Cyber Unit of Mumbai police has arrested 20-year-old Alfaz Jamani from Gujarat for stalking, blackmailing, hacking and child pornography using images of minor girls between 9 to 15 years of age. As per the reports, police have found over 700 nude photos of minor girls on his mobile phone. He managed to get these photographs from girls after hacking in their Instagram accounts.
Dr Rashmi Karandikar, DCP (Cyber), said that they received a complaint from some girls’ parents on 6th September that someone has uploaded nude pictures of their children on Instagram. “All the girls are aged 9 to 15,” she added. The cyber police initiated the investigation and traced the accused’s location in Mahua village of Bhavnagar district, Gujarat.
Afzal morphed minor girls’ photographs and shared them on fake accounts
Police said that they sent a team to arrest Alfaz Zamani. During initial interrogation, he admitted to the crime. He said that he used to send friend requests to minor girls. Once they accept the request, he would start talking to them regularly. He used to download their photos from the Instagram account and morph them to upload on his other Instagram account. He then takes a screenshot of the morphed image and sends it to the victim, claiming that someone has uploaded her nude photo. He then asks them to share their username and password to remove the image which most of the panicked girls shared.
“Once the girl shared the login credentials, he would change the password, the password recovery email id, and mobile number, to ensure that the girl cannot recover the password. He would then again blackmail them to send their nude photographs and videos,” said a police officer at cyber cell Mumbai.
The accused pretended to be the victim and made other girls send nude photos and videos
Zamani also informed that he would talk to the victim’s friends pretending to be her. He would ask them to share their nude photos and videos, claiming that he would share diet and medicine details to keep their bodies in shape. DCP Karandikar said, “We found out 17 fake Instagram profiles made by the accused, which he used to become friend with minors.” Police officials are also asserting where else he could have saved photos including storage devices, cloud storage and others.
Jamani left his studies after 12th and took a job in an onion dehydration plant. This is not the first time his name had appeared in such a case. He was arrested in 2019 for cyberstalking, but at that time, he was granted bail.
The cyber police have registered a case against him under IPC section 354 D (stalking), POSCO Act Section 12 (punishable for sexual harassment),13 (Use of child for pornographic purposes), and Cyber law Sections 43, 66, and 66 (a). A metropolitan magistrate has remanded him for six days in police custody.
The United States administration has released a new web page that highlights the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Communist Party of China against the Uyghur Muslims and members of the other minority communities in China.
On Wednesday, the US state department released a detailed account of the Chinese human right violations against the minority Muslims in China. Releasing a dedicated web page to highlight the human right abuses, the Donald Trump administration said that they are committed to leading the global fight against these egregious human rights abuses.
The web page accounts the targeted campaign unleashed by the Communist Party of China against Uyghur women, men, and children, and members of other Turkic Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, China.
Uyghurs are a Turkish-Muslims ethnic group living in Xinjiang, the largest and most western of China’s administrative regions surrounded by Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
US highlights human rights abuses by China against Uyghurs
The state department also accused China of carrying out human rights abuses against these minorities that include coercive population control methods, forced labour, arbitrary detention in internment camps, torture, physical and sexual abuse, mass surveillance, family separation, and repression of cultural and religious expression.
“In recent years, these egregious abuses have increased through government policies under the pretext and justification of fighting the ‘three evils of ethnic separatism, religious extremism, and violent terrorism’,” the web page reads.
The US State Department also alleged that the CCP was perpetrating a sustained campaign of forced sterilization, forced abortion, and involuntary implantation of birth control. It added that the documented evidence of such practices in Xinjiang demonstrated CCP’s utter disregard for the sanctity of human life and basic human dignity.
Forced Labour, Religious freedom violation of Uyghur Muslims
The US administration pointed out that since 2017, the CCP has increased its campaign of brutal repression of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority groups and have detained members of these groups based on spurious “birth policy violations”.
“The CCP’s use of forced labour to target members of ethnic and religious minority communities is not confined to the Xinjiang region and is increasingly taking place throughout China through the CCP government-facilitated arrangements with private-sector manufacturers,” the document stated.
The Donald Trump administration also pointed out that CCP is among the worst violators of religious freedom in the world as it has displayed a blatant disregard for religious freedom and exercises extreme hostility to members of all religious faiths, including Protestants, Catholics, Tibetan Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, and Falun Gong.
US to block key exports from Xinjiang
Following allegations against human rights abuse by the Communist Party of China in Xinjiang province, the US is all set to block key exports from the region saying that they are produced using forced labour.
The proposed bans include cotton and tomato products which are two of China’s major commodity exports.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be withholding release orders which allows it to detain shipments based on suspicions of forced labour involvement. The law is aimed at combating human trafficking, child labour and other human rights abuses.
Earlier this year, the US lawmakers had proposed legislation which would automatically assume all goods produced in Xinjiang were made with forced labour.
The war between Kangana Ranaut and the BMC was put to rest temporarily after the stay order of the Bombay High Court but the debate around the controversy has not died down. A court order is being circulated on social media to show that Ranaut was issued a demolition notice by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCMC/BMC) in 2018 and thus the actress could see this coming. Congress supporter Saket Gokhale and others circulated it to show that BMC has issued a notice of demolition for Kangana Ranaunt’s office, which was demolished today by BMC, in 2018 itself and not yesterday as informed by the actor.
Here’s the proof:
Kangana was issued a demolition notice by Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM aka. BMC) in 2018 under MRTP Act.
She’d also approached the Dindoshi Sessions Court against it.
For all those weeping buckets: she KNEW this since 2 years.
The document being circulated is an order of Additional Sessions Judge A T Wankhede dated 20/10/2018. However, Kangana rubbished the allegations that she was issued a demolition notice by the BMC back in 2018 for her office situated in Pali Hill. Attacking the Maharashtra government, Ranaut said that the fake information was being spread by the paid sources of the government. Accusing the civic body of lying, she added that she never received any notice from the BMC until yesterday.
Paid sources of Maha government are spreading fake info,BMC never sent any notice to me until yesterday,in fact I got all the documents cleared myself from BMC for renovations. @mybmc at least have the courage to stand by your audacity ? why lie now? pic.twitter.com/CVUQGxkNiS
Moreover, she also informed that the proceedings of a sessions court being circulated as notice to her actually related to a completely different property, the apartment building in Khar where her residential flat is located. When a Twitter user pointed out that the document shared by Saketa Gokhale relates to her flat in DB Breeze, she responded by saying that BMC had issued notice to the entire building, and not just her flat.
This was not just to me but to entire building and this is not my flat issue but a building issue which builder needs to deal with and this building belongs to Sharad Pawar we bought the flat from his partner so he is answerable for this not me..
She also added that the building DB Breeze belongs to Shardar Pawar, and she had bought the flat from Pawar’s partner. Ranaut said that Sharad Pawar is responsible for this, not her.
Later, a Twitter user who goes by the name Shash (@BefittingFacts) shared the images of the complete court order, which was cropped by Gokhale. The user also confirmed that the order related to a completely different case.
Can't understand who is more dumb you or your followers. The case you are talking about is completly different and was "Disposed of otherwise" on 3rd hearing 20-10-2018, it means case is OVER without contesting. MCGM didnt contest. Is this why you didnt put complete screenshot? pic.twitter.com/bD8gTpK7yx
According to the copy of the order shared by the user, the case was disposed of on the third hearing by the court and the order was never contested by the BMC. It is difficult to infer from the said court order that demolition notice was served to Ranaut as it is not expressly mentioned in the order but it does mention about the regularisation of the notice structure. At the bottom of the court order says ‘disposed of otherwise’, suggesting that the case was disposed and it is no longer active in the court.
Continuing its crackdown against ‘touting’, the Indian Railways arrested 994 touts, involved in ‘gaming’ tatkal tickets of special trains during the coronavirus pandemic. The arrests were made by the Railways Police Force, which had launched an intensive drive, anticipating an increase in tout activity after the government had announced coronavirus special trains following the lockdown.
As a part of this initiative, future tickets worth Rs 87.70 lakhs were blocked and 239 agents, along with 994 touts were arrested for continuing with the illegal act.
Railways bust touting racket which used Real Mango software to illegally buy tickets
According to the documents accessed by OpIndia, the Indian Railways has recently busted a sophisticated touting racket prevalent in the country. The arrests made in the case revealed that the racket was not limited to a particular region or state alone but was active across the country.
A software called “Real Mango” was used by the touts to illegally book train tickets. The Railway Police began its investigation probing the YouTube accounts of those who posted videos explaining the working of the software. Mobile phone numbers were recovered from the analysis of the YouTube channels but it led to a dead end.
However, the police soon made a breakthrough when they got two leads: one Rehan Khan from West Bengal and another one from Surat. The police also obtained another lead of Matiyar Khan from YouTube analysis.
Meanwhile, Akhay Jenna and Pravin Bhai, both agents of Real Mango were arrested by the police from Surat on August 27. The user ID and password retrieved from them was used to access the data on illegal software server and to understand the working of the software. Contact details of a senior member of this racket was recovered. The police traced him down to Silchar and eventually arrested him on September 3.
At the same time, the interrogation of Rehan Khan led police to another man involved in the racket. The police identified Subhandu Biswas from the single PayTM transaction made by Rehan Khan. Subhandu Biswas, along with one Rahul Roy, were apprehended from Helencha, Bagdah near Bangaon.
Arrested Rahul Roy named the kingpin of the entire racket, dubbed as “The Mango Guy”. Phone records and chat history of Rahul Roy disclosed that a man named Chandra Gupta of “Kreation Next” was the mastermind behind the touting racket that used ‘Real Mango’ software to illegally book Railway tickets. Gupta, known for gis skills in developing network based software, was arrested by the police. He had reportedly confessed to having developed the Real Mango software after discussing it with Rahul Roy.
How did the racket carry out touting with the use of Real Mango software?
The three fundamental requirements for touting are:- Multiple User IDs, multiple SIM cards to activate those IDs, and multiple email-IDs associated with the distinct User IDs.
Multiple user IDs were created by a single group of touts. These IDs were activated through different phone numbers by pre-activated SIM agents at different locations. Once the IDs are activated, the SIM cards are sold in the market. There is no connection between the activated IRCTC accounts with the owner of the SIM cards. These activated accounts are then sold in the market and commission for User ID creator and generator is sought.
The Real Mango software bypassed V3 and V2 captcha and synchronised bank OTP with help of a mobile app, feeding it to the requisite form automatically. It auto-filled passenger and payment details and allowed simultaneous log in through multiple IDs.
The touts used auto-fill technology in which passenger data, payment details are pre-fed in the system. They logged in through multiple IRCTC accounts through proxy IP service, bypassing captcha and doing away with the need to fill the details of the passengers and payment. The payment OTP is also auto-filled with the help of a mobile app linked with server. In this way, touts were able to book tickets in bulk and are significantly ahead of time in comparison to the normal customers.
So far 40 people have been arrested in operating, selling, and using Real Mango software into the system. The Railways have also accessed the software server to understand its working. Data has been downloaded for analysis. Besides, proxy IP details that enabled simultaneous login from more than 2 accounts, IRCTC User IDs and PNRs of the tickets booked by the illegal software has been identified. A thorough investigation is underway in the case and raids are in progress to arrest people associated with running the software.
Indian Railways’ crackdown on illegal ticket booking
For a long time now, Railways has been plagued with the scourge of ‘touting’, where touts snapped up the Railway tickets in large numbers and later sold them at a premium to the travellers. The central government has time and again taken stringent measures to curb the sale of Railways ticket illegally.
The latest clampdown on touting is in line with the Indian Railways’ nationwide concerted attempt to end the menace of illegal booking of tickets by the touts. In January this year, the Railways had busted a similar touting gang, involving a team of software engineers based out of Dubai, IP addresses linked to Yugoslavia and a sprawling corporate structure in India such as country head, super-admins, lead-sellers and over 20,000 agents.
It took about two months for the Railway officials to get to the bottom of the scam. They identified a certain Hamid Ashraf as the mastermind operating out of Dubai. About 26 arrested were made in the case, with the RPF apprehending the gang’s India head, Ghulam Mustafa from Bengaluru. The western head of the gang, Deepal Saha, was taken into custody from Mumbai’s Borivali while he was trying to flee to Gujarat.
Earlier this year, the Railway Protection Force(RPF) had launched a drive, employing PRS data analysis through the PRABAL module, along with ground intelligence to identify the touts and bring them to book. In May 2020, the Indian Railway issued a statement, stating the arrest of 14 touts, including eight agents of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Tickets worth Rs 6,36,727 were recovered from them.
While the day saw a lot of drama following the demolition of Kangana Ranaut’s office by BMC, Aaj Tak journalist Mausami Singh had to face real embarrassment on an eventful day. First, she had to face angry women protesting against her channel, and she was snubbed by a backhoe loader operator who had demolished the office on BMC orders.
When she was covering the protests being held by women gathered outside Kangana Ranaut’s house against the demolition, Mausami Singh had to face the anger of the protector for the channel’s anti-Kangana position. As Singh went to the women protestors to ask questions, they started shouting the slogans of “Aaj Tak Murdabaad” to her face.
However, this was not the only embarrassment faced by the journalist during the coverage of demolition. She did not receive as very warm welcome by the operator of the JCB machine that was used for carrying out demolition when she went to talk to him.
— SuperStar Raj ???????????????? (@NagpurKaRajini) September 9, 2020
As Mausami Singh climbed up the JCB backhoe loader to interact with the driver and asked his name, the driver straightaway asked her why she was interested in knowing his name. “Driver saab, apka kya naam hai“, she asked. “Kya karogi mera naam jaan k“, came the reply from the driver.
This is not the first time Mausami Singh has faced embarrassment while reporting. Last year, after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was appointed as in-charge of the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, Mausami Singh was seen instructing the Congress workers to look excited for Vadra. She had earlier tried to play victim on camera while live reporting from Srinagar airport where shooting videos was prohibited. Singh had accused the security personnel of manhandling her when they tried to stop her from recording videos. Her own excitement about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being entrusted the command of UP before the 2019 General elections came to light when she covered Vadra’s airplane trip on “normal Indigo flight”.
Reporters mistake postman for BMC official.
Today was a particularly bad day for TV media, as in another incident, they were seen questioning a wrong person asking why he had demolished the office of Kangana Ranaut.
In a video that has gone viral, a man is seen surrounded by several TV reporters, asking the reason behind the demolition. But to this, the man replies, ‘I have not demolished it, I am a postman’.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap today revealed that he did not want to work with Sushant Singh Rajput for his own reasons. He quote-replied to a twitter user who questioned the role of Bollywood in Rajput’s death and shared screenshots of his conversation that he had with Rajput’s manager on 22nd May and 14th June.
Kashyap wrote that he was sorry that he had to share the conversation. He said, “am sorry that I am doing this but this chat is from three weeks before he passed away. Chat with his manager on 22 May .. havent done it so far but feel the need now .. yes, I didn’t want to work with him for my own reasons.”
I am sorry that I am doing this but this chat is from three weeks before he passed away. Chat with his manager on 22 May .. havent don’t it so far but feel the need now .. yes I didn’t want to work with him for my own reasons .. https://t.co/g4fLmI5g9hpic.twitter.com/cHSqRhW9BD
In the conversation, the manager asked Anurag to keep Sushant in mind while hunting for actors for his upcoming projects. Kashyap rejected the request and said that Rajput is too problematic.
In another tweet, he shared his conversation with the manager on 14th June when Rajput’s dead body was discovered at his residence in Bandra. Kashyap wrote, “Also, My conversation with his manager on June 14th. It will show you things if you want to see it. It feels horrible to do this but can’t keep it back .. and for those as well who think we didn’t care for the family. As honest as I can be .. judge me all you want ..”
Also My conversation with his manager on June 14th . It will show you things if you want to see. It feels horrible to do this but can’t keep it back .. and for those as well who think we didn’t care for the family . As honest as I can be .. judge me all you want .. pic.twitter.com/AdfJzcdh9M
Kashyap and the manager talked about some film in the second conversation where he mentioned Mukesh and said that he told Kashyap that SSR wanted to a movie with him. After that Sushant ghosted Kashyap that led to shelving the film. He said that he believed Mukesh had something to do with it. Kashyap admitted that he should have talked to Sushant once instead of holding a grudge against him. He might be talking about filmmaker Mukesh Chhabra who was a good friend of Sushant.
Sushant Singh Rajput ended his life on 14th June. His case has taken several twists and turns and now it is being investigated by CBI, ED and NCB.
An order granting anticipatory bail was passed by a Division Bench of the Calcutta High court yesterday in favour of the editor of a web portal. A case was registered by West Bengal government against Upendra Pradhan, who is the editor of a web portal titles Darjeeling Chronicle, in January this year for allegedly inciting one community against another which is an offence under section 505 of the Indian Penal Code. This happened after he published an article. The court said it considered the materials on record and the nature of the allegations while granting the anticipatory to Pradhan.
Pradhan’s advocate Ananad Bhandari said that he was being charged continuously by the police failed to disclose any facts. “He was being continuously charged by the police and the allegations are baseless. The police had not disclosed the facts that constitute an offence under section 505 of the IPC”, Bhandari said. He also said that the FIR was filed quite late.
Upendra Pradhan is a Darjeeling based political analyst, and he is the editor at large at The Darjeeling Chronicle. He also writes for several other publications including OpIndia. He supports the cause of a separate Gorkhaland, and is a severe critic of the West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, which has earned him the ire of the state govt.
Earlier in June this year, the Supreme Court had stayed three FIRs filed by the West Bengal government against OpIndia English editor Nupur J. Sharma, OpIndia Hindi editor Ajeet Bharti, CEO Rahul Roushan, and Vaibhav Sharma, husband of Nupur but not associated with the portal. A vacation Bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and BR Gavai heard the matter via video conferencing and passed the stay order. The court had also issued a notice to the government of West Bengal.
In a massive crackdown against the right to report, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra has arrested and jailed the reporting team of Republic TV, said a press release issued by the news channel.
According to the statement, journalist Anuj Kumar, along with video journalist Yashpaljit Singh and Ola cab driver Pradeep Dilip Dhanavade have been illegally taken into police custody by the Maharashtra police. The incident took place when the team was following a lead in an investigative assignment in Karjat in Raigad.
Maharashtra government arrested Republic TV journalists under trumped-up charges of trespassing
The Republic TV team was reportedly arrested and lodged in the jail for 4 days after they made an enquiry with the security guard of a certain residence in Karjat. The journalists and the cab driver were charged under the sections of trespassing and were denied legal representation before being thrown into the jail. In its statement, the Republic TV has alleged that its employees have been lodged in the jail based on trumped-up charges of trespassing.
“We are being informed that our reporter is being pressured by the state machinery in Maharashtra to reveal his story, his leads and his sources. Our reporter will not reveal the source or story. This stands in complete violation of the right to report protected by the Constitution of India,” the statement issued by the Republic TV Network said.
The statement further read, “The illegal detention of our reporter and video journalist is an attack on constitutionally guaranteed rights with a motivation to muzzle a free press, deny the right to report, and to deter any journalist from speaking truth to power and pursuing stories of public interest as the fourth pillar of our democracy.”
Journalists lodged in jail for 4 days and denied legal representation: Republic TV
The Republic TV has accused the Maharashtra government of “horrendous overreach”, stating the message being sent by Maharashtra government is clear that no journalist can report in Karjat, or near the Chief Minister’s residence. It further added that in a free democratic country, illegal detention of the journalists for 4 days without legal representation would amount to the most determined attack on media freedom.
The channel has raised questions over denial of legitimate legal representation to the journalists as well as denial of permission to communicate with the channel’s lawyer over the video link. It has also asked why its journalists were booked for trespassing when their intent was only to make official enquiries with the guard. Furthermore, the channel has alleged thata remand copy was not given to further block any possible legal recourse to ensure their reporting team can not exercise their rights under the law.
It has also speculated that the Inspector General’s personal intervention in the case to ensure the reporter and video journalist remain in jail may not be accidental. And lastly, the channel has questioned if Karjat is a forbidden zone for journalists who attempt to report and put out information in the public opinion.
Republic TV accuses Maharashtra government of malicious and motivated action to silence their reporters
The news channel has alleged that the action initiated by the government against its reporters is a part of a large pattern to try and block the Republic Media Network. “The sequence of events, the nature of the action and the motivated attempt to silence our reporters who pursue investigative stories reek of vindictive, malicious and vengeful action by the Maharashtra government against Republic Media Network, and its reporters,” the press release by Republic TV said.
Republic TV has stated that it would take every legal recourse available to fight the Maharashtra government’s dictatorial approach of using its state machinery against the journalists and raise the issue in every forum and stage by all means permitted under the law.
In a fresh diplomatic war between China and Australia, the China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday claimed that Australian authorities searched and seized items from the residence of four Chinese journalists, including reporters from state news agency Xinhua and the China News Service.
According to the reports, the Australian authorities, in a major crackdown against Chinese entities in Australia, revoked visas of two leading Chinese scholars and also searched residences of Chinese journalists in connection with an investigation into alleged Chinese interference in country’s affairs.
The joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) raided the residence of these Chinese journalists and scholars on Tuesday.
The AFP-ASIO Foreign Interference Task Force is probing an alleged plot by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to infiltrate New South Wales Parliament through the office of Labor politician Shaoquett Moselmane, using his former staffer John Zhang.
The names of the Chinese journalists and scholars are, as per ABC News, Australia bureau chief of China News Service, Tao Shelan, China Radio International’s Sydney bureau chief Li Dayong, Professor Chen Hong, and Australian studies scholar, Li Jianjun.
Australian raids Chinese ‘scholars’ over connections with MP Shaoquett Moselmane
Earlier in June, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the country’s national security agency had raided the Labor Party leader and New South Wales upper house MP Shaoquett Moselmane for his alleged links with the Chinese government.
It is reported that Moselmane has very close ties with China. Last year, it was reported that Moselmane had taken nine privately funded trips to China since entering parliament in 2009. It was also said that his transport and hospitality costs were often met by Chinese government officials or agencies.
Moselmane had appointed a Chinese national John Zhang to his parliamentary office at the beginning of 2019. Zhang is listed as a vice-chairman of Australia China Economics, Trade and Culture Association, which according to the China experts, was a leading Chinese Communist party-aligned organisation in Australia.
Currently, the AFP is investigating whether Zhang used a chat group on the Chinese social media platform, WeChat, to encourage Moselmane to advocate for the Chinese Government’s interests. The journalists and academics are being investigated over the alleged infiltration because they were members of the WeChat group.
China detains Australian journalist Cheng Lei
The diplomatic war between China and Australia further escalated on Tuesday after China detained journalist Cheng Lei of CGTN on national security grounds last month. Cheng Lei is a high profile Australian citizen working in Beijing.
According to the reports, China’s foreign ministry revealed on Wednesday that they had news anchor Cheng Lei and kept in secretive detention since mid-August on charges of carrying out illegal activities that allegedly endangered China’s national security.
On Tuesday afternoon, Zhao Lijian, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said Cheng was “suspected of carrying out illegal activities endangering China’s national security”. “This case is being handled according to law and Cheng’s legitimate rights and interests are fully guaranteed,” he said.
Reportedly, Cheng was critical of the Chinese government on her Facebook page earlier this year. However, there was no indication the posts were linked to her detention. Following her detention, CGTN has deleted all evidence of her employment from its websites.
Cheng is believed to put under “residential surveillance at a designated location”, which is nothing but solitary detention where she can be held for up to six months without access to a lawyer.
It is being said that, amidst deteriorating relations with China, Lei is considered to be collateral damage in Beijing’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy. The detention of Lei on spurious charges by Chinese authorities will be used as bargaining chips by them during the “hostage diplomacy”.
Meanwhile, the latest diplomatic war between the two countries and the detention of Cheng Lei has resulted in Australia bringing last two of its journalists Bill Birtles and Michael Smith back to Australia.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Bill Birtles and the Australian Financial Review’s Mike Smith landed in Sydney on Tuesday after Chinese authorities had tried to delay their return for several days pending investigations.
Australia’s souring relations with China
Australia’s relationship with China has been deteriorating recently. During the coronavirus pandemic, Australia had levelled serious allegations on China, leading to a veiled threat from Beijing. Australia had advocated for a thorough investigation into China’s role in spreading the Wuhan Coronavirus. PM Morrison had even called for a global crackdown on Chinese wet markets.
China had objected to the recent defence deals signed between Australia and India and had termed it a ‘confrontation’ attempt with China.
Australia had recently admitted to a massive cyber-attack against its government networks and had stated that a nation-state is behind it, hinting at China.
Every time a catastrophic tragedy befalls Bollywood, members of the fraternity unite to ward off the threat that appears to upend the industry, even if that means siding with someone who is accused of serious crimes. Yesterday, a legion of Bollywood celebrities took to social media to extend their support and express their solidarity with actor Rhea Chakraborty after she was arrested by Narcotics Control Bureau for her possible involvement in procurement and consumption of drugs related to Sushant Singh Rajput death probe.
Scores of Bollywood celebrities, who would otherwise indulge in bitching or making gossipy claims about each other, came together, to defend the embattled actor, notwithstanding the grievous charges levelled against her. In a show of support to the actor, prominent Bollywood personalities took to social media, uploading posts in which they asked their followers to “smash the patriarchy”.
Some of them even went on to normalise drug peddling, its procurement and consumption, claiming that Rhea’s arrest is unfair because she was accused in the alleged suicide case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput but has been apprehended in connection with a drug case. Others, reluctant of openly supporting an accused arrested in the drug case, questioned the spectacle of media trial to extenuate the actor and paint her as a victim.
Bollywood supported Sanjay Dutt, who was accused under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA)
However, this is not the first time that the Bollywood personalities have come out in support of one of their own. About 26 years back, the entire Bollywood industry pulled together in support of actor Sanjay Dutt, who was arrested for keeping illegal weapons at his house given to him by Abu Salem, one of the gangsters responsible for orchestrating the gruesome Mumbai Bomb blasts in 1993.
On July 4, 1994, Sanjay Dutt was remanded to judicial custody for his alleged involvement in the Mumbai Bomb blasts. He was arrested under the provisions laid down by the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act(TADA). By evening, the news trickled in throughout the industry. Shah Rukh Khan, who was shooting for a commercial shoot, hurried to the Dutt residence at midnight. Director Ramgopal Verma and actors Jackie Shroff and Gulshan Grover hightailed it to Mumbai from Hyderabad.
A meeting was convened by the Cine Artistes’ Association at chief Asha Parekh’s house the next day. The shock of Sanjay’s arrest had sent ripples across the movie industry. By next morning, i.e July 6, the entire Bollywood industry was mobilised to extend their support for the actor.
Shootings of the ongoing movies, commercials were cancelled forthright. Artistes and technicians from the industry gathered at a suburban hotel and from their went to Thane Jail, where Dutt was held, to hand over a letter to the jailor. The turnout was astonishing as several top Bollywood personalities, from Dilip Kumar to Yash Chopra and Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, to Saif Ali Khan, Mahesh Bhatt, Saira Banu, Karishma Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Randhir Kapoor and several others had come to the Thane Jail as a mark of solidarity for Sanjay Dutt.
Film director Mukul Anand had printed 1,000 posters overnight declaring “Sanju, we’re with u.” Controversial Film producer and director, Mahesh Bhatt, went on to slam the law for jailing Sanjay Dutt. “How can a law that applies to Dawood Ibrahim apply to Sanjay Dutt?” Bhatt had then asked.
Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar(from left to right) (Source: DNA India)
The Bollywood solidarity at Thane Jail was just the start. Industry stalwarts had planned several strategies to evoke public sympathy for the actor. About Rs 7 lakh were raised to print posters and media campaign in support of Sanjay Dutt. Music companies gave their hoarding space while theatres agreed to interrupt shows with slides in support of the actor. A well-coordinated campaign was run to enhance the battered image of Sanjay Dutt by focusing on the social causes he had been associated with in the past.
Sunil Dutt pleaded with Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray for release of his son
With his hopes dwindling of getting his son out of the jail, the long-time Congress MP Sunil Dutt, who had been a fierce critic of Shiv Sena and it ideology, decided to visit Sena chief Bal Thackeray in 1995, to request him to extricate his son, who had been languishing in jail for the last 13 months.
While Maharashtra had traditionally been a Congress stronghold, Hindutva and right-leaning ideologies were beginning to take root in the state in the early 90s. Though Congress had its government at the centre, Maharashtra was ruled by the coalition of BJP and Shiv Sena in 1995 when Sunil Dutt approached Bal Thackeray to get his son released.
Later in the Rajat Sharma show, when Dutt was asked why he had chose to visit Balasaheb Thackeray even though he had strongly opposed him in the past, Dutt replied, “During that time Shiv Sena was in power in the state and Bal Thackeray often used to proclaim that he had the keys of the government in his hands. So naturally anyone will reach out to the person who has the key to the government,” Dutt had said.
It is being alleged that Sunil Dutt had visited Bal Thackeray and pleaded with him to get his son released from the jail. After Bal Thackeray’s alleged intervention, Sanjay Dutt was released in 1995 after spending 18 months in the jail.
Sanjay Dutt with Balasaheb Thackeray(Source: Indian Express)
It was reported that soon after his release from the jail, Sanjay Dutt’s first stop was at the residence of Bal Thackeray to thank him and take his blessings. Dutt has since then expressed his gratitude for the Shiv Sena chief for his intervention and getting him out of jail. In November 2012, at the time when Bal Thackeray was in critical condition, Sanjay Dutt was quoted by the Times of India as saying, “Balasaheb is a father figure to me. He stood by me at a time when no one else came forward to support me.”
In 2006, the TADA court found Sanjay Dutt guilty of Arms Act but acquitted him under TADA. Later, he was sentenced for 5 years in jail for illegal weapons possession in a case linked to the 1993 serial blasts that killed 257 people in Mumbai.
Bollywood made a hagiography on Sanjay Dutt to whitewash his past crimes
However, Bollywood’s long-drawn attempt to scrub Sanjay Dutt’s image clean continued with a biopic made on the controversial actor. A hagiographic movie based on the life of Sanjay Dutt was made, which tried to pass off the actor’s wrongdoings as his impetuous and thoughtless caprices. The movie was branded as a tear-jerker that was significantly economical with the truth, often misrepresenting and in some instances omitting the actual turn of events, made with the express desire of minimising the vices of Sanjay Dutt and exaggerating his somewhat modest virtues.
While the critics close to the Bollywood industry hailed the movie and acting of Ranbir Kapoor, who played the character of Sanjay Dutt, the biopic received severely critical reviews from the audiences, who claimed that the movie was a shoddy attempt at whitewashing the image of Sanjay Dutt and exculpating him of being involved in any way with the ghastly Mumbai Bomb Blasts 1993.
It is, therefore, not very surprising, that the entire Bollywood industry, has swung into action, to defend actor Rhea Chakraborty in the wake of her arrest in the drugs case linked with the Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. When the Bollywood had no qualms in being associated with an accused, who was at the time, charged of as serious crime as supporting Terror activities, then supporting Rhea Chakraborty for a piddly little crime as alleged involvement in drugs procurement is a no brainer.
And today again it is Shiv Sena that is in power along with Congress and NCP.
