but it remained elevated in the gems and jewellery and construction sub-sectors. However, asset quality in the personal loans segment improved in H1FY23, particularly for housing and vehicle loans.

In the 26th issue of FSR, RBI noted that the global economy is confronted with formidable headwinds with recessionary risks looming large. The combination of multiple shocks has clamped financial conditions and raised volatility in financial markets.

RBI’s FSR highlighted that the improvements in asset quality, a return to profitability, and strong capital and liquidity buffers of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) are contributing to the buoyant demand for bank credit and early indications of a revival in the investment cycle.

In the foreword of the FSR, Shaktikanta Das, RBI Governor highlighted that “the results of the stress tests presented in this issue of the FSR imply that banks would be capable of coping with even severe stress conditions if they materialized. Furthermore, in spite of formidable global headwinds, India’s external accounts remain well-cushioned and viable.”

Macro stress tests for credit risk show that SCBs can meet the minimum capital requirements even under severe stress situations. Under the baseline, medium, and severe stress scenarios, the system-level capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) in September 2023 is projected to be 14.9%, 14.0%, and 13.1%, respectively, the FSR stated.

The stress tests for open-ended debt mutual funds revealed no breaches in interest rate, credit, or liquidity risk limits. The consolidated solvency ratio of both life and non-life insurance companies remained above the stipulated minimum level.

How good samaritans, who don’t watch cricket and had no idea who Rishabh Pant was, rescued him from a burning car

OpIndia Staff
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How good samaritans, who don’t watch cricket and had no idea who Rishabh Pant was, rescued him from a burning car

Hours after Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant met with an accident on the Delhi-Roorkee highway, it came to light that two good samaritans helped rescue him from the burning vehicle. As per reports, the two men were identified as Sushil Mann and Paramjit Singh. While Mann is a Haryana roadways bus driver, Singh is a bus conductor by occupation.

The duo was returning from Haridwar and saw a damaged vehicle on the road. Sushil Mann immediately stopped his bus and helped Rishabh Pant get out his damaged SUV.

While speaking about the matter to The Times of India, Sushil Mann informed, “We were returning from Haridwar to Panipat with around 30 passengers in the bus. I saw the damaged vehicle and immediately stopped the bus. I noticed a man stuck in the car. We pushed him out of the SUV.”

He and Paramjit Singh then wrapped the cricketer in a shawl in a bid to keep him warm. Thereafter, they dialled the police and the ambulance. Given that the two men do not watch cricket, they had no idea that the injured man in the damaged SUV was Rishabh Pant.

“After rescuing him, we immediately informed the police and called the ambulance. Until the ambulance reached us, we covered him with a shawl to keep him warm. I didn’t know that he was cricketer Rishabh Pant as I don’t watch cricket. We served our duty as human beings,” Sushil Mann told TOI.

The duo was later felicitated by the General Manager of Panipat Depot, Kuldeep Jhangra, with a memento and an appreciation certificate for saving the life of an injured Rishabh Pant.

It was earlier reported how Pant managed to break the glass of the car and free himself of the burning car on his own, however, with these new revelations, it appears that good samaritans did help me survive the brutal car crash.

Rishabh Pant’s belongings were not stolen after the accident

Contrary to initial media reports about locals stealing money from Rishabh Pant, the Uttarakhand police refuted all such claims and said that all his belongings were collected by people who had rescued him and the same was given to the cricketer’s mother.

Uttarakhand’s Director General of Police Ashok Kumar tweeted, “The information about people stealing cricketer Rishabh Pant Ji’s belongings after the road accident is untrue. Those who are spreading this misleading news, please do not do so. Share the video of SSP Haridwar Ajay Singh with such people.”

The DGP also shared a video of SSP Ajay Singh. While talking to Sports Tak, driver Sushil Mann and conductor Paramjit Singh said that they collected the belongings of Rishabh Pant, including a bag from the car, which was handed over to the police.

They collected around Rs 7000 in cash from the accident spot and handed over the same to the police. The duo also said that only 3-4 people came down from the bus to the crash site.

2023 promises a high-stakes political battle in India with at least 9 states set to witness Assembly Elections: All you need to know

ANI
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2023 promises a high-stakes political battle in India with at least 9 states set to witness Assembly Elections: All you need to know

As 2023 is knocking at the door, the next year is going to be politically crucial as several high-stakes political battles are set to take place that are likely to set the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 

At least nine states, from the northeast to the west and south to the central part of the country, are due to witness assembly elections in 2023. The coming year also holds significance for the anti-BJP parties who have been vocal about forming a united opposition for some time now. The election-bound states include Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram. Further, if all goes well, the government may also hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir next year. In that context, the election-bound 2023 can be considered as the semifinal ahead mega battle of 2024. 

Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are the two states where there is a Congress government. So it is probably not wrong to be said that there is a fight for survival for Congress which got a boost after winning the recently held Himachal polls. 

In Rajasthan, Congress wrested power from the BJP in 2018 by winning 100 seats in the 200-member state Assembly. The BJP, which got a thumping majority by winning 163 seats in 2013, could manage to get only 73 seats in 2018. 

The state will again see a direct fight between the BJP and Congress in 2023. Since 1990, the power in Rajasthan has been swinging between BJP and Congress. 
However, the internal rift between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot may prove a headache for Congress. 

In Chhattisgarh, Congress won a thumping majority by winning 68 seats in the 90-member assembly uprooting the 15-year rule of the BJP in the last election.

The BJP got only 15 seats. In the recently held Bhanupratappur bypolls, the ruling Congress retained the seat. 

Madhya Pradesh witnessed much political drama after the last Assembly elections in 2018 when Kamal Nath became the chief minister ousting the 15-year rule of the BJP. However, Shivraj Singh Chouhan returned to power after two years when 22 sitting Congress MLAs along with party heavyweight Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from Congress to join the BJP. 

Karnataka also turned out to be a political pandemonium, after no party got a majority in the 2018 assembly elections. After the hung assembly, BS Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the chief minister by the governor but resigned due to not being able to muster the majority. Later, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) stitched an alliance to form a government with HD Kumaraswamy as the chief minister. 

However, 14 months later, over a dozen MLAs of the ruling coalition resigned, resulting in the fall of the Kumaraswamy government. 

In July 2019, BS Yediyurappa again returned as the chief minister. However, BJP replaced Yeddyurappa with Basavaraj Bommai in July last year. Karnataka holds great importance for the BJP as it is the only state in the south that is ruled by the party. 

Since the formation of Telangana, K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has been in power. Now with national ambition, KCR has relaunched his party as Bharat Rashtra Samithi to take on the Modi government at the Centre. On the other side, BJP is trying hard to make inroads in Telangana. 

TRS recently logged victory in the high-stakes Munugode bypolls. 

Moving to Tripura, BJP swept the 2018 polls by winning 35 seats in the 60-member Assembly. However, the party replaced Biplab Deb with Manik Saha as the chief minister earlier this year as part of a strategy ahead of the polls. But, the next state elections are believed to be not a cakewalk for the BJP with the aggressive emergence of the Trinamool Congress. Abhishek Banerjee, TMC national general secretary and nephew of Mamata Banerjee made several visits to the Northeastern state to strengthen the party organisation. 

Pertinent to mention, earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and inaugurated various development projects worth over Rs 4,350 crore in Agartala. He also held a roadshow in the city. 

In the 2018 Meghalaya state assembly polls, Congress emerged as the single largest party but failed to secure the majority form a government. BJP which won only two seats formed an alliance with the National People’s Party (NPP) to form the government. 

But the fight will be more interesting this time since NPP leader and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma announced that his party would contest the 2023 polls alone. 

In Nagaland, BJP joined hands with the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) before the 2018 elections and formed the government. 

In Mizoram, Mizo National Front is in power led by Chief Minister Zoramthanga. MNF won 26 out of 40 seats in the 2018 assembly elections. Congress managed to get only five. For the first time, BJP also opened its account in the state. Notably, MNF is a member of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) and also an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.

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

‘Rishabh Pant’s belongings were not stolen after the accident, he was rescued by 2 persons and all belongings handed over to family’: Uttarakhand police

OpIndia Staff
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‘Rishabh Pant’s belongings were not stolen after the accident, he was rescued by 2 persons and all belongings handed over to family’: Uttarakhand police

Uttarakhand police said on 30th December 2022 that cricketer Rishabh Pant’s stuff was not stolen after he met with an accident early in the morning. The police said that some media outlets are spreading misinformation that Rishabh Pant, injured in an accident, was looted when he was waiting for help on the highway. The police have refuted all such claims and said that all his belongings were collected by people who had rescued him and the same was given to the cricketer’s mother.

Uttarakhand’s Director General of Police Ashok Kumar tweeted, “The information about people stealing cricketer Rishabh Pant Ji’s belongings after the road accident is untrue. Those who are spreading this misleading news, please do not do so. Share the video of SSP Haridwar Ajay Singh with such people.” DGP Ashok Kumar also shared a video of SSP Ajay Singh.

In this video, SSP Ajay Singh said, “After primary treatment, Rishabh Pant reached the Max Hospital. According to the primary information received, he has not received any serious injuries. However, he is under doctors’ observation. Also, some media portals and channels are spreading the misinformation that some people had looted the cricketer’s money or chain, or other belongings. This story is totally false. Because the roadways employees called immediately, the police from the nearby checkpost reached the spot within a few minutes. As the car had caught fire, saving him was our top priority. Therefore, he was immediately brought to the hospital.”

He added, “The valuables Rishabh Pant was wearing, especially a platinum chain and a gold bracelet, and rupees four thousand in cash that was kept in his clothes, were handed over to his mother. I have confirmed this after talking to his family members. A bag containing some clothes was also recovered from the vehicle. We handed it over to Rishabh Pant’s family members immediately. For analyzing the incident, we had to go through the CCTV footage of the nearby CCTV cameras. In that footage, we did not come across any such incident in which some youths were stealing Rishabh Pant’s belongings as misinformed by some media outlets. So this story is totally false. I am in contact with his family members. Therefore it is clear that the news being spread in this regard is baseless.”

It seems lots of misinformation was spread about the accident of Rishav Pant. Apart from allegations that the cricketer was looted after the accident, it was also said that he had come out of the vehicle himself by smashing the windshield and he had called the ambulance himself. But two persons, the driver and the conductor of a roadways bus that had arrived at the bus moments after the accident, has said that it was them who rescued Pant and called the ambulance.

Talking to Sports Tak, driver Sushil Kumar and conductor Paramjit Nain said that they saw the crashed car, they found Rishav Pant unconscious inside the car with half of the body outside. They pulled him out and laid him on the divider. The cricketer regained consciousness several minutes later and introduced himself. The duo also searched the vehicle to check for any other people, and when asked Pant asked about the same, he said that he was alone. They further said that they immediately called the helpline, and an ambulance came after some time.

Kumar and Nain also said that they collected his belongings, including a bag from the car, which was handed over to the police. They said that they collected around Rs 7000 in cash from the accident spot, and handed over the same to the police. The duo also said that only 3-4 people came down from the bus to the crash site. They also covered Pant with a shawl taken from a passenger and gave him water to drink. Sushil Kumar said that the car was engulfed in fire just 5-6 minutes after they pulled him out of the car.

In another statement issued earlier today, SSP Ajay Singh had said that Rishav Pant was helped by Haryana Roadways bus driver Sushil Kumar and the conductor, and they had called the helpline. Police along with an ambulance reached the spot and took him to a nearby hospital, after that he was shifted to Max Hospital.

The police version of the incident matches with how the driver-conductor duo narrated the incident. Therefore, it is confirmed that Rishav Pant was rescued by two persons who called the ambulance, and Pant neither got out of the car himself nor he called the ambulance.

Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman tweeted thanking the bus driver for rescuing Rishav Pant in time. “Gratitude to Sushil Kumar, a Haryana Roadways driver who took Rishabh Pant away from the burning car, wrapped him with a bedsheet, and called the ambulance. We are very indebted to you for your selfless service, Sushil ji. Real Hero,” he said.

Rishabh Pant met with a road accident

Indian ace cricketer Rishabh Pant met with an accident at the Narsan border of Roorkee in Uttarakhand. The incident reportedly took place when he was returning home from the National Capital. The car carrying Pant collided with a divider and then caught fire. Reportedly, the fire was brought under control with great difficulty.

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