Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has yet again used abusive and homophobic language while speaking at a press conference at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai today. While starting his address he said, “In today’s press conference we want to give a message that Maharashtra is not a child of a g*ndu (g*ndu is Urdu word for gay as per Urdupoint website.)”
In the press conference, The Shiv Sena firebrand leader was talking about ongoing ED enquires on Shivsena leaders and the Thackeray family. Indirectly targeting the BJP, Raut said, “Marathi manoos is honest, and even if you stab our backs in unmanly ways, Shiv Sena will not concede,” He further listed names of Shiv Sena leaders like Anandrao Adsul, Ravindra Waikar, Anil Parab, Bhavna Gawli and other leaders from the MVA Government on whom investigations by Central government authorities are going on.
Terming the enquires as attacks, Raut said, “This is not a disaster only Maharashtra is facing, but also on the nation including Bengal,” Sanjay Raut further alleged that (the Central Government) wants to dismantle the coalition government in Maharashtra, for which central investigation agencies are being used.”
Sanjay Raut’s affair with abusive words
However, this is not the first time when Sanjay Raut has hurled abuse in front of the camera. Earlier, he had used the vernacular slang ‘C*utiya’ against women BJP workers and had also justified it by saying that the word means ‘stupid’.
FIR registerd agnst me for the use of word Chutiya,tht means Stupid as per hindi dictionaries.Inspite of ths,if a case is registrd thn it’s nothing bt an attmpt to pressurize me! BTW,sm BJP leadrs hv usd more objctionble words agnst women leadrs,hvn’t heard of such FIR agnst thm
The Mumbai police had recently apprehended a 34-year-old man, who broke into a locked office in a black burqa and committed a burglary in the Dadar West area of Mumbai.
As per reports, the accused was identified as one Balwant Sudama Gupta. He stole 12.5 kg gold and silver jewellery, ₹15 lakh cash and the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) of a CCTV camera.
The burglary incident took place between January 29-30 of this year on the 14th floor of ‘Naman Midtown’, which is located on Senapati Bapat Marg in Dadar (West). A First Information Report (FIR) was registered on January 31, following a complaint by one Jignesh Mehta.
During the investigation, the cops analysed several hours of footage from 130-140 CCTV cameras. The police found that the accused, dressed in a burqa, first went to the 17th floor in a lift. The person then went to the 14th floor by climbing the duct area and removing the toilet window. He then broke into the office.
He then smashed the showcase and looted the jewellery. Gupta then turned the CCTV camera towards the wall. However, one CCTV camera located in another office showed him with a sack in his hand. This provided the first clue to the investigation authorities.
Senior police Inspector Mahesh Mugutrao remarked, “For 10 days we went through 130 to 140 CCTV cameras installed across Dadar, Matunga, Sion, Kurla and Panvel to get leads in the case and finally nabbed him.” Reportedly, Gupta came to know about the store when he visited the building in Dadar, a month prior to the incident for job-related work.
According to inspector Sagar Shivalkar, Gupta robbed closed shops in high-end areas during holidays. Reportedly, the accused had committed another burglary in a burqa in November 2021 at Ghatkopar in Mumbai and stole ₹5 lakhs.
The police recovered 8 kg silver and ₹ 5.35 lakh from the accused. It has come to light that Balwant Gupta is an electrician, who lost his job during the Covid-19 lockdown. He needed money for the treatment of his father, who is reportedly suffering from cancer. As such, the accused resorted to robbing shops to fund his father’s treatment.
On February 13, Reuters journalist Aditya Kalra expressed his shock on Twitter’s social media after discovering that the Dhani app disbursed a loan to him which he had never applied for. In his tweet, Kalra said someone used his PAN number to avail a loan from Dhani, an instant loan app by IndiaBulls. Kalra said, “Shocking revelation in my credit report. A loan disbursed by IVL Finance (Indiabulls) Dhani with my PAN number & name, addresses in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. I have no clue. How can a disbursal happen on my name and PAN. In default already.”
Shocking revelation in my credit report. A loan disbursed by IVL Finance (Indiabulls) @dhanicares with my PAN number & name, addresses in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. I have no clue. How can a disbursal happen on my name and PAN. In default already @RBI@IncomeTaxIndia@nsitharamanpic.twitter.com/LMMrwKyeit
Kalra also shared a screenshot of the loan information from the Cibil report. As per the documents, the amount disbursed was Rs 1000, and it was sanctioned on November 14, 2021. The person who availed the loan did not repay the loan, the pending amount was Rs 9,945. The amount overdue was Rs 5,126.
He was not alone who alleged that loans were disbursed on their PAN cards and that they were unaware about the same. Kalra shared multiple tweets of people who got duped by scammers and are now trying their best to clear their names. In every case, the scammers appeared to have used the PAN details to avail micro loans.
More from others with credit report photos. Same case. Loan disbursed to someone who submitted someone else’s PAN and name. Then default starts. Scary bad loans ticking bomb, fraud and more. @RBI@dhanicares@IncomeTaxIndiahttps://t.co/xX5X5XQ5rO
Kalra shared a screenshot of his credit score fluctuating since the loan was availed. His credit score was 801 in August 2021, drastically dropping to 666 in December 2021. It revived in January, possibly because of the other activities on his credit line.
Notably, in such cases, if Dhani or the financial institution does not act quickly, it will have a serious impact on the credit score of the victim. Also, as the fraudster has not paid a single penny back, it will harm the loan-availing capacity of the victim. Whenever he or she would try to avail a loan, this particular case may come up and put a dent in his or her reputation in front of the lender.
During the investigation, OpIndia came across numerous such cases. Speaking to OpIndia, Rishab Babuta, one of the victims of the alleged loan fraud, said he has been running from pillar to post to get out of the mess for the last three months but could not get a concrete solution for the problem. Babuta, who is an NRI (Merchant Navy Officer), said, “As I am an NRI, no banks or institutions can issue loans or cards to me without a mortgage or an overdraft account. Despite the regulations, the loan was dispursed by Dhani, and I am facing the problem.”
@FinMinIndia There is a new scam brewing at @dhanicares / @ibhomeloans – They are issuing loans without verification of PAN There are others like me, who never took these loans and are affected by them for non-payment. No one is listening today as this is not a Scam of Crores YET
Babuta found out about the scam in November 2021. Two loans were availed in his name of Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000, he said. Due to non-payment of the said loans, the total amount due was Rs 12,000, including a penalty. He immediately checked if there was an error with the CIBIL report. On December 27, once he was sure that it was not an issue at CIBIL’s end, Babuta contacted Dhani for support.
Screenshot of the email sent to Dhani by Babota. OpIndia has hidden the personal information in the screenshot.
In every case, including Babuta, Dhani has replied to the complaint but did not provide any concrete solution. He said, “Dhani has not resolved this fraud; I am still trying to find a solution. I am in touch with their fraud team, who basically forced me to send across my original documents, which they did not have… claiming to be necessary for the resolution… but it changed nothing even after a month.”
It is noteworthy PAN authentication not done by Dhani; otherwise, the loan would not have been approved. Babuta also shared complaint numbers with Cyber Crime Unit, Income Tax department, CIBIL and RBI. A solution from all departments is awaited. He said, “I had shared the details with the Cyber Crime officer on the January 14. After I received a confirmation email from the cyber cell National account, but they never got back to me neither answered my calls after that.”
‘Inside involvement is possible’
Speaking to OpIndia, CA Guru Prasad said, “The credit score impacted by such frauds can only be rectified once the investigation is over. The first thing the victim needs to do after learning about the possible fraud is to inform the bank and file a police complaint.” There is no foolproof method to avoid such fraud. He said, “Unless there is some involvement in disbursing the loans from inside the company, it is not possible for such frauds to happen.”
‘Loan companies are not authenticating PAN’
As per the experts, there is a problem with the methodology these loan companies are following. Vinay Murarka, CEO V2Technosys said, “There is a mechanism in place with banks that they must follow while disbursing the loan. When you apply for a loan, the bank authenticates the documents and only then give you the loan. In cases like what is happening in the Dhani app, the company is not authenticating the documents.”
He further said the loan must be disbursed into the account linked to the PAN card. He said, “The loan must be disbursed in a bank account linked to the PAN card with the matching details mentioned on the PAN card and bank account. Also, the companies must do Aadhaar authentication before disbursing the loan. It is clearly the loan company’s fault as they are not authenticating the documents before disbursing the loan.”
While talking about the impact on CIBIL score, he said, “There is no way out for the victim other than contesting it in a court. If you are a victim, file a police complaint, inform the authorities and file a court case against the company.” He further expressed his surprise that CIBIL is not taking any action against these companies. “CIBIL must have multiple complaints against Dhani. I am surprised they are still taking these companies into consideration and adding the information to the CIBIL score of the victims. The same goes for the RBI. They should have suspended operations of the company by now.”
’75 million downloads, 25 million lines of credit issued – how many frauds?’
Experts believe every one of six downloads of the Dhani app could be linked to fraud. Srikant Lakshmanan, CashlessConsumer, a consumer collective on fintech, shared a detailed thread about the technical aspect of the alleged fraud. He said Dhani uses a random collection of PAN to give its users credit on their wallets. They have 75M installs, likely that PAN of 1 in 6 could be victim of these bogus line of credit issued and default of such affecting credit scores.”
So @dhanicares uses random collection of PAN to give its users credit on their wallet.
He further shared multiple tweets where so-called tech experts had shared detailed videos on how to get free recharge or login in the Dhani app without documents using random PAN numbers. The videos shared by him clocked lakhs of views. Shockingly, such activities have been happening since 2020, which could be seen from the tweets, but no action was taken by Dhani or any government agency.
For a Rs. 30 recharge, someone can enter random PAN and you might be lucky one! pic.twitter.com/wd56ptragq
Speaking to OpIndia, Srikanth said, “We can discuss different theories on how to avoid such scams, but we need an explanation from Dhani. From the range of complaints, these don’t seem to be individual instances of fraud, but an organized crime, with/without the knowledge of Dhani.”
While discussing possible reasons why Dhani did not act on the complaints or change its methodology to disperse the loans, he said, “The recent trend in the digital lending industry – there is a video KYC (especially, post covid this is normalized) besides Aadhaar/PAN-based eKYC. Most apps do OCR verification of ID proof, some even ask to take a selfie with the proof of ID. In this case, that certainly has not happened. They probably took just an input of ID.”
He further urged everyone not to share PAN and Aadhaar info to avoid such situations. He said, “The government must bring in data protection law and ensure the safety of citizens before seeking any linking mandate. PAN-Aadhaar linkage is due this March 31.” Srikanth also insisted on checking the credit report regularly to keep a check on such frauds and seek revision in credit reports to remove all such unknown loans.
What can you do if you are victim?
First of all, you must check your CIBIL report regularly to detect if any fraudulent activity has taken place. You can either check at CIBIL.com by paying a fee, or you can check it for free with service providers like Experian.
If you are a victim, experts suggest you should take the following steps:
Immediately inform the bank or financial institute about the fraud. Write an email or submit a complaint to their official mail ID or registered office. Keep a copy of the complaint and save the acknowledgement number for future reference. Make sure to include all the details you have about the fraud.
Collect all the documents and file a Police complaint. Make sure you have the FIR copy with you.
Submit the FIR copy to the bank or financial institute so that they have the information about the legal proceedings.
Do not wait for the financial institution to initiate any action and file a complaint in court. Experts say proceeding with the legal process is the only way out. As a consumer, you can either file a complaint with the consumer court, or you can file a criminal case against the bank. Consult an advocate to file the complaint.
Regularly follow up with the bank and police to know if there was any progress in the case.
At this time, the only thing a victim can do is to contest it legally in court.
OpIndia contacted Dhani via email. By the time this report was published, we did not receive any communication from their end. We are also in conversation with several experts over the matter. We will update the story as we get more information.
A bizarre yet heinous incident of a cow being raped has come to the fore in Rajasthan. In Chuhadpur locality of the Bhiwadi region in the Alwar district, police have arrested two people for allegedly raping a cow. The police came to action when a video went viral in which four individuals were seen doing unnatural sex with a cow.
The incident was reported in Dainik Bhaskar. It occurred in the Alwar district’s Choupanki police station area. A police complaint was filed against four Chuhadpur residents, Waris, Zubair, Chuna, and Taleem. Zubair and Chuna have been arrested and the police are looking for the other two culprits in the case.
The incident allegedly occurred on February 10 when these four people took a cow to a nearby mountainous slope and three of them got involved in unnatural sex with the cow while the other one was filming the video. They smashed the mouth of the cow with their foot to prevent it from making any noise before raping it, as per the report.
The news was published in the e-paper.
The Superintendent of Police, Shantanu Kumar Singh said that the police sprung into action as soon as it got the news. “We registered a complaint and started the investigation. We have apprehended two of the culprits as of now and we are sure we will catch the other two very soon,” said the SP.
• पुलिस अधीक्षक श्री शांतनु कुमार सिंह के मार्गदर्शन व अति. पुलिस अधीक्षक श्री विपिन शर्मा के निर्देशन में DST_टीम,सोशल मीडिया टीम व थाना चोपानकी पुलिस टीम ने वायरल वीडियो एवं सूचना पर तुरंत संज्ञान लेते हुए घटना में संलिप्त दो आरोपियों को अल्पसमय में ही किया #गिरफ्तार। pic.twitter.com/sIle1yQawf
Several more incidences of animal mistreatment had been reported in the past by OpIndia. Toufeek Ahmed, a 20-year-old youngster, was captured on a CCTV security camera sexually assaulting a female dog in 2021. Ahmed was charged with ‘unnatural sex’ at the Vakola police station.
On February 15, a burqa-clad woman allegedly stabbed a cab driver in Gurugram, Haryana. When police tried to detain her, she attacked the female police officer. Initial investigation revealed the woman is from Egypt, but no travel documents were found on her.
Amidst the ongoing controversy over hijab, reports have surfaced that a burqa-clad woman allegedly stabbed a taxi driver. As per driver Raghuraj’s statement, he runs a rented taxi in Gurugram. The woman approached her when he was going to drop a ride. When asked what she wanted, the woman stabbed him and tried to flee the scene.
गुरुग्राम में बुर्का और हिजाब पहने हुई एक विदेशी महिला ने कथित तौर पर एक कैब ड्राइवर को चाकू मार दिया। घायल कैब ड्राइवर को इलाज के लिए अस्पताल में भर्ती कराया गया है। पुलिस आरोपी महिला को हिरासत में लेकर पूछताछ कर रही है। इस दौरान महिला ने पुलिसकर्मियों से भी हाथापाई की। pic.twitter.com/QYURAeY6iu
Raghuraj said, “I was going to drop a ride. When I saw her approaching the taxi, I rolled down the window and asked her if she needed a ride. She looked around and out of nowhere stabbed me with a small knife.” The driver tried to chase her when she tried to flee the scene. He said, “I tried to catch her when she tried to flee the scene. When I was almost caught her, she injured me using her nails.” He said the woman dropped the knife while running.
A PCR van that was parked nearby rushed to the spot. When the police tried to detain her, she attacked the police officers. As per reports, she was talking in an foreign language. She could not answer the police officers in Hindi or English. She demanded water from the police. When she was provided with a bottle of water, she took a sip and spilled the rest of the water on the road.
A female police officer tried to stop her, but the woman attacked her as well. Finally, a PCR van was called, and the burqa-clad woman was taken into custody. Inspector Ved Prakash, Sector 15 Civil Lines, said in a statement the woman hails from Egypt, and she was not cooperating with the police. As the police could not understand her language, a translator was being arranged.
The incident took place at around 11 AM at Rajiv Chowk. The reason for the attack is unknown. Further investigation into the incident is underway.
On February 15, Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party has accused at Rahul Gandhi for taking credit for the Mohalla clinics in Delhi. Sharing media reports from 2015 covering the inaugural of the first Mohalla clinic by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, the party tweeted: “If you (Congress) had done some work in Punjab, you wouldn’t have to steal credit”.
अगर Punjab Congress Govt ने कुछ काम किया होता तो आपको केजरीवाल जी के World-renowned Mohalla Clinics का Credit नहीं चुराना पड़ता। pic.twitter.com/7QljiCk4Bl
The AAP response came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while addressing the Gurdaspur rally on February 14, claimed that the first Mohalla clinic in Delhi was established by the Congress party. Slamming Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the COVID crisis in the national capital, Rahul Gandhi said: “Kejriwal brags about Mohalla clinics in Delhi. Congress party and had opened the first mohalla clinics in Delhi.”
He added: “Kejriwal should answer – What happened during Corona? Where did the Aam Aadmi Party disappear? What happened in Delhi hospitals? Who arranged for the oxygen cylinders?”.
केजरीवाल को जवाब देना चाहिए कि:
– कोरोना के समय क्या हुआ? – आम आदमी पार्टी कहां गायब हुई? – दिल्ली के अस्पतालों में क्या हुआ? – ऑक्सीजन सिलेंडर किसने दिलवाए
AAP senior leader and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain slammed Rahul Gandhi and accused him of lying about Delhi’s Mohalla clinics. He even challenged the Gandhi scion to disclose details to prove that the first Mohalla clinic was founded by the late Congress stalwart and former CM of Delhi, Sheila Dixit. Jain shared a report by TOI published on July 20, 2015, to call out Rahul Gandhi’s propaganda. The TOI report stated that on July 19, 2015, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the first mohalla clinic in Rajiv Gandhi JJ Punjabi Colony, a relief camp in Peeragarhi.
कांग्रेस के नेता अजय माकन जी ने 2016 में मोहल्ला क्लीनिक को बंद कराने के लिए एलजी के दरबार मे गुहार लगाई थी और मोहल्ला क्लिनिक मॉडल को बदनाम करने के लिए तब से लेकर आज तक कोई कर कसर नहीं छोड़ी ! (2/2) pic.twitter.com/zgrUTa6JJ8
The AAP leader further shared a letter written by Congress leader Ajay Makan in 2016 in which the latter had appealed to the then Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung to shut down the Mohalla Clinic citing serious violations of public health and financial propriety by the AAP government.
Mohalla Clinic, the flagship healthcare model promoted by Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP govt in Delhi
It is worth noting that Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) had launched ‘Mohalla Clinics’ as their flagship healthcare model to strengthen the primary healthcare system in the city. In July 2015, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had inaugurated the first-ever such clinic at Peeragarhi at a cost of Rs 20 lakhs. He had announced that Delhi would soon have 1,000 such clinics. According to a senior health official, there were more than 500 mohalla clinics in Delhi at one point. A mohalla clinic is supposed to consist of a doctor and a midwife-cum-nurse and provide a wide range of diagnostic services and essential medicines free of cost to patients.
Controversies surrounding AAP’s Mohalla clinics
However, soon these Mohalla clinics began facing the ire of the public due to gross negligence and violations of public health. Recently, a case of a toddler falling sick because of dextromethorphan poisoning came to the fore from one such Mohalla clinic in Delhi. The incident took place in January this year when the child was taken seriously ill after she was administered dextromethorphan syrup by a mohalla clinic in the city. The toddler was immediately rushed to Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital and put on a ventilator support system after suffering from respiratory failure.
This was however the second such case of gross negligiance reported from the Delhi Mohalla clinic in the recent past. Prior to this, in December 2021, 16 children were poisoned and admitted to Kalawati Saran Children’s hospital in New Delhi after allegedly consuming a cough syrup that was administered by a mohalla clinic run by the state government. 3 of those 16 children died in the incident.
Reportedly, an inquiry that was carried out by the central government revealed that the children were poisoned by the drug after it was administered to them on the prescription of the state-run mohalla clinics.
In 2017, AAP govt’s pet scheme Mohalla clinic had come under the scanner of the Vigilance Department after they received complaints that the Mohalla Clinics’ doctors were seeing a very high number of patients during their stipulated clinic hours, which was practically not possible.
It was reported that if one went by records, the doctors were treating as many as 533 patients in 4 hours, which turns out to be about 27 seconds per patient. Rightfully, questions were raised over the quality of the treatment provided if each patient lasts just 27 seconds in front of a doctor.
There were allegations that the doctors were making up false patients as their earnings depend on the number of patients they treat. They reportedly earned about Rs 30 per patient. It was also alleged that the doctors were deliberately giving useless medicines that might ensure repeat visits from the patient, thus further pushing up their earnings.
Furthermore, these clinics have been scrutinised for using unqualified personnel to treat patients and dispense medications. It has also been accused of nepotism after news surfaced that Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain’s daughter was in charge of these clinics.
The hijab dispute, which originated in coastal Karnataka, has sparked waves of outrage across India. Muslims in many states have taken to the streets to demand the right to wear hijab/burqa inside school and college campuses in violation of the existing uniform dress codes. Like many other states, pro-hijab protests have surfaced in West Bengal too.
Almost 500 Muslim students of Aliah University, an autonomous university under the state government, had taken to the streets last week with placards, raising slogans to protests against the ongoing hijab controversy raging in several educational institutions in Karnataka.
Interestingly, this is the same college whose students had in the year 2010 compelled a teacher to quit for not wearing a burqa to the college campus. According to reports, eight teachers had been forced by students of the Aliah University to wear burqas to college even though the university had no dress code. While seven teachers yielded to the demands, one teacher, Shirin Middya, 24, refused to give in to the pressure and chose to resign instead.
Shirin Middya, 24 at that time, had been hired as a guest lecturer to teach Bengali literature at Aliah University in Kolkata, West Bengal’s first Islamic university, in March 2010. In the second week of April that year, she had received a diktat from the students union that mandated all women lecturers to wear burqas to college.
“During mid-April, the Students Union called us and told all eight women teachers to wear a burqa. The students union said don’t discuss this with authorities, just follow our order. We have forced students to wear burqas, if you don’t you will have to leave the job,” Shirin had then informed, adding that she has no objections to wearing a burqa, but that she would do it of her own free will.
The students’ union had denied using coercion but admitted that they proposed wearing the burqa in keeping with the tradition of the Calcutta High Madarsa, where the Aliah University maintains a campus.
Students of Aliah University in West Bengal had put up posters to hound teachers for not wearing burqa
“We had told the authorities that this is a madarsa. The way she used to dress, it was an eyesore for us. The university doesn’t have a dress code but that doesn’t mean you can violate the madarsa’s tradition. We felt bad. So we objected,” said Md. Atiqur Rehman, General Secretary of Kolkata Madarsa Students Union.
The harassment was so severe that the students’ union even put up posters declaring, “Those who refuse to wear the burqa should leave.” In the face of the threats, the majority of the teachers backed down. In the end, Shirin was the only woman standing.
Fearful of unrest erupting, the university relocated Shirin Middya to its Salt Lake campus as an assistant librarian. She had written to the government about her situation and had requested justice.
Speaking about the intimidation she and the other teachers had to face, Shirin had said: “Initially, even they (other women lecturers) had refused. But the students prevented them from entering the classrooms. Eventually, they decided to give in to the union and requested time to get hold of a burqa, which was granted’ by the student leaders. But I refused to budge and wrote a complaint to minority affairs minister Abdus Sattar and the vice-chancellor. I was then removed to Salt Lake as an assistant librarian,” she said.
Nearly for four months, Shirin kept fighting for her rights and awaited government action, until in August 2010 the university authorities asked her to resume her duties without wearing a burqa.
“I have fought hard to get where I am and have not learnt to take anything lying down,” she had reportedly told TOI after learning that she was transferred back to the main campus at Haji Mohammed Mohsin Square in West Bengal.
On Monday, the Odisha Police arrested a 54-year old man for marrying 14 women from across India and duping them for money by producing fake identities and documents every single time. The accused has been identified as Ramesh Chandra Swain alias Bidhu Prakash Swain or Ramani Ranjan Swain, who apparently a homoeopathy doctor at Odisha’s Kendrapara district.
The matter came to light when one of his 14 wives registered an official complaint against her husband to the Mahila Police Station after she learnt that her husband had produced a fake identity and had looted many women using the same trick.
Briefing the media persons about the case, Bhubaneswar DCP Umashankar Dash said the man has been arrested from a rented accommodation in #Bhubaneswar based on a complaint filed by a woman school teacher of #NewDelhi at Mahila Thana in July last year. https://t.co/DddFlEFaIWpic.twitter.com/fPws7mKo0n
According to the reports, the complainant is a school teacher in Delhi and has alleged that they got married at Arya Samaj Mandal in Delhi following which she was brought to Bhubaneswar by Swain. During the investigation, the Police and the special squad found that Ramesh had married 13 women already from various cities including Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi.
He had cheated the women by showing them fake identities and residential documents, high profile letters and government documents every time on matrimonial websites. The police arrested him from a rented apartment in Kendrapara district on February 14.
Ramesh was finally arrested after the 7th wife, a schoolteacher from Delhi, decided to expose his deeds.
Had cheated banks too
Reports mention that Ramesh married for the first time in the year 1982 and then married 13 women between 2002 and 2020. “Ramesh is not a doctor or a govt officer but he used to put a government staff sticker on his vehicle to cheat people”, the Police said adding that he had earlier been arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Police and also by Kerala Police for cheating 13 banks for Rs 1 crore.
Briefing the media about the case, Bhubaneswar DCP Umashankar Dash further stated that Ramesh’s intention was just to get money and acquire property from the ladies. “He used to target middle-aged single women and abandon them after looting money. Lawyers, teachers, doctors and highly-educated women, most of them from outside Odisha, are among the victims”, he added.
The Police also revealed that Ramesh had married a woman officer of Punjab Central Armed Police Forces and duped her for Rs 10 lakhs. He further duped the Gurudwara where they married for Rs 11 lakhs promising to set up a hospital in the area.
In the series of his unfairly conduct towards women, Ramesh reportedly had also cheated medical students for money. He had been arrested by Hyderabad Police after they found that he had collected about Rs 2 crore from the students promising them admission to a medical college.
According to the reports, the Police officers have contacted all his wives and confirmed the developments. They have so far seized 11 ATM cards and 4 Aadhar cards from Ramesh Swain and charged him under Sections 498 (A), 419, 468, 471 and 494 of the IPC.
Ahead of Valentine’s Day, which is observed on February 14, Pakistani universities put out stern warnings to their students against celebrating the day of ‘love.’
The Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad published a notification on Sunday (February 13), directing male students to wear white prayer caps and female students to wear black burqas on the occasion of Valentine’s Day. The varsity renamed the day as ‘Haya Day’ (Modesty Day) and cautioned, “Anyone found in violation of rules shall be fined Rs 3000 by the administration.”
Screengrab of the notification by Quaid-i-Azam University
A similar diktat was released by the Peshawar Medical College. The notification dated February 12, read, “Boys and girls must not come near 6 metres of each other. Anyone found in violation of the rules shall be fined Rs 1000 by the administration.”
Screengrab of the notification by Peshawar Medical College
COMSATS University in Islamabad announced, “(We have) set fixed rules and protocols to restrict students from taking part in activities that are forbidden in our holy religion and lead the youth forward the wrong path.” The varsity asked male students to wear shalwar-kamiz with white prayer caps, and female students to wear full sleeves with hijab.
“Gender-mixing is strictly forbidden. Males and female students should be at a minimum distance of 2 meters. 20 dedicated members of the security team in each campus will be patrolling the campus all day. And will call the parents of the students violating the rules and write cheques for fines of Rs. 5000,” the notice read.
It further added, “The collected fines will go towards Shoukat Khanam Hospital Funds to aid patients of Cancer and Thalassemia. We expect your coordination to follow the rules of Islam.”
Screengrab of the notification by COMSATS University Islamabad
On Friday (February 11), RIPHAH Islamic International Medical College also put out a similar notification and vowed to use funds collected from violating students for the treatment of the needy.
Notification by RIPHAH Islamic International Medical College
The University of Peshawar posted on Facebook that the varsity will remain closed on Valentine’s Day.
“It is notified for the information of all concerned that the University of Peshawar will be closed on Monday, 14th February 2022 in lieu of 5th February, Kashmir day, for keeping the University open for arranging Talks /Speeches /Discussions /Seminars and Workshops etc. Schedule of examination, test and interviews, if already announced will remain unchanged,” the post read.
Screengrab of the Facebook post by the University of Peshawar
Amidst the religious diktat issued by premier Pakistani universities on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, a fake circular of the University of Punjab also started doing the rounds of the internet.
The fake notification claimed that male and female students must maintain a mandatory ‘social distance’ of 100 metres and pay PKR 10,000 for violating rules. It also alleged that defaulters would have to accompany Tablighi Jamaatis for a period of 4 months.
On its official Twitter account, the University of Punjab rejected claims made by the circular and deemed it as ‘fake.’ In Pakistan, Valentine’s Day is observed as ‘Haya Day’ by Islamists and religious zealots alike.
In a recent development, it has been learnt that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been conducting multiple raids in South Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. Close to 9 places in Mumbai and 1 in Thane have been raided by the ED including the residences of Dawood Ibrahim’s late sister Haseena Parkar and brother Iqbal Kaskar.
Enforcement Directorate (ED) is carrying out searches at several places linked to the people associated with the underworld, in Mumbai in a money laundering case: Sources
Interestingly, many news sources have reported that the ongoing raids also involve an investigation of a property deal related to a senior politician from Maharashtra. It has been said that a local politician who allegedly had a deal with one of Dawood’s aides is also under the scanner of ED in the money laundering case that is being investigated. Marathi news agency ABP Majha has reported further that investigation by ED is primarily based on probing deals struck by Haseena and Iqbal with a senior politician from Maharashtra. The ED in the coming days might take Iqbal Kaskar into custody for further investigation. Iqbal is currently in Jail.
Recently, The ED has registered a money laundering case against Pakistan-based fugitive Dawood Ibrahim based on an FIR registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Among the premises raided by the ED, some are in the Nagpada area which was once the stronghold of Dawood. The ED is also reportedly investigating the Hawala angle, through which Dawood diverted his illegal money for spreading terrorism, promoting anti-national activities and creating a rift between religious groups in India.
A case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has already been registered against Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.
ED investigation after Fadnavis’ allegation?
Earlier in November 2021, Ex-Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis alleged in a press conference that he has proof against sitting NCP minister Nawab Malik and his family who were involved in a land deal with the convicts of Mumbai 1993 blasts in 2005. Fadnavis had informed that Malik and his family, in the name of company ‘Solidus’ had purchased land in Mumbai’s Kurla from owner Sardar Shah Wali Khan and Salim Patel.
Another person is Mohammad Salim Ishaq Patel alias Salim Patel as he’s known – front man of Haseena Parker. He was arrested in 2007 with Haseena Parkar in land grabbing and other fraud issues. He has been her frontman in property grabbing matters: @Dev_Fadnavis#DevendraFadnavis
It is imperative to note here that Sardar Shah Wali Khan was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blast case and Salim Patel is also said to be the close aide of Haseena Parkar during her lifetime. Talking about the case Fadnavis said, “There is a direct connection with the underworld. I have documents of five property deals. Four properties were purchased connected with the underworld. I will ascertain which appropriate authorities, whether it is the police, ED, NIA, and hand it over to them.”
