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Supreme Court suspends Bombay High Court order acquitting urban Naxal GN Saibaba, says the HC erred by not going into merits of the case

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court suspends Bombay High Court order acquitting urban Naxal GN Saibaba, says the HC erred by not going into merits of the case

The Supreme Court on Saturday suspended the Bombay High Court order acquitting former Delhi University professor Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba in a case for his links with Maoists, along with 5 others. The apex court also stayed the release of the convicted persons.

The High Court had acquitted the urban Naxals on a technicality, overlooking the merits of the case considered in detail by the trial court. The HC had said that the prosecution had not obtained sanction from the central govt to prosecute GN Saibaba under UAPA. Further, while the required sanction was obtained to prosecute the other 5 under UAPA, the High Court declared the sanction invalid. Maharashtra government had moved the Supreme Court contending that failure to grant sanction cannot lead to acquittal in view of Section 465 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Immediately after the Bombay High Court had delivered the judgement, the Maharashtra government had approached the Supreme Court challenging it, and the apex court agreed for a special sitting to hear the case. A bench of justices MR Shah & Bela Trivedi heard the case, and ruled that the High Court took a wrong approach.

Representing the Maharashtra government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the High Court erred in by not going into the merit of the case when the trial had been concluded and the accused had been convicted, but declared the entire trial null and void just because sanction from the govt was not taken. Mehta also said that while sanction was taken obtained for GN Saibaba, for the other 5 the sanction was granted.

The court also noted that the accused had not raised the matter of sanction specifically during the trial, and the trial court had noted this aspect in the judgement. Justice Shah said that while the court didn’t find fault with the accused, they find fault with the Bombay High Court for not considering the merits of the case at all.

The Supreme Court said that GN Saibaba has not been acquitted on merits, he has only been discharged. The bench said that they find it fit case to suspend the impugned judgment and order of the High Court. Giving reasoning for the order, the bench said that the accused were convicted after detailed appreciation of evidence. Further, the offences are very serious, and if the state succeeds on merits, offences are very serious against the interest of the society, sovereignty and integrity of India.

The Supreme Court said that the High Court has not considered the merits, and the court discharged the accused only on the ground that the sanction was invalid for the other 5 and sanction was not obtained for Saibaba. With this order, the Supreme Court stayed the release of Saibaba and the 4 others as ordered by the High Court.

The others convicted in the case were Mahesh Kariman Tirki (22), late Pandu Pora Narote (27), Hem Keshavdatta Mishra (32), Prashant Rahi Narayan Sanglikar (54) and Vijay Nan Tirki (3). GN Saibaba was arrested later, and their trials were clubbed with his trial. Pandu Pora Naroted died during the trial.

The apex court also rejected Saibaba’s appeal to keep him under house arrest and not in jail due to his medical condition. The bench said that this request cannot be accepted at this stage when the accused was already convicted by trial court. The solicitor general had opposed this request, saying that even from home he can communicate with Maoists and keep running antinational agenda. “There is a recent tendency from urban naxals to seek house arrests. But everything can be done from within the home for them. even by phone. Please say that house arrest can never be an option,” Tushar Mehta said.

Commenting on Saibaba’s health condition, the court noted that earlier he had applied for bail on health grounds and the same was rejected. However, the court said that the convicts have the liberty to appeal for bail.

Tajinder Bagga calls AAP’s Gopal Italia “Congress ka paap”, Congress hits back calling AAP ‘Najayaz Aulad’ of RSS

OpIndia Staff
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Tajinder Bagga calls AAP’s Gopal Italia “Congress ka paap”, Congress hits back calling AAP ‘Najayaz Aulad’ of RSS

On Saturday, Delhi BJP leader and spokesperson Tajinder Bagga quoting a tweet posted by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Gujarat leader Gopal Italia in 2018 took a jibe at Italia for being a “paap of Congress”. However, the official Twitter handle of Daman and Diu Congress Sevadal replied to Bagga’s tweet alleging that the Aam Aadmi Party is an illegitimate child of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Notably, in his 2018 tweet, Gopal Italia wrote, “Exercising constitutional powers, Congress (@/INCIndia) should expose the drama of the BJP in front of the people by bringing a private member bill in the Rajya Sabha on the issue of Ram temple.”

To this, Tajinder Bagga took a jibe and tweeted, “Not a snake of AAP but a sin of Congress.”

Interestingly, the Daman and Diu Congress Sevadal jumped in, replied to Bagga’s tweet, and wrote, “BJP’s agent is now telling his own illegitimate child as neighbour’s, the whole world knows that the father of BJP and AAP is ##RSS!”

Bagga quoting the Sevadal tweet pointed out the language used by the congress body handle and the culture of ’Sonia Gandhi’s Congress’.

“Culture and language of Sonia Gandhi’s Congress,” he tweeted.

Notably, this is not the first time a Congress official account has attracted controversy on Twitter.

Congress tweets and deletes fake ‘AajTak survey’

The Congress party lauded its leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday (October 13) for allegedly overtaking Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the people’s choice, based on an imaginary poll attributed to news outlet Aaj Tak.

According to the ‘photoshopped survey,’ the Congress scion has a 52% approval rating, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a 46% approval rating.

The official Twitter account of the Delhi Congress tweeted, “The mood of the nation is changing.” People have now decided to teach a lesson to those who make false promises (a reference to the BJP and Prime Minister Modi).”

Screengrab of the Tweet by the Congress party

The joy of the Congress ecosystem, however, was short-lived, as Aaj Tak was forced to refute the misinformation spread in its name.

The news outlet clarified in a tweet that no such survey was conducted by its team and that the image shared by the Delhi Congress had been manipulated. “Delhi Congress, the information shared via your tweet is false,” it clarified. The image has been manipulated. Aaj Tak did not conduct such a survey, and it is a fake.”

“As a responsible political organization, we expect you to remove this misleading tweet that falsely attributes Aaj Tak as promptly as possible,” it asserted.

Soon after, the Delhi Congress deleted the tweet without apologizing for spreading misinformation.

Congress leader Nagma Morarji’s ‘fake letter’ tweet

Earlier this year, Congress leader Nagma Morarji tweeted a forged letter purporting to be from India’s Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The alleged letter directed Uttarkhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to provide former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma with Z security as soon as possible.

“In the current scenario, I recommend that you evaluate emerging threats to Smt Nupur Sharma’s family house in Dehradun and provide Z security on an urgent basis,” the letter said.

Furthermore, the alleged letter named Nupur Sharma as an RSS ideologue who could aid in the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra. Swati Goel Sharma, a journalist, was quick to call her bluff. Morarji quickly deleted her tweet after it was pointed out that the letter was fake, of course, without apologizing.

Congress’s “Rice Bag” joke

In October 2021, Maharashtra Congress Sevadal cracked a ‘rice bag’ joke to target PM Modi. Quoting ANI’s tweet that talked about PM Modi’s meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Sevadal cracked a ‘Rice Bag’ joke. The organization wrote, “BIG BREAKING: IMD warns of a massive shortage of rice due to low yield and untimely rains. PM Modi taking all necessary steps in the direction.”

Congress Sevadal
Congress Sevadal’s Tweet

‘Rice Bag Converts,’ ‘Rice Christians,’ or simply ‘Rice Bags’ are people who convert to Christianity after being persuaded to do so by Christian missionaries promising material benefits. The phrase has been used for centuries. Rice Christians, according to The Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, are “converts to Christianity for worldly benefits, such as a supply of rice to Indians.” The profession of Christianity born of lucre, not faith.”

Over time, the term has come into common use to mock Christians who converted for financial gain.

Congress’s ‘whitewashing’ of Islamic tyrant Aurangzeb

In May of this year, the Maharashtra Congress Sevadal attempted to whitewash the crimes of tyrants such as Aurangzeb.

The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Sevadal’s official handle insinuated that the ancient Hindu temple was not destroyed by the Mughal emperor, claiming that a photograph taken in 1890 can prove that Aurangzeb destroyed the temple when the Mughal emperor had died nearly two centuries before.

Congress Sevadal attempted to dismiss Aurangzeb’s destruction of the temple in order to build simply because a photograph of the partially destroyed wall was taken decades later. But the fact remains that the original Kashi Vishwanath temple was destroyed during Aurangzeb’s reign, and the mosque was built on its ruins. Even Muslims do not deny this fact; they only justify it by claiming that Aurangzeb ordered the demolition.

Telangana court acquits 24 out-on-bail Muslim men accused in 2008 Bhainsa communal riots that broke out during Durga puja Visarjan

OpIndia Staff
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Telangana court acquits 24 out-on-bail Muslim men accused in 2008 Bhainsa communal riots that broke out during Durga puja Visarjan

On Wednesday, October 13, a local court in Adilabad district dismissed the case and acquitted 24 Muslim men accused in the violence that broke out between Hindus and Muslims in Bhainsa town in Nirmal district, Telangana, in the year 2008.

All the accused were already out on bail, which was granted to them merely 3-months after the incident.

While pronouncing the judgement, the principal judge of Adilabad court, Madhavi Krishna, advised the accused “to behave with good conduct in the society” and warned them against indulging in any kind of communal violence in the future.

Senior counsel Mohammad Ghouse Siddiqui, who defended the case on behalf of the 18 Muslim accused had argued before the court that, “the police submitted a charge sheet in the case in 2012, four years after the incident occurred.”

“The police had filed the case under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (violence using weapons) and 149 (unlawful assembly to commit an offence), besides 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, they could not prove the charges,” Siddiqui said.

The counsel representing the accused further added that all 24 accused were released on bail within three months of the incident, as the police had failed to file the charge sheet in the stipulated time.

Based on this argument, the court acquitted the accused, stating that the prosecution had failed to provide adequate evidence to substantiate the accusations.

On October 10, 2008, three people were killed and fifteen others were injured in communal riots and subsequent police firing in the communally sensitive Bhainsa town, which was then part of the unified Adilabad district.

The violence erupted during the immersion procession of Durga idols, which coincided with the time when the Muslims in the area gathered to offer Friday Namaz. As per reports, the Hindu procession was passing through a road next to the Panjeshah mosque in the town and the people inside the shrine objected to music being played as their prayers were on. That led to a heated argument between the members of the two communities. What followed next was a round of stone pelting and the situation got out of control.

Hindus alleged that stones were pelted at the Idol immersion procession from the place of worship and Muslims claimed that the participants in the procession had pelted stones at a place of worship.

During the clashes, miscreants plundered and set fire to 150 shops and 20 vehicles. To control the situation, the police used brute force but when that didn’t help the authorities opened fire in the air. According to police officials at the time, the situation was brought under control after 35 bullets were fired into the air. A week-long curfew was also imposed to restore normalcy in the area.

Accused of involvement in the riots, 25 Muslims of Bhainsa were detained by the police and a case was registered against them.

Bhainsa has a history of violence

Since 2008, Bhainsa has been considered a hyper-sensitive area. However, there had been peace for a long time until last year when Bhainsa again saw rioting between Hindus and Muslims.

On March 7, Hindus and Muslims clashed and reportedly pelted stones at each other in Bhainsa, Nirmal district, Telangana. As per initial reports, ten people, including media persons, civilians and police personnel, were injured, and two houses and at least one auto-rickshaw were set ablaze during the incident.

Prior to this in January 2020, a clash broke out between Hindu and Muslim communities that left around 11 people injured. Reports suggested that 18 houses were set on fire in Korbagalli street, and several bikes were torched. BJP MLA Raja Singh was put under house arrest. He had alleged that AIMIM was behind the attack on Hindus in Bhainsa. On February 3, it was reported that the Telangana government filed a case against a journalist for reporting how Muslim mobs attacked Hindu homes amidst chants of “Allah ho Akbar”.

Iran: Ayatollah Khamenei warns further crackdown of anti-Hijab protests, says Islamic Republic is ‘mighty tree’ that cannot be uprooted

OpIndia Staff
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Iran: Ayatollah Khamenei warns further crackdown of anti-Hijab protests, says Islamic Republic is ‘mighty tree’ that cannot be uprooted

On Friday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, said that nobody should dare to think that they can uproot the Islamic Republic, warning the protestors who are holding protests since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran’s ‘morality police’. Amini was detained by Iran’s ‘Morality Police’ for wearing the Hijab in an ‘improper manner’. She was arrested by the police and then assaulted in the police van while being driven to a detention centre for a “re-education lesson”.

Ayatollah Khamenei equated the Islamic Republic of Iran to an unshakeable tree. “That seedling has grown into a mighty tree, and no one should dare to think they can uproot it,” he warned on state TV.

Iranian police had security forces have been using brutal forces to contain the protests against the regime and its mandatory hijab law that have spread to the entire country. The protest is mainly led by young women, including students of colleges and schools. According to rights groups, over 200 citizens have been killed in the crackdown, including teenage girls. The Iranian government disagrees that the protests are led by its own citizens, and alleges that it is being instigated by ‘foreign powers’.

According to a witness, police were heavily deployed in the city of Dezful on Friday after activists called for protests in the largely ethnic Arab, oil-rich province of Khuzestan near the Iraqi border.

Protesters in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan, can be seen in videos shared on social media chanting “Death to the dictator.” Basij volunteer militia forces leading the motorcycle crackdown were seen pushing people back.

“There are many Basijis. Protesters are being pushed and beaten. ‘We are Kurdistan, we are Lorestan,’ men and women are chanting “slogans meant to show solidarity among Iran’s ethnic minorities, according to a witness

According to two witnesses, there was a heavy deployment of police and the Basij in Zahedan, the capital of the Sistan-Baluchistan province near the border with Pakistan in the southeast.

On Twitter, activist @1500tasvir shared a video purportedly showing protesters marching in Zahedan and wrote, “Today, people in Zahedan protested against the killing of people in this city by repressive agents of the Islamic Republic, chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic system, including “Death to Khamenei.”

Iran has blamed the violence on domestic and international enemies, including armed separatists and Western powers, accusing them of plotting against the Islamic Republic.

Authorities deny that security forces killed protesters. According to state television, at least 26 members of the security forces were killed.

The death of Mahsa Amini and the crackdown have drawn strong reactions from the United States and other Western countries, prompting new sanctions against Iranian officials and raising tensions at a time when talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal have stalled. The State television broadcast pro-government rallies in Tehran on the birthday of Prophet Mohammad.

On Saturday, a state-affiliated Islamic body urged Iranians to chant “Allahu Akbar”. During the night, many protesters chanted anti-government slogans from their windows and roofs. Notably, Iran has seven major ethnic minorities in addition to the majority of Persians, with a population of 87 million.

Former Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court shot dead by unidentified assailants outside a mosque

OpIndia Staff
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Former Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court shot dead by unidentified assailants outside a mosque

In Pakistan’s troubled Balochistan province, a former chief justice of the Balochistan High Court reportedly died after being shot as he left a mosque after Friday evening prayers. Muhammad Noor Maskanzai, who had sustained several gunshot wounds, passed away on the way to a Quetta hospital, some 280 kilometres from Kharan, the place where he had been shot.

The former chief justice of the Balochistan High Court suffered serious injuries in the targeted shooting as he was leaving the mosque, according to a senior Pak police official. According to DIG Police Nazeer Ahmed Kurd, he had just concluded his prayers and was leaving the mosque when he was shot by unidentified assailants.

He said that two other people were critically hurt in the shooting and were in critical condition at the hospital. One of the most hazardous areas in the Balochistan province is Kharan, which has been the target of an ongoing terror campaign by rebel and anti-government terrorist organisations.

In the recent year, there has been an upsurge in deadly assaults against security officers and facilities, as well as foreign nationals and natives from neighbouring provinces. According to sources, earlier in the day, a remote-controlled bomb attack in Mastung killed three people and injured four others, with the probable target being a high-profile tribal leader and politician who escaped unharmed.

This comes in the wake of the country’s worsening situation on the ground. Pakistan’s State Minister for Law, Shahadat Hussain, said earlier this month that terrorist activity had increased significantly. According to an Islamabad-based think tank, September saw the largest number of terror occurrences in Pakistan this year, owing to the resumption of strikes by the proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

September saw 42 terrorist strikes, representing a 35% rise over August. The Pakistani think tank also discovered a 106% surge in violence in the former Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces (KP). According to the think tank, terrorists carried out 31 strikes throughout Pakistan in August of this year, killing 37 people and injuring 55 others.

Story behind full-page ad asking USA to ban Nirmala Sitharaman, former SC Judges, ED officials, others: Magnitsky Act, UPA era deal and a fugitive

Dibakar Dutta
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Story behind full-page ad asking USA to ban Nirmala Sitharaman, former SC Judges, ED officials, others: Magnitsky Act, UPA era deal and a fugitive

Ramachandran Viswanathan, a US citizen of Indian origin, has been at loggerheads with the Indian government so much so that he wants Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and 10 others banned by the Biden administration.

Dubbed a ‘fugitive economic offender‘ by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Viswanathan is pleading with the US government to impose visa and economic sanctions against 11 Indians for supposed ‘corruption’ and ‘human rights violation’ – with no proof, of course.

Besides Nirmala Sitharaman, the list includes Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, and Supreme Court Judges Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian. The Director, Assistant Director and Deputy Director of the ED are also named by Viswanathan.

The ‘economic offender’ has pinned his hopes on the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act of 2016, which empowers the US government to sanction foreign govt officials, freeze their assets and stop them from entering the country for ‘human rights violations.’

Newspaper advertisement by Ramachandran Viswanathan

In August this year, Frontiers of Freedom filed a petition, on the behest of Viswanathan, with the US State Department wherein it declared Nirmala Sitharaman and 10 others as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Magnitsky 11.’ And on 13th October, they published a full-page advertisement in the DC edition of the Wall Street Journal urging the US govt to impose economic and visa sanctions against the Indian finance minister and the 10 others.

The contentious advertisement read, “These Modi Government officials have decimated the rule of law by weaponizing the institutions of the state to settle scores with political and business rivals, making India unsafe for investors.”

“We have asked the U.S. government to impose economic and visa sanctions against them under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Under Modi, a decline in the rule of law has made India a dangerous place to invest. If you are an investor in India, you might be next,” it warned.

The Bone of Contention: An UPA-era deal

The year was 2004. Ramachandran Viswanathan co-founded a company by the name of ‘Devas Multimedia Private Limited’ in Bengaluru to provide satellite-based multimedia services.

A year later, Devas signed a deal with the Antrix Corporation, the commercial and marketing arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). As per the agreement, Antrix was to build 2 satellites

According to the contract, Antrix was to build two satellites (GSAT 6 and 6A) while Devas was supposed to use the S-band transponders of the communication satellites to provide multimedia services to Indian mobile subscribers.

Reportedly, the deal was backed by multiple investors including Deutsche Telekom (DT) of Germany and 3 Mauritian telecommunication companies. As was common during the UPA era, the Antrix-Devas deal went under scrutiny over allegations of irregularities and corruption.

It was alleged that Devas had insider knowledge with respect to the commercialisation of the S-band spectrum and that it was obtained by the Bengaluru-based startup at throwaway prices. The 2G scam was the last nail in the coffin.

Over accusations of ‘quid pro quo’, the Congress-led UPA government terminated the deal in 2011. The decision to terminate the deal was made way back in July 2010 by the Indian Space Commission but the public announcement was made only in February month of the following year.

Interestingly, the government did not apprise Devas about the development and made the public announcement directly. And thus began an 11-year-long legal battle!

India left red-faced in BIT tribunals and ICC

The foreign investors from Germany and Mauritius, backing the Antrix-Devas deal, brought Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) claims against India. According to Business Today, BIT is meant to prevent unwarranted intervention and violation of investors’ rights by regulatory bodies in a foreign nation.

The Indian government argued that the deal had to be cancelled due to the growing demand of the S-band satellite spectrum for national security. However, it failed to make a mark and the tribunals ruled in favour of the foreign investors.

The tribunals blamed the UPA govt for repeated delays and indecision in the allocation of the S-band spectrum and concluded that there was no emergency for reclaiming the spectrum.

In 2020, India was asked to pay $160 million plus interest to Mauritius investors and $132 million plus interest to German investors. To add salt to the wound, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) directed ISRO’s commercial arm, Antrix, to cough up 562.5 million in damages to Devas.

If accounted for the interest, the amount stands at a whopping $1.2 billion. An appeal to stay the arbitration award has so far failed to bring any favourable outcome.

The vindictive approach of Devas and its liquidation

Devas Multimedia Private Limited, co-founded by Ramachandran Viswanathan, has been vindictive in its approach ever since the fallout with the UPA-era government.

It is pursuing legal cases in Canada, France and the United States to seize the foreign assets of Antrix and the Indian government. So far, Devas has been granted permission to recover $23 million dollars of Air India’s revenue, which is currently in possession of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Reportedly, a French court also ordered to freeze of the 3.8 million euro apartment of India’s deputy chief of mission in Paris, on the behest of Devas. Ramachandran Viswanathan is now seeking to ban the entry of Nirmala Sitharaman and 10 others to the US.

The ‘fugitive economic offender’ is miffed at the decision of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to liquidate his company. In January last year, Antrix moved the tribunal, seeking its liquidation. It had argued that Devas was founded with fraudulent motives.

NCLT ordered the liquidation of the company in May 2021, which was then challenged in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). However, it was of no avail and Viswanathan decided to approach the Supreme Court of India.

In January 2022, the apex court upheld the order for liquidation and rejected the claim that Antrix wanted to deprive it of the favourable arbitration awards. While the liquidation of Devas is imminent, its co-founder has now sought to defame India and weaken the trust of foreign investors.

The labelling of India’s Finance Minister as a Human rights violator, along with ED officials and Supreme Court judges shows how far a ‘salty’ Indian-origin investor can go to defame his own home country.

Tamil Nadu: Virat Kohli fan murders his friend, a Rohit Sharma fan, after the latter mocked the cricket captain, arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Virat Kohli fan murders his friend, a Rohit Sharma fan, after the latter mocked the cricket captain, arrested

In Tamil Nadu, a cricket debate between two drunken friends turned violent when one was stabbed to death by the other for mocking his icon. According to reports, a youth was killed for making fun of Virat Kohli and his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) IPL squad. The incident reportedly took place on Tuesday (October 11) night near the SIDCO Industrial Estate in Mallur, Tamil Nadu.

According to reports, P Vignesh (26) and S Dharmaraj (21), both cricket fans, got into a verbal spat over the sport on Tuesday. Vignesh, a Mumbai Indian fan, disparaged Virat Kohli and RCB, which irritated Dharmaraj. The argument quickly evolved into a physical battle, and Dharmaraj attacked his friend Vignesh with a bottle, then with a cricket bat, before fleeing the spot.

The police team investigating the matter stated that Vignesh frequently made fun of Dharmaraj’s stammering. According to media reports, on the day of the incident also, Vignesh poked fun at Dharmaraj and even body-shamed him for his speech defect and compared that with Kohli and RCB’s performances, which further infuriated his friend.

“During the course of their debate, Vignesh had allegedly mocked RCB and Virat Kohli. Vignesh had the habit of body shaming Dharmaraj, who was a stammerer. On that day he had made some remarks comparing the RCB team to the speaking difficulty of Dharmaraj. This infuriated Dharmaraj who attacked Vignesh with a bottle and later hit him with a cricket bat on the head. Dharmaraj soon fled the spot,” said the police.

A police team recovered Vignesh’s body on Wednesday morning, bringing the tragedy to light. Dharmaraj was arrested on Thursday after a murder complaint was filed against him. The body of the victim was taken to the Ariyalur Medical College Hospital for an autopsy.

After Rajasthan HC denied bail to Gauhar Chisti, Nadeem Ansari, who posted a video depicting Nupur Sharma’s beheading, granted bail by Allahabad HC

OpIndia Staff
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After Rajasthan HC denied bail to Gauhar Chisti, Nadeem Ansari, who posted a video depicting Nupur Sharma’s beheading, granted bail by Allahabad HC

Nadeem Ansari, who uploaded a video on Facebook depicting the beheading of former BJP spokesman Nupur Sharma, has been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court. He was granted bail by the Justice Deepak Verma bench after taking the case’s facts and circumstances into account.

Ansari was arrested on June 13, 2022, and has been charged under Section 153. A, 295. A, 505(2) I.P.C., and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2008 on the grounds that he attempted to stir up racial unrest by posting a video on Facebook and his mobile device depicting the beheading of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Nadeem Ansari submitted the immediate normal bail application in front of the court and claimed that he was innocent and had been wrongfully accused in the case.

The bail order. (Source: Live Law)

This comes after the Rajasthan High Court on Thursday, October 13, refused bail to Gauhar Chishti, the Khadim of the Ajmer Dargah, who had called for the former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma to be beheaded. On July 14, 2022, the police in Hyderabad arrested Chishti. The court ruled that Chishti’s active arrest from Hyderabad and the alleged recovery of several mobile phones were proof of his claimed active involvement in the crime.

Outside the Ajmer dargah on June 17, Gauhar Chishti shouted pro-beheading statements. His remarks went viral, and Kanhaiya Lal and Umesh Kolhe, two Hindu tailors from Udaipur, are said to have been brutally murdered in Maharashtra as a result.

The controversy over Nupur Sharma’s comments during a TV debate has taken a terrible turn, with Sharma receiving numerous death threats and numerous others being attacked by Islamists simply for supporting her on social media and elsewhere. Many individuals have already been brutally killed by Islamists because of their support for Nupur Sharma. Several other persons have received death threats.

Further, the terrorist organisation Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) threatened Hindus and Sikhs in June of this year in response to Nupur Sharma’s remarks on Prophet Muhammad. On June 6, this year, Al Qaeda issued a letter threatening suicide bombings in Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat in order to “fight for the honour of the Prophet.”

Torch bearers of freedom of speech and the press, Congress, threatens to take action against ScoopWhoop over old memes of Rahul Gandhi: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Torch bearers of freedom of speech and the press, Congress, threatens to take action against ScoopWhoop over old memes of Rahul Gandhi: Details

The Congress party has frequently argued that the BJP is hell-bent on undermining democracy’s fourth pillar. Party officials, particularly Rahul Gandhi, have regularly decried the lack of press freedom in Modi’s era. Last year, the dynasty-run party practically cried hoarse about India’s decline in the press freedom rankings.

However, it’s no secret that from the times of Jawaharlal Nehru to the present Sonia Gandhi era, the Congress party has been highly intolerant when it comes to accepting criticism from the press. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has left no room for dissent and has acted strictly against the press whenever they have raised fingers against their misdeeds. One of the recent examples was how the entire Congress ecosystem went after Arnab Goswami with hundreds of FIRs and a concocted TRP scam just because he called Sonia Gandhi by her maiden name.

Just another example of this hypocrisy was on display recently when some Congress leaders took to the microblogging site Twitter to threaten the Delhi-based digital media company ScoopWhoop with legal action over some old memes of Rahul Gandhi.

In April 2015, ScoopWhoop published an article titled: “These Rahul Gandhi Memes Will Tell You Why He Needs Special Treatment”, wherein it shared some hilarious memes about the Congress leader. It’s surprising, however, that it took the Congress leaders and their supporters a little over seven years to react to the memes shared by the digital platform.

Yesterday, on October 14, seemingly out of nowhere, INC youth leader Srinivas BV slammed ScoopWhoop for those 2015 humorous memes it had published in jest about Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi. The Congress loyalist threatened to sue ScoopWhoop if those ‘malicious, false, and defamatory’ Tweets were not deleted within 24 hours with an apology on all platforms.

Without providing details of the memes that had irked him, Srinivas BV Tweeted, “We take strong notice of these malicious, false and defamatory tweets by @ScoopWhoop aimed at tarnishing the image of the leader who is exposing the govt. Calling upon you to remove these tweets in 24 hours with an apology on all platforms or legal consequences will follow.”

Taking a cue from Srinivas, Supriya Shrinate, a former Journalist and the current national spokesperson for the Congress party, also lambasted ScoopWhoop by sharing a screenshot of one of the memes the digital media outlet had posted on their senior leader Rahul Gandhi in May 2015.

“The only one man who looks Modi and the BJP in the eye and speaks truth to power is Rahul Gandhi. Delete this tweet @ScoopWhoop and apologise. This is in very bad taste, we will be forced to pursue it legally,” Tweeted Shrinate.

A Twitter user going by the handle @standon1983 was one of the first to publish screenshots of four of ScoopWhoop’s humorous Rahul Gandhi memes. The Congress sycophant seemed to be so triggered that he also brought up the sexual assault case in which the company’s CEO was accused to criticise the digital platform.

This Twitter user’s post was most likely the tipping point for Congress leaders, who lambasted the digital media site and threatened it with legal action. This behaviour by Congress supporters in attempting to harass the media outlet is hardly surprising given that the Congress party has traditionally been extremely intolerant of criticism from the press.

The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has left no room for dissent and has acted strictly against the press whenever they have raised fingers against their misdeeds. In fact, OpIndia had earlier chronicled a list of violations of press freedom committed by the Congress party.

The cycle of dictatorial tendencies that began with Jawaharlal Nehru being the country’s first Prime Minister has continued to thrive in the party’s genes even after seven decades. Perhaps the time has come for people to recognise that the Congress party’s claim to be a champion of free speech is an exaggeration, if not sheer propaganda.

Kerala Human Sacrifice: Police scrutinizing accused Mohammad Shafi’s financial dealings, Shafi travelled across Kerala, searched SM for targets

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala Human Sacrifice: Police scrutinizing accused Mohammad Shafi’s financial dealings, Shafi travelled across Kerala, searched SM for targets

The special investigation team (SIT) investigating Kerala’s Elanthoor human sacrifice case is scrutinising accused Mohammed Shafi’s financial dealings to see if more people are involved in the horrific murders.

The SIT is also collecting information about Shafi’s pledge of 36 grams of gold. Investigation suggests that the jewellery he pledged in a financial firm near his rented house in Gandhi Nagar, Kochi, belonged to victim Padmam, the lottery seller sacrificed on September 26 by Shafi and couple Bhagaval Singh and Laila. Shafi’s wife Nabeesa told the SIT that Shafi had given her Rs 40,000 from the money he received for pledging the ornaments.

On Friday, the SIT searched Shafi’s rented house for nearly six hours and recovered papers from vehicles he owns as well as other documents. They also collected evidence at his home and the restaurant he ran in the city in order to recover the ornaments.

According to the police, Shafi collected Rs 1.1 lakh from the firm by falsely claiming that a woman from Tamil Nadu had lent him the gold to help with his financial problems. Padmam was from Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu.

Shafi had pledged gold ornaments allegedly belonging to the deceased in several Kochi firms. They stated that they are looking for Shafi’s SUV, in which he moved the victims from Kochi to Elanthoor, NewIndianExpress reported.

The SIT is also finding out if the main accused Shafi received help from a fourth party in carrying out the heinous crime. Other than Shafi, Bhagaval Singh and his wife Laila was arrested by Kochi city police for kidnapping and murdering two women (Padmam and Roselyn) as a part of the black magic ritual for financial gains.

Shafi created a fake profile on social media with the fake name Sreedevi to approach Bhagaval Singh. Shafi developed a friendship with the couple and somehow convinced the couple to perform human sacrifice. 

Notably, the police have requested the court that it needs to be investigated whether Shafi received assistance from someone else. The investigation discovered his suspicious presence in places like Kochi, Kottayam, and Malayatoor besides Pathanamthitta in recent times.

On Thursday, police informed the court that Shafi had travelled across the state and brought several people to the accused couple’s house at Elanthoor before carrying out the horrifying human sacrifices. Thus, it is important to record statements from these people.

Police also asserted that the statements of those including some people from the film industry who stayed at the couple’s house for Ayurvedic treatment also needed to be collected. The police submitted that it is important to examine whether missing cases involving women in various parts of the state had any link with the accused.

Notably, the Ernakulam Judicial First-Class Magistrate Court accepted the arguments of the investigation team. The court has granted police custody of all three accused until October 24.

As per the court orders to conduct a medical examination of all the accused every three days and submit the reports, the accused were taken to the Ernakulam General Hospital and after conducting their medical examination, they were taken to the Police Club at Kadavantra.

Kerala Human sacrifice case

The Kerala police unearthed disturbing details in the case of human sacrifice and black magic to bring prosperity and wealth to a family in the state. Three accused were arrested by Kochi city police for kidnapping and killing two women as part of black magic rituals. Mohammed Shafi (agent), Bhagaval Singh, and his wife Laila have been identified as the three accused. Now shocking details of the horrifying crime have surfaced.

One of the victims, Roselyn Varghese, was lured by the accused Mohammed Shafi to the accused couple’s house in Pathanamthitta to act in a porn film and was reportedly offered Rs 10 lakh. Upon reaching the couple’s house, Roselyn was tied to the bed by the couple saying that it was part of the porn film shoot. Then Shafi smashed the victim’s head, inserted a knife her into her private parts, and minutes later slit the throat of the victim, who died on the spot, according to the report by the Kerala Police.

As per an India Today report, the victim’s breasts were chopped off and were kept out of the “ritual”. The victim’s blood was spilled everywhere. Later, all three accused cut the body of the victim into pieces, and buried it in multiple pits near the accused couple’s house.

Padmam, another victim was brutalized in a similar manner. Padmam was reported missing on September 26. She was lured by Shafi into acting in a porn film and was promised Rs 15,000 in return. According to the police, CCTV footage shows Padmam leaving in a car with Shafi on the same day.

An argument broke out between the victim and Shafi upon reaching the house. Shafi choked the victim using a plastic rope around her neck and after shifting her to another room as she fell unconscious, Shafi inserted a knife in the victim’s private parts and slit her throat. Later, the accused chopped her body into 56 pieces and buried it in pits. 

Notably, accused Laila has confessed to cooking and eating the flesh of the victims as they were told by Shafi that doing so will help them “preserve their youth.”

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