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Watch: Mani Shankar suffers meltdown when confronted with tough questions, old video goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Mani Shankar suffers meltdown when confronted with tough questions, old video goes viral

Strangely, on Saturday, an old interview of controversial Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar became viral on social media platforms.

Without any specific context or reason, netizens took to Twitter to share a three-year-old interview of Mani Shankar Aiyar to highlight the Congress leader’s theatrics in response to tough questions posed by the journalist.

Twitter user Mihir K Jha put out a video of Mani Shankar Aiyar’s interview with ETV Bharat journalist Rakesh Tripathi. “How did I miss this interview?” asked the Twitter user as he mocked the Congress leader for his dramatics during a TV interview.

The interview with ETV Bharat was published on August 13, 2019, in which Mani Shankar Aiyar was posed tough questions on the party’s stand on the Kashmir issue and other developments surrounding Kashmir.

During the interview, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar was confronted by the journalist on his controversial ‘chaiwala’ remark. It is pertinent to note that just before the 2014 general elections, Aiyar had claimed that Modi would never become a PM and he could arrange it for him to sell tea at the AICC meet if Modi so wished.

While the full version uploaded by ETV Bharat has this portion edited out, the following clip has gone viral on social media. As the ETV Bharat journalist asked Aiyar about this degrading remark, the veteran Congress not only denied making a controversial ‘chaiwala’ remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi but also lost his cool.

The Congress leader also tries to defend his comments which were made at the Talkatora Stadium, saying that he was misinterpreted.

“I had said ‘if he (Modi) wanted to’ and not because ‘he was’ a chaiwala. I only said that he would lose, and if he wanted to sell tea, we would help him,” Mani Shankar Aiyar claims in the interview.

The journalist points out to Aiyar how it is a little demeaning to say something like that. However, Aiyar hits back by saying that that is what the journalist is thinking. Aiyar then asked the reporter to stick to Kashmir and not stray away from the topic.

When the reporter replied, saying that Aiyar could not dictate the questions that the reporter should ask, the Congress leader tried to evade the situation with his histrionics.

“Your questions on Kashmir are over, so the interview is now over,” Aiyar says, making a gesture of getting up. He then tells the journalist to get back to Kashmir and then threatens to get up from the interview.

Aiyar was reminded that as a journalist, he could ask him questions, especially in a democracy.

The Congress leader suffers a huge meltdown at the end as the journalist tells Aiyar that he respects him because he has been a great leader. Aiyar suddenly loses whatever cool he had left and starts making strange sounds and says ‘thank you’ with folded hands in a very dramatic voice. He even touches the journalist’s feet while continuing to talk in a strange voice and mannerisms.

‘Started talking about living with Jamaatis’: UP Maulvi and his aide arrested for attempting to convert a Hindu man into Islam

OpIndia Staff
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‘Started talking about living with Jamaatis’: UP Maulvi and his aide arrested for attempting to convert a Hindu man into Islam

Rampur police in Uttar Pradesh have arrested a Maulvi and one of his accomplices for trying to convert a Hindu youth to Islam. The action was taken based on a complaint lodged by the victim’s mother. The police have charged the duo under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.

The Rampur police have also taken to its official Twitter account to inform the same. Sharing screenshots of news articles, the Rampur police Tweeted in Hindi that under the direction of Rampur SP, the Kotwali police have arrested the two accused, involved in the forced conversion case. The police informed that the accused have been booked under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. 

According to reports, the complainant, a resident of Nalapar Kalghar potter’s street, Mohalla of Kotwali area of ​​the city had met the Superintendent of Police along with some people on Thursday. April 7. She informed the police that her son used to go to the accused to learn embroidery work. The accused, in turn, brainwashed her son to adopt Islam.

The mother went on to say that her son began reading Namaz and observing Roza during Ramzan after being influenced by the accused. She was concerned that her son had begun to act strangely in the house as well. She lamented that he frequently talks about adopting the Muslim religion and living with the Jamaatis.

Concerned for her son, the mother urged the SP to take action against the accused as soon as possible.

The Superintendent of Police, acting quickly on the mother’s request, directed the City Kotwali Police to investigate the matter, who, in turn, arrested the two accused.

According to City Kotwali in charge, Kishan Avtar, one of the arrested accused was identified as Maulvi Gulvez, a resident of Rampur’s Kotwali area, and the other as Nadeem Ahmed, a resident of Ajitpur Bazar in the Civil Lines Kotwali area.

Earlier in the day, OpIndia reported that the Uttar Pradesh police had booked a doctor named Dr Farooqui Kamal based on a complaint lodged by his employee, accusing the doctor of forcefully converting him to Islam. The victim, Ramraj Yadav had claimed that he was made to recite Quran verses and that his Aadhaar card was also made in the name of Karam Hussain.

Karnataka loudspeaker row: Home Minister issues notice to religious institutions including mosques, warns of action if ‘noise not reduced to permissible limit’

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka loudspeaker row: Home Minister issues notice to religious institutions including mosques, warns of action if ‘noise not reduced to permissible limit’

Amid the ongoing loudspeaker controversy in Karnataka, state Home Minister Araga Gyanendra said on Friday that the government has sent notices to religious institutions across the state, ordering them to maintain the noise of loudspeakers within the prescribed limit. The notices have been sent by Bengaluru Police to 301 mosques, temples, churches, and other establishments

‘Religious institutions of the entire state have been warned by issuing notices. They have also been instructed to reduce the noise to the prescribed limit. If not, action will be taken. Everyone has to follow the orders of the court”, Gyanendra said on April 8.

According to the reports, notices have also been served to restaurants, pubs, and bars. Out of 301 notices issued by the Bengaluru Police, 125 have been sent to mosques, 83 to temples, 22 to churches, 12 to industries, and 59 to pubs and bars.

This is after Hindu organizations in Karnataka complained about the noise pollution being created due to the loudspeakers. Also, BJP leader and Panchayat Raj Minister KS Eshwarappa had noted that prayers through loudspeakers in mosques were disturbing the elderly persons, students, and patients. “The community has for long followed the tradition of calling for prayers using loudspeakers, and this is an issue even for their own children’s studies,” the minister had said.

Later Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai stated that the issue of Azaan on loudspeakers in the state would be solved by considering everyone. He cited the High Court order regarding Azaan and said that the installation of decibel meters is being implemented in stages. “It is a job which needs to be done by taking everyone into confidence, it is not a job to be done by the force in any way”, the Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Siddaramaiah accused the ruling BJP in Karnataka of raising communal issues for political gains with an eye on the Assembly elections. He also called out Bommai for his alleged silence on the issue and asked ‘speakers were installed in temples, mosques, and churches for a long time now. What harm did it cause to people till now’. He accused the Chief Minister of being weak and not being able to take action against those who are causing a disturbance in society.

The Azaan row first flared up in the state of Maharashtra last week when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray called his party workers to play Hanuman Chalisa from loudspeakers in public places across the state.

“Why loudspeakers in mosques are played at such high volume? If this is not stopped, there will be speakers outside mosques playing Hanuman Chalisa at higher volume”, Raj Thackeray said as the MNS workers played Hanuman Chalisa in front of its office in Kalyan town.

Some BJP leaders supported the move including Karnataka’s Panchayat Raj Minister KS Eshwarappa. “Anyone who needs a loudspeaker to install it in a temple can ask us for free! All Hindus should have one voice! Jai Shri Ram! Har Har Mahadev”, BJP leader Mohit Kamboj tweeted.

Several Hindu organizations in Karnataka also said that they would play bhajans every morning if the Azaan on loudspeakers were not stopped. Meanwhile, Mohammed M Imran Rashadi, Chief Imam and Khateeb of Jamia Masjid, Bengaluru said that the regulations issued by the Supreme Court will be followed. “We’ve arranged a device that controls the sound as required so that no problems arise. We’ll follow all the SC-issued notices. Similarly, temples should also follow”, he said.

As per the Supreme Court order, the Karnataka government has allowed the noise of 75 decibels during the daytime and 70 decibels at night in the industrial area. However, in commercial areas noise of 65 decibels during the day and 55 decibels at the night is allowed. In residential areas 55 decibels in the daytime and 45 decibels at night time. Also, in the silence zone, 50 decibels of noise is permitted during the day and 40 decibels at the night.

Another attempt to whitewash? One Maulana Ilyasi talks about his 2016 meeting with the Gorakhnath temple attack accused: Here is what he said

OpIndia Staff
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Another attempt to whitewash? One Maulana Ilyasi talks about his 2016 meeting with the Gorakhnath temple attack accused: Here is what he said

Days after the Gorakhpur temple attack, where the accused Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi forcibly tried to enter the premises of the temple and attacked two cops with sharp weapons, one Maulana Ilyasi has told the police that the accused was under the influence of black magic. Maulana Ilyasi is a teacher in the same Madarsa that Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi had attended.

According to a report by ABP Live, the Maulana stated in his statement recorded at Navi Mumbai’s NRI Police Station that Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi’s father approached him in 2016 and expressed concern that someone had done black magic on Murtaza. Murtaza’s father had told the Maulana about his son’s sudden change in behaviour, according to the Maulana. Murtaza, he claimed, stayed awake all night and acted strangely.

This could very well be another attempt to whitewash the Jihadi antecedents of the attacker, given that earlier, his father had claimed that he was mentally unstable – a claim which the doctors refuted.

The Maulana went on to call the attacker an extremely timid and quiet person. He said that during his childhood days, Murtaza did not have many friends. He liked to mostly be on his own. The Maulana stated that Murtaza had stayed in the Taj Height building from 2014 to 2020. There was a Madarsa built in the basement of the same building where the Maulana was a teacher. During that period, Murtaza used to frequently visit the Madarsa to offer Namaz and then return home quietly without interacting with many people, said Maulana Ilyasi.

Attacker was trying to develop ‘jihadi app’, planning to join ISIS

Meanwhile, Murtaza Abbasi’s interrogation revealed that he was attempting to develop a jihadi app called ‘Jarima’ at the behest of Islamic terror groups. In Arabic, the word ‘Jarima’ means ‘oppression.’ Abbasi used to exchange messages via the Pir2Pir app before creating this Arabic-language jihadi app, which is widely used by Islamic ultras.

The investigation also revealed a ‘honey trap’ angle.

According to reports, Abbasi’s interest in radical ideas began with an email from a girl in an ISIS camp in Syria. Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi admitted to interrogators that he had transferred money several times into the girl’s account. He was also planning to join the terrorist organisation ISIS.

Abbasi revealed that a girl from an ISIS camp in Syria sent him an email, as well as a photo, and promised to meet him in India. Abbasi, in turn, sent her Rs 40,000. They began communicating via e-mail, and as a result, Abbasi came into contact with ISIS terrorists. He was also rumoured to be on his way to Syria via Nepal.

How SP chief Akhilesh Yadav downplayed the Gorakhnath Temple attack

Interestingly, prior to this, the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had attempted to downplay the seriousness of the Gorakhnath Temple attack claiming that the attacker was suffering from psychiatric problems. He had alleged that the BJP was exaggerating the matter.

Soon after the attack, the family members of the accused had also claimed that he was mentally ill.

Doctors refute claims that the attacker was mentally unstable

However, the doctor who treated Abbasi refuted the claims that he was mentally unstable. The Superintendent in Chief of Gorakhpur District Hospital JSP Singh said that the accused was talking coherently during the medical examination. He was responding to the queries of the Police and the doctors. He further added Abbasi did not display any signs of being violent, which made the doctors believe he was not mentally unstable.

It is pertinent to note that on March 31, the intelligence agencies had sent a list of 16 suspects to UP Police. Ahmad Murtaza’s name was on the list. Earlier, it was reported that Murtaza was under ATS’s scanner. The investigation agencies have also sealed Murtaza’s house for further investigation. Reports suggest that during the attack, Abbasi was accompanied by another man who escaped when Abbasi was overpowered by the Police personnel. During the investigation, the security agencies found he was influenced by banned Islamic preacher Zakir Naik and might have ISIS links.

Gorakhnath temple attack

On April 3, Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi attacked Police personnel outside Gorakhnath Temple, Gorakhpur. The incident took place a day before CM Yogi Adityanath was scheduled to visit the temple. Abbasi severely injured two Police personnel with a sharp weapon. Reports suggest he was with another man who escaped when Abbasi was overpowered by the Police personnel.

It is pertinent to note that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the head priest (Mahant) of Gorakhnath Temple and has his personal accommodation on the temple premises. At the time of the attack, CM Yogi was not at the temple.

‘Got instructions from Pakistan’: Jammu and Kashmir police arrest mastermind of pro-terror slogans at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar

OpIndia Staff
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‘Got instructions from Pakistan’: Jammu and Kashmir police arrest mastermind of pro-terror slogans at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar

A day after ‘Azadi’ and anti-India slogans were raised by Islamists at the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, the Jammu and Kashmir police apprehended the mastermind behind the genocidal sloganeering, reported The Tribune.

The accused, identified as Basharat Nabi Bhat, is a resident of Hawal in Nowhatta town of Srinagar. While confirming the development, officials associated with the Srinagar police informed that raids were conducted by the cops at several locations for arresting Bhat.

The Tribune reported that several suspects were summoned for interrogation and formal arrests would be made once their role becomes clear in the Friday incident. The police are also investigating the Pakistani angle in connection to the case.

“It also came out that the main accused had received instructions from Pakistan-based handlers of terror outfits to disrupt Friday prayers in Jamia Masjid and cause law and order situation,” the police told The Tribune.

The Background of the Case

On Friday (April 8), the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar reverberated with Azadi and anti-India slogans, following the Jumma Namaz. A large mob, which had gathered for the Friday prayers, was heard chanting Azadi slogans and hailing terrorist Zakir Musa.

Musa was the Chief of the terrorist group Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and was neutralised by the Indian Army in an encounter in May 2019. Ashraf Wani, a journalist with India Today group, had shared a video clip where Islamists could be heard shouting slogans that called for secession from India.

Along with Azadi slogans, screams of “Nara e Taqbeer, Allahu Akbar” could be heard in the video clip attached by Wani. Stone-pelting was also witnessed outside the mosque where personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force were deployed.

Earlier, journalist Aditya Raj Kaul reported that the Jammu and Kashmir police had initiated action against those who raised pro-Islamist terror slogans inside the mosque.

Bhopal court summons Samajwadi Party MP and actress Jaya Bachchan for cancelling land deal after receiving payment: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Bhopal court summons Samajwadi Party MP and actress Jaya Bachchan for cancelling land deal after receiving payment: Details

Actress and Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Jaya Bachchan has been asked to appear before a court in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal over irregularities in a land deal.

According to the reports, a local court in Bhopal has asked actor-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan to appear before the court in connection with a land deal. Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan is accused of refusing to sell her five acres of land after taking payment from the buyers.

Former BJP MLA from Bhopal Jitendra Daga’s son Anuj Daga had filed a case against the Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan, alleging that Jaya Bachchan had cancelled a land deal after receiving the payment. The complainant had also alleged that the controversial actress had demanded a higher price than the agreed amount.

As the buyers did not agree to her demands, the actress violated the agreement and cancelled the land deal despite receiving the payment, the complainant said.

According to Daga’s lawyer Enosh George Carlo, Jaya Bachchan had bought the five acres of land in Sevania Gaur in the Bhopal district nearly 12 years ago. The lawyer said that Jaya Bachchan had authorized Rajesh Hrishikesh Yadav to sell the land.

Apparently, Daga had bought the land by paying Rs.1 crore as advance payment to Jaya Bachchan. The amount was deposited in Jaya Bachchan’s account, however, on the sixth day, i.e. March 25, the money was returned to Anuj Daga’s account. Later, they demanded a higher price than the negotiated amount, i.e., Rs.2 crore per acre of land and then broke the agreement.

“When an offer is made under the Indian Contract Act, it is accepted. Once the consideration is paid, the contract is completed. The agreement between my party and Jaya Bachchan was done digitally, and Rs one crore was paid into the bank account as agreed under the agreement,” the lawyer said.

The court has accepted the suit for consideration, and notices have been issued. The next hearing will be on April 30. Jaya Bachchan has been asked to present before the court.

MHA declares Hafiz Talha Saeed, son of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed as a designated terrorist, says ‘actively involved in propagating jihad against India’

OpIndia Staff
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MHA declares Hafiz Talha Saeed, son of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed as a designated terrorist, says ‘actively involved in propagating jihad against India’

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday declared Hafiz Talha Saeed, son of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed as a designated terrorist under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Hafiz Talha Saeed is a senior terrorist leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and head of the cleric wing of the LeT.

In the official notification issued by the Central Government, the MHA said that Hafiz Talha Saeed has been actively involved in the recruitment, fund collection, planning, and executing of attacks by the LeT in India and Indian interests in Afghanistan.

The letter also stated that Saeed has been actively visiting various LeT centres across Pakistan and during his sermons propagating for jihad against India, Israel, the United States of America, and Indian interests in other western countries. “The Central government believes that Hafiz Talha Saeed is involved in terrorism and should be notified as a terrorist under the UAPA”, it said.

This is a day after Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was sentenced to 32 years imprisonment by the Pakistan Court. The Court also imposed a fine of PKR 3,40,000 on Saeed.

Reportedly, Saeed an UN-designated terrorist on whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty, was arrested in July 2019 in the terror financing cases. He found LeT as a pet organization of JuD and planned the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which many civilians lost their lives. The global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is pushing Pakistan to take action against the terrorists roaming free in Pakistan and using the territory to plan attacks against India. Pakistan has been on the grey list of FATF since June 2018 for failing to check money laundering leading to terror financing.

Saeed’s son Talha Saeed serves as the Lashkar-e-Taiba second-in-command. He controls the finances of LeT. India has banned terrorist organizations LeT and JuD. Also, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Russia, and Australia have banned Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Delhi Police starts questioning over 30 house staff after Sonam Kapoor’s house was robbed in Feb, involve the Forensics lab in ‘investigation’ too

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Police starts questioning over 30 house staff after Sonam Kapoor’s house was robbed in Feb, involve the Forensics lab in ‘investigation’ too

The house belonging to actor Sonam Kapoor and her husband Anand Ahuja in New Delhi’s Amrita Shergill Marg had been robbed and cash and jewellery worth Rs 1.41 Crore were stolen. The incident reportedly happened on February 11, 2022, and the report was lodged at the Tughlaq Road police station on February 23. Owing to its “high-profile nature”, though all information pertaining to the case was kept under tight wraps, senior officials of the Delhi police had started investigating the case as soon as the complaint was lodged, reports Pinkvilla.

Now, Sonam and Anand Ahuja’s army of staff and house help are being questioned in the investigations. According to the report, the Delhi Police is questioning 25 employees in addition to 9 caretakers, drivers, gardeners, and other workers. The FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory), in addition to the Delhi Police, is involved in the collection of evidence from crime scenes.

Pinkvilla reported that Sonam Kapoor’s husband Anand Ahuja’s grandmother Sarla Ahuja was the first who got to know about the theft. On February 11, when Sarla Ahuja checked her cupboards, she found her jewellery and cash missing. She approached the police on February 23 to lodge a complaint about the theft. In her complaint, Sarla Ahuja mentioned that the last she checked the jewellery was 2 years ago. 

Based on the information provided, the police have been examining the CCTV footage of the past years to identify any suspects in the matter.

According to the report, Sonam’s father-in-law Harish Ahuja and mother-in-law Priya Ahuja live in the Delhi residence on Amrita Shergill Marg with Anand’s grandmother Sarla Ahuja.

Last month, the Faridabad police had busted a gang of highly-sophisticated cybercriminals involved in duping an export-import firm of Harish Ahuja, the father-in-law of actor Sonam Kapoor of over Rs 27 crore. 10 people were arrested in the matter.

Earlier in February 2022, actor Sonam Kapoor’s husband, Anand Ahuja, was accused of evading tax and duties.

In 2018, it was reported how goods worth lakhs were stolen from Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja’s wedding venue called Rockdale. Then too, a lot of cash and jewellery had been stolen. Reports had suggested that the thief entered the place at midnight when the entire house was asleep. Even the guard was asleep and the thief went all the way to the bungalow’s fourth floor, climbing with the help of the window and stole goods worth lakhs, mobile phones, cash etc from the house that belonged to Soman Kapoor’s aunt. The FIR in the matter had been filed on September 21, 2018, at the Bandra Police Station.

Navi Mumbai Police to launch a parallel probe to ascertain Gorakhnath Temple attacker Abbasi’s links with local Maulana, rule out a possible threat

OpIndia Staff
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Navi Mumbai Police to launch a parallel probe to ascertain Gorakhnath Temple attacker Abbasi’s links with local Maulana, rule out a possible threat

The Navi Mumbai police have also launched an investigation to ascertain more information about Ahmad Murtuza Abbasi, the IIT engineer who attacked security personnel outside Gorakhpur’s Gorakhnath temple on Sunday.

According to a report by Mid Day, the Navi Mumbai police have also launched a parallel investigation to know the history of the accused and his acquaintances in Mumbai.

Abbasi, who is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), attempted to break into the Gorakhnath temple premises on April 3 while shouting Allahu Akbar. The 30-year-old chemical engineering graduate attacked the security personnel with a sickle when they tried to stop him, injuring two Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) constables.

The Navi Mumbai police want to confirm that there are no threats from the people who are known to him. Ahmad Murtuza Abbasi, who studied at the prestigious IIT-Bombay, had earlier lived in Navi Mumbai.

The Mumbai police, who provided information to the Uttar Pradesh police about Abbasi, have interrogated one maulana from Mumbai, who is alleged to be close to Ahmad Abbasi. During his stay in Mumbai, Abbasi used to meet the maulana frequently. Abbasi lived at Taj Heights in Navi Mumbai, which also had a madrassa on the ground floor.

According to the police, Abbasi often visited the madrassa at Taj Height, where the maulana used to preach. During the interrogation, the maulana said to the police that Abbasi was very calm and would not talk much to anyone.

“From here they went to Jamnagar… his father met me in 2016-17 and told me that he felt that someone had cast a spell on his son as his behaviour had completely changed. His father said ‘he does not sleep at night and behaves strangely,” said the maulana in his statement.

Apart from the Navi Mumbai police, the Maharashtra ATS has also launched an investigation to look into Abbasi’s links and the people associated with him to rule out any possible threat.

Abbasi had links with ISIS

Earlier, Ahmad Murtuza Abbasi had confessed to the police that his hatred bred from alleged atrocities committed against Muslims. The attacker said he was not happy with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) as he deemed them as an act of “injustice to Muslims”.

“I thought about the act from various angles before committing the crime. They [government] were implementing CAA and NRC against Muslims. Even in Karnataka, Muslims were being wronged. No one was doing anything about the issue. Someone had to do something. This is how I justified the act in my mind,” he said.

Abbasi confessed that he decided to attack Gorakhnath temple as there was a constant police presence at the premises, and it was easy for him to escape after attacking the cops. The police said that the confession indicated that Abbasi had been radicalised to the extent that he was even willing to die committing such crimes.

During the interrogation, it was revealed that Abbasi had sent lakhs of rupees to bank accounts linked to ISIS. The investigating agencies are now looking into its financial dealings with Abbasi.

In Abbasi’s defence, the father of the accused – Mohammed Munir, had claimed that his son had been mentally disturbed since 2017, due to which his marriage also broke down that year.

Aam Aadmi Party suffers a major blow, President of Himachal Pradesh unit defects to BJP right after Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘rath yatra’

OpIndia Staff
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Aam Aadmi Party suffers a major blow, President of Himachal Pradesh unit defects to BJP right after Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘rath yatra’

Days after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann conducted a roadshow in Himachal Pradesh, the President of the State unit of AAP joined hands with the BJP.

Anoop Kesari, the former President of AAP for Himachal Pradesh, was inducted into the saffron party at the residence of BJP chief JP Nadda. Besides Kesari, AAP Una President Iqbal Singh and Organisation General Secretary Satish Thakur too joined the BJP.

Citing sources, News 18 reported that BJP leader Anurag Thakur has been the mastermind behind facilitating the defection of AAP leaders. Anoop Kesari informed that he and several party workers were insulted by Mann and Kejriwal.

Kesari remarked, “During the roadshow in Mandi, except CM Kejriwal and CM Mann no one was allowed on the vehicle. No leader was given a place on the rath (vehicle). It was an insult to the karyakartas (workers) and we are very proud of ourselves and can’t compromise on our self-respect.”

The former AAP President added that he reached out to Anurag Thakur and conveyed how the party leadership had insulted him. “It is unconditional support that we pledged (to the BJP),” he emphasised.

It must be mentioned that Arvind Kejriwal had recently kickstarted AAP’s campaign in Himachal Pradesh, ahead of the State Legislative elections in 68 constituencies this year. He chose the home turg of BJP Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur for his election campaign.

Arvind Kejriwal had claimed, “First, we eradicated corruption in Delhi, then in Punjab. Now, it’s time to uproot corruption from Himachal Pradesh…We are common people, we don’t know how to do politics. Instead, we know how to work for people, build schools and end corruption. We have ended corruption in just 20 days in Punjab since Bhagwant Mann became the chief minister. Now, ‘kranti’ should happen in Himachal Pradesh too.”

100 AAP workers join BJP in Gujarat

Last month, a group of about 150 party members from the Anand district in Gujarat had resigned from the primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party. They had accused the state-level party leadership of high-handedness.

As per reports, they appealed to all the AAP members in the state to leave the party. Interestingly, the resignation letters of all these members were addressed to the AAP president Arvind Kejriwal.

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