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Over 50 crores cash seized from TMC leader’s aide, ‘mistakes happen’ says WB CM: All you need to know about the SSC recruitment scam

Jhankar Mohta
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Over 50 crores cash seized from TMC leader’s aide, ‘mistakes happen’ says WB CM: All you need to know about the SSC recruitment scam

The Enforcement Directorate has unearthed another massive corruption scandal- the SSC recruitment scam, brewing in West Bengal involving the state’s Commerce and Industries Minister and Mamata Banerjee’s close confidante, Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee.

In the raids being carried out in connection with the ongoing investigation of the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam, the federal agency has, thus far, recovered a little over Rs 50 crores in cash and Rs 4.31 crore worth of gold from multiple locations linked to Arpita Mukherjee, a close associate of arrested cabinet minister Partha Chatterjee.

Partha Chatterjee was the former education minister in the state in the Mamata Banerjee government.

According to reports, the ED carried out a fresh raid at Mukherjee’s apartment complex in Kolkata’s Belgharia locality on Wednesday. They left this morning with 10 trunks of cash amounting to Rs 29 crores, besides 5 kg of jewellery and gold bars. The operation continued for 18 long hours. This was the second raid conducted by the agency. During the first raid on 22 July, a day before her arrest, the agency had recovered a whopping Rs 21.20 crores from the actor’s residence.

Besides the cash, jewellery worth Rs 20 lakhs, 22 mobile phones and Rs 54 lakh worth of foreign currency, a number of other incriminating documents, records, details of dubious companies and electronic devices, were also seized by the central agency.

On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) revealed that it recovered two black journals from the residence of Arpita Mukherjee in Kolkata which bears the details of the alleged School Service Commission (SSC) scam in West Bengal. One of the journals recovered from Mukherjee’s Diamond City South apartment has all the details of the West Bengal government’s department of higher education and school education.

According to reports, the black diary has 40 pages which consist of entries about the illegal appointment of teachers against bribes, collection of cash, and other details. 

Besides, the agency also unearthed many disproportionate assets, including the two flats in an apartment in Belgharia in Kolkata, from where the cash has been recovered, which the minister reportedly gifted to Arpita Mukherjee. It was discovered that in addition to the apartment he stays in, Partha Chatterjee owns three other properties in south Kolkata’s Tollygunge area. One of these flats is used exclusively for his dogs.

Notably, on Monday (July 25), a special court remanded Trinamool Congress (TMC) Minister Partha Chatterjee and actress Arpita Mukherjee to Enforcement Directorate custody for a period of 10 days.

The duo was arrested in connection to the School Service Commission (SSC) scam case. Arpita was arrested on July 23 this year, hours after the arrest of TMC Minister Partha Chatterjee in the same case. While remanding the duo in ED custody, the Court noted that the material produced before it by the central agency suggested that the offence was very serious.

It has been found that Partha Chatterjee owns a large number of flats, many of which he has gifted to his ‘close aides’ including Arpita Mukherjee and another woman named Monalisa Das. Arpita Chatterjee has told the ED that Partha Chatterjee used her flat as a ‘mini bank’. It is suspected that the flats gifted to Monalisa Das also were used for the same purpose.

Notably, Partha Chatterjee earned the majority of the money discovered hidden in Arpita Mukherjee’s apartments through embezzlement during the recruitment of Group-C and D staff members as well as teachers in government-sponsored and aided schools on recommendations of the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC). At the time of the alleged irregularities, Chatterjee served as the state’s education minister.

‘Mistakes happen’: Mamata Banerjee reacts to Partha Chatterjee’s involvement in the SSC scam

Meanwhile, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, under whose nose the alleged multi-crore scam took place, has reacted to the involvement of her minister in the scam by stating ‘mistakes happen’. Addressing a public gathering, the Trinamool Congress supremo further said that if found guilty, those who committed the mistake ‘should be subjected to punishment’.

Despite the seizure of an enormous amount of cash from the house of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of Partha Chatterjee, TMC leader and minister in the Mamata government, the latter continued to call the action by the federal agency a political vendetta.

Addressing a programme of Kolkata-based firm Titagarh Wagons on July 27, Banerjee asserted that businessmen, along with Opposition leaders, were being “threatened by agencies at the behest of the ruling BJP” at the Centre.

“I don’t have a problem if agencies function impartially. These should not be used to malign parties,” she said.

She further claimed that the media is running ‘malicious campaign’ against her party. “When you run a big institution, there can be mistakes. If anyone has committed any mistake, and it is proven legally, he or she must be punished. But I am against any malicious media campaign. Media is playing the role of kangaroo (court). A senior judge also said that recently,” said the WB CM.

Interestingly, the WB CM Mamata Banerjee had, earlier, denied links with Arpita Mukherjee. Her statement came soon after BJP released a video in which she was seen interacting with Arpita Mukherjee.

What is the Bengal Teacher SSC recruitment scam?

The West Bengal Teacher’s recruitment scam, more commonly referred to as the SSC scam, looks into the recruitment process conducted through the State Level Selection Test (SLT) conducted by SSC from 2014 to 2016.

The West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) announced in 2014 that teachers would be hired at state-run schools in West Bengal through the State Level Selection Test (SLST), which is when the alleged scam first surfaced. In 2016, the hiring process got underway. At that time, Partha Chatterjee was the Minister-in-Charge of the West Bengal Department of Higher Education and School Education. Nevertheless, a number of complaints were submitted to the Calcutta High Court citing irregularities in the hiring procedure.

The petitioners alleged that many examinees who got lesser marks ranked high on the merit list. Several claims also surfaced regarding the receipt of appointment letters by some applicants who weren’t even on the merit list.

In a separate, but related instance, the Bengal government had in 2016 sent the School Service Commission (SSC) notification for the hiring of 13,000 Group D staff in government-run or aided schools. Interestingly, the tenure of the panel responsible for said recruitment expired in 2019, but several petitioners alleged that recruitment had taken place despite the expiry of the panel’s tenure and as many as 25 persons were allegedly appointed by the WBBSE.

However, when the case came up for hearing, the petitioners alleged that not 25 but over 500 people were appointed after the SSC panel’s expiration and were now receiving salaries from the state government.

Soon a CBI probe was launched in the case following an order by the Calcutta High Court bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay. The court ordered the agency to interrogate the former chairman of the SSC advisory committee, SP Sinha, and other former members of the panel.

The court had asked the CBI to file a report after interrogating the former members. In April, the CBI also registered an FIR against West Bengal Directorate of School Education former deputy director Alok Kumar Sarkar and unidentified officials of the SSC.

In May this year, the Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) filed an FIR against West Bengal Education Minister Paresh Adhikari and his daughter Ankita Adhikari. The case was registered after the father-daughter duo skipped the CBI summon deadline that was set by the Calcutta High Court. Adhikari was summoned for illegally recruiting teachers in government-aided schools and also for allotting a job to his daughter despite her absence from the merit list.

In the same month, CBI also quizzed Partha Chatterjee as the alleged recruitment scam had taken place when he was the education minister.

Later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also joined CBI to jointly investigated the scam. While the CBI is probing the criminal aspect of the recruitment scam, the ED is investigating the money laundering aspects.

As a part of the inquiry into the money laundering aspect of the SSC recruiting scandal, ED has now raided Partha Chatterjee’s premises and arrested him for swindling money worth crores in the form of bribes taken during his tenure as the state education minister.

Brazil’s President hits out at Leonardo DiCaprio after he pontificates on deforestation in the Amazon, had earlier schooled Mark Ruffalo too: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Brazil’s President hits out at Leonardo DiCaprio after he pontificates on deforestation in the Amazon, had earlier schooled Mark Ruffalo too: Details

On Thursday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took a jibe at Leonardo DiCaprio after the Hollywood actor and ‘environmentalist’ wrote a Twitter post commenting on deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon forest. According to the actor, the region had faced an onslaught of illegal deforestation over the last 3 years.

“How extensive is deforestation in Amazonia, one of the most important places on the planet for people and wildlife?”, he pondered while he shared a map showcasing illegal deforestation in the Amazon forest. Responding to the tweet, the Brazilian President shared his sarcasm and said that the actor cum environmentalist could become his best electoral cable.

“You again, Leo? This way, you will become my best electoral cable, as we say in Brazil!”, the President tweeted. He called out the actor for owning a yacht (the actor also travels in private jets) while lecturing the world over deforestation. “I could tell you, again, to give up your yacht before lecturing the world, but I know progressives: you want to change the entire world but never yourselves, so I will let you off the hook”, his tweet read.

Educating Leonardo DiCaprio on the steps taken by his government, Bolsonaro said that Brazil preserves more than 80% of its native vegetation and that they have the cleanest energy among G20 nations. He also mentioned that Brazil has pledged to stop illegal deforestation by 2028, while most other countries have kept 2030 as the target. Bolsonaro also implied that DiCaprio is being paid for this ‘role’ that he is playing pretending to be concerned for the Amazon forest.

To note, this is not the first time that the duo has clashed with each other. Earlier in April this year, DiCaprio posted a tweet saying, “Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems critical to climate change. What happens there matters to us all, and youth voting is key in driving change for a healthy planet”. Slamming the actor, the Brazilian President had then said, “Our people will decide if they want to keep our sovereignty on the Amazon or to be ruled by crooks who serve foreign special interest”. Also, in 2019, Bolsonaro accused the actor of giving money to set the Amazon on fire and slammed the actor for using a 2003 picture to show Brazil in 2019.

Brazilian President had also reacted strongly to Mark Ruffalo’s recent criticism of him, as the ‘Hulk’ claimed that the leader didn’t ‘respect democracy. “Dear Mark Ruffles, calm down! I’m sure you have never read the Brazilian Constitution, but I can assure you it’s nothing like the complicated Hulk scripts you have to memorize: “AHGFRR”. Read it and you’ll find out I’m not only respecting it, but protecting Brazil’s rule of law”, the President had tweeted.

According to reports, the destruction of the world’s largest rainforest has elevated since Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019. He is said to have undermined environmental safeguards, claiming that they impede economic growth and thereby poverty reduction in the Amazon region. Brazil is due to go to the polls in October this year.

Uproar in parliament over Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s ‘Rashtrapatni’ comment on President Draupadi Murmu, he claims it was a ‘mistake’ but refuses to apologise

OpIndia Staff
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Uproar in parliament over Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s ‘Rashtrapatni’ comment on President Draupadi Murmu, he claims it was a ‘mistake’ but refuses to apologise

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has sparked a massive controversy by calling President Draupadi Murmu ‘Rashtrapatni’. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have been adjourned after a huge uproar over this issue. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury admitted that it was his ‘mistake’ to call President Draupadi Murmu ‘Rashtrapatni’. However, the Congress leader has refused to apologize and said that the ruling party is trying to make mountain out of a molehill.

Amidst the uproar, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has clarified his statement. He said, “Two days ago when I was going towards Vijay Chowk, I was being asked where you’re going. I was telling them that I want to go to Rashtrapati Bhavan and meet the President. Yesterday, I spoke this word (Rashtrapatni – apparently meaning wife of the nation) by mistake. I know that whoever the President of India is, he is the ‘Rashtrapati’ for us. I spoke that word only once. This is a mistake. But some people of the ruling party are trying to make mountain out of a molehill. Once I uttered that word, so what to do now? Hang me to death. I don’t have anything to say about the BJP.”

Union Minister Smriti Irani slammed the Congress party over Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s comments and asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to apologize. She said, “Sonia Gandhi, you approved the insult to Draupadi Murmu. Sonia Ji approved the insult of a woman in the highest constitutional post. Ever since she became the presidential candidate, Draupadi Murmu became the center of hatred of the Congress party.”

Smriti Irani added, “Congress leaders have called Murmu a puppet. The congress’s male leaders who committed heinous acts called Draupadi a symbol of evil. Yesterday, the Congress leader of the House insulted the President by addressing her as ‘Rashtrapatni’.”

She further said, “The Congress has insulted every citizen of the country. The Congress and Sonia Gandhi should apologize to the people of the country.”

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Calling the President of India, ‘Rashtrapatni’ wasn’t a slip of the tongue. It was a deliberate sexist insult against the person who comes from a tribal background. Therefore, Smt. Sonia Gandhi should apologize for the remark made by her party leader.”

It is notable that on 25th July 2022, Draupadi Murmu took an oath as the President of India. She was the candidate of the BJP led NDA, who defeated opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha by a wide margin. Former President Ramnath Kovind handed over the charge to her as he completed his tenure of 5 years as the President of India.

Justice DY Chandrachud gets fed up with the criticism of the Judiciary, asks people to give Judges a break: Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
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Justice DY Chandrachud gets fed up with the criticism of the Judiciary, asks people to give Judges a break: Here is what happened

Supreme Court Justice DY Chandrachud, who is set to become the Chief Justice of India in November this year, has had enough of the criticism of Indian Judges. Justice Chandrachud reached his breaking point after reading a news article, “India’s top court delays hearing anti-Christian violence plea”, which was published on July 19 in various publications.

On Thursday, an advocate asked for an urgent listing of a petition on violence against the Christian community, and it reminded Justice Chandrachud of the news article mentioned above. He cited the news reports and slammed a trend of levelling personal attacks against the Judges.

“I was down with Covid, so the matter could not be taken up. But I recently read a news article saying the Supreme court is delaying the hearing in the matter. Give us a break! One of the judges was down with covid, that’s why we couldn’t hear it. There’s a limit to how much you can target judges”, Justice Chandrachud said.

The honourable judge also went on to wonder who is publishing such news. He agreed to an urgent listing of the petition, lest there be another similar news item saying that Supreme Court is delaying the listing.

Justice Chandrachud is not the only Supreme Court Judge to be disturbed by media reports in recent times. Last week, Chief Justice of India, N.V. Ramana alleged that the media is creating difficulties for the judiciary and harming democracy. He expressed concerns about the “concerted campaigns” in media and social media against judges, and debates on media on cases heard by the courts calling them “ill-informed and agenda-driven.”

CJI Ramana was making these remarks amid the backlash the judiciary is facing in recent weeks over controversial remarks and judgements, especially over oral remarks against Nupur Sharma.

The petition was filed in the Supreme Court by controversial Archbishop of Bangalore Diocese, Peter Machado

In a repeat of the 2015 propaganda campaign to say ‘Christians are in danger in India’, Archbishop of Bangalore Diocese, Peter Machado, and National Solidarity Forum, the Evangelical Fellowship of India filed this petition in Supreme Court on the alleged attacks on Christians in India.

Machado, the petitioner in the case has a very colourful past with multiple allegations of corruption against him.

In June 2020, the former judge of Bombay High Court, Micheal F Saldanha, had accused Machado of colluding and covering up murders allegedly committed by Bishop of Mysore KA William. He had accused Peter Machado and Bishop K A William, of ‘criminally misappropriating’ ₹49.5 crores collected for Coorg Disaster Relief work in 2018. 

Accusing Machado of misappropriation, ex-Judge Michael F Saldanha wrote, “Perhaps Archbishop Peter Machado can tell us how many night shelters for homeless persons he has constructed because this was one of his appeals made more than a year back at the time of the concert. If it is there in writing in the annexure so he is certainly accountable.”

In the same year, the Karnataka Catholic Christian Association (AKCCA) accused him of being involved in a multi-million dollar scam. Machado, a vocal critic of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), was appointed as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bangalore by Pope Francis. 

On August 28, 2020, AKCCA demanded an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the financial misappropriation of Asha Charitable Trust, which is owned by the archdiocese. The group, in a press conference held at Bangalore, accused the Trust of siphoning off ₹3 billion ($42 million).

Memes, jokes erupt on Twitter as an enormous amount of cash is uncovered from ‘close aide’ of Mamata Banerjee’s minister

OpIndia Staff
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Memes, jokes erupt on Twitter as an enormous amount of cash is uncovered from ‘close aide’ of Mamata Banerjee’s minister

On July 27, during the second raid on a house linked to TMC minister Partha Chatterjee’s close aide Arpita Mukherjee, Enforcement Directorate (ED), recovered another large cache cash worth over Rs 278 crore along with gold jewellery worth Rs 4.31 crore. The ED yesterday raided two flats in an apartment in Belgharia in Kolkata, which belongs to Arpita Mukherjee. The probe agency has again found many banknotes in one of the flats. Several cash counting machines and even a truck were called in to ferry the huge amount of cash recovered from her flat.

Following the recovery, news Agency ANI published photographs of cash and jewellery, courtesy of ED. The perfectly placed cash spelling ED and photographs of a pile of remaining cash and gold jewellery resulted in a flood of memes and jokes.

Author and scientist Anand Ranganathan said, “There’s so much cash and gold being unearthed in Didi’s Bengal the IMF might have to revise its 2022-23 GDP forecast for India.”

Twitter user YearOfRat said, “TMC: Tera Mera Cash. Tum Mujhe Cash do, main tumhe’ secularism’ dungi.”

Twitter user Rishi Bagree asked netizens what they would do if they got their hands on so much cash.

In a reply, Twitter user Raghav Yadav said, “If I get this money, then I will become CM of Delhi by giving all thing free”, followed by a laughing emoji.

Atul went one step ahead and said, “I would buy MLAs and form a government.”

Another Twitter user Totantillaya quoted ANI’s tweet and said, “Spelling ED with the money would have been the highlight of the day for the officers involved.”

Twitter user Vain Gosh said, “shoutout to the guy who gave up on his artistic pursuits for a stable govt job, so now channels it into arranging the seized cash on raids.”

Twitter user Justtweeto urged ED to be more creative and said, “There is so much money and jewellery that not only ED, they could have written ‘DIDI’ as well with ‘rangoli’ of jewellery.”

Twitter user Arabindha said, “I think there is enough money there for ED  to spell Enforcement Directorate Fully and even include their office address and Phone Number.”

Twitter user Volklub said, “Now I see where we’re all Rs 2000 notes going. Politicians & Businessmen are stockpiling it. Jo pakda jaye wohi chor.”

Earlier on July 22, ED had recovered cash worth over Rs 21 crore, jewellery and foreign exchange from the residence of Arpita Mukherjee in Tollygunge. Reportedly, that flat had been ‘gifted’ to her by arrested TMC leader Partha Chatterjee. It is believed that the recovered money is the proceeds of the SSC teacher recruitment scam during the time when Partha Chatterjee was the education minister in West Bengal. The Calcutta High Court has ordered a probe into this scam, following which CBI and ED conducted searches and investigations.

Both Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee have been arrested by ED. Arpita has told ED that the money found at her houses belongs to Partha Chatterjee, and he was using the houses as ‘mini banks’.

Rajasthan: Clashes erupt in Hanumangarh as Hindu villagers demand action against Islamists who slaughtered cow, section 144 imposed

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Clashes erupt in Hanumangarh as Hindu villagers demand action against Islamists who slaughtered cow, section 144 imposed

On Thursday, a curfew was imposed in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district days after continued clashes broke out between the state police and locals over incidents of cow slaughter. The internet services have been suspended in the Chiriya Gandhi panchayat and Gandhi Badi areas of Hanumangarh district till further notice.

According to the reports, the protesters demanded legal action against those who were allegedly involved in cow slaughter during Eid on July 11. The Police arrested accused Faruq, Anwar, Amin Khan, and Sikandar Khan on charges of cow slaughter.

On July 11, an incident of cow slaughter was reported from the Chiriya Gandhi panchayat. The report mentioned that the Islamists had slaughtered a cow on the occasion of Eid. The Bhirani Police was informed by the locals about the incident who also demanded strict action against the Islamists. The Police then arrested four accused in the case and began the investigation.

During the investigation, the police found that the accused had slaughtered a cow. The same was confirmed when the FSL report confirmed that the meat was from a cow. The locals began the protests on Tuesday and demanded strict action against the accused. According to media reports, the police dispersed the protesters from the site and also arrested some of the protesters.

The villagers also gathered on July 27 and staged protests over the incident of cow slaughter. Reports mention that a large number of women also participated in the demonstrations and chanted the slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram’. The heavily deployed Police force in the area tried to disperse the crowd and the protesters after which the clashes between the protesters and the police were reported.

Stones were also pelted amid the clashes in which many police personnel including ASP Suresh Jangid and Bhadra police station in-charge Ranveer Sai were injured. Also, Bhirani SHO Om Prakash Suthar suffered a head injury.

District Collector Nathmal Didel while talking to TOI said that the Police had asked the protesters to end the protests but to no avail. He added that the demonstrations began after the FSL report confirmed the incident via one single sample. “As far as the FSl report is concerned, one sample collected out of the six was found positive”, he was quoted.

Reports mention that the curfew has been imposed following rising tension in the area around the Hanumangarh district. A heavy police force has also been deployed in the area to maintain peace. The Police have meanwhile arrested Faruq, Anwar, Amin Khan, and Sikandar Khan on charges of cow slaughter. Further investigations are underway.

‘Mother has to ensure that he doesn’t repeat offence’: HC imposes bizarre ‘condition’ while granting bail to AIMIM MLA’s son in Hyderabad rape case

OpIndia Staff
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‘Mother has to ensure that he doesn’t repeat offence’: HC imposes bizarre ‘condition’ while granting bail to AIMIM MLA’s son in Hyderabad rape case

On Wednesday, the Telangana High Court granted conditional bail to the fifth juvenile accused, arrested in early June, for gang-raping a 16-year-old girl kidnapped from a pub in the Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad. While granting bail to the son of the AIMIM MLA, Justice K Surender of Telangana High Court said that the mother of the accused shall furnish an undertaking that the accused will not repeat the offence.

Based on this and some other ‘conditions’, the MLA’s son, who is one of the six accused in the heinous case, was granted bail on Wednesday.

Notably, a day prior, four out of the five minors who were arrested, had been granted bail by the Nampally criminal court complex’s juvenile justice board. However, the sixth accuse Saduddin Malik is still in jail because his bail petition is pending before the High Court. 18-year-old Malik is the only adult accused in the case, and he is the prime accused in the case.

The court further said that the parents should ‘encourage him to pursue his studies and assure him that, upon bail, the juvenile will not be permitted to come into contact with the victim. Neither would he associate with any unknown criminal nor be exposed to any moral, physical or psychological danger, said the court.

The court added that the mother of the accused would need to report to the concerned District Probation Officer (DPO) on the first Monday of every month for a period of six months. The District Probation Officer, in turn, would require to keep strict vigilance on the activities of the MLA’s son and submit a monthly report to the board for the next six months. 

The court added that in the event that the accused person’s parents relocate, they are required to inform the board and provide their new address. While granting bail, Justice K Surender further directed the parents of the accused to submit their son’s passport to the Juvenile Justice Board. In case the accused juvenile does not have a passport, the parents must file an affidavit in this regard, said the court.

After the High Court issued the directives, the juvenile accused was released from the Juvenile Welfare and Correctional Centre in Saidabad where he was lodged. With him, all five juvenile accused have been released after their bail pleas were accepted by the Juvenile Board and the High Court.

The five youngsters had filed separate bail requests with the juvenile board twice in June, but they both had been denied. On Tuesday, however, the four were granted bail by the Nampally criminal court complex on the provision of a Rs 5,000 surety, and the fifth was granted conditional bail on Wednesday by the High Court. The Nampally criminal court complex’s juvenile justice board while granting the bail had ordered the four to cooperate with the investigators and to appear in court whenever they are summoned.

Saduddin Malik, the prime accused in the case was arrested by the Police on June 3 and was housed in the Chanchalguda jail while the other minor accused were put in the custody of the juvenile board.

In this case, all the accused minors are between the ages of 16 and 18, with the son of the AIMIM MLA being just a month short of becoming 18. The police had charged the accused under sections 376-D (gang rape), 323 (causing harm), and 376 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code. A second charge was filed under the Information Technology Act for recording the rape and distributing the images and video.

It may be recalled that the Hyderabad police had on June 9, said that they will be pushing for the under-18 accused to be tried as adults so that they do not get lighter punishment on account of being juveniles. However, the four were granted bail on July 26 and the fifth, who was the prime accused in the case was granted bail on July 27, on a condition that ‘he will not repeat the offence’.

On 28th May 2022, a 17-year-old minor girl had gone to attend a party at the Amnesia and Insomnia Pub in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. The party was hosted by two of her friends. Some other boys also had met her in the same pub, from where she was taken in a Mercedes car and allegedly gang-raped by the accused. The Mercedes car in which the girl left the pub belongs to a TRS leader and an Innova car in which the crime took place belonged to a Waqf Board functionary.

Paper-tigers of Bengal: The Telegraph maintains strategic silence over obscene amount of cash recovered from TMC minister’s aide

Nirwa Mehta
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Paper-tigers of Bengal: The Telegraph maintains strategic silence over obscene amount of cash recovered from TMC minister’s aide

The Telegraph, the English-language paper from ABP group published from Kolkata, West Bengal, often hailed by the ‘liberals’ in India for its anti-Modi headlines, has maintained strategic silence on the enormous amount of cash recovered from Arpita Mukherjee’s house. Mukherjee is a close aide of Partha Chatterjee, TMC leader and minister in Mamata government, currently under scanner over alleged involvement in SSC recruitment exams.

The Telegraph front page

In what would have been the biggest news of the day, since it is a locally published paper, likely catering to local people, the sea of cash recovered from Arpita Mukherjee’s second residence is pushed into a small corner ‘in brief’. To put things in perspective, Rs 29 crore cash was found from her house. 6 trucks and cash counting machines were brought in to count the huge cache of cash recovered. This was over and above the cash already recovered from her other residence. A total of about Rs 40 crore cash has been recovered till now.

Earlier on July 22, ED had recovered cash worth over Rs 21 crore, jewellery and foreign exchange from the residence of Arpita Mukherjee in Tollygunge. Reportedly, that flat had been ‘gifted’ to her by arrested TMC leader Partha Chatterjee. It is believed that the recovered money is proceeds of SSC teacher recruitment scam during the time when Partha Chatterjee was the education minister in West Bengal. The Calcutta High Court has ordered a probe in this scam, following which CBI and ED are conducing searches and investigations.

Even on its website, The Telegraph does not even have this piece of news on TMC leader and a minister in Mamata cabinet.

The Telegraph website

The Telegraph chose to put up an ‘interview’ with Alt News’ Mohammed Zubair whose online trolling and dog-whistling has now led to incidents of violence and at least three killings by Islamists.

In fact, when you scroll down the website, the news regarding the cash cache does not even appear – at least till a few miles this reporter scrolled.

In its ‘West Bengal’ section, the first article is about Mamata Banerjee ‘slamming ‘torturous’ Centre’.

The Telegraph West Bengal section

The news regarding the huge amount of cash found from aide of TMC minister is pushed further down.

Partha Chatterjee is a powerful minister in Mamata government. He is also secretary general of the ruling Trinamool Congress. Safe to say he is a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. On directions of the Calcutta High Court, the CBI is probing the irregularities in the Group-C and D staff as well as teachers recruitment in government sponsored and aided schools on recommendations of West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC). The Enforcement Directorate is following the cash trail.

The Telegraph ‘speaking truth to power’

This, of course, isn’t the first time The Telegraph appears to be terrified of Mamata Banerjee. In October 2020, on a day when the goons allegedly associated with the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, joined hands with the West Bengal Police and unleashed violence and mercilessly beat up people on the streets of Kolkata, the neutral media ‘Telegraph’ chose to remain a mute spectator against atrocities perpetrated by the West Bengal government. The Telegraph did not have any of its spiteful headlines it passes off as ‘witty’!

The Telegraph is more of an advocacy group than an actual media organization. During the 2019 general elections, its editor had claimed in an article removing Narendra Modi from power was the only hope for India’s redemption. The Bengal-based media house The Telegraph was called out by netizens for a headline that insulted the Dalit community as it compared the President of India, Ramnath Kovind, who is a Dalit leader himself, to ‘Covid19’. The meltdown came after President Kovind nominated ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha.

“Kovind, not Covid, did it”, the headline read. The Coronavirus pandemic that started from China’s Wuhan province in November 2019 has wrecked havoc across the world with virus mutating, with millions across the world getting infected and lakhs succumbing to the disease. The virus continues to spread, infecting thousands every day in India.

May be, the Telegraph, which takes so much pride in its headlines except, has no courage at all to hold West Bengal government or Mamata Banerjee into account or report on things that are happening in its own backyard in West Bengal. And maybe find its spine buried under the pile of cash found in Arpita Mukherjee’s home.

Islamists who killed Umesh Kolhe now want transfer out of Arthur Road jail because they fear for their life: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Islamists who killed Umesh Kolhe now want transfer out of Arthur Road jail because they fear for their life: Details

On Thursday, the accused who had brutally murdered Umesh Kolhe in June this year for allegedly supporting BJP ex-spokesperson Nupur Sharma on social media, have filed an application in the NIA court to shift from Arthur Road jail to another jail. The accused have stated that there is a threat to their life in Arthur Road jail.

According to the reports, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the jail authorities have raised no objection to the application. The application by the accused have been filed a day after one of them named Shahrukh was allegedly beaten up by some of the other prisoners in the jail. The case has also been registered by the Police against the prisoners who led the attack on Pathan.

Umesh Kolhe, a pharmacist in the eastern Maharashtra city of Amravati, was stabbed to death on June 21 while coming home after shutting his store. The 54-year-old was killed for reportedly sharing a post on several WhatsApp groups in favour of now-suspended BJP spokesman Nupur Sharma’s alleged inflammatory statements against Prophet Mohammad.

Pathan is one of seven persons detained in the case by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). All of the accused are being held in Arthur Road Prison. Earlier this month, the anti-terror bureau, which took over the investigations from the Amravati cops, had brought two of the 7 suspects from Mumbai to Amravati and recreated the series of events that led to the killing of Kolhe. The NIA has already taken custody of all seven defendants in the case including Shaikh Irfan Shaikh Rahim who is the primary accused in the case.

The governmental agency had earlier informed the in-charge NIA court in Mumbai that the case was extremely serious and had national and international consequences. According to the NIA, there was incremental material against the accused to indicate they were participating in terrorist operations.

Also, earlier it was reported that the murder was pre-planned and that the accused had done the recce of the place before the murder. The Police during the investigation gained the CCTV footage which revealed that three accused dressed in black had done the recce of the place. In another footage, the three accused were seen heading toward the spot to execute the murder.

All the accused identified as Sheikh Irfan, Yusuf Khan, Abdul Taufiq, Mudassir Ahmed, Shoaib Khan, Atib Rashid, and Shahrukh Khan Pathan have been detained by the Police. The NIA and the jail authorities have not objected to the ‘shift of jail’ application filed by the accused. However, it is not clear yet to which jail will the accused be shifted.

Murder of BJYM worker in Karnataka: CM Bommai announces new commando force to tackle anti-national and terror groups, cancels ‘Janotsava’

OpIndia Staff
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Murder of BJYM worker in Karnataka: CM Bommai announces new commando force to tackle anti-national and terror groups, cancels ‘Janotsava’

On the intervening night of July 27 and July 28, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the state government would form a commando force with special training, intelligence, ammunition, and resources to go after anti-national and terror groups conspiring to disrupt the peace and stir communal tension in the state.

CM Bommai was speaking at an emergency press conference following the unrest in the state over the brutal murder of BJP Yuva Morcha worker Praveen Nettaru in Dakshin Kannada on Tuesday night.

Karnataka BJP had planned an official event at Soudha, and ‘Janotsava’, a mega rally at Doddaballapur, on Thursday to mark Bommai’s one year in the office. National President of BJP JP Nadda was scheduled to attend the event.

During the press conference, CM Bommai said another press conference would be held on Thursday. He said, “My mind wasn’t at peace after hearing the news, I gave directions to act on it then & there… it happened just a few days after Harsha’s (Bajrang Dal activist) death… It’s inhuman and condemnable.”

He further added that such elements would not be spared at any cost. He said the killers would be nabbed soon, but because of the inter-state issue involved in the matter, he could not shed more light.

Earlier on Wednesday, he had assured that justice would be served to the family. “We will not rest till the culprits who perpetrated the heinous act in Mangaluru that provokes social unrest and discord are crushed,” he said.

Speaking about coordination between Karnataka and Kerala Police over the matter, he said, “Praveen was killed in Mangaluru on Tuesday. Orders have been issued for stringent action against the culprits. Karnataka police officers are in constant touch with their Kerala counterparts to nab the killers. Mangaluru, Superintendent of Police, has spoken to Kasaragod, Superintendent of Police. Our Director General of Police has also taken up the issue with the Kerala Director General of Police. Teams have been formed, and operations have been launched to nab the killers. The culprits would be nabbed soon and severely punished.”

Notably, following Nettaru’s murder, tension had prevailed in the state. BJYM members were distressed after this incident and expressed their concerns. They took to social media to put up posts threatening mass resignation. Karnataka BJP MLA Renukacharyra also said that Hindus are not safe despite there being a BJP regime. He has also threatened to tender his resignation from the MLA post if the Hindus in the state are not protected.

Murder of Praveen Nettaru

On July 26, a Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha worker Praveen Nettaru was hacked to death by unidentified assailants. As per reports, the killers came on a bike in Bellari, Dakshina Kannada of Karnataka, in the late evening and attacked Nettaru with sharp weapons. Nettaru, who ran a poultry business, was was shutting down his shop when the attack happened. The assailants escaped after the attack. Nettaru was rushed to the hospital, but he could not be saved.

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