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‘Priyanka does not meet leaders outside her trusted circle’, UP Congress leaders write to Sonia Gandhi, urges her to rise above love for family

OpIndia Staff
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‘Priyanka does not meet leaders outside her trusted circle’, UP Congress leaders write to Sonia Gandhi, urges her to rise above love for family

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has received another letter from the senior party leaders. This time the letter came from Uttar Pradesh in which the state Congress urged Sonia Gandhi to rise above the party. They asked Sonia to save the party before it becomes just a part of history. The letter was signed by nine leaders who were expelled from the party last year.

In the four-page letter, they attacked the general secretary in-charge of UP, Priyanka Gandhi Vadhra, and urged Sonia Gandhi to think about the party before the family. They said, “Parivaar ke moh se upar uthe” and restore the party’s democratic traditions. The letter mentioned that the leaders were trying to get an appointment from Sonia Gandhi from the last one year, but they were denied every time. They alleged that the situation of the Congress party in UP is going through the worst phase.

The letter said, “There is an apprehension that you are not being apprised of the prevailing situation by those in charge of state affairs. We had appealed against our expulsion, which was illegal, but even the central disciplinary committee has not found time to consider our appeal,” the letter says.”

The letter has been signed by former MP Santosh Singh, former minister Satyadev Tripathi, former MLAs Vinod Chaudhary, Bhoodar Narain Mishra, Nekchand Pandey, Swayam Prakash Goswami and Sanjeev Singh.

The attack on Priyanka Gandhi

In the letter, the leaders alleged that Priyanka does not meet leaders outside her trusted circle. They said that the party’s posts are being occupied by people who are not even a part of the party. They are working on a salary basis. The leaders alleged in the letter that those leaders are not familiar with the Congress party’s ideology. However, they give directions to the party in Uttar Pradesh.

They issued a warning to the party president and said if the situation continues to remain the same, the party will hit rock bottom in the state where it once stood at the peak. Former MP Santosh Singh, former MLAs Vinod Chaudhary, Swayam Prakash Goswami, Bhoodar Narain Mishra, Nekchand Pandey, former minister Satyadev Tripathi and Sanjeev Singhsigned the letter.

Instagram suspends accounts of two journalists of ‘Charlie Hebdo’ for publishing Prophet Muhammad cartoons for several hours

OpIndia Staff
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Instagram suspends accounts of two journalists of ‘Charlie Hebdo’ for publishing Prophet Muhammad cartoons for several hours

The Instagram accounts of two journalists of ‘Charlie Hebdo’ were suspended for several hours after they shared a photo from the front page of the paper dedicated to the trail of January 2015 attacks. In 2015, Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of Prophet Muhammad that led to an attack on their office.

Laure Daussy, Journalist at Charlie Hebdo, reported the blockage of her account on Twitter. She said, “My Instagram account has been deactivated. The last photo I posted was the front page of Charlie Hebdo.” She said it might be because of hacking or mass reporting, which is a new form of censorship and it is ‘mind-blowing.’

Corrine Rey, known as Coco, informed on his Twitter account that a similar thing has happened to her account as well. She said, “like my colleague from Charlie Hebdo, Laure Daussy, my Instagram account was deactivated following the broadcast of the cover with the cartoons of [Prophet] Muhammad.” She called it ‘simply scandalous.’

The satirical newspaper told AFP that the said issue was sold out on day one, and they had to reprint it. A total of 200,000 copies were printed, which is three times the usual number. The trial for the case began last week and the paper republished the cartoons to remember those who were killed in the attack. France’s president Emmanuel Macron also came in support of the paper and denied to condemn republishing of the cartoon.

Alt News comes out strongly in support of Mohammed Zubair after he was booked under POCSO Act for online harassment of a girl child

OpIndia Staff
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Alt News comes out strongly in support of Mohammed Zubair after he was booked under POCSO Act for online harassment of a girl child

Pratik Sinha, co-founder of AltNews, has announced on social media that the platform firmly stands by fellow co-founder Mohammed Zubair after an FIR was registered against him under the stringent POCSO Act for online harassment of a girl child. The statement said that an attempt was being made to ‘hound’ Mohammed Zubair and AltNews firmly stands by his side.

Statement by AltNews

The statement said, “An attempt is being made to hound co-founder of Alt News, Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) through misuse of legal apparatus. Alt News stands by Mohammed Zubair. Zubair has been in the forefront of fighting fake narratives, and his work hurts those who have weaponised misinformation to subvert the Indian democracy.”

FIR lodged against Mohammed Zubair

Priyank Kanoongo, the chairperson of the NCPCR, said on the 5th of September that according to the action taken report (ATR) received by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, an FIR has been lodged against AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair under stringent POCSO Act for online harassment of girl child. He also informed that as per the request made by Twitter India, an additional time of 10 days has been provided to them to provide relevant information.

NCPCR sought action against the AltNews co-founder

On August 8, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had taken cognizance of a matter where a minor girl child was threatened and tortured by AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair on the microblogging site. Priyank Kanoongo had informed that Twitter India and the concerned law enforcement officials had been informed about the tweet, and they have been asked to take appropriate action.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) wrote to the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Delhi, Nodal Cyber Cell officer, saying that the commission has received several complaints seeking action against Zubair under POCSO or relevant acts for “stalking of a minor girl on Twitter”.

Co-founder of AltNews shares the photo of a minor girl to intimidate the grandfather

On August 7, Zubair indulged in an online spat with a Twitter user Jagdish Singh. The AltNews co-founder targetted a minor girl in his Twitter fight with this social media user. Instead of replying to the user directly, Zubair had brazenly referred to a minor girl seen in the profile picture of the user Jagdish Singh, presumably his granddaughter.

After Zubair had highlighted the minor girl seen in the photo, Islamists had started to issue rape threats to the girl. Zubair’s tweet came under heavy criticism from social media users who accused him of shamelessly using a child to get back at a critic.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan’s mother donates her eyes, body upon her demise at 89

OpIndia Staff
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Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan’s mother donates her eyes, body upon her demise at 89

On Sunday, Union Home Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan’s mother Snehlata Devi passed away at the age of 89. Taking to Twitter, the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan shared the news of the demise of his mother.

Dr Harsh Vardhan informed that his mother had suffered a cardiac arrest. The Union Minister added that he has donated her eyes at the All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Delhi.

The Minister termed his mother as a towering personality who was his guide. He added saying that her death would leave a void in his life that no one can fill.

Dr Harsh Vardhan’s mother donates eyes, body

The Union Health Minister also informed that donating eyes was his mother’s last wish.

“Her body donation would keep inspiring us to live for the society,” he said in a tweet in Hindi. Dr Harsh Vardhan further said that her body would be handed over to the Maulana Azad Medical College administration on Sunday.

‘Calling me haramkhor shows your mindset’: Kangana Ranaut lashes out on Sanjay Raut, blames men like him for crimes against women. Watch video

OpIndia Staff
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‘Calling me haramkhor shows your mindset’: Kangana Ranaut lashes out on Sanjay Raut, blames men like him for crimes against women. Watch video

A day after Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had threatened and abused three-times national award winner Kangana Ranaut by calling her a ‘Haramkhor’, the Bollywood actress on Sunday hit out on the controversial Shiv Sena leader saying that she had full freedom of expression and could go anywhere in the country.

Taking to Twitter on Sunday, the Bollywood actress launched a scathing attack on the Sanjay Raut saying that calling a woman ‘haramkhor’ only showed his mindset.

“Sanjay ji, I have full freedom of expression, I have the freedom to go anywhere in my country,” said Kangana Ranaut in her tweet.

Slamming Raut for his vile comments, Kangana Ranaut held the likes of Sanjay Raut responsible for the increasing mentality in the society to commit crimes against women. The daughters of this country will never forgive you, said Kangana Ranaut responding to Shiv Sena leader’s misogynistic rant against her. “As a government servant you know how many women are threatened and raped every day in the country. They get abused at work place, they face violence from their husbands. It is the mindset like yours which encourages such behaviour against women,” she said.

You were quiet when Aamir Khan spoke about intolerance: Kangana Ranaut

Exposing the hypocrisy of the likes of Sanjay Raut, Kangana Ranaut said that when Aamir Khan and Naseeruddin Shah claimed they were afraid to live in India, nobody called them ‘haramkhor’.

The actress also noted that she has praised Mumbai police in the past, but with their recent acts of not acting on the cases of Palghar Hindu Sadhu lunching and reluctance to deliver justice in the Sushant Singh Rajput case has made her to express her freedom to criticise the Mumbai Police.

She asserted that criticising Mumbai Police or Sanjay Raut did not mean that she was insulting Maharashtra.

“You aren’t Maharashtra. Your people are threatening me, still I’ll come to Mumbai on September 9,” said Kangana Ranaut challenging Sanjay Raut over his earlier threats to her.

It is pertinent to note that Kangana Ranaut has been forefront at criticising Maharashtra government and its police force over allegations of botched up investigation in Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case.

Sanjay Raut threatens and abuses Kangana Ranaut

On Saturday, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had hit a new low now and in a brazen display of misogyny, he had referred to the ‘Manikarnika’ actress as a ‘haramkhor’.

Responding to Kangana Ranaut’s earlier comment that no one can stop her from entering Mumbai, the Shiv Sena leader said, “Maharashtra ka baap Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj hai... Mujhe lagata hai asa vakti ke baap ko idhaar la kar dikahan padega.. aapka ki baap dikhaya agar hai toh (The father of Maharashtra is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj… We need to bring Kangana’s daddy here and show him around… You (reporter) too show your father, if you have any).”

On being asked whether he will take unlawful steps to prevent Kangana Ranaut from entering Mumbai, Sanjay Raut replied, “What is law? Did that girl respect the law in the manner in which she spoke? Why are you acting as the lawyer of that ‘haramkhor’ girl?”

Sanjay Raut threatens Kangana Ranaut, asks her not to return to Mumbai

Earlier, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, in an article in Sena mouthpiece Saamana, had asked actress Kangana Ranaut to not to travel back to Mumbai after she had expressed fear stating that that the city police force was more threatening to her than the ‘movie mafia’.

Responding to his remarks, she had tweeted, “Sanjay Raut Shiv Sena leader has given me an open threat and asked me not to come back to Mumbai after Aazadi graffitis in Mumbai streets and now open threats, why Mumbai is feeling like Pakistan occupied Kashmir?”

Kangana Ranaut’s statements against Mumbai Police had come in the backdrop of a recent controversy after Commissioner of Mumbai Police Param Bir Singh had ‘liked’ a tweet which had asked for public shaming of the actress.

No, Indian Railways will not allow begging in trains and platforms, Ministry busts media reports

OpIndia Staff
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No, Indian Railways will not allow begging in trains and platforms, Ministry busts media reports

Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint on Saturday published an article claiming that the Indian Railways may decriminalise begging inside the train compartments and stations, thereby allowing begging.

ThePrint report on begging on trains

In its article, citing unnamed sources, ThePrint claimed that the Ministry of Railways has moved a proposal to decriminalise begging in trains and on stations as the provision of the Railway Act, 1989, is not used that often and is used to harass people. In the same article, ThePrint mentions how the said ‘proposed amendment’ does not permi begging in any railway carriage or upon any part of the Railway.

Similar such reports were published by The Hindu on September 4. The Hindu, too, stated that the Railways may do away with the fine and punishment for begging on the trains, thereby effectively ‘allowing’ begging. Network18 then cited The Hindu report for an article making similar claims.

However, the Indian Railways spokesperson on Sunday took to Twitter to clarify that such media reports are rumours and there is no such proposal to allow begging on trains and platforms.

Contrary to certain media reports, there is no proposal to allow begging in trains or stations, the ministry spokesperson tweeted.

West Bengal: BJP worker in his dying moments says TMC goons lynched him, denied water in last moments. Read details

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: BJP worker in his dying moments says TMC goons lynched him, denied water in last moments. Read details

The political violence in West Bengal has reached an alarming stage with the systematic targeting of opposition leaders and workers by the goons of the ruling dispensation. In another shocking incident of violence, a BJP worker named Rabin Paul was lynched to death in the Pathar Ghata village in Kalna in West Bengal.

According to the family members of the victim, the MNREGA work was underway outside his house. When the workers were chopping trees outside the house, Rabin Paul expressed his objection to it. This soon led to a verbal confrontation which later culminated into violence. During the incident, a group of 50 people belonging to the Trinamool Congress lynched Paul to death. He was first beaten mercilessly by the TMC supporters and then taken to another place in the village where Paul was thrashed by the TMC Deputy Chief.

TMC goons denied water to the dying BJP worker, alleges family

When the family learnt about his ordeal, they rushed to the scene. They alleged that the TMC workers stopped the victim’s daughter when she tried to offer him water. The TMC workers also threatened to thrash Paul’s daughter if she tried to help her father. Later, he was picked up by the police and admitted to the Kalna district hospital. A complaint has been filed with the police by the family members of the deceased and a probe into the matter has been initiated.

Deceased BJP worker names TMC in his dying testimony

In his dying testimony, Rabin Paul said, “Tara lok bol niya merecha… Jara 100 din er kaaj koraccha.(They assaulted me in large numbers. Those who were doing the 100-day work (referring to MNREGA))” On being asked to name anyone specific by the reporter, the victim in his dying moments recounted, “Tara party er lok… TMC party er (They are party workers.. TMC workers).”

BJP condemns violence against its worker

On Sunday, the official Twitter handle of BJP Bengal wrote, “Rabin Paul, BJP worker from Kalna was lynched by TMC goons. One more BJP worker loses his life to the bloodthirsty politics of TMC. TMC is trying to remain in power with this reign of brutal terror. BJP will continue fighting against TMC’s politics of violence.”

BJP National General Secretary, Kailash Vijayvargiya, also took to Twitter to condemn the incident. He wrote, “BJP worker Rabin Paul was attacked and murdered by the TMC goons in Kalna, West Bengal. The politics of violence has reached its extreme limits. Protected and sheltered by Mamata Banerjee, the hooligans want to reign in terror in the mind of the BJP workers. We will not be afraid. How long will this anarchy continue?”

“The murder was executed by Badal Patra who is an active TMC worker. Under the pretext of 100-day work, they had come to attack him. Over a minor issue regarding the chopping of trees, a group of 50-60 people lynched Rabin Paul to death. It is a heinous crime. We have now demanded a CBI investigation,” a BJP leader told ABP Ananda.

TMC cries foul, accuses deceased BJP worker of initiating violence

In his defence, TMC Deputy Chief (Kalna) said, “We were carrying out the 100-day work. I was cutting the trees adjoining the road. And then he (Rabin Paul) came to hit me and forcibly held me by my head and put me down. “

Dismissing the claims, a local TMC leader said, “This is a complete lie. Badal Patra was overseeing the 100-day work when Rabin Paul came to attack him with a sharp weapon. He attacked Patra unprovoked. The attack was so lethal that he had to get 20-25 stitches. He is in critical condition now. Rabin Paul would roam around with a weapon in his hand. The TMC party workers had to live in fear because of him.

BJP worker mysteriously dies in police custody

On August 28, miscreants robbed two businessmen of around a lac rupees on National Highway-34 at Ghughudanga in Raiganj in West Bengal. The police had initially arrested four people in connection to the incident. However, on August 2, a BJP worker named Anup Kumar Roy was brought to the Raignaj police station for interrogation. According to the police officials, the BJP worker had fallen ill during his time at the police station. He was then rushed to the Raiganj Medical College and Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

While speaking to reporters, state BJP President Dilip Ghosh said, “A BJP worker, who had joined the party 8 months ago after leaving CPIM, was pulled up from his house in Itahar by the police. He was then assaulted severely so much so that his kidney got destroyed. He was then taken to another place and was shot 5 times. His family members were not informed. The civic police picked up his body, conducted post-mortem at night, and then informed the family to take away the body. All of this is illegal. Why was he taken to the police station? Why was he assaulted by the cops? And most importantly, why were bullets fired at him?”

Did Kafeel Khan compare Pakistani Hindu refugees to thieves?

Abhishek Banerjee
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Did Kafeel Khan compare Pakistani Hindu refugees to thieves?

They say Kafeel Khan is a hero. But then they say that about so many other people. As with under all ‘fascist’ regimes, the dissent sector has been thriving in India since 2014. As ambitious Indian parents would certainly have noted: Dissenter ban jaao, bahut scope hai.

But hey, if Kafeel Khan is indeed a hero of tolerance, I wouldn’t want to disrespect him. That would not be fair. So let us find out the kinds of things he said. Here he is addressing a crowd of young people, apparently at Aligarh Muslim University.

Kafeel Khan protesting against CAA

I suggest you listen to the speech in full to get a measure of the man. Kafeel Khan speaks eloquently, keeps his audience engaged, sometimes with shayari, sometimes with slogans, raising and lowering his voice with a natural feel for the enthusiasm of the crowd. He has the flair of a natural born leader. Maybe he really is a hero.

A leader excels at communication by taking complex concepts and breaking them down for the masses in terms that everyone can understand. Here is Kafeel Khan presumably trying to explain the spirit of CAA (and how this law is supposedly a shame for India) by means of an analogy. Listen carefully (from 17:00):

“Aapko nahin pata hai, iss law ke laane ki wajah se all over world India ki kitni thoo-thoo ho rahi hai. Aap aise socho, ki aapke padosi ka jo naukar hai usne chori ki hai, wo badtameez hai. Ab wo mere ghar aayega, main usko naukri de doonga.”

For friends who may not speak Hindi, let me translate this:

“You don’t know how the whole world is spitting on India because of this law. Think of it this way: your neighbour has a servant who is ill-behaved and a thief. And now I am bringing that thief to my house and giving him a job.“

Assuming this is how he wants to explain CAA, let us now dissect this analogy and the mentality behind it. Who is the neighbor here? I suppose it could be Pakistan.

Who is the neighbor’s servant that we are bringing to our house? I suppose that’s the reference to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains and Buddhists in Pakistan. The persecuted religious minorities in Pakistan.

Servants?

Is he saying that religious minorities in Pakistan should see themselves as servants of Pakistani Muslims? And the young people all around him seem to love his analogy and lap it up. Non-believers are servants?

Not just servants, they are also “badtameez” or ill-behaved. And worst of all, he seems to call them thieves for running away from Pakistan!

Thieves?

What have they stolen? There is all sorts of rhetoric against refugees out there, much of it hateful, but this is a new one: accusing them of stealing from the country that they are fleeing. They are running for their lives with literally nothing. How could they be thieves? How could anyone possibly see a refugee as a thief?

Unless…

Pakistani Hindu refugees did bring something with them, after all. They brought themselves, their own bodies. In the analogy, the only thing they could have stolen from Pakistan is their own bodies. Is he seeing them as runaway slaves, who have “stolen” themselves from their owners? It would go well with the rest of his analogy, considering that the starting point of the analogy was that Pakistani Hindus are like servants of Pakistani Muslims.

This is 2019, apparently at a major Indian university. Standing in a group of young people, he seems to suggest that Pakistani Hindus are like escaped slaves.

This is hardcore, 1930s style stuff, that you would expect to hear from literal Nazis and Communists. Slavery ended a long time ago. And comparing refugees to ill-behaved servants and then thieves: that’s just not acceptable in this century. Let alone in a crowd of youth at a university.

Is Kafeel Khan suggesting that religious minorities in a country are like slaves of the majority? Or is he suggesting that non-believers should be seen as slaves of the believers? Both are disturbing and quite frankly, disgusting…

Finally, should Kafeel Khan go to jail for saying this? I understand free speech. Liberal friends tell me there is also something called “hate speech.” And apparently there are laws against hate speech in India, which they say is a good thing. Very well then. I’m not sure what hate speech is, but from the nebulous definitions I’ve seen, this one appears to tick all the boxes.

But who am I to decide that? The Honorable High Court says otherwise. And I am sure any kind of contempt of court will cost me more than one rupee. So let me humbly welcome this verdict from the honorable court. Adaalat ki jai ho!

Zakat Foundation, which assists Muslims get recruited into civil services, helps Rohingyas get settled in Delhi in camps

OpIndia Staff
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Zakat Foundation, which assists Muslims get recruited into civil services, helps Rohingyas get settled in Delhi in camps

Zakat Foundation, which is involved in helping Muslims get recruited into civil services, also provide help to Rohingyas who have been deemed to be a national security threat. They have established a ‘makeshift camp’ for Rohingyas called ‘Darul Hijrat’ right at the national capital. They have also revealed a detailed map for a permanent colony for Rohingyas with a Mosque and a permanent office of the foundation.

The Zakat Foundation claims that the entire project has the approval of the Home Ministry. Vice-President of the foundation, S.M.Shakil, is in charge of the project.

The Zakat Foundation educates Rohingyas on Islamic doctrines. Several Rohingya settlements have come up in Delhi over time, the most prominent of them are in Sheehn Bagh, Kalindi Kunj, Vikas Puri and Khajuri Khas. Some of these areas witnessed great violence during the communal riots in the national capital in the month of February.

We had earlier reported on the dangerous ideology of the Zakat Foundation and its links to Islamist organisations abroad and Radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. They are also opposed to the Citizenship Amendment Act and the Uniform Civil Code. Its president Syed Zafar Mahmood had made ridiculous demands to concede the Ram Janmabhoomi to Hindus that included reservations for the Muslim community in government recruitment and delimitation of Lok Sabha Constituencies.

Recently, a video clip of Zakat Foundation Shariah Council member Kalim Siddiqui had gone viral on social media where he could be heard saying that Hindus need to be converted to Islam, because if they don’t become Muslims, they will burn in hell. He projected the act of conversions as kindness being offered to the Hindus.

From allegations of torturing Sadhvi Pragya in custody to dereliction of duty during 26/11 Mumbai terror attack: A brief intro on Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh

OpIndia Staff
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From allegations of torturing Sadhvi Pragya in custody to dereliction of duty during 26/11 Mumbai terror attack: A brief intro on Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh

Over the last few weeks, Param Bir Singh – the Mumbai Commissioner of Police has become the focal point of severe criticism across social media platforms. One of the major reasons for Singh being under fire is the criticism thrown in the way of Mumbai Police over the investigation done in Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

The controversy began after Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh addressed a press conference to claim that it had come to the notice of Mumbai Police that the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput was suffering from a bipolar disorder and undergoing treatment for it. The Mumbai Police Commissioner had claimed that the actor Sushant Singh Rajput had searched for words like ‘painless death’, ‘schizophrenia’ and ‘bipolar disorder’ before his death.

However, the ‘suicide theory’ pushed by the Mumbai Police was soon questioned after there were contrary reports to Param Bir Singh’s claims. A Times Now report had suggested that the actor had searched for properties, farms in Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, and Coorg before his death, which was contrary to Singh’s claims.

A few days later, Param Bir Singh had embroiled in another major controversy after he was found ‘liking’ a tweet bullying and attempting to publicly shame the Bollywood actress. Kangana Ranaut had accused him of bullying and attempting to encourage people to publicly shame her. However, after facing severe embarrassment over their insensitive act on social media, Mumbai Police had responded on the matter claiming that they had never liked any such image. 

Interestingly, this is not the first time that Param Bir Singh has involved in such controversies. In fact, Param Bir Singh and controversies go hand-in-hand as in his career spanning nearly three-decades Singh’s name has appeared in various high-profile controversies.

Param Bir Singh gave clean chit to Ajit Pawar in irrigation scam

Param Bir Singh, IPS officer of the 1988-batch, was appointed as the Mumbai police commissioner in February this year. Singh, prior to his appointment as the Mumbai Police, he was the Director-General (DG) of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Param Bir Singh’s tenure at the Maharashtra ACB was also controversial. In December last year, the ACB under Singh had given a clean chit to then Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar in the irrigation scam. Ajit Pawar was accused in a scam involving 12 Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) projects.

Param Bir Singh accused of framing false drug charges

According to Indian Express, in 2009, Param Bir Singh was accused of falsely framing the co-owner of Provogue, Salil Chaturvedi in a drug case. During his tenure as ACP Western Zone, Singh and his team had arrested Salil Chaturvedi in connection with the drug case. However, years later in 2009, Chaturvedi was finally acquitted for lack of evidence.

Following the release of Chaturvedi, the Bombay High Court had directed the Pune-based State CID to conduct an investigation into the role of policemen. After the investigation, the Maharashtra CID had found that some police officers had planted cocaine in Chaturvedi’s residence.

According to Mumbai Mirror, Ashok Bhosale – one of the policemen who raided Salil Chaturvedi had confessed that he was asked to plant drugs in the residence of the businessman on the instructions of senior police officers. Later, interestingly, Bhosale had retracted his confessions to the CID. The CID had alleged that the retraction by Bhosale was due to the alleged interference of Param Bir Singh.

Allegations of torture against Param Bir Singh

One of the most controversial tenures of Param Bir Singh was during his days at the ATS. Param Bir Singh, who was the Additional Commissioner of Police (ATS), was accused of severe torture by current Bhopal MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Sadhvi.

According to a Zee News report, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur had alleged that she was subjected to extreme torture by the Mumbai ATS to make her forcefully confess to her role in the alleged ‘saffron terror case’. Making serious allegations against then members of the Mumbai ATS, Sadhvi Pragya had disclosed that ATS officers including Param Bir Singh had kept her in illegal detention and tortured her for 13 days.

Sadhvi Pragya had alleged that Khanvilkar, Parambir Singh and (late) Hemant Karkare – all men – tortured her. Never before or after Independence, a woman has been tortured like she was, Sadhvi Pragya had said.

“ATS officials threatened to strip me and hang me upside down if I did not confess about my involvement in the blast. I am mentally disturbed and not able to eat anything,” Sadhvi had told before a judge in 2008.

Another accused and retired army officer Ramesh Upadhyay had also made similar accusations against Singh saying he was tortured by Additional Commissioner of Police (ATS) Parambir Singh and Sukhwinder Singh in custody.

“Parambir and Sukhwinder physically abused me and then threatened to parade my wife and daughter naked in the police station and get them raped by all the officers here,” Upadhyay had said.

Petition against Param Bir Singh for dereliction of duty during 26/11 terror attack

In 2009, soon after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, a petition was filed against Parambir Singh and three other additional commissioners of police on the charges of dereliction of duty during the Mumbai terror attack.

A Public interest litigation (PIL) seeking action against these officers and their suspension on the charges that officers such as Param Bit Singh had failed to follow orders of the then police commissioner.

The petitioner had claimed that had the senior officers obeyed the orders, the terror situation would have been brought under control much earlier and many lives could have been saved. The petitions said that if the officers had acted properly, two more terrorists could have been caught alive.

The petition had quoted former Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor as saying that these officers had disobeyed his orders and failed to perform their during the Mumbai terror attack. The petition said that the officers had refused to combat with the terrorists and preferred to stay away from the trouble-zones and made false reports to the control room and records.

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