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Alt News Razorpay account for seeking donations stands deactivated after Mohammed Zubair’s lawyer admitted to receiving foreign funding

OpIndia Staff
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Alt News Razorpay account for seeking donations stands deactivated after Mohammed Zubair’s lawyer admitted to receiving foreign funding

The Razorpay account of propaganda website Alt News for receiving donations is deactivated hours after Mohammed Zubair’s advocate admitted in the court that the company had received foreign funding.

Advocate Vrinda Grover, who was representing Mohammed Zubair in a case for hurting the religious sentiments of people, categorically admitted in the Delhi court that her client did not receive foreign funding and it was his company that had received donations from abroad.

Hours later, the Razorpay link for donation to Alt News shows up an error message saying “Oops, looks like this payment page was deactivated or does not exist…”

Alt News
Source: https://pages.razorpay.com/altnews

The ‘Donate’ page on Alt News now shows “Some error occurred” in place of the Razorpay button that previously existed for making donations to the organisation.

Alt News
Source: https://www.altnews.in/donate/

Notably, the ‘Donate’ page on Alt News said, “We do not accept foreign remittance as we are not registered under the FCRA Act.”

Mohammed Zubair’s lawyer admits Alt News accepted foreign funding, implying that it committed FCRA violations

However, advocate Vrinda Grover, representing Mohammed Zubair said that it was Alt News that had received the foreign contributions and not her client.

She stated, “Your honour was misled when told that the accused has received it (foreign contributions). AltNews runs under a company under Section 8. They are saying I am a journalist, I cannot receive FCRA. This is to the company, not to me.”

Advocate Vrinda Grover also put out a categorical statement that foreign funds did not go to the bank account of Zubair but to that of Alt News.

Grover was responding to Delhi Police’s submissions which said that Mohammed Zubair had received donations through Razor Pay from countries like Pakistan, Syria and Australia, which required a thorough investigation.

Significantly, only organisations with FCRA licences can accept foreign contributions. Those who receive foreign funding without registration have essentially violated FCRA regulations and are therefore liable to prosecution under relevant sections of the law.

OpIndia has reached out to Razorpay to determine if they took action after complaints by authorities or if Alt News deactivated themselves. We will update the report when Razorpay responds.

Delhi court rejects bail plea of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, sends him to 14 day judicial custody: All arguments made

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi court rejects bail plea of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, sends him to 14 day judicial custody: All arguments made

On Saturday, July 2, the Delhi Court rejected the bail application of Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of leftist propaganda portal Alt News and sent him to 14-day judicial custody, reported ANI.

The decision was taken after the court heard both sides of the argument. In the bail hearing that continued today, the Delhi Police had sought 14-days of judicial custody of Mohammed Zubair and added sections of criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and FCRA violation to the case. Meanwhile, Lawyer Vrinda Grover, representing Zubair, insisted the court approve her bail plea of Zubair claiming that the investigation in the case was already over.

Zubair’s counsel Vrinda Grover informed the court on his behalf that the Delhi police had issued a media update this morning regarding financial donations received by AltNews, but Grover said that the money was actually going to a company named Pravda media and not to Zubair personally.

Responding to this, public prosecutor Atul Srivastava, representing the Delhi police, informed the court that the “donation has come from Pakistan, Syria and the same has been mentioned in the CD.” Srivastava also pointed out that Zubair is the director of Pravda.

Interestingly, Pravda Media Foundation runs the so-called fact-checking site Alt News and Mohammed Zubair is one of the directors of the company along with Managing Director Nirjhari Mukul Sinha and Director Pratik Mukul Sinha. It may be noted that Pratik and Zubair are co-founders of Alt News, while Nirjhari Sinha is Pratik Sinha’s mother. 

The public prosecutor argued in court that a total of about Rs 2,31,933 has been received by Pravda Media. “From the analysis of the reply received from Razorpay Payment gateway, various transactions, with phone numbers or IP addresses outside India, were from locations incl Bangkok, Manama, North-Holland, Singapore, Victoria, New York, England, Riyadh Region, Baladīyat ad Dawḩah, Sharjah, Stockholm, Aichi, Central, Western & Eastern Provinces of UAE, Abu Dhabi, Washington DC, Kansas, New Jersey, Ontario, California, Texas, Lower Saxony, Bern, Dubai, Uusimaa, & Scotland, said Atul Srivastava, appearing on behalf of the Delhi Police.

Srivastava added that during social media analysis, it was noticed that Twitter handles supporting Mohammad Zubair after his arrest, were from Pakistan and mostly middle eastern countries like UAE, Bahrain & Kuwait.

Meanwhile, once again going on the same rant about Zubair’s laptop, phone and other electronic devices, which the Alt News co-founder is not wanting the Delhi police to examine, Vrinda Grover told the court “There is a lot of hue and cry over why I don’t want to produce electronic devices and what is it I want to hide. The police is to make a prima facie case, only then I am required to produce them. They can’t ask me to produce and then make a case about me.”

Grover further told the court that her client had filed a complaint in March 2021 saying someone smashed the phone that he used to Tweet. “They cannot doubt me for formatting my phone. The phone that I used in 2018 was lost,” Grover reiterated in court.

Zubair’s lawyer once again insisted in court that the Tweet in question was from 2018 and it is just being used to harass her client. “A complainant with one follower pulls up a tweet from 2018. Section 468 of CrPC places a bar on taking cognisance. They are doing this just to harass me,” Vrinda Grover said in court while insisting the court approved her bail plea of Zubair claiming that the investigation in the case was already over.

Public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava informed the court that today was the second bail plea and that Zubair’s counsel had raised these same points in the previous plea too.

“The tweet was posted in 2018, but it’s still there. If it’s there, everyone else is following. It’s a continuing offence, not a case where it’s deleted,” argued public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava.

Shrivastava brought to the court’s notice the timing and circumstances in which Zubair deleted the Tweets, which he said was important. “He has deleted things. Why? Timing of this is important. There is no change in circumstances on their side,” said the public prosecutor, adding that Zubair’s bail deserves to be dismissed.

MEA comes down hard on USCIRF for continuing to make biased and inaccurate comments on India, says it raises concerns about the credibility of the organisation

OpIndia Staff
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MEA comes down hard on USCIRF for continuing to make biased and inaccurate comments on India, says it raises concerns about the credibility of the organisation

On Saturday, 2nd of July, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, in extremely strong words, condemned the controversial United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for its ‘biased’ and ‘inaccurate’ claims that India is stifling voices of dissent, especially of those belonging to the minority community.

Responding to the controversial organisation’s 2022 annual report, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We have seen the biased and inaccurate comments on India by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). These comments reflect a severe lack of understanding of India and its constitutional framework, its plurality, and its democratic ethos.”

He lambasted the organisation for continuing to disseminate misleading information and making false assertions about India in order to further its own selfish agenda. “Regrettably, USCIRF continues to misrepresent facts time and again in its statements and reports in pursuance of its motivated agenda. Such actions only serve to strengthen concerns about the credibility and objectivity of the organization,” said the MEA spokesperson.

USCIRF 2022 annual report on religious freedom

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an advisory body to the US Congress, on Saturday, released its 2022 annual report where it recommended that the US administration should classify India as a “country of particular concern”, along with other countries like Pakistan, North Korea, China and Saudi Arabia.

The contentious organisation asserted that in 2021, the Indian government stepped up the promotion and enforcement of policies, particularly those that advance a Hindu-nationalist agenda that adversely harmed Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and other religious minorities.

Moreover, the organisation took to its official Twitter handle to share a news report by Voice of America, the state-owned broadcaster, wherein the media organisation condemned the arrest of Teesta Satalvad and ex-IPS officer RB Sreekumar.

Notably, Teesta Setalvad and former IPS officer RB Sreekumar have been arrested for fabricating evidence to frame innocent persons in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots. Teesta Setalvad and the other accused were arrested after the crime branch testified before the court that they politicised and sensationalised the Gujarat riots case. 

Meanwhile, sharing the report by the American mouthpiece VOA, USCIRF quoted its Commissioner David Curry as saying, “USCIRF is concerned about the Indian government’s continued repression of critical voices— especially religious minorities and those reporting on and advocating for them.”

In a subsequent Tweet, the controversial American organisation, which is in a habit of trying to meddle with India’s internal affairs and spreading canards against the Modi government, quoted USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck as saying, “Human rights advocates, journalists, activists, and faith leaders in #India face harassment for speaking out and reporting religious freedom conditions. This is not reflective of a country with a history of democracy.”

The organisation recommended that the US administration should impose targeted sanctions on the Indian government responsible for ‘severe violations’ of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ assets and barring their entry into the United States citing specific religious freedom violations.

USCIRF had made similar uninformed remarks in its 2020 report on religious freedom in the country

Notably, USCIRF had made similar recommendations in its 2020 annual report. Then too, the Indian government had categorically rejected the claims made by USCIRF.

The then MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had stated that the government rejected the observations in the report. Referring to the comments against India as “biased and tendentious”, Srivastava said that such comments against India are not new, but on this occasion, its misrepresentation has reached new levels.

“We reject the observations on India in the USCIRF Annual Report. Its biased and tendentious comments against India are not new. But on this occasion, its misrepresentation has reached new levels. We regard it as an organisation of particular concern and will treat it accordingly,” Anurag Srivastava had said.

USCIRF’s prejudice against India

The controversial US body has always been at the forefront of the misinformation campaign against India. Ever since Narendra Modi returned to power in 2019, the USCIRF has been meddling in India’s internal affairs by indulging in one-sided motivated propaganda against the Modi government.

The US congressional body entered the scene following the abrogation of Article 370 in the country with its misleading statements and continued to do so even during the implementation of the historic Citizenship Amendment Act. It is notable here that the USCIRF has a history of fanning baseless rumours and leftist propaganda against India. They had also called India’s Citizenship Amendment Act to help persecuted minorities a ‘dangerous turn in the wrong direction.’

The Indian government has time and again rejected the one-sided prejudiced observations made by the US body. India had earlier said the American body on international religious freedom has chosen to be guided only by its biases on a matter on which it has no locus standi.

The USCIRF is the commission that had recommended the denial of a US visa to PM Modi when he was the CM of Gujarat. It had also threatened ‘sanctions’ against Home Minister Amit Shah ‘if the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed’.

Fake news by USCIRF

The self-proclaimed religious freedom body USCIRF had indulged in a misinformation campaign by falsely claiming that coronavirus patients were being segregated on the basis of religious identity in an Ahmedabad hospital.

Citing a false propaganda report by Indian Express, the USCIRF had tweeted that it was “concerned with reports of Hindu and Muslim patients separated” into separate hospital wards in Gujarat. 

However, responding to the misinformation campaign of the Indian Express, the Gujarat government had categorically denied the claims. The Health Department of Gujarat had also clarified that no segregation is being done in the Ahmedabad civil hospital on the basis of religion for coronavirus patients.

 

‘If they want to deliver speech, they should become politicians’: Retired HC judge SN Dhingra slams Supreme Court judges for comments on Nupur Sharma

OpIndia Staff
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‘If they want to deliver speech, they should become politicians’: Retired HC judge SN Dhingra slams Supreme Court judges for comments on Nupur Sharma

SN Dhingra, Retired judge of the Delhi High Court, has slammed the Supreme Court of India for its comments on Nupur Sharma wherein a Supreme Court bench had held the former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson responsible for Kanhaiya Lal’s beheading in Udaipur. In an interaction with TV news channel News24, retired justice SN Dhingra said that if a judge wants to deliver a speech, he should become a politician. SN Dhingra also asked why the Supreme Court did not include its oral comments in the written order.

Retired high court judge SN Dhingra said, “Supreme Court has apparently said that Nupur Sharma was high on the power she had as a member of the ruling party and she carelessly went on to make those comments. As per my conscience, the same things also apply to the Supreme Court. Supreme Court itself cannot hold anyone guilty without any investigation. The case was put in front of the Supreme Court only for transferring the FIRs and not for proving any charges against her. I don’t understand how the Supreme Court can make such oral observations? If the Supreme Court had guts, it would have given those comments as a part of the written order. The Supreme Court has only written in the order that the petition is dismissed as withdrawn. Why? Why did the court not include its comments in the written order so that the Supreme Court could be held answerable to the questions like – how is it righteous of you to consider her guilty without any trial of the case, to become a prosecutor yourself, to charge the accused on your own, and declare her guilty only to deliver your judgment orally?”

SN Dhingra further said, “This gives a very bad message in the country that the Supreme Court itself is high on the power it has and nobody can stop the Supreme Court from saying anything at its own will. The Supreme Court has said one more thing. The court asked why didn’t the petitioner go to the magistrate. There are countless incidents in which the Supreme Court has bypassed magistrates and high courts to listen to the petitions of rich people even at the stroke of midnight. What will you call to the Supreme Court in such cases? How can the Supreme Court make such comments without even observing and knowing any facts?”

SN Dhingra added, “If Nupur Sharma has said anything objectionable, then it is the job of the lower trial courts to check whether her comments have any base or they are inspired otherwise. If her comments prove to be wrong then the trial court will sentence her. But in this case, the Supreme Court, with its comments, has laid a guideline for the trial court that if anyone says something in a TV debate, then he is guilty and he should apologize to the country and also all the anchors, and debate participants, etc. should apologize to the country and such debates should not be there anymore. Supreme Court is not supposed to talk like it is a part of some TV debate. It is not supposed to give some political speech. These comments by the Supreme Court are nothing but a political speech and I am not at all agree with that. All the things said by the Supreme Court are wrong.”

The retired high court judge also said, “Why they are giving their observation orally? Why don’t they give it in writing so that the Delhi police can be made to stand before the Supreme Court and be punished? Why oral observations in the first place? Why make these oral comments that are meaningless, not recorded anywhere and no one can act upon Supreme Court for making such comments? These comments show that the Supreme Court is high on power than Nupur Sharma could be. The Supreme Court is enjoying the Supreme power it has. The Supreme Court can say anything and can still remain unanswerable. There is no one to mock or rectify it.”

Explaining the powers the Supreme Court enjoys, SN Dhingra said, “Is it less of a power that anyone can be jailed for contempt? Do the debate anchors or do you have such power? Does any politician have such power? Do you think policemen have such power? If you think that police have such power, don’t forget that the court can give a notice to the police, question them and even punish them. So the court should listen to her, punish her if she is guilty, and send her to jail. But why the court is delivering a public speech? Who has asked the judges to give the speech? They should become politicians if at all they want to deliver such speeches. Why are you still a Supreme Court judge? The Supreme Court hears bail petitions even at midnight. If the Supreme Court hears the petitions of the riches at midnight, these judges should also open the courts for the poor at midnight.”

Kolkata police issues lookout circular against Nupur Sharma for failing to appear before them despite the latter requesting 4 weeks’ time citing security threats

OpIndia Staff
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Kolkata police issues lookout circular against Nupur Sharma for failing to appear before them despite the latter requesting 4 weeks’ time citing security threats

Nupur Sharma, the ex-BJP spokesperson, continues to brave numerous threats against her life, including death by beheading and rape, as well as numerous FIRs filed across the nation in response to her innocuous remark about Prophet Muhammad. Regardless, the West Bengal government led by CM Mamata Banerjee has decided to issue a lookout notice against her.

According to reports, the Kolkata police on Saturday issued a lookout circular against the suspended BJP leader. A lookout circular is a notice which prevents a person from leaving the country.

As per reports, the circular was issued after Nupur Sharma failed to appear before Amherst and Narkeldanga Police stations, which had summoned the ex-BJP spokesperson and asked her to appear before the cops on June 25 and June 20 respectively. Nupur Sharma had sought four weeks’ time to appear stating that she fears getting attacked if she visits Kolkata at this juncture.

On June 24, OpIndia reported how the Kolkata police had lodged at least 10 complaints in various police stations in Kolkata against Nupur Sharma.

The cops have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Nupur Sharma under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 34 (furtherance of common intention), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion).

Charges were also pressed under IPC Sections 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 298 (Uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person).

Nupur Sharma sought 4 weeks extension for physical appearance

The ex-BJP leader had sought 4 weeks’ time to physically appear before the Narkeldanga police. She had conveyed the message to the cops via email. Sharma had cited threats to her life to seek an extension for physical appearance before the Kolkata police.

Maharashtra Masterstroke: How BJP shattered dreams of Uddhav Thackeray, defeated Sharad Pawar’s backroom politics

Malhar Pandey
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Maharashtra Masterstroke: How BJP shattered dreams of Uddhav Thackeray, defeated Sharad Pawar’s backroom politics

Maharashtra, in the past two weeks, has seen a lot of political twists and turns. Right from a huge win for BJP in Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) elections to Eknath Shinde’s rebellion against the MVA everything has been unprecedented. But what happened on Thursday, came as a shocker not just to the karyakartas of various parties, but also to the political pandits in Maharashtra. No one, in their wildest dreams, would’ve imagined, Devendra Fadnavis handing over the baton of Chief Minister to Eknath Shinde for a period till 2024. Before getting into the depth of this move, we must understand what exactly has Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena done in the past few days.

On 22nd June, when Eknath Shinde along with 30+ MLAs rebelled against the MVA government, Shiv Sena leadership did not made any serious effort to reconcile with them. Instead, Sanjay Raut and Aditya Thackeray went on to call the MLAs of their party as pigs, dead bodies and whatnot. Sanjay Raut tried to demean MLAs and senior Sena leaders like Gulabrao Patil or Sandipan Bhumre by bringing their past life professions into the discussion. But, Sanjay Raut, not being a mass leader, did not understand the dent he is making to the cadre of his own party, which is behind these leaders. In days to come, the MLAs withdrew their support from MVA and asked Shiv Sena leadership to break away from two parties NCP and INC, which were trying to sink the ship of Shiv Sena.

But, ignoring the appeal of the MLAs of their of own party, Shiv Sena preferred to stay in close relationship with these two parties and abandon a huge band of MLAs along with the cadre they have. This should be considered as one of the most idiotic and unthoughtful political moves of all time. In one of his Facebook live addresses, Shiv Sena Pramukh and the then CM Uddhav Thackeray tried to underline in a very clear manner that Shiv Sena is his family property. He challenged the MLAs to win elections by ‘BY not his Father’s name”. One by one, the Shiv Sena leadership, obviously under Sanjay Raut’s influence, cut all the possibilities of reconciling with the 40+ MLAs.

On 28th June 2022, LoP Devendra Fadnavis submitted a letter to the Governor of Maharashtra to ask the CM to prove his majority in the assembly by conducting a floor test, and accordingly the governor had directed a floor test on June 30. Shiv Sena challenged this decision and moved supreme court on 29th June. After all the arguments in the Supreme Court, the bench decided that the floor test will be conducted on 30th June itself and no delay will happen in it. As soon the verdict came, Uddhav Thackeray resigned in a very disgraceful manner on a Facebook live video address. The Janata of Maharashtra deserved the CM to at least resign in front of the assembly.

This is where BJP came into picture after being on the mute mode for more than a week. On 29th June 2022 itself, it was decided that Eknath Shinde will fly to Maharashtra on 30th June to speak with BJP leadership and present a letter to Governor to stake the claim to form a government with the help of BJP. All things were going as planned, but yet another twist was waiting for the Janata of Maharashtra. Devendra Fadnavis while addressing to media, made an announcement that shook the entire Maharashtra. He made an announcement that Eknath Shinde will become the 20th CM of Maharashtra with support from BJP. For a few moments, everyone, was shocked. No one could understand what had happened. But, Devendra Fadnvis had played the mother of all ‘masterstrokes’.

In one move, he destroyed the entire dynastic politics of Shiv Sena. ‘A Samanya (common Shiv Sainik) should become the CM’, the dream of Balasaheb got fulfilled because of Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP became the new perception. Dreams of Uddhav Thackarey to hand over the reigns of Shiv Sena to Aaditya Thackeray, shattered, as, now the Matoshree is not the power centre for Shiv Sainiks, but the Thane is. Sharad Pawar’s backroom politics has no place left in Maharashtra politics anymore and Devendra Fadnavis made it clear that there will be no place left for dynastic politics in days to come. The road for all the upcoming elections in the state for BJP have become much more easier with this move as the cadre that these 40+ MLAs have will stand behind Fadnavis without a doubt.

Devendra Fadnavis becoming the Deputy CM of Maharashtra, is not well received by the karyakartas in the state, but it is very necessary for him to stay in the cabinet and make sure all the developmental works, that he had started as CM, get streamlined and completed before the MahaYuddha in 2024. All the political Pandits, who claimed that they understand the politics of Devendra Fadnavis are left with nothing in their hand. As a citizen, I and thousands like me are happy that Hindutva and Developmental politics are back in the seat of power in Maharashtra. I wish all the New CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, all the very best for their super innings on the turf of Maharashtra.

When Supreme Court agreed to transfer the trial of the accused in the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari owing to a ‘threat to life’

OpIndia Staff
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When Supreme Court agreed to transfer the trial of the accused in the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari owing to a ‘threat to life’

While the Supreme Court of India dismissed Nupur Sharma’s petition for the transfer of all FIRs filed against her across different states to Delhi for further investigation, the Supreme Court (SC) allowed a similar petition by the main accused in the murder of the Hindu leader Kamlesh Tiwari in 2021.

Nupur Sharma had petitioned the Supreme Court for the transfer of all FIRs filed against her across many states to Delhi for further investigation, stating that she is facing constant life threats. In a similar plea to the SC in 2021, Ashfaq Hussain, the primary accused in the murder of Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari, demanded that the trial be moved from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, to Delhi because he feared for his life. The accused claimed that a free and fair trial would not be feasible due to the state’s communally charged atmosphere.

The Supreme Court ordered in his favour and directed that the trial be moved from Lucknow to Prayagraj. Justice SK Kaul issued the judgement in response to the petition for the case to be transferred from Lucknow. When the court refused to permit moving the case’s trial to Delhi, senior lawyer Meenakshi Arora and lawyer Somesh Chandra Jha represented the accused and requested that the issue be shifted to Prayagraj.

Both cases appear to have similar merits because both petitioners stated that they are facing threats to their lives, but the Supreme Court acted differently in the case of Ashfaq Hussain, who has been accused of murder but denied any aid to Nupur Sharma, who has been facing serious threats to her life because she uttered something that has been deemed offensive by a certain section of people, and that too when the case is still under consideration. Surprisingly, the Supreme Court blamed Nupur Sharma and her “loose tongue” for statements about Prophet Muhammad that Islamists dubbed “blasphemous.”

Murder of Kamlesh Tiwari

On October 18, 2019, Hindu leader Kamlesh Tiwari was brutally killed over statements he made in 2015 that reportedly disrespected Prophet Muhammad. The Uttar Pradesh police and the Gujarat ATS swooped in to bust a Surat-based Jihadi gang indoctrinated by one of the suspects who planned the murder, Maulana Mohsin Sheikh.

Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, had granted Rs 15 lakh in financial assistance and a home for Kamlesh Tiwari’s wife. Tiwari’s Hindu Samaj Party was a little-known organisation, but he had previously served as an active member of the Hindu Mahasabha.

Udaipur beheading case: The four arrested Islamists beaten up by the public and lawyers outside Jaipur Court during their hearing

OpIndia Staff
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Udaipur beheading case: The four arrested Islamists beaten up by the public and lawyers outside Jaipur Court during their hearing

In the shocking case of the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur, the two murderers along with their two associates were produced before a special NIA Court in Jaipur today. Following the hearing, the court has sent these four accused to NIA custody till July 12. After the hearing, when the accused were brought out by the police, angry people gathered outside along with the lawyers beat up the four of them.

The lawyers present on the premises also raised slogans of ‘Pakistan Murdabad’ and ‘hang the accused’. They also asked the state police to shoot the accused in an encounter. The police managed to rescue the four accused by quickly shoving them inside a police van and then driving away.

Earlier, when the Court sent Mohammed Ghous and Mohammed Riyaz to 14 days of judicial custody, lawyers in Udaipur refused to represent the murderers. They stated that the act committed by the duo, in no way could be justified and that it was not normal.

The two accused who carried out the beheading of a Udaipur tailor over a social media post, Riyaz and Ghaus Mohammad, along with their two accomplices Asif and Mohsin were present in the NIA court today. NIA had asked for 2 weeks of custody of the accused and have got their remand till the 12th of July.

The brutal beheading of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur for expressing support for Nupur Sharma

Two Muslim men in Rajasthan’s Udaipur murdered a Hindu man, Kanhaiya Lal, on Tuesday afternoon over his post in support of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The two men entered the tailor’s shop as customers and grabbed to behead him with a knife.

The incident took place near the Bhoot Mahal on Maldas Street in Udaipur. The victim who is a tailor and proprietor of Supreme tailors was killed in broad daylight amidst the hustle-bustle on the adjoining road. The Udaipur Police rushed to the scene after the enraged merchants in the surrounding area complained of the inhumane incident.

The case has since been taken over by National Investigation Agency (NIA) which is investigating the larger conspiracy behind the brutal murder.

Mohammad Zubair’s lawyer throws AltNews under the bus for foreign funding: Here is how Pratik Sinha had lied about it in 2019

OpIndia Staff
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Mohammad Zubair’s lawyer throws AltNews under the bus for foreign funding: Here is how Pratik Sinha had lied about it in 2019

On Saturday (June 2), advocate for ‘fact checker’ Mohammed Zubair threw his company AltNews under the bus in a bid to protect her client from allegations of foreign funding.

Zubair was arrested on June 27 for hurting religious sentiments and was represented before the Patiala House Court by advocate Vrinda Grover. Senior Public Prosecutor (SPP) Atul Srivastava appeared on behalf of the Delhi Police. The Delhi Police has now sought to add several other sections like criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and money laundering to the case.

During the hearing, SPP Srivastava informed that Mohammed Zubair violated the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act by receiving donations from people in foreign nations.

“As per our CDR analysis, he (Zubair) has accepted through Razor gateway, from Pakistan, Syria etc which all things require further investigation,” he emphasised.

SSP Atul Srivastava further stated, “We have already found that donations have come from Pakistan, Syria etc. He is the Director of Pravda Media (parent company of AltNews).

Advocate Vrinda Grover, representing Mohammed Zubair, pointed out that it was not a crime to be the director of any company. However, in a bid to save him, she was quick to throw the company (AltNews) under the scanner.

She stated, “Your honour was misled when told that the accused has received it (foreign contributions). AltNews runs under a company under Section 8. They are saying I am a journalist, I cannot receive FCRA. This is to the company, not to me.”

Advocate Vrinda Grover also put out a categorical statement that foreign funds did not go the bank account of Zubair but to that of AltNews.

Pratik Sinha and lack of FCRA clearance of AltNews

It must be pointed out that only organisations with FCRA licences can accept foreign contributions. According to AltNews’ founder Pratik Sinha, the alleged fact-checking company does not have an FCRA licence.

During a war-of-words with psephologist Pradeep Bhandari in May 2019, Sinha conceded that his organisation could not accept foreign contributions.

He had tweeted, “We don’t have FCRA, and accepting foreign contribution would be an offence, and the directors can be jailed for the same. The archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.

Screengrab of the tweet by Pratik Sinha

As of July 2, 2022, the donation page of AltNews makes it clear that it is not registered under the FCRA Act.

“We do not accept foreign remittance as we are not registered under the FCRA Act.” The archived version of the page can be accessed here.

Screengrab of the Donation page of Alt News

However, advocate Vrinda Grover had accepted before the Patiala court on Saturday (July 2) that foreign contributions from Pakistan and Syria, as alleged by the senior public prosecutor, were received by AltNews and not Zubair.

In doing so, she has exposed the lies peddled by Pratik Sinha since 2019 about not accepting foreign remittances. This has put Mohammed Zubair, AltNews co-founder and director of Pravada Media, into deeper waters.

AltNews, which has a history of defending Islamists and peddling fake news, is now caught in its own web of lies and moving down the slippery slope of FCRA regulations.

Kanhaiya Lal beheading: Mohd Ghous and Riyaz self-designed murder weapon in Shoaib’s factory; had wanted to kill the Hindu tailor in one blow

OpIndia Staff
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Kanhaiya Lal beheading: Mohd Ghous and Riyaz self-designed murder weapon in Shoaib’s factory; had wanted to kill the Hindu tailor in one blow

Amid the ATS investigation in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case, a report published in Dainik Bhaskar revealed that the two Islamist murderers who killed Kanhaiya Lal had self-designed the murder weapon themselves at an engineering factory in Rajasthan’s Sapetia, an industrial backwater town located at a distance of 20 km from Udaipur and houses many engineering factories.

According to the reports, the factory in which murderers Mohammed Ghous and Riyaz had gone belongs to Shoaib who is a close aide of accused Riyaz. The Islamists used Shoaib’s factory to self-design and manufacture the weapon which has been recovered by the Police now.

The factory in Sapetia is actually known for making cylindrical sharp machine blades that are used to cut stones. The machine blade is made up of heavy metal considering its purpose to cut the stone. An exclusive report by Dainik Bhasker mentions that the murderers used the same heavy metal to create a weapon to kill Kanhaiya Lal in one single blow.

Kanhaiya Lal
Insides of the factory owned by Shoaib (Image source- Dainik Bhasker)

One of the accused named Mohammed Ghous had also been working at the factory owned by Shoaib. The fact was confirmed by the factory security guard to the ATS and NIA investigation teams when they reached the spot on Thursday, June 30. However, the investigation team is still probing whether Shoaib knew about the malicious intentions of the accused or was unaware before allowing them to make the murder weapon. The officers have said that they will interrogate Shoaib, the factory owner in this case.

Further to note, the video which was released by Ghous and Riyaz post-murder was recorded in an office which is located exactly in front of the factory. The duo after killing Kanhaiya Lal had come to the office, recorded the video, and had hidden the murder weapon beneath the dry grass lying beside. According to the reports, the office also belongs to Shoaib, who had rented it for commercial purposes.

Kanhaiya Lal
Cylindrical weapons were used to cut stones manufactured by the factory (Image Source- Dainik Bhasker)

Team Dainik Bhasker visited the location in Sapetia to discover small pieces of heavy metals lying on the ground. The team also saw a few ready machineries lying around which are used to cut stones. Reports mention that Shoaib had established the factory 6 years ago and he had developed good business contacts to supply machinery across Rajasthan and Gujarat.

At present, the ATS officials have seized the office area of Shoaib and have confiscated the murder weapon. Some of the officers have been deployed at the factory and the ATS has said that it will interrogate Shoaib in the case.

Kanhaiya Lal was murdered by two Islamists named Riaz and Ghous Mohammed. The duo disguised as customers and entered the tailoring shop of the deceased. While Kanhaiya Lal was busy taking the cloth measurements, one of the accused attacked him with a long sharp knife. According to the post-mortem report, he was stabbed 26 times on his body from his neck to shoulder. Kanhaiya Lal was killed for uploading a social media post in support of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

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