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Resentment over Bru refugee settlement, fake news doing rounds and background: All you need to know about the violence in Tripura

OpIndia Staff
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Resentment over Bru refugee settlement, fake news doing rounds and background: All you need to know about the violence in Tripura

Violence erupted in Tripura on Saturday during protests against the settlement of Bru Refugees in the Kanchanpur sub-division of the state. The violence occurred after protesters’ blocked the National Highway at Panisagar in North Tripura. The protest was called by the Joint Movement Committee (JMC) and as per reports, they have demanded that the Brus be settled equally across the eight districts of Tripura.

Thus far, two individuals have lost their lives in the violence. Srikanta Das, a 40-year-old carpenter, died on the spot during the protests while Biswajit Debbarma, a fire service personnel, who was injured during the protests, passed away on Sunday. The protesters and police accounts differ on what actually started the violence.

According to the Police, they were forced to open fire in self defence and to bring the situation under control. “The crowd had blocked the national highway without permission. We tried to dissuade them and, after they became violent, we tried a mild lathi-charge and blank firing. The crowd became unruly and tried to snatch weapons. Police fired in self-defence,” Additional Director General of Police Rajiv Singh told the Indian Express.

The JMC, on the other hand, claims the Police opened fire on the protesters when they were protesting peacefully. “Our protesters were peaceful. The police opened fire on them without provocation. One person died on the spot and many others were severely injured. We are still unclear on details,” Convener of JMC, Sushanta Baruah, said. The protesters claim that the Tripura State Rifles opened fire without provocation which led to retaliation from the protesters.

Chief Minister Biplab Deb held a meeting with top police officials to discuss the incident and a magisterial inquiry has been ordered. Ratan Lal Nath, state Law Minister, said, “The magisterial inquiry will be conducted by North Tripura District Nagesh Kumar B and the probe report will be submitted within one month.”

Were Bangladeshis or Bangladeshi refugees involved in the protests?

As is quite clear, the violence has nothing do with Bangladeshis or Bangladeshi refugees in any manner, contrary to what certain users on social media have claimed. The JMC, which called the protest, comprises of local Bengalis, Mizos and others. The OSD to the Chief Minister of Tripura and the Tripura Police were quick to dispel these rumours as such rumours have the potential to create much ethnic strife in North East India.

Tripura Police calls out fake news

Tripura Police has further said that there is no information of the movement of any Bangladeshi miscreants in the area. The Police also said that the situation has been brought under control. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the local Bengalis who were involved in the protest were Bangladeshi refugees as has been claimed.

Tripura Police calls out the rumours

From their social media feed, it is evident that the Tripura Police is taking these rumours very seriously, given the potential for ethnic strife in the North East. The Police warned that videos are being circulated with the intent to spread ethnic hatred which constitutes a legal offence. They made an appeal to the people of Tripura to not circulate such videos.

Tripura Police issues warning

Background to the violence in Tripura

The violence that erupted is related to the recently reached agreement on the settlement of Bru refugees in Tripura. JMC chairman Zairemthiama Pachuau claimed that in contravention of assurances made to them that not more 1500 families will be settled, the numbers are now on the rise. “The government is trying to settle 6,000 families. If they go ahead with this, the entire sub-division will be affected environmentally, ecologically, socially and demographically which is not acceptable,” he said.

The dispute around the settlement of Bru refugees began soon after the community had to flee from Mizoram in 1997 due to ethnic violence by local Mizos. Before the violence began, Mizo organisations were already claiming that Brus are not indigenous to the state. Following the violence, the Brus came to Tripura where they have been living for the past 23 years.

Repatriation began in 2010 and 1600 Bru families were settled, however, Mizo organisations started protesting again and it was eventually stopped. In 2019, the central government decided to settle the Bru refugees in Mizoram but following protests from the refugees themselves, that plan was abandoned as well. Ultimately in 2020, a tripartite settlement was reached between the Union Government and the state governments of Tripura and Mizoram for the settlement of Bru refugees in Tripura itself.

Tensions between locals and Bru refugees

The Nagrik Suraksha Mancha (Citizens Protection Forum) has been alleging that Bru Refugees have been attacking local Bengalis in the area. A couple of days after the settlement agreement was announced in January, the NSM demanded the government’s attention on the alleged persecution of local Bengalis by the Brus. It is not clear whether they participated in the protests in Tripura on Saturday but illustrates the underlying tensions prevailing against the settlement.

“We have no problem with the government’s decision. But, at the same time, we also want to draw the government’s attention on the Bengalis who were subjected to persecution by the Bru refugees” president of NSM Ranjit Nath told reporters on the 18th of January. “Altogether 622 families who use to live in around the six refugee camps of Kanchanpur have been displaced following violent attacks of the Bru refugees. The visible conflicts between the Bru refugees and local Bengali population come into being in the year 2000 and since then many families who have to left their ancestral home due to them,” he added.

It is to be noted that regardless of the veracity of these allegations, the allegations prove that tensions have been simmering for a long time. It is also pertinent to note that the violence comes in the aftermath of the Kanchanpur units of both, the BJP and the CPI-M, declaring their support for the JMC. The CPI-M, which has ruled the state for decades, urged the state government to reach out to the protesters and and formulate an amicable solution to the crisis.

JMC convener Sushant Baruah said, “Today, our movement has the support of the BJP and the Left Front. The top leadership, including former CPIM district council member Lalit Debnath and BJP Mandal vice president Arun Debnath, were present on one stage with us. They made it clear that the JMC’s demand for Bru refugee resettlement was justified, and they are with the JMC.”

Maharashtra: Mumbai girl who went missing traced to UP, had eloped with local criminal Rahim Shaikh

Nirwa Mehta
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Maharashtra: Mumbai girl who went missing traced to UP, had eloped with local criminal Rahim Shaikh

(Note: This story has an update)

23-year-old Mumbai girl Supriya (name changed) has gone missing since 18 November 2020. The family alleges she has been kidnapped by a local criminal Rahim Shaikh. Chetan, one of the relatives of the girl, while speaking to OpIndia said that the police claim the girl is fine but they have not been able to get them to talk to her. Police has also not yet traced Shaikh, Chetan alleges.

According to the relatives of the girl, she took her laptop bag and other things and left for office on 18th November 2020 but never returned. They went to police on 18th itself to file a complaint but were sent back. On 19th they went again when the police allegedly wrote down a complaint. However, an FIR is not yet filed, says Shetty. He says that the police talked to the boy’s family but have not been able to get them to talk to Supriya.

“The boy is of criminal background. The police knows this. Some or the other criminal case is always going on against him,” he said. The family says that the Supriya and Rahim knew each other as they lived nearby in the same chawl and used to talk. However, he used to threaten and misbehave with the family members, they allege.

“We are now worried as the police has not been able to trace her since five days now. We don’t know if the girl is safe or not,” family says. They allege that police has been able to trace Rahim somewhere in Vikhroli but have not been making efforts to trace him and bring him back. “We have also given them IMEI number of Supriya’s phone but they have not done anything,” they allege.

Update: The girl has been traced to Uttar Pradesh late on November 22, hours after publishing this report. The family says that they will welcome her back if she returns on her own otherwise cut off ties with her.

WhiteHatJr and its founder slaps whistle-blower Pradeep Poonia with Rs 20 cr defamation suit over allegations of scamming customers: Read Details

OpIndia Staff
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WhiteHatJr and its founder slaps whistle-blower Pradeep Poonia with Rs 20 cr defamation suit over allegations of scamming customers: Read Details

WhiteHatJr and its founder Karan Bajaj have filed a defamation suit of Rs.20 crore against YouTuber and alleged whistle-blower Pradeep Poonia. In a series of allegations made on YouTube and Twitter, Poonia had claimed that WhiteHatJr, the online coding learning platform for kids, is scamming its customers. He also alleged that any voice raised against the company is dealt with bullying and harassment. In an 819-page complaint, Advocate Vasundhara Majithia has asked the court for an urgent hearing claiming Poonia is harassing her client with false allegations. WhiteHatJr was founded by Karan Bajaj in 2018, and ByJu’s had acquired WhiteHatJr in August 2018 for $300 million.

Allegations made by Karan Bajaj

In the complaint [PDF], Bajaj alleged that in early September, Poonia started posting on various social media platforms against WhiteHatJr. The initial posts were about alleged fake claims made by the company about a child codenamed “Wolf Gupta”. In the ads, the company claimed that big technology companies allegedly hired the kid for a handsome salary at the age of 13. However, the later posts were, as per the complaint, went “sinister,” and Poonia allegedly claimed that the company had “murdered” Wolf Gupta.

WhiteHatJr filed takedown notices to social media platforms, and they were removed only to be reuploaded again and again by Poonia. It was alleged that Poonia made wild and baseless allegations against the company. Poonia had recently uploaded a series of tweets and videos in which he demonstrated how WhiteHatJr allegedly silences the voices against them. The company has alleged that Poonia gained access to their Slack (a communication platform used by professionals) account via hacking and put up confidential employee communications, including communications with parents (customers), in the public domain.

Alleged screenshot of the personal conversation accessed by Poonia on Slack where WhiteHatJr employees are discussing about how they can remove negative remarks against them.

According to the complaint, Poonia seeded a fake customer in the WhiteHatJr’s system, who was a minor. She signed up for various trial classes with the company under fraudulent identities. It was alleged that the aim was to harass the teachers and record the classes without prior permission or consent of the teachers and other students in the class. During the sessions, the allegedly fake student asked several questions that had nothing to do with coding. WhiteHatJr claimed that as the entire teaching staff of 11,000 is women, “the allegations of ‘childa abuse’ and equating the Plaintiffs’ acts of teaching children coding with ‘child sexual abuse,” are not legitimate and legally permissible criticism.

WhiteHatJr has alleged that Poonia made several fake accounts to avoid detection. He also boasted that he intends to close down the business. Though Poonia tried to paint himself in a good light, “his intentions have demonstrated that he is willing to go to any lengths towards fulfilling this objective, including displaying private employee information including mobile numbers of Plaintiff No. 2’s employees and hacking into Plaintiff No. 2’s system and concocting baseless claims of threat to his life from the Plaintiffs. The above narrative clearly shows the obvious underlying malice in his actions, which has compelled the Plaintiffs to file the present lawsuit,” the complaint further added.

The allegations against WhiteHatJr

Poonia has been putting up allegations against WhiteHatJr for the last few months. The allegations started with the advertisement the company had put up where they showed a kid as their successful client who has learned coding from them and is now getting hired by tech giants for a handsome salary. Poonia alleged that the kid (Wolf Gupta) they are using in their ads does not exist, and he could not find any official information about any kid being hired at a high salary by any tech giant.

Other social media users had also noticed that the campaign by WhiteHatJr featuring ‘Wolf Gupta’ was questionable, as both the age and the salary he purportedly received kept changing in different ads posted by the company.

The allegations levelled by Poonia led to The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) asking the company to withdraw the ‘misleading’ ads from all platforms. In a LinkedIn post, while talking if kids should learn programing, Bajaj said in the footnote, “Feedback on our marketing needing improvement is well-taken. We’ll do better with it.”

On November 13, Poonia published a series of tweets and posted some videos that recorded the alleged private conversation of the WhiteHarJr employees on Slack. Poonia claimed that the company had silenced the media, and no one is ready to cover the allegations made by him. He alleged that a username Poojawarrior on Twitter claimed to be an employee of WhiteHatJr and was suffering from depression at the workplace. In the alleged tweets, Pooja said Karan Bajaj is forcing teachers to work for 15 hours a day without any weekly off or a holiday.

In the conversation Poonia accessed, the employees of WhiteHatJr bombarded Pooja’s account with complaints and replies from unofficial or fake accounts. As a result, her performance was restricted. Poonia alleged that this was not the first time WhiteHatJr’s employees formed a team to harass someone who had posted anything against the company.

Poonia posted a 30-minute long video in which he allegedly showed the employees’ internal conversation where they were discussing Poonia’s allegations. He showed how they alleged ly take down the videos created by him or other students or YouTubers against the company and systematically remove any negative remarks from the internet. Poonia claimed that they got posts that were only mildly critical about the company and nowhere a threat.

In the video, Poonia allegedly showed how WhiteHatJr works internally on all social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Quora, LinkedIn, and several others, to remove all the negative comments and build a positive bubble its name. He also alleged that when others reported tried to reach out to WhiteHatJr for comments on the allegations against them, the company did not respond but got the posts and videos removed from the platforms.

Poonia made a serious allegation of in-house racism in the company as well. In a tweet, he alleged that a girl’s photograph was shared in the group with a title “Chinese aayi” (A Chinese has come), to which someone comments, ”Ek Manchow soup bolna” (ask for a Manchow soup). Poonia raised several concerns like these, where the employees were harassing clients, concerned citizens, and even prospective employees day and night.

Today Poonia posted another screenshot from Slack where WhiteHatJr employees were talking about creating a face detection app and setting up a company, after an ad by the company said that one of their students became CEO of a company by making such an app. When a teacher wanted to find the ‘app created by the student’ as one student wanted to see it, another person replied, ‘Now we will have to create the app’, while another volunteered to make the company.

Coding for kids

In the latest education policy issued by the government of coding will be taught as a mandatory subject for students of Class 6 and above. The announcement gave a platform to several online learning platforms to launch coding courses. It is believed that coding will become the foundation of future generations. We all use computer-based technology extensively, and programming codes are the building blocks of the technology.

Though these companies are pushing their courses via advertisements, there are concerns that pushing kids into coding at an early age will take the playtime away from them. As the parents often see other kids as competition for their children, there is a chance that students who do not have the aptitude for learning depths of coding will be forced to learn it, resulting in an overall downfall in grades that may lead to childhood stress.

Maharashtra: Woman and her newborn kid die as the only ambulance in the area reached two hours late due to COVID-19 duty

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Woman and her newborn kid die as the only ambulance in the area reached two hours late due to COVID-19 duty

In a terrible incident, a pregnant tribal from a village in Mokhada, Palghar district in Maharashtra died along with her newborn due to a two-hour delay in the arrival of an ambulance.

According to the reports, the 25-year-old Manisha Dhore, a resident of Amle village, was seven months pregnant and went into labour on Tuesday evening. Soon, the local health worker Mangala Vare called 108 requesting an ambulance to pick the pregnant lady. The villagers too joined hands with the health workers to carry Manisha with a bedsheet and walked three km to reach the main road.

The ambulance arrived over two hours later and carried her to a Khodala primary health centre (PHC). As she was bleeding profusely, Manisha was shifted to Nashik civil hospital, around 58km from Mokhada.

The doctors performed a C-section but could not save the newborn baby boy. Manisha, who had suffered severe blood loss, died around 6.30 am on Thursday. Her husband Sanya blamed the delay in the arrival of the ambulance for his wife and newborn’s death. It was their first child, he said adding that by the time the ambulance arrived Manisha had lost a lot of blood and was lying on Khodala-Wada road.

Only one Ambulance was available, dispatched to COVID-duty

Health officer of Khodala PHC Dr Sagar Mukne said the ambulance had gone on Covid duty and hence got delayed. He said the ambulance assigned to Mokhada town was not working, and district health officers were informed.

District health officer Dr Dayanand Suryavanshi said that the delay occurred as there was only one ambulance available in the town, that was already on Covid-19 duty at a Vikramgad facility, around 50km from Mokhada in Jawhar taluka of Palghar district. He said a standby ambulance is being made available at primary health centres in the district following the tragic death.

Dr Suryavanshi said Manisha was underweight and was also suffering from low blood pressure. As advised by PHC doctors, Manisha and her husband had moved to Nashik as they expected delivery complications. The couple had returned to their village for Diwali when she went into labour.

Pandurang Vare, who lives in the same village as Manisha said that the village had 62 houses and a population of 322, lacked basic healthcare facilities. He said only in the last few years the village got a bridge and earlier during monsoon, pregnant women were transported on make-shift stretchers.

French Embassy in Pakistan calls out fake news circulated by a Pakistani federal minister claiming that France is bringing new law for Muslim citizens

OpIndia Staff
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French Embassy in Pakistan calls out fake news circulated by a Pakistani federal minister claiming that France is bringing new law for Muslim citizens

The terrorist-state of Pakistan has been relentlessly pushing anti-France propaganda ever since the French government took a strong vow to fight the menace of radical Islamic terrorism in the country.

Ever since then, Pakistan and its citizens have been protesting and unleashing their violent behaviour not only on the streets but also on social media by spreading fake news and calling for the boycott of French products.

Continuing the act of ‘digital Jihad’ on France, on Saturday, Minister for Human Rights in PM Imran Khan’s cabinet Shireen Mazari resorted to spreading misinformation on Twitter by claiming that France government has decided to identify and number the Muslim children in the country.

Sharing a news report published by a website called the Muslim Vibe, Shireen Mazari said that French President Macron was doing to Muslims what Nazis did to the Jews in the country. She claimed that Muslim children in France will be assigned special identity numbers just as Jews in Nazi Germany, who were forced to wear the yellow star of David on their clothing for identification.

The report cited by Mazari claims that President Macron had asked the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), an organization with the country’s top Muslim leaders, to accept a “charter of republican values” as part of his fight against the radical Islam within France. He has given them a 15-day ultimatum to accept his new charter, the report stated.

The report added that the new charter that Macron is proposing will state that Islam is a religion and not a political movement and will prohibit any foreign interference with any Muslim organization or group within France. 

According to the report, the new charter had placed restrictions on home-schooling for Muslim families and harsher punishments for those who intimidate public officials based on religious grounds. The report also stated that France will now be giving Muslim children an identification number that could track them and ensure that they are attending school.

Punishing Muslim parents who break the laws around ID numbers with up to six months in jail in addition to large fines, the report stated.

The Pakistan’s so-called Human Rights Minister, citing this dubious report, went on to claim that French government was treating Muslims just as Germany during Nazi-era treated Jews.

Fake news, says French Embassy in Pakistan

After Pakistan Minister Shireen Mazari went on to indulge in fear-mongering by citing dubious reports on Twitter, the French government categorically rejected the allegations made against them by him.

Responding to Majari’s tweets, French Embassy in Pakistan called out her lies saying that claim she had made on Twitter was nothing but a ‘Fake News and false accusations’.

This is not the first time that Shireen Mazari has used Twitter to rant against countries and its individuals she has a problem with.

Pakistan ‘Human Rights’ Minister whines against Priyanka Chopra

Pakistan’s Minister for ‘Human rights’, surprising as it may sound, who has apparently been deaf and blind to all the human rights violations in their own country, had appealed to the UN and whined against Priyanka Chopra after she was made UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace.

In a letter to the UNICEF chief Henrietta Forte, Pakistan’s Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari had alleged that the Indian government is carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Muslims and running ‘Nazi’ style detention centres in Assam. Mazari had further claimed that Priyanka Chopra had supported the ‘nuclear threat’ to Pakistan made by India’s defence minister.

Ranting against Priyanka Chopra, Mazari had urged the UNICEF chief to ‘denotify’ Chopra as a UN goodwill ambassador.

France reacts to Pakistan’s anti-France rhetoric

The shameless act by a senior Pakistani Minister to spread fake news against France and its government comes as a reaction after France has decided against upgrading Pakistan’s fleet of Mirage fighter jets, air defence systems and the Agosta 90B class submarines.

France has also reportedly asked Qatar to not allow Pakistani-origin personnel to work on the fighter jets, fearing that they will leak the technical details of the aircraft. Qatar is another country besides India which owns French-made Rafale jets.

The decision by Paris to not upgrade the Mirage III and Mirage 5 fighter jets could bear a huge impact on the Pakistani Air Force which has about 150 Mirage fighter aircraft manufactured by the French organisation Dassault Aviation.

Earlier this month, France took a stern decision of revoking the visitor visas of 183 Pakistani nationals, including kins of Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the erstwhile chief of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. Besides, France had also forcibly deported 118 Pakistanis.

The retributory action taken against Pakistan is believed to be grounded in Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s vigorous criticism of French President Emmanuel Macron over the latter’s comments on radical Islam in the wake of the gruesome killing of a teacher in the Parisian suburb.

JeM terrorists apprehended in Delhi had connections with Deoband and Pakistani handlers; wanted to spread Islam

OpIndia Staff
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JeM terrorists apprehended in Delhi had connections with Deoband and Pakistani handlers; wanted to spread Islam

Days after Delhi police apprehended two Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists Abdul Latif Mir and Mohammad Ashraf Khatana, the cops have unearthed their connection with the Deoband town in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. The duo was taken to the town yesterday as they had lived in the town for a long time.

As per reports, the Delhi Police have found incriminating evidence on their phone. The nabbed terrorists also had a Whatsapp group by the name of ‘Jihad.’ A Pakistani handler named Aftab Malik and a few other people from Delhi, Deoband and Telangana were also connected to the group. The police investigation has revealed that Mohammad Ashraf Khatana and Abdul Latif Mir were travelling to Deoband in Uttar Pradesh through Delhi for undergoing training in making explosives and operating deadly weapons. It was found that the duo would also travel to Pakistan via Nepal to undergo more ‘robust’ training.

The Special Cell of the Delhi police is now collecting evidence against the accused of being a part of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror outfit. While speaking on the development, a senior official informed that the Pakistani handler had directed the duo to travel to Deoband and meet a man who would help them undergo training. The said man was also to help them reach Pakistan for major training. The terrorists had also tried to visit Pakistan between September and October this year but failed due to border strictness.

Terrorists wanted to spread Islam in the world

A top official from India’s Intelligence Department had said that it was a matter of grave concern that the apprehended terrorists were being trained in Uttar Pradesh. The police have been conducting raids in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to unearth their hidden contacts. It has been reported that they would listen to Maulana Masood Azhar and dreamt of spreading Islam in the world. The terrorists would also listen to lectures of Arshad Madni, Mulana Mufti Faizul Wahid Saheb in Deoband and read the works of and Mufti Muzaffar Hussain, Nazir Ahmed Saha Kashi in Jammu and Kashmir. They would often hear stories about supposed ‘cruelty’ against Muslims and soon transformed into Islamic extremists.

Connections with Pakistani handler

The duo came in contact with Pakistani handler Aftab Malik through Facebook Messenger app and later shifted to Whatsapp calls. It was reported that Aftab had asked him to put a photo of Maulana Masood Azhar on his Facebook profile. They learnt how Azhar was also ‘fighting’ for the cause of Jammu and Kashmir. Besides sending extremist content, Aftab also asked them to come to Pakistan for training. They also came in contact with another Pakistani terrorist via Aftab. The Special Cell of the Delhi police had recovered two mobile phones, Aadhar card, clothes, debit Card, voter card, besides radical Islamist content on their phones.

Delhi police nabs JeM terrorists

On Monday, the Delhi police apprehended two suspected terrorists from Sarai Kale Khan area near Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. The police informed that they had laid a trap near Millennium Park in Sarai Kale Khan area based on a tip-off and nabbed the two around 10:15 pm on Monday night. The cops further stated that their arrest helped avert a possible terror attack in Delhi. The duo hail from Kupwara and Baramulla district of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. “At around 10.15 pm, two suspected terrorists identified as Abdul Latif Mir (22), a native of Baramulla district, and Mohammad Ashraf Khatana (20), a native of Kupwara district, have been arrested by our team,” said DCP Special Cell Sanjeev Yadav.

ISIS terrorist nabbed from Karol Bagh

Earlier, an ISIS terrorist named Abu Yusuf was nabbed from the Ridge Road between Karol Bagh and Dhaula Kuan in Delhi on August 21 night after a brief exchange of fire between the terrorist and the police personnel. The Delhi police had recovered 15 kg of explosives, two pressure-cookers IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), and a pistol from Yusuf. Reportedly, the cops had received inputs about Yusuf from Central Intelligence authorities. The ISIS terrorist had done a recce of the area, prior to advancing with his nefarious plans. Abu Yusuf has revealed that he wanted to bomb a crowded place in the National Capital as a retaliation to the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. 

Politicians, Bollywood and Underworld: The NN Vohra Committee report in 1993 highlighted the unholy nexus that broke India. Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Politicians, Bollywood and Underworld: The NN Vohra Committee report in 1993 highlighted the unholy nexus that broke India. Read details

On Friday, Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking concrete action on the Vohra Committee Report submitted in 1993, thereby opening a can of worms. The NN Vohra committee was set up after the 1993 Mumbai blasts in a bid to take stock of the nexus developed over the years between mafia organisations and politicians as well as government functionaries.

According to the reports, the petitioner has sought the apex court to direct various authorities to make Vohra committee report public and also reveal the names of the criminals, politicians and public servants who were in involved with the underworld mafia in Mumbai.

The petitioner stressed that the citizens have a right to know about the complete Vohra report to ensure transparency in governance and there was a need to make the report public as there is tangible evidence against politicians, criminals and civil servants.

Advocate Upadhyay also pointed out that an incomplete version of the report spanning over 100 pages was tabled in the Parliament in 1995, leading to doubts over its genuineness. Only 11 pages of the report were made public and the rest was kept classified.

The petitioner also mentioned that no follow-up action has been initiated in the last 27 years while adding that the report had recommended a Nodal Cell to be set up with powers to take stringent action against crime syndicates. Moreover, he also called for special courts to be set up to expeditiously try such all cases referred to in the Vohra report.

According to him, it was possible for the SC to address the “systemic problem” of criminalization of politics without breaching the principle of separation of powers.

In his petition, Upadhyay sought a direction to the Home Secretary to handover a true copy of the Vohra Committee Report along with annexures and notes to the NIA Director, CBI Director, ED Director, IB Director, SFIO Director, RAW Director, NCB Director, CBDT Chairman and Lokpal Chairperson.

NN Vohra report on Crime syndicate and nexus between underworld and political class

The committee, headed by the then Union Secretary Home Secretary NN Vohra, was set up by the PV Narasimha Rao government in 1993 to examine the link between crime syndicates and government functionaries and political personalities. The committee that had members from RAW, the Intelligence Bureau as well as the CBI had unanimously expressed an opinion that during the 1993 bomb blasts, the criminal network in Mumbai was virtually running a parallel government.

The NN Vohra committee submitted its report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on 5 October 1993, three months after it was established on 9 July 1993 in the aftermath of the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts. In a startling disclosure, the report had allegedly mentioned that many Congress leaders, who were in influential positions in Maharashtra and Gujarat in the 1990s had developed close relations with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his henchman Iqbal Mirchi.

The contents of the report were subsequently made public on 1 August 1995 in Parliament but only limited to 11 pages. However, it was later revealed that the original report was close to 100 pages. Incidentally, the 11 pages that were made public in 1995, had only one name – that of Iqbal Mirchi.

The Vohra Committee Report [pdf] describes Mirchi as, “Iqbal Mirchi of Bombay who, till the late 80s, was merely a visitor to passenger and carrier ships to obtain liquor and cigarettes for selling the same at a profit. In the last 3-4 years, Mirchi acquired real estate valuing crores of rupees; he has many bank accounts and has been paying lakhs of rupees to his carriers.”

“The growth of Mirchi is due to the fact that the concerned enforcement agencies did not timely take action against him and, later, this perhaps became difficult on account of the enormous patronage that he had developed. If Mirchi is investigated, the entire patronage enjoyed by him and his linkages will come to light.”

Image Source: Page 3: 1993 N.N. Vohra committee

A political controversy too had ignited then when opposition party leaders had questioned the government on why it was hiding the details of the Vohra report. Dinesh Trivedi, who was the then Rajya Sabha MP in 1995, had asked the Minister for Home Affairs saying that it was not releasing the entire report as then the individuals who helped the criminals would become identifiable.

Trivedi had even moved the Supreme Court, seeking the release of the documents, but was not successful.

Govt agencies, politicians, filmstars and ISI – interlinked to stoke communal tensions

The 1993 NN Vohra report had stated that certain mafia elements have shifted to narcotics, drugs and weapon smuggling, thereby establishing the narco-terrorism network in India. We had recently reported how the Bollywood’s drug web had international links wherein the money was eventually used for narco-terrorism.

The NN Vohra Committee report stated that the cost of contesting elections made politicians depend on the underworld network. The 1993 bomb blasts in Mumbai and subsequent communal violence in Surat and Ahmedabad showed that the underworld exploited Pakistan’s ISI network in India to stoke communal tension in India. “The investigations into the Bombay bomb blast cases have revealed extensive linkages of the underworld in the various governmental agencies, political circles, business sector and the film world,” the report stated.

Dawood, Memon brothers and Bomb blasts

In his report, NN Vohra mentions through the reports which investigated linkages of Dawood Ibrahim and gang, it was apparent that “the activities of Memon Brothers and Dawood Ibrahim had progressed over the years, leading to the establishment of a powerful network. This could not have happened without these elements having been protected by the functionaries of the concerned Government departments, specially Customs, Income Tax, Police and others.”

Vohra report contains names of key political leaders, says intelligence officers

According to Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials, the report contains the names of leading politicians and bureaucrats who were the key players who helped Dawood and Mirchi from the 1970s till 1993.

Additionally, there is a strong hope among former Intelligence officials that the Modi government will make 100 pages of the report public, especially with Amit Shah now raking up the issue of the connections between politicians and Dawood. Recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that former Union Aviation Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel took part in “treason” by allegedly engaging in a financial transaction with Iqbal Mirchi’s wife, Hajra Memon.

Speaking to Sunday Guardian, IB officials said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) was given a lot of information that was collected by the IB which was then submitted to the Vohra committee. This information, according to IB officials, moslly pertained to politicians from Gujarat and Maharashtra who are very much active in politics even now and their links with underworld mafia.

One official said, “Dawood at the time was not the pariah he is now. People would like to be associated with him despite knowing that he was perhaps the biggest criminal element in the entire country. The MHA was given all kinds of information, in volumes of pages, which were ‘ultra-sensitive’ in nature.”

“This information clearly showed how politicians were on the payroll of Dawood and how they were acting as his servants. Much of this information was produced in the Vohra committee report, in the portion which was not made public. We can understand why it was not made public before, but now, there is no political compulsion as such. It should have been presented before the public to show the deep nexus that existed between the politicians and Dawood,” a former IB official said.

Report mentions nexus between former Maharashtra CM and Dawood Ibrahim, say officials

The intelligence inputs given by the agencies at the time, had stated that there was a “definite” nexus between Dawood and a very big leader of Maharashtra since the late 1970s.

As per the Sunday Guardian report, this very prominent leader of the state had received almost Rs 70 crore from Dawood till the 1993 blasts. The reports also mentioned how Rs 5 crore was given to another politician through hawala to help him in contesting the 1990 elections.

Interestingly, the Vohra report also had the name of a “former CM”. Another input that is a part of the annexures of the Vohra Committee report revealed how two tranches of Rs 5 crore each was given by Dawood in 1992 to a relative of a Chief Minister who later himself became a politician.

The annexures also mentions the name of a very powerful leader from the Congress, who at that time was a mid-level operative, but is now among the top ten.

A former top IB officer said, “Gujarat-based leaders were prominently mentioned in the annexures. If the Home Minister decides to summon these annexures, if he has not seen them till now, he will find very familiar names in them. Every leader comes and makes statements on Dawood and Mirchi. The real test of intent is whether they have the guts to take action on the basis of what they already have—the findings of the Vohra committee that are encompassed in the annexures.”

NCP link to Iqbal Mirchi

Interestingly, the Enforcement Directorate had established links between the UPA era Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel and Dawood’s aide Iqbal Memon alias ‘Mirchi’ last year.

OpIndia had accessed documents which validated NCP leader and former Union Minister Praful Patel’s financial dealings and direct links with one of the most wanted criminals Dawood Ibrahim and his associates.

We had earlier reported regarding the massive crackdown launched by Enforcement Directorate on the properties linked to Iqbal Memon alias ‘Mirchi’. These were in turn linked to former UPA-era civil aviation minister Praful Patel and his wife Varsha Patel through property deals.

The Enforcement Directorate had come to know of such a link between Praful Patel and Dawood’s aide Memon after they had zeroed in the properties of Memon alias ‘Mirchi’. While tracking Mirchi’s business ventures and properties in India and the UK, the ED has discovered links with a firm that is linked to Praful Patel and his wife Varsha Patel.

According to the list of Mirchi’s properties located in India and the UK, A 15-story building in Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli, named ‘Ceejay House’ was constructed as a JV between Mirchi and M/S Millenium Developers Pvt Ltd in 2006-07. In 2007, the third and fourth floors of the building were given to Mirchi’s family by Millenium Developers.

Former Union Minister Praful Patel and his wife Varsha Patel own a significant number of shares in Millenium Developers Pvt Ltd. In the documents, the 12th floor of the CeeJay House is mentioned as the address of Praful and Varsha Patel. It is notable here that NCP leader Praful Patel’s family owns the CeeJay Group, a large tobacco conglomerate in India.

Read the part of NN Vohra Committee report on alleged criminal nexus between underworld mafia and politicians which has been made public here (pdf).

Uttar Pradesh: Tension after a group declares Chhath Puja land as Kabristan in Ballia, police says situation under control

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Tension after a group declares Chhath Puja land as Kabristan in Ballia, police says situation under control

On Friday, a massive controversy broke out during the Chhath Puja programme in Belthara Road city in Pokhara village in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh, reported Jagran. As per the report, some people of the Muslim community interrupted the festival celebrations and claimed that the land, where the religious event was underway, was a cemetery ground and opposed the festival. This soon culminated into an atmosphere of fear and tension between the two religious communities.

Reportedly, a village resident named Tausif had called for a ban on the Chhath puja celebrations by claiming that the land is a graveyard. Following the controversy, the district administration intervened and removed the temporary tents set up by Hindus on the occasion of Chhath puja. However, the women devotees nevertheless continued with the festivities amid tension.

Led by the female Pradhan (head) of the village, Kaushilya Devi, the demand for an inquiry into the matter was placed before Tehsildar Jitendra Singh by the villagers. They complained that an attempt was underway to encroach upon the property. Meanwhile, Tehsildar Jitendra Singh has constituted a team of four accountants to verify the land records and ascertain whether the land indeed is a graveyard. He informed that an on-site inspection witll be carried out in a day to verify the claims.

Update: After this report was published, Ballia police said that the clash was due to a land dispute. They informed that a team of revenue department has been formed to look into the matter and resolve the land dispute.

The Ballia police said that after the incident, police officials visited the location, and there no law and order problem in the area at present. They added that police is keeping a close eye on the matter, and the situation is under control.

Lieutenant Kanika Rane: Two years after her husband immortalised himself fighting infiltrators at LOC, she pays this fitting tribute to him

OpIndia Staff
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Lieutenant Kanika Rane: Two years after her husband immortalised himself fighting infiltrators at LOC, she pays this fitting tribute to him

Two years after her husband Major Kaustubh Rane martyred in Kashmir, Kanika Kaustubh Rane paid him a fitting tribute. On Saturday, she was commissioned into the Indian Army after completion of her training at the Indian Army’s Officers Training Academy in Chennai.

The 29-year-old Major Rane was martyred during an operation in Kashmir in August 2018 with three other Indian soldiers — rifleman Hameer Singh (28), rifleman Mandeep Singh (26) and Vikramjeet Singh (25). The soldiers had laid down their lives in an attempt to foil an infiltration bid near the Line of Control near Gurez Sector in Bandipora district, about 125 km from Srinagar.

In a video shared by Journalist Shiv Aroor on Saturday, Lieutenant Kanika Rane said, “I would not say it was an easy choice…But I knew that had our places been switched, he would have also done the same for me. I am here to fulfill his objectives and the dreams he has left behind by being in his place.”

Speaking on the training, Kanika Rane said that it requires more mental strength than physical endurance. “If you have mental strength and stamina, you can overcome anything. I had never even run 100 metres before coming here, and now I am running 40 km” she said.

Major Kaustubh Rane, who was first inducted into Garhwal Rifles, was then transferred to 36 Rashtriya Rifles. Major Rane had completed six years of service in the Army. He is survived by his parents, his wife Kanika and their young son Agastya.

Last year, at an investiture ceremony held earlier this year in Udhampur, Kanika had collected a gallantry award on behalf of her husband.

“This became an inspiration and motivation for me to don the uniform and join the Army. He was my inspiration and I wanted to move ahead with that inspiration and follow his footsteps,” she had said.

Kanika, who earlier worked as a project manager in an MNC, cleared the Service Selection Board (SSB) exam last year. In October 2019, she went to the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai for her 49-week course.

On Saturday, two hundred and thirty officer cadets – 181 men and 49 women, passed out from the Officers Training Academy in Chennai.

Actress Sana Khan who quit bollywood for Islam marries a Muslim cleric who was introduced to her by hatemonger Ajaz Khan

OpIndia Staff
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Actress Sana Khan who quit bollywood for Islam marries a Muslim cleric who was introduced to her by hatemonger Ajaz Khan

Former Bollywood entertainer Sana Khan, who participated in reality show like Bigg Boss and had acted in Salman Khan movies like Jai Ho has now married a Surat-based Muslim Cleric, Mufti Anas. She had earlier quit the glamour world for Islam.

As per reports, Bigg Boss 8 contestant Ajaz Khan, who regularly posts communally sensitive remarks on social media, introduced her to her husband. In the videos that have surfaced online, she is wearing a white bridal gown and her husband is also wearing white outfit. She married the Muslim cleric in a small intimate ceremony in Surat. The newly married couple also cut a cake after the wedding.

Sana was earlier in a relationship with choreographer Melvin Louis. She later accused him of cheating on her as well as indulging in domestic violence. However, in a sudden turn of events, last month Khan announced her retirement from showbiz to follow ‘rules of Allah’. She had quit Bollywood to make her afterlife better, she had said in an Instagram post. Prior to her, Bollywood actress Zaira Wasim had quit Bollywood for Islam.

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