The North 24 Parganas district is set to go for polls in the sixth phase of assembly elections in West Bengal on the 22nd of April. As per a New Indian Express report, just 10 days before polling, the police have recovered bombs, bomb-making equipment, gunpowder and bullets from an illegal arms manufacturing unit in the Madral Joychanditala area of Bhatpara in North 24 Parganas district on Saturday.
West Bengal: An illegal arms manufacturing unit was busted & two firearms along with equipment were recovered by police in Bhatpara area of North 24 Parganas district on Sunday night, say police. pic.twitter.com/9gEY2KUdhE
Further investigations are underway and the police have registered a case under the Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act.
The Election Commission has intensified vigilance across West Bengal especially post Cooch Behar’s violent episode to ensure no untoward incident takes place in the remaining polling season. The silence period before the day of polling, where politicians are not allowed to campaign in the constituency going to poll, has been increased from 48 hours to 72 hours in the remaining phases.
The voting in the Bhatpara constituency in North 24 Parganas will be held on April 22 post which two more phases of polling will take place in the state before the elections conclude.
Series of violence in West Bengal amidst assembly polls
The state, even before going into polling was marred with political killings and violence. More than five BJP karyakartas have been found dead since the assembly elections began in the state.
As per reports, a BJP worker identified as Amit Sarkar, the Mandal President of the BJP unit in Dinhata, was found hanging just three days ahead of the first phase of the West Bengal assembly elections.
Amit Sarkar, mondal president of Dinhata Town, was hanged to death by TMC goons, just 72 hours before the first phase.
Is this what TMC meant by Khela Hobe?
Bengal has been reduced to blood field with political killings becoming the norm. BJP has lost over 130 of its cadres… pic.twitter.com/M1tzMkmXry
After a few peaceful hours, several cases of violence were reported amid the second phase of polling in West Bengal. From attacking the cars and convoys of top BJP leaders to stopping voters from reaching the polling booth to incumbent CM Mamata Banerjee camping in a polling booth, the second and third phases too witnessed cases of violence and political gimmicks in spurts.
However, the fatal violence in the fourth phase of polling shook not just the state but the entire nation. Violence triggered at the polling station in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar after an 18-year old was shot dead allegedly by TMC goons.
The situation went downhill from there with the locals attacking the CISF personnel in an attempt to snatch their weapons which led to the death of four youths in retaliatory fire by the CISF. A woman’s toddler was allegedly snatched from her after a frenzied mob ambushed the polling booth in the same area.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has blamed Mamata Banerjee’s instigating speech for the flaring violence in the state has urged the voters to conduct the remaining polls peacefully.
During a press briefing on Sunday, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, said that Islamists have been misusing mosques for orchestrating terror attacks. He noted that such ‘misuse’ of mosques took place during terror attacks in Shopian (April 9, 2021), Pampore (June 19, 2020) and Sopore (July 1, 2020).
“Public, Masjid Intizamia (mosque authorities), civil societies and media should condemn such acts,” IGP Kumar emphasised.
Terrorists misused mosques for terror attacks in Pampore on 19th June 2020, Sopore on 1st July 2020 and Shopian on 9th April 2021. Public, Masjid Intizamia, civil societies and media should condemn such acts: IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar pic.twitter.com/ElCoje7Na7
Two terrorists take refuge in Jamia mosque during Pampore attack
On June 19 last year, the Indian security forces neutralised two terrorists during a fierce encounter in Pampore in South Kashmir. Although the commandos of the Special Operations Group tried to convince the terrorists to surrender, they instead took refuge in the local Jamia mosque. A gun battle ensued between the security forces and the terrorists, resulting in their killing.
While speaking about the matter, J&K DGP Dilbag Singh, “Both the ongoing operations resumed in the morning today. At Meej Pampore, after the killings of one militant, two others entered the local Jamia Mosque which is a huge structure. Forces have exercised restraint and only limited tactics have been used. Operation team is on the job.” Later, the Inspector General of Police in Kashmir informed that although the forces took time to complete their mission. the sanctity of the mosque had been maintained.
CRPF soldier martyred after terrorists attack from inside of the mosque in Sopore
On July 1 last year, one CRPF personnel and a 65-year-old civilian were killed after the terrorists fired at them from the attic of a mosque in Sopore in North Kashmir. Besides, three other personnel, namely Constables Bhoya Rajesh, Deepak Patil and Nilesh Chawde were also injured.
While speaking about the incident, a CRPF spokesman informed, “The personnel were de-boarding near Model Town Chowk, Sopore, Baramulla, for patrolling duties… Head Constable Deep Chand later died of his injuries.” A 3-year-old boy seen sitting on the body of his grandfather was also rescued by the security forces. IG Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar informed that Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists Usman Bhai and Adil were involved in the attack.
He emphasised that a total of 30 bullets were fired by the terrorists. The security forces had recovered a full magazine from the premises of the mosque. The police have also refuted baseless social media claims that the civilian and the grandfather of the child was killed by the security forces.
Terrorists open fire at security forces from inside a mosque in Shopian
On Friday (April 9), five terrorists were gunned down by Indian security forces in Shopian in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir Zone Police had informed that two terrorists were firing at the security personnel from inside a mosque during the encounter. They have also recovered two AK guns from the neutralised terrorists.
Reportedly, the encounter began on April 8 in Shopian where the terrorists had been hiding. The Jammu and Kashmir police had sent the local Imam and the brother of one of the terrorists to convince them to surrender. In a tweet, the police said that efforts were being made to save the mosque. The joint operation by J & K police and security forces helped in trapping the Chief of terror outfit named Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH). The operation was undertaken on the basis of specific intelligence about the location of terrorists.
On Saturday (April 7), audio clips of a Clubhouse conversation between Lutyens journalists and election strategist Prashant Kishor went viral where Kishor had so much as accepted defeat in West Bengal. Now, in an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai, while trying to fire-fight the fall-out from the Clubhouse conversation, Prashant Kishor seems to have smartly positioned the narrative to blame Mamata Banerjee and TMC on 2nd May, should they lose West Bengal.
In an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai, Prashant Kishor says that “parties win or lose because of their own intrinsic strength, the leadership, the work they have done or they have not done. We, or people like us, can only help in the margin”.
Basically PK is saying exactly what advertisers (some do) tell clients. If your product is weak, a glossy ad that I make cannot work any magic at point of purchase. But it’s your money, you want to throw it at me, go right ahead. pic.twitter.com/IOqvdadYRJ
Further, inferring from what Prashant Kishor said, Rajdeep Sardesai asks him whether he means that he cannot turn a losing fight into a winning fight. Pat came the response, “absolutely not”.
While nobody really expects poll strategists to be miracle workers, what Prashant Kishor seems to be doing here is trying to set the foundation to push the blame solely on Mamata Banerjee should TMC lose the critical West Bengal 2021 Assembly Elections. It is important to remember that only a couple of days ago, Prashant Kishor had admitted on a content app Clubhouse that according to the TMC internal survey, BJP was winning a comfortable victory in West Bengal.
Earlier, if one recalls, Prashant Kishor had categorically said that if BJP makes it to the three-digit mark, he was all set to quit his job as a poll strategist and retire.
Therefore, it is evident that the West Bengal elections are as critical for Prashant Kishor as they are for Mamata Banerjee. Given that the rumours indicate, as alluded to by Prashant Kishor himself, that Mamata Banerjee may lose Bengal because now she solely listens to Prashant Kishor, the poll strategist seems to be on overdrive to use sympathetic journalists to build a narrative that can later be used to exonerate his role in TMC’s loss.
Prashant Kishor rose to fame after he ‘managed’ the 2014 Lok Sabha elections for BJP and PM Narendra Modi. Riding on the Modi wave, Kishor positioned himself, with help from a friendly media, of course, as one who can make or break political fortunes. However, he has had a string of failures ever since. He couldn’t sell Rahul Gandhi to the people of India, failed with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, failed in states like Uttar Pradesh.
People seem to be catching on to the fact that Kishor simply rose to fame because he managed to be a part of a campaign where the leader he was with already had a wave of support in the nation and that he failed miserably when the election actually needed to be turned. And he knows that. Owing to that, Prashant Kishor seems to be desperate and he seems to be looking at his media friends to rescue his own professional prospects should he fail spectacularly in West Bengal as well.
Locked vaccination centres, absent medical staff and people seen roaming mask-less in hospitals. Such is the condition in Punjab as per India Today’s ground report.
In a video conference held by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the country, Punjab’s Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh remarked, “People in Punjab are still not coming out in large numbers for vaccination due to the massive anger prevailing against the Government of India on the issue of farm laws. This anger is impacting the vaccination drive.”
Blaming the centre and the anger against the Farm laws, Captain Amarinder Singh dusted off his hands from being unable to inoculate the state population despite a surge in new Covid-19 cases. He stated that people’s resentment against the Centre is holding them back from getting vaccinated.
While the CM alleged that people are not coming forward to take the jab, he also claimed that the state is left with just five days of Covid-19 vaccine stock. He informed, “If the state is able to meet its target of two lakh vaccines a day, then its current supplies will last only three days.”
This has raised concerns pertaining to the seriousness in the state towards the Covid-19 vaccination drive. Punjab has so far vaccinated over 16 lakh people in the state.
The Ministry of Health inaugurated the four-day Tika Utsav starting yesterday to encourage people to take the jab, however, states like Punjab and Rajasthan raised a red flag of stock depletion even before the drive began.
Reality Check
As per India Today’s report, as opposed to the Punjab government’s claim of vaccinations being done on all seven days, the vaccination centre at Civil Hospital Mohali was found shut on Sunday. No doctors or medical staff were seen. Moreover, there were no beneficiaries spotted around the center either.
The report also claimed that patients and their kin were found roaming freely without masks in the hospital premises. Similar scenes were seen in the other parts of the city especially religious places and markets.
Vaccination campaign
In order to encourage people to get vaccinated, Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh flagged a vaccination campaign with Bollywood actor and ‘philanthropist’ Sonu Sood.
The CM in a tweet wrote, “Happy to share that actor & philanthropist @SonuSood will be the Brand Ambassador of our #Covid19 vaccination drive.”
Happy to share that actor & philanthropist @SonuSood will be the Brand Ambassador of our #Covid19 vaccination drive. I thank him for supporting our campaign to reach out to, and protect, every Punjabi, and appeal to all to get vaccinated at the earliest. pic.twitter.com/1083v6M0FP
To add to the woes, the surge in cases has led to an acute shortage of health infrastructure in the state especially in the eight worst-hit districts of Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Ludhiana, SAS Nagar, SBS Nagar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Rupnagar.
In Ludhiana, 89 per cent of ICU beds, in SAS Nagar, 80 per cent of ICU beds in SAS Nagar, and in SBS Nagar, 70.6 per cent of ICU beds have already been occupied, the India Today report stated.
Restrictions imposed amid surge
The Punjab government has ordered a complete ban on political gatherings in the state till 30th April and a night curfew has been imposed across all districts from 9 pm to 5 am.
The state has shut all educational institutions and Anganwadi Centres and also restricted the number of people in outdoor and indoor social gatherings and in cinema halls and malls.
On April 09, Balaghat Police arrested four men of Muslim community identified as Mateen Ajhari, Kasim Khan, Sohaib Khan and Raza Khan for pasting posters against Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati on Jama Masjid Road in the city. They were protesting against the Dasna temple priest for allegedly making statements against Prophet Muhammad.
It is pertinent to note that this arrest comes as a larger number of Muslims gathered at the Islamia Ground in Bareilly on 9th April, demanding for action against Yati Narsinghanand. Amid the slogans to behead the priest, clerics gave a speech asking for his arrest.
VHP and Bajrang Dal had filed the complaint
The arrest was made based on the complaint by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. A case against the four was filed under Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
In the complaint, Rameshwar Rana, district in-charge of Bajrang Dal, said that he was heading towards the market to buy some vegetables along with his friends at around 11:30 AM. They spotted the four accused on the road alongside Jama Masjid, pasting Dasna priest’s posters and slapping them with shoes. He further alleged that the four men were also hurling abuses against the priest.
Durgesh Sharma, VHP, while talking to the media, said that Balaghat has been a peaceful district. However, some people are trying to disrupt peace. He said, “Some anti-social elements had pasted posters of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati on the road and everyone was walking on them. They used unspeakable works against the priest. This has deeply hurt our religious sentiments.” He further added that if they wanted to register their opposition to something, they could have done it through a memorandum. “Such acts are not acceptable. This is why we got an FIR registered against them,” he said.
Police termed it as communally sensitive matter
Inspector Mansharam Romde of Kotwali police station confirmed that an FIR was registered against the four accused, and they have been arrested. He did not share more details as it was a communally sensitive matter.
AIMIM leader protested against the arrest
A delegation of five members of AIMIM wrote to police urging them to take legal action against Dasna priest for his remarks on April 1 at the Press Club of India. Nazim Khan, district-in-charge of AIMIM, said, “Instead of taking action against the saint who has hurt the sentiments of the entire Muslim community, four members of our community have been arrested for putting up his posters.” He further added that the right to peaceful protest had been turned down by the state government. “People often burn effigies, hit it with slippers to register their protest against anyone, including the Prime Minister, but no action has ever been taken,” he said.
Remarks by Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati on Islam
On April 1, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, head priest of Dasna Devi Temple in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, had spoken at an event held at the Press Club of India when he urged Hindus to be fearless in highlighting the characteristics of Prophet Muhammad. “If Islam’s reality, for which Maulana says, ‘If you speak about Muhammad, we will behead you, Hindus should get rid of this fear. We are Hindus. If we can about the characteristics of Lord Ram, and other Hindu deities, then Muhammad is nothing for us. Why could not we speak about Muhammad and speak the truth?” Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati had exclaimed.
AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan called for the beheading of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati as ‘punishment’ for criticising Prophet Muhammad. He also got an FIR registered against the priest in Delhi. Subsequently, FIRs were registered against Khan in Delhi and Ghaziabad for his call for the beheading of the priest.
Ashwini Kumar, a 50-year old police officer from Bihar, was lynched by a mob during a raid in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district in the wee hours of Saturday. Three accused— Firoze Alam, Abuzar Alam and Sahinur Khan— have been arrested in connection with the death of the Bihar cop. The brutal murder of the cop has drawn comparison with the fate that befell Vinod Kumar Mehta in Kolkata in March, 1984.
Vinod Kumar Mehta, the Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police (Port Division), had reached the city’s Garden Reach area on that morning after he was informed that trouble was brewing there. Metiabruz, which senior TMC leader and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim had declared ‘mini-Pakistan’, falls within Garden Reach.
The local police had reached the spot half an hour after Mehta and found that while his car was parked there, he and his bodyguard, Mokhtar Ahmed Khan, were missing. The local Police themselves were greeted with bombs and another senior police officer was hit with a brick on his head, causing him to bleed.
The corpse of Vinod Kumar Mehta and his bodyguard were later recovered from a ditch in ghastly condition. His corpse was naked and his eyes had been gouged out. There were multiple stab wounds and burn wounds on his body. Khan’s limbs had been cut off and only a “charred heap” remained of his trunk, an India Today report from April 15, 1984 said.
Sumanta Sen, the India Today journalist, described Garden Reach in terms that would lead him to being ostracised by those in ‘liberal’ media today. He had said, “Garden Reach is a notorious haven for smugglers, many of them non-Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh, who have over the years illegally settled here and prospered. So have some of the local policemen, who reportedly depend on their cordial rapport with the smugglers to supplement their incomes.”
On the day of the murder, bombs were hurled and there were reports that local Muslims were going to attack the Hindus of the area. A few days prior, Vinod Kumar Mehta had ordered the police to open fire at a riotous mob. The report mentions that the father of one of those who were killed had said at a protest, “I will certainly avenge the death of my son and will see that Mehta does not live long.”
Soon after, posters calling for the death of Mehta emerged in Garden Reach and neighbouring Watgunge and Metia Bruze, the report says. The report also records the concerns regarding illegal immigrants and the manner in which a prominent leader of the Forward Bloc, a constituent of the Left Front, was helping illegal Bangladeshis register as voters.
A senior CPI(M) leader was quoted in the report as saying, “We have often complained to the Forward Bloc about this man but they don’t seem to want to listen. He is a principal fund raiser for them and obviously they do not wish to displease him.”
Sumanta Sen had harsh words to offer for the Kolkata Police. In another report a month later, he recorded that Idris Mian, the prime suspect, had died in custody during interrogation. Sen said that the murder and the subsequent custodial death of the prime suspect revealed two essential aspects of the whole affair.
The report also noted that the state government, in order to not offend minority sentiments, had barred the police from conducting night raids. A senior police officer said, “Though we have arrested over 100 people, there are quite a few others whom we are looking for and we just cannot get hold of them during the day.”
He wrote, “The first was cowardice. It was proved beyond doubt that confronted with a marauding crowd in the Garden Reach area on March 18, the policemen accompanying Mehta did not dare follow him into the narrow Fatehpur village road where he met his death. The second was that even with the inquiry dragging itself endlessly, senior police officers had no hesitation in admitting that the suspect Idris was beaten to death in custody by constables.”
Kalimuddin Shams, then deputy speaker of the West Bengal Assembly, was accused of having connections with those who killed Vinod Kumar Mehta. His son, Moinuddin Shams, became a sensation on the internet recently after he released a video crying profusely after being denied a ticket from Naihati by the Trinamool Congress, where he is the incumbent MLA.
Sumanta Sen and Indranil Banerjie recorded in a report in May, 1984 that “senior police officers admit that many of the notorious smugglers and criminals they have brought in for interrogation from the docks have openly bragged about their association with Shams.”
The report also says that “the Intelligence Branch in the state is aware that Shams has used his influence and connections to rehabilitate illegal Bihari Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh by getting them Indian passports.”
“In the last seven years, as many as 300 passport applications signed by Shams have been rejected by passport authorities because the applicants were suspected to be foreign nationals. Two of these were actually Afghan nationals, Mohammed Hakim and Ju Mohammed, who were certified by Shams as being Indian nationals,” the report adds.
Twenty nine years later, Veena Mehta, the widow of Vinod Kumar Mehta, told TOI, “No words can express a loss as tragic as this. It is intensely personal. It is numbing. Your life crumbles in an instant. That is what happened to me when Vinod was killed. I didn’t just lose the most cherished person in my life, I lost all I had because my life revolved around him. A part of me died that day.”
“I was just 19 when we got married. Since then, he was my life, my friend, love and guardian angel. I lived like a princess, happy to just be his wife. Though he encouraged me to step out and work, I was so happy that I didn’t even want to go out and see the world,” she added.
She continued, “Back in 1984, returning to my parents’ house in Punjab was impossible due to militancy. I didn’t have anyone other than Rishu (their son) in Kolkata, but as the days passed, I wanted to stay on in this city for a different reason. I realized I had to be here for Vinod. People forget in no time. I didn’t want the killers to forget him, I didn’t want the politicians to forget him, I didn’t want the force to forget him and I didn’t want the citizens of Kolkata to forget him. I am a constant reminder to the city that Vinod was killed by a nexus between politicians and criminals.”
Over 40 people, including 9 minors, were booked for murder in connection with the killing. The four main accused had been awarded the death penalty for their involvement in the brutal murder but it was later overturned into life imprisonment.
Kanchan Gupta recalled the murder in an opinion piece on Mamata Banerjee’s whitewashing of the Dhulagarh Riots against the Hindu community where he said that Mehta and his bodyguard “were murdered by a mob at Garden Reach because he had dared enter a no-go zone.”
Even after all this time, there exists certain no-go zones for the Kolkata Police where policemen fear to tread. Even so, the matter is hardly discussed and brushed under the carpet as it would risk damage to the ‘secular fabric’ of our society.
Myanmar army continues its brutal suppression of the ongoing protest demanding restoration of democracy in the country. On April 9, Myanmar Army killed 82 protesters in Bago city. Since the military coup in Myanmar, the security forces have turned the streets of Bago city red with the blood of protesters. According to Myanmar’s local media, which has been collecting information on the number of deaths since the coup, the maximum number of protesters died in a single day on March 14 when 100 protesters were killed by the Army in Yangon. Notably, it is the largest city in Myanmar.
Bago, where the latest massacre by the army took place, is located around 100 KMs away from Yangon. According to reports, after killing the protestors, the Army put all the dead bodies in the ground of a Buddhist temple. The soldiers had been stationed at the Zeyar Muni pagoda compound in the town, and they took the dead bodies inside, according to Ye Htut, a protest group leader.
Some monks went to the pagoda compound and asked the soldiers to allow them to take injured people for medical treatment, but their request was denied by the military.
According to the information posted by Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Bago city was raided by the Army on April 9. The group said that the Army turned the city into a battleground and killed as many as 82 people. The number could be higher as the group was still confirming the situation. The group said, “Some were injured and requesting medical treatment, but the military terrorists did not allow any help. Some were therefore killed from excessive bleeding. Dead and injured bodies piled up together. People in urban areas are now fleeing to nearby villages.”
DAILY UPDATE (10/4)
701, incl. 82 at Maggatic Road masscare (9 Apr), Bago City, killed by this junta
This was the third attack in Bago by Junta government over the past week. On Wednesday, they opened fire on protesters in Kalay, killing 11 people. Those who were not participating in the protests were also killed during the firing. Associated Press reported that the Army is using heavy weapons including rocket launchers against the protesters. Though AP was not able to confirm the information independently. It further reported that State television channel MRTV reported Friday night that a military court had sentenced to death 19 people for allegedly killing an army officer in Yangon on March 27.
Over 700 killed so far in violent clashes
So far, 701 people have been killed in the violent clashes between the Army and the protesters. 3012 have been detained by the Army, and 656 arrest warrants have been issued against the protesters. Reports suggest that Christine Schraner Burgener, UN special envoy for Myanmar, arrived in the Thai capital Bangkok on a regional mission to resolve the crisis in Myanmar on April 9. So far she has been denied permission to visit Myanmar. Burgener is in contact with several Southeast Asian governments for ideas to resolve the Myanmar issue.
Military Coup in Myanmar
The Myanmar Army is in control of Myanmar after staging a coup in the early morning hours of February 1. According to reports, the Myanmar military’s intervention came after weeks of continued friction between the country’s military and the civilian government over allegations of irregularities in the 2020 Myanmar General Elections. The Military had ruled the country for five decades before the power was handed over to democratically elected leaders.
On April 8, Sourajeet Majumdar, an independent security researcher, reported that personal data of over 7 lakh registered users of moneycontrol.com is available on the hackers’ forum for just $350. OpIndia investigated the claims, and here is what we have found so far.
According to the hacker who has posted the dump on the hackers’ forum, the database contains 7,73,000 records with personal data of the users. The hackers claimed that the breach took place around six to seven months ago.
Screenshot of post by hacker
The database contains email, dehashed password, country, phone number, date of birth, gender, address, city, state and more. The majority of the users in the list are from India, said the hacker in the post.
Screenshot of post by hacker
Majumdar contacted the hackers on Telegram
Majumdar tried to contact the hackers on the Telegram ID provided in the post. According to the chat screenshots posted by Majumdar, the hackers claimed that they have details of over 40 million users but want to sell details of only 7 lakh users at the moment. They may sell the whole dump in the future at a higher price. Allegedly, they have some plans with the data dump they have, the chat records revealed.
I was able to have a conversation with them on telegram and what they shared blew my mind :
According to them, they exploited a vulnerability in @moneycontrolcom and was able to access 40M+ records but are willing to sell only 700K+ records since they have other plans. 4/9 pic.twitter.com/tabFehHP7g
He further said that the hackers shared information of 40 users with him. When he tried to verify the details, he found out that the majority of them were, in fact, working, and he was able to login with the credentials. He added, “Among the credentials they shared, there were also @moneycontrolcom accounts which had their email address verified which hints that they are not dummy accounts made by the sellers (since only the owner of the email ID can verify the account).”
On further discussion with the hackers, they revealed that the database would be sold to five buyers at $350 each. If a single person wants to take control of the database, they will charge up to €650. The hackers further claimed that the vulnerability they exploited to extract the data has now been fixed.
They added that they will be selling the database to only 5 different buyers for 350$ each. However if somebody wants to have the data all alone, then the price will go up to €650. They also said the vulnerability that they had exploited to get these data has now been fixed. 7/9 pic.twitter.com/vtQtP2RMH5
Majumdar and we both tried to match the numbers available in the sample provided by the hackers. The majority of the numbers matched with the names mentioned in the sample accounts the hackers provided, making their claims authentic.
MoneyControl’s reply
Pandurang Nayak, Chief Technology Officer, Digital, Network 18, replied to the thread on April 9 and said that prima facie, the data appears to be an old set. He said, “Appreciate that this has been brought to our attention. Prima facie, this appears to be an old data set. Information pertaining to current users is absolutely safe. The organisation takes its responsibility towards information security very seriously.”
The best systems and protocols are in place to prevent data breaches. We review our systems periodically and constantly work to improve the security of our information based on feedback received. (2/2)
He firther added that the company had protocols in place to prevent data breaches, he said, “The best systems and protocols are in place to prevent data breaches. We review our systems periodically and constantly work to improve the security of our information based on feedback received.” Nayak did not openly accepted that a data breach had happened.
MoneyControl started resetting users’ passwords
On April 10, a user replied to Majumdar’s thread on Twitter and said that MoneyControl had reset his password, claiming it was not in compliance with their latest password policy. The email contained the username and new auto-generated password. Now, as claimed by the CTO that the user information of the new users is safe, it makes one wonder what led them to reset the passwords of the users.
To Nayak’s reply, Majumdar asked him if he acknowledges that there was a breach. He asked what criteria Nayak used to reach the conclusion that the data is old. He also questioned if the accounts were created before they updated the password policy, how the company is going to ensure the security of the users. Nayak did not reply by the time this report was published. We also tried reaching him, but there was no reply so far.
Also being a user of moneycontrol’s service I would like to know what steps will be taken to prevent this data set from being sold on hacking forums ?
Also will the affected users be informed, so that they can change their passwords asap to lower the impact of breach ? (4/5)
While discussing the breach with OpIndia, Sourajeet Majumdar said that he disagrees with CTO’s statement. He said, “Well though the CTO mentioned in his tweet that the data is old, however, I disagree with his statement. I don’t think, so people’s address, name, DOB and phone number change very often and thus, calling it old data is not justified. Other than that, the login credentials which the hackers provided as a sample are valid and working, and I was able to login to other’s Moneycontrol accounts; thus, this is definitely not old data.”
He further added that data as such are goldmines for Cyber Criminals. “The data, which has been leaked in this incident, is enough to track down a person. Criminals can thus run targeted “Phishing Campaigns” or other “Social Engineering” attacks against users, which might prove to be fatal. Also, since, in this case, even login credentials have been breached, somebody who has access to these credentials can easily log in to the user’s account and make any changes, and nothing can be more worse than this,” he said.
An old data breach can leave users vulnerable
It is not just MoneyControl that tried to wash their hands from the alleged data breach by stating the database looks old. A few days back, when over 500 million user accounts of Facebook were leaked, the tech giant also made similar claims. However, both Facebook and MoneyControl failed to acknowledge that even if the data is old, it can be used by hackers to cause substantial damage.
According to the hacker, the database contains names, phone numbers, email ID and other information. The said information can be used to send spam emails and messages that can lead to financial loss. Even someone is an informed user who does not click on links in spam emails or messages, such messages are no less than a nuisance.
Anand Burman, a BJP worker, was killed during the 4th phase of the elections in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress claims that BJP is behind the murder but the BJP says that Anand Burman was their polling agent at booth number 85 in Pathantuli area of Sitalkuchi. As per reports, he was shot dead outside the booth.
Jan Ki Baat founder Pradeep Bhandari has shared an eyewitness testimony of the incident that appears to bolster BJP’s version of events. According to the eyewitness, Anand Burman was standing in line to register vote when the murder took place.
'Anand vote dalne ke line mein khada tha, woh log bomb leke aaya, Anand ghar ki taraf bhaga, unn logo ne goli chalaya jisme Anand mar gaya', shocking eyewitness testimony on Anand Barman's murder. JKB Founder @pradip103 gets you this version from Anand's village#JusticeForAnandpic.twitter.com/Rtfwt7HZfc
The eyewitness says in the video, “Anand had gone to vote, they had come with bombs. He got scared after seeing them. He was shot while he was returning home.” He said that there was no history of personal enmity and it was only due to the fact that he worked for the BJP while the others for Trinamool Congress.
The eyewitness said that threats had been issued in the past to intimidate people into not voting for the BJP. There was significant violence during the 4th phase of the West Bengal elections. In a separate incident, 4 lost their lives after security personnel were forced to open fire in self defense after a mob made attempt to snatch their weapons.
Even as Maharashtra continues reporting the highest number of new COVID-19 cases daily, the state government wants to know why other states have not witnessed such a situation, especially the states where assembly elections are going on. Textiles, Port, Fisheries, and Mumbai city Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh has said that the state government has asked the COVID-19 task force to study why cases are increasing only in Maharashtra, and not in the states where election rallies with large number of people were organised.
“Many ministers are campaigning with mass gatherings there but there is no surge in COVID cases there,” minister Sheikh said.
We've asked COVID19 Task Force to study why cases are increasing only in Maharashtra and not in states where elections are being held. Many ministers are campaigning with mass gatherings there but there is no surge in COVID cases there: Maharashtra Minister Aslam Sheikh pic.twitter.com/7ye7Oj45bT
At present Maharashtra constitutes almost half of the total active cases of COVID-19 in the country. The state is adding around 50,000 new cases everyday, causing a major concern. Total active cases in Maharashtra at the beginning of March was less than one lakh, but now it has crossed five lakh.
In contrast, as the Maharashtra minister observed, the surge is not so steep in the states which saw massive public rallies and roadshows during the election. Central minister including PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have addressed several large rallies in West Bengal and Assam, but these states not witnessed such large-scale infections.
Total number of active cases in Assam is at around 1500, while the same in West Bengal is around 21,000. Among the election bound states, Kerala has highest active cases at around 40,000, followed by Tamil Nadu at around 38,000.
Harsh Vardhan blames ordinary Indians for Covid-19 surge – ignoring BJP rally tweets on his own feed https://t.co/eUW2uKY4yz
It may be noted that during the last few days, some opposition party leaders and left-liberal media had tried to link the surge in cases in Maharashtra with large election rallies by central ministers in Assam and West Bengal. But at last, a minister from Maharashtra has finally agreed that the state failed to manage the Coronavirus pandemic, while the states where elections were going on managed it much better.
However, the Congress leader is also in the forefront in spreading fake news about Coronavirus. On Saturday, the minister had alleged that Maharashtra has received the least number of vaccine doses, while BJP-ruled states are given more vaccines. But that is a blatant lie, as Maharashtra has given the highest number of doses of vaccines. Another Congress ruled state Rajasthan also received a large number of vaccines, which among the top three vaccine recipient states.
