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UP Police register case against 8 Twitter handles including Barkha Dutt’s The Mojo Story for fake news on Unnao case

OpIndia Staff
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UP Police register case against 8 Twitter handles including Barkha Dutt’s The Mojo Story for fake news on Unnao case

On February 21, Unnao Police registered an FIR against eight Twitter accounts for spreading fake stories about the poisoning of three Dalit girls, where two girls have died while the third remains in hospital. The FIR stated that the mentioned Twitter handles had spread false information that the girls were raped, which was denied in the post mortem reports. These handles further spread the fake information that Unnao Police performed the last rites of the two deceased girls without the family’s consent.

The case has been registered under Section 153 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act against The Mojo Story (Barkha Dutt’s news agency), @NilimDutta (Chairman of Unified People’s Movement),  @janjagranlive (News agency), @SurajKrBaudh (Spokesperson Azad Samaj Party), @VijayAmbedkarUP (Jai Bhim IT team), @Abhaykumarazad9 (Bhim Army Member), @Rahuldiwkr (Gadge Youth Brigade leader) and @BhimSenaChief (Nawab Satpal Tanwar).

The FIR states that incorrect, misleading information was spread by these social media accounts to create anger among the common people. They had ignored the facts of the case and the post-mortem reports to claimed that the girls were raped and they were cremated without the consent of family members, which is not true, the FIR said.

Uttar Pradesh Fact Check had debunked Barkha Dutt’s tweet

On February 19, the UP government’s Uttar Pradesh Fact Check handle had debunked an alleged fake tweet posted by Barkha Dutt. Unnao Police had said that the tweet claimed police wanted to cremate the girls at night, which was misleading. The family of the girls did the last rites of both girls on their own.

Additional Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Pandey said in his statement that a case had been registered against eight people for spreading misleading and provoking information on social media in connection to the Unnao case.

Three Dalit girls were found lying unconscious in a field in Baburha village under the Asoha police station of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh yesterday. Two of them were reportedly declared brought dead by the doctors, while one is in critical condition and is undergoing treatment at the district hospital.

The Unnao Case

On February 19, three girls from the same family were found lying unconscious in a field in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh. Two of them were declared dead while the eldest one was rushed to the hospital for treatment. According to reports, an initial examination by the police and the doctors suggested that the two girls were poisoned. Security personnel were deployed at the district hospital and around the village. An IG and a DIG rank officer have also reportedly left from Lucknow to take cognisance of the matter.

Reports suggested that the girls had gone to the field to collect fodder for cattle. The areas are owned by the girls’ own families. The victims’ brother Vishal reportedly said that all three girls had gone to the field around 3 pm yesterday to collect fodder. When they did not return by late evening, the families searched for them and found them lying in the field. Two girls were already dead by the time they were found.

UP Police had claimed that they arrested a man named Vinay and a 15-year-old boy in the case. Vinay had allegedly confessed that mixed insecticide in water to target the elder girl as she rejected his advances. However, all three drank the poisoned water. The two younger cousins were found dead while the actual target had survived and currently receiving treatment in hospital.

Days after Rahul Gandhi visited Puducherry, one more Congress MLA resigns from the Congress party ahead of floor test on Monday

OpIndia Staff
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Days after Rahul Gandhi visited Puducherry, one more Congress MLA resigns from the Congress party ahead of floor test on Monday

A day ahead of the trust vote of the Congress-led government in Puducherry, two more MLAs from the Congress-DMK resigned from the assembly, bringing the government on brink of a collapse just months before its term ends.

According to the reports, Raj Bhavan Constituency Congress MLA Lakshmi Narayanan submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker VP Sivakolundhu on Sunday. Along with it, DMK MLA Venkatesan also resigned from the house, delivering yet another jolt to Chief Minister, who is scheduled to face a floor test on February 22 to prove majority.

Interestingly, Narayanan is the sixth MLA to quit the Congress party in the last one week. His resignation also comes just days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the union territory. Last week, five MLAs had tendered their resignation from the party. While MLA Malladi Krishna Rao had resigned on 15th, the other four had resigned on 16th.

Amidst the ongoing political crisis and ahead of election polls in Puducherry, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had visited the Union Territory on February 17 to kick start the party’s election campaign for the upcoming assembly elections in the union territory.

With more MLAs jumping the ship, the Puducherry government is headed towards a major crisis. While Congress had 16 MLAs in the 33-member Puducherry assembly, the recent resignations have pushed it to 10 including the speaker, while its ally DMK is left with 2 MLAs. The opposition now has 14 MLAs, including three nominated members from the BJP. However, with the resignations, the strength of the house has come down to 26, and the ruling alliance has lost the majority with 12 MLAs.

On Thursday, the newly appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry Tamilisai Soundararajan had directed the Assembly Secretariat to convene the House on February 22 for the trust vote. Following the decision to hold the trust vote, CM Narayanasamy had claimed that the opposition party did not adequate numbers to move the trust vote.

Puducherry Chief Minister Narayanasamy has also claimed that the three nominated MLAs cannot vote during a floor test.

‘The court said that ‘Love Jihad’ is a conspiracy to make Kerala an Islamic state’: Yogi Adityanath slams CPM and Congress in Kasargod

OpIndia Staff
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‘The court said that ‘Love Jihad’ is a conspiracy to make Kerala an Islamic state’: Yogi Adityanath slams CPM and Congress in Kasargod

Yogi Adityanath addressed a rally in Kerala on Sunday ahead of the Assembly Elections in the state. In his speech, the Uttar Pradesh highlighted the achievements of his government and slammed the CPI(M) and Congress party of playing divisive politics.

The Mahant of Gorakhnath Muth accused the CPI(M) and Congress of playing with the sentiments of the people for political gains.

Yogi Adityanath said, “In 2009, the Kerala High Court attracted the government’s attention towards ‘love jihad’. But the government here could not make any law against ‘Love Jihad’. But the Uttar Pradesh government has made a strict law against ‘Love Jihad’.”

He added, “In 2009, the court here said ‘love jihad‘ is a part of the conspiracy to make Kerala state an Islamic state. Despite this, the government here is asleep, it has no worries. No action is being taken. Today, BJP is the necessity of Kerala.”

Yogi Adityanath visited Kerala to flag off BJP’s ‘Vijaya Yatra’ in the state. State BJP president K Surendran was present during the occasion as well.

UP Police debunk fake news, say 7-year-old girl found dead in Baghpat was not raped

OpIndia Staff
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UP Police debunk fake news, say 7-year-old girl found dead in Baghpat was not raped

In a gruesome incident, the dead body of a 7-year-old girl was recovered from a sugarcane field in Singhawali Ahir village in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh.

As per reports, the child went missing from her house on Saturday evening. At around 10:30 pm in the night, her naked body was found in a nearby sugarcane field. She had several injuries on her body. After receiving information, the police rushed to the spot and sent the body for post-mortem. The family members have accused their neighbour Manoj and his wife of the crime.

The police registered a case under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 201 (Disappearance of evidence) and 301 (murder). The cops took Manoj under their custody and initiated a probe in the case. The family members had demanded compensation from the government and refused to cremate the deceased until strong action is taken against the accused. Overwhelmed by grief and lack of assurance by the district administration, the victim’s father had attempted to kill himself twice through electrocution.

Social media users claim victim was raped

However, after the matter came to light, several social media users began peddling the ‘rape angle.’ One Imran_Speaks wrote, “7-year-old girl, who had been to Mandir, was raped and murdered in sugarcane farm. What’s her crime? We hear the news, we just swipe the next, it doesn’t boil ur blood bcs it’s not ur girl or not in ur state. Women aren’t safe in India.”

Screengrab of the tweet

Another user tweeted, “Please also remember there’s a new rape victim in UP, this time in Baghpat. She is 6 years old. Of course, the law will take its own course. Don’t you feel safe already.”

Screengrab of the tweet

Other rumour mongers claimed that the victim was a Dalit and how hate crimes against women and Dalits are increasing day by day. Reiterating that women are not safe in India, they went on to either directly claim that the victim was raped or that there was a ‘possibility of rape.’

Screengrab of the tweet
Screengrab of the tweet

“#Horror Murdered 07-year-old innocent Dalit girl in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh. There is a possibility of rape,”tweeted The Dalit Voice.

Screengrab of the tweet

Post-mortem report finds no signs of rape/sexual assault

However, the post-mortem conducted on the deceased found no signs of rape or sexual assault. In a statement released by the Baghpat police, it said, “The autopsy was done by a panel of doctors. The post-mortem did not confirm rape or any sexual assault. However, the report prepared by the doctors found ante mortem (caused before death) injuries by a wild animal. We are doing the necessary investigation.”

Police Chief (Baghpat) Abhishek Singh informed that the cause of the victim’s death is ‘shock and haemorrhage due to ante mortem injuries’. He said that the injuries were caused due to animal bite. Singh added that the post-mortem of the girl’s dead body was done in the night, given the sensitive nature of the case. He also requested everyone to not engage in rumour-mongering.

‘Our boys will play on the field, there will be no opposition left’: Trinamool leader threatens no one can go vote except party voters

OpIndia Staff
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‘Our boys will play on the field, there will be no opposition left’: Trinamool leader threatens no one can go vote except party voters

A video has gone viral on social media where Trinamool Congress leader Modassar Hossain can be seen threatening opposition party leaders and voters ahead of the Assembly Elections in West Bengal. Former Bhangar MLA Arabul Islam was also reportedly present at the meeting where Modassar Hossain made the controversial comments.

Hossain said, “No one can go to vote except the Trinamool people. Those who do not want to vote for Trinamool will be sleeping at home. The central forces will guard the booths, our boys will play on the field.”

Modassar Hossain continued, “Ward No.2 of the panchayat has 14,000 votes. We need all of them. We fight as a team irrespective of the Opposition. When you do so, we don’t turn our backs. CPIM, Congress, BJP and TMC are calling it a ‘game’. (Don’t worry), all our players are ready. This will be a different game altogether… There won’t be any Opposition left.”

The meeting was reportedly held on Saturday. Political violence has been rampant in West Bengal under the Trinamool regime. Numerous BJP workers have been murdered in the state allegedly due to political motivations.

Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) reached West Bengal on Saturday in light of the Assembly Elections. The CAPF deployment will include 30 companies of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), 60 companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 5 companies of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), 25 companies of the Border Security Force (BSF) and 5 companies of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Netherlands, Canada and Finland raise concerns over Chinese espionage that can cripple democratic countries

OpIndia Staff
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Netherlands, Canada and Finland raise concerns over Chinese espionage that can cripple democratic countries

In a span of ten days, the intelligence agencies of three nations, Finland, Canada and the Netherlands, have raised concerns over the Chinese espionage attack on government, companies and universities. All three countries have said on separate occasions that collaborating with China can be dangerous for national security. The attacks may cover several sectors, including banking, energy and infrastructure.

China may use academic personnel as spies, says the Netherlands

As per the latest threat assessment issued by intelligence services AIVD, MIVD, and NCTV, the universities and other knowledge institutes in the Netherlands are not only under threat of cyber-attacks, but the Chinese researchers, PhD candidates and students in these institutes may be working as spies for China.

The report suggested that collaborating with China pose a threat to national security and prosperity in different ways. It further added that China might target companies and knowledge institutes in the Netherlands to gather high-value knowledge and technology that it can use for its own economic, political and military gains.

The report said, “persons who state actors think have the potential to end up in knowledgeable or influential positions are being used to spy on us. These are people with access to academic or research institutes, like researchers, PhD candidates, and students.”

China is using legal means to explore vulnerabilities

The Dutch report further suggested that Chinese espionage is happening on both an illegal and legal front. China is using legal collaborations with Knowledge institutes in the Netherlands to explore possible ways to access high-value information. These legal partnerships might provide resources to China that they can use in unwanted ways.

Axios quoted Ties Dams, a research fellow at the Clingendael China Centre at the Clingendael Institute, saying, “Behind the scenes, China is rising on the agenda of the Dutch intelligence services. Spearheaded by the AIVD and NCTV, the focus is on economic espionage and political influence.” He further added that the intelligence community has pointed out that China should be on the priority considering elections in Match.

China is trying to get hold of critical infrastructure, says Finland

Antti Pelttari, the head of the Security Police (Supo) of Finland recently said that dictatorships (pointing towards China and Russia) are trying to take control over the critical infrastructure in Finland that includes telecommunications, energy, water distribution, airports, roads and ports. During his visit to YLE’s Yamkösaamu on Saturday, Pelttari said, “Authoritarian states are trying to catch up with Finland’s critical infrastructure.”

Pelttari said that China has openly shown interest to become a leading superpower. In such situations, a superpower will have global interests in other countries that include Finland. It has to be taken into account that there is no difference between state and private business life. The influence on a state or a business can affect the other directly.

Pelttari, while giving an example of Huawei as a supplier of the 5G network in Finland, opposed the idea as a whole. He said, “We need to think that at the end of the decade, this 5G network will be the platform on which society as a whole operates in practice. That is why it is important that its network is not managed by those who can make an impact.”

He further added that 5G and other critical infrastructures such as energy networks should not be opened to authoritarians states [like China]. Such states can cripple the telecommunications, transport, electricity distribution, payment system and more in Finland that will adversely affect the daily lives of the people and activities of the society. He said, “Now we are talking about opening the front door in 5G, because the equipment supplier must have access to the entire network through updates and others. This poses that risk.”

Warning the decision-makers, Pelttari said that the one who will be controlling the network would have the power to paralyze all intelligent networks, including hospitals; thus, the government should not buy critical parts of the infrastructure from an authoritarian state.

Canadian spy agency head warned about the serious strategic threat by China

During an address to the Centre for International Governance Innovation on February 9, Canadian Security Intelligence Service Director David Vigneault said that China poses a strategic threat to Canada. This was the second time Vigneault made such a remark against China, identifying it as a problem actor.

He said that the state actors are seeking access to business secrets and sensitive data that holds a significant threat to the prosperity and sovereignty of Canada. He said, “To be clear, the threat does not come from the Chinese people, but rather the Government of China that is pursuing a strategy for a geopolitical advantage on all fronts – economic, technological, political, and military – and using all elements of state power to carry out activities that are a direct threat to our national security and sovereignty. We all must strengthen our defences.”

According to Vigneault, biopharmaceutical and health, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, ocean technology, and aerospace sectors are among the most vulnerable sectors that can experience attacks from state-sponsored hackers.

Vigneault said that 20% of the data collected was not available in public. He said that the Canadian companies in almost every sector, including biopharma, health, AI, quantum computing, ocean technology and aerospace sectors, are vulnerable to the threats. The state-sponsored actors target emerging technologies in these sectors, especially those that are developed within academia and small start-ups. He further added that as academia and start-ups seek financial and technological collaborations, they are more vulnerable to threats.

A report last year had said that a Chinese firm called China Revival has created a database called Overseas Key Information Data Base (OKIDB) that contains 2.4 million individuals, 650,000 institutes, 2.3 billion news articles, and 2.1 billion social media posts. Most of the information in this database is available in the public domain, but according to researchers, 10 to 20 per cent of the data available in the database is not available in the public domain.

US, India and others have shown concerns over Chinese interference

In August 2018, then-President of the United States, Donald Trump, barred the US departments from using equipment manufactured by ZTE and Huawei, citing national security reasons. Former President of US Donald Trump applauded Indian company Reliance Jio for working on Chinese-equipment-free 5G network. In July 2020, the UK government said that the 5G networks would be Huawei from starting from January 2021 to the end of 2027.

In the last few years, while emphasizing on Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, India is extensively working on reducing Chinese penetration in the Indian market. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has initiated several projects to boost manufacturing within India to ensure the least possible connection to the Chinese firms. The Indian government has also cancelled several projects that Chinese companies were handling.

Kerala: 74-year-old pastor, who preaches religious matters, arrested for assaulting minor girl

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: 74-year-old pastor, who preaches religious matters, arrested for assaulting minor girl

74-year-old pastor Mathew has been arrested by Kunnathunad police in Ernakulam over allegations of sexually assaulting a minor girl. As per reports, Mathew is a resident of Mukaddam near Konnathady in Idukki district.

He allegedly sexually assaulted a minor girl in January 2021. When the girl’s mother got to know of the incident, she had filed a police complaint. Mathew goes around houses preaching religious matters pertaining to Christianity. He was arrested from Konnathady on Saturday. He has been charged with various provisions under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Pastor Mathew has been remanded to judicial custody by the court.

The police has not divulged more details about the incident as it may reveal identity of the minor child.

CBI summons wife of Mamata Banerjee’s nephew in coal smuggling case, Abhishek cries political vendetta: Details

OpIndia Staff
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CBI summons wife of Mamata Banerjee’s nephew in coal smuggling case, Abhishek cries political vendetta: Details

Rujira Banerjee, wife of Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, has been summoned by the CBI over a coal pilferage case. Abhishek Banerjee is also the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The senior Trinamool leader has responded to the summons on social media. He said that they will not be intimidated and they have full faith in the law.

Rujira Banerjee has been summoned in the case for the first time. The CBI had conducted raids related to the matter the previous week. An FIR had been registered earlier in November 2020 against Anup Manjhi alias Lala, Eastern Coalfield Ltd General Managers Amit Kumar Dhar and Jayesh Chandra Rai for their alleged involvement in the coal smuggling scam.

The names of ECL Chief of Security Tanmay Das, Area Security Inspector, Kunustoria Dhananjay Rai and SSI and security in-charge Kajor area Debashish Mukherjee were mentioned as well. It is alleged that Manjhi was involved in illegal mining and coal theft in Kunustora and Kajoria.

Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC controls social media accounts several TMC leaders, most of them are not even aware of their existence: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC controls social media accounts several TMC leaders, most of them are not even aware of their existence: Report

With just two months left months to the West Bengal assembly elections, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is preparing to unleash an extensive social media campaign. To counter the massive BJP wave in the state, Mamata Banerjee and her new ally Prashant Kishor is centralising the entire social media campaign in the run-up to the state elections, which is going decide Mamata Banerjee’s political future.

According to a Sunday Guardian report, most of the TMC leaders’ social media handles are now being handled by Prashant Kishor’s Indian-Political Action Committee (I-PAC). The senior party leaders, including ministers, MPs and MLAs, have surrendered their social media accounts to IPAC members, who manage their day-to-day social media campaigns.

However, a select few “big” leaders of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) have employed their own personal social media staff, unlike those of the rest of the MPs and MLAs whose passwords have been given to the social media team of the political consulting group – Indian-Political Action Committee (I-PAC) that is now working to keep Mamata Banerjee-led AITC in power in West Bengal.

Some of the senior leaders who have refused to give IPAC any access to their social media accounts, including that of Facebook and Twitter are – Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, Minister Firhad Hakim, and party Lok Sabha MPs Mahua Moitra, Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan.

These ‘celebrity’ leaders are managing their own social media campaigns and have shown no interest to surrender their accounts to Prashant Kishor. The IPAC, instead of directly controlling these accounts, now sends tweets and content for Facebook to these senior leaders, who may or may not share it further.

Party leaders are unaware of their social media accounts, Twitter ‘verifies’ all the handles

Former Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Trivedi, who recently quit TMC, had also alleged that his social media handles were taken over by I-PAC members, who often post “abusive tweets”.

The Twitter and Facebook accounts of several TMC leaders, including MPs and MLA, were created on social media platform only after the 2019 general elections, especially after I-PAC took over the campaigning of Trinamool. The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress had joined hands with IPAC after a humiliating Lok Sabha elections. And social media accounts for several party leaders were directly created by I-PAC, and the leaders themselves were not aware of this. Several Trinamool Congress party leaders have revealed that they are not even aware that they have Twitter accounts in their names, while their accounts regularly post content on social media platforms.

Read- Bengal elections can finish career of Prashant Kishore, and he is desperate, can his media friends save him?

Interestingly, the Twitter accounts of all the TMC leaders were immediately “verified” within days, based on a list sent by the office of Abhishek Banerjee to Payal Kamat, who handles “public policy and government” at Twitter. Most importantly, Kamat had worked for Indian-Political Action Committee as their communication manager from August 2015 to April 2018.

Al-Badr terrorist Rah Hussain Bhat arrested in connection with IED recovered at Jammu bus stand

OpIndia Staff
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Al-Badr terrorist Rah Hussain Bhat arrested in connection with IED recovered at Jammu bus stand

Days after the Jammu and Kashmir police recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) from a bus stand in Jammu on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Pulwama attack, they have now arrested a terrorist associated with the radical Islamist outfit Al-Badr.

As per reports, the accused has been identified as 55-year-old Rah Hussain Bhat. In a statement, the Jammu and Kashmir police said, “Rah Hussain Bhat (55), an overground worker of Al Badr terror outfit has been arrested in the case of recovery of IED at the Jammu bus stand on February 14.”

The cops informed that Bhat was in touch with Pakistani terrorists who were involved in the planning of the IED attack in Jammu. Reportedly, Bhat hails from Batbagh-Hunipora village in Nehama of Pulwama district. As per officials, he was apprehended during a raid in his hometown. He is the 5th accused arrested in the case so far. Four other accused arrested so far include Athar Shakeel Khan, Qazi Wasim, Abid Nabi and Suhail Shah.

Major terror attack foiled, IED recovered

Security forces were able to prevent a major terror attack by recovering explosives in a crowded bus station in Jammu and Kashmir. An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) weighing seven kilograms was recovered near the Jammu Bus Stand by Jammu and Kashmir police on February 14. According to the reports, two persons have been arrested in connection with the recovery, identified as Suhail and Qazi.

Suhail belongs to the Pulwama district, and he is a member of the Al-Badr outfit. The IED was recovered based on a specific intelligence input about it. K DGP Dilbagh Singh said that Pakistan is trying to activate the dormant terror group named Al Badr, and some Kashmiri students studying in Punjab were being used by terrorists to further their activities.

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