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24 migrants die in road accident in Uttar Pradesh, CM Yogi Adityanath seeks immediate report

OpIndia Staff
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24 migrants die in road accident in Uttar Pradesh, CM Yogi Adityanath seeks immediate report

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his deepest condolences to the families of 24 migrant workers who died in a road accident in Mihauli area in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday morning.

According to State Additional Chief Secretary (Home Ministry) Awanish Awasthi, Yogi Adityanath has directed all injured migrants, more than 20 people, to be provided immediate medical attention. He has also sought an immediate report from the Commissioner and the Inspector General of Police (Kanpur) about the cause of the accident.

Collision between two trucks

At 3:30 am on Saturday, a truck reportedly carrying 50 migrant workers collided with another truck, in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh, resulting in at least 24 deaths. 22 people have been injured in the road accident, 15 of whom are said to be in critical condition. The truck carrying migrant workers belonging to West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand was coming from Rajasthan when it collided with another truck travelling from Delhi, informed Abhishek Singh, the district magistrate of Auraiya.

According to Archana Srivastava, the Chief Medical Officer of the Auraiya District (CMO), 22 injured migrant workers were admitted to the hospital while 24 of them were brought dead. 15 people who wherein critical condition were referred to Saifai PGI.

Prime minister Narendra Modi also offered condolence for the incident. He said that the govt is working toward relief work. “The road accident in Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiya is very tragic. The government is involved in relief work actively. I express my condolences to the families of those killed in this accident, as well as wish speedy recovery for the injured,” PM Modi tweeted in Hindi.

Aurangabad Train Accident

Last Friday, 16 migrant workers, sleeping on the railway tracks, were mowed down by a goods train at Gadhe Jalgaon village in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district. The migrant workers were walking from Jalna to Aurangabad, a distance of nearly 65km, to catch a train to return home. They had walked along the rail tracks for 45 mins and had then slept on the tracks. Five of them escaped with injuries and they have been rushed to a hospital. The migrants had decided to take the railways track to reach Aurangabad to avoid getting zeroed by the police on the highways.

Deccan Chronicle quietly removes the ‘Bhakts’ jibe from its report on Indian Army’s Tour of Duty proposal for civilians

OpIndia Staff
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Deccan Chronicle quietly removes the ‘Bhakts’ jibe from its report on Indian Army’s Tour of Duty proposal for civilians

Deccan Chronicle, on Thursday, ran a story on Indian Army’s proposal of allowing civilians join the Armed Forces for three years. While the report itself was devoid of any jibes, the headline took a dig at the ‘bhakts’ suggesting that now is the time for supporters of Prime Minister Modi, who are often referred to as ‘bhakts’ (devotees) or ‘andh bhakts’ (blind followers) condescendingly by a certain section of media and politicians, to join the Army.

Deccan Chronicle original headline (Image credit @saketgokhale on Twitter)

Congress supporters soon hailed Deccan Chronicle for its ‘fantastic’ headline and also expressed fear that the ‘Sanghis’ might now ‘infiltrate’ the army.

Some even saw this as a sign that the print media has ‘credibility’.

Meanwhile, PM Modi’s supporters took the jibe in their stride and used the taunt as proof that only the ‘bhakts’ could actually serve the nation and be ready to die for the motherland.

However, a day later, despite appreciation from Congress supporters, Deccan Chronicle has quietly removed the ‘bhakt’ jibe from its headline.

Deccan Chronicle’s updated headline

The quietly updated headline now reads “Army proposes three-year Tour of Duty for citizens”.

The Game of Headlines

AajTak had recently displayed Hinduphobia by dragging Karwa Chauth in a report on violence in a Muslim household. The headline stated that a husband had severed his wife’s tongue on the day of ‘Karwa Chauth’ when the perpetrator and the victim, both, were non-Hindus. Similarly, earlier NDTV had to change its headline after its dishonesty was caught on Twitter.

Trump administration moves to cut Huawei off from global chip suppliers, bars it and its suppliers from using American equipment and technologies

OpIndia Staff
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Trump administration moves to cut Huawei off from global chip suppliers, bars it and its suppliers from using American equipment and technologies

A day after threatening to cut ties with China over trade-related issues, the Trump administration, in a major escalation, has issued a new rule Friday barring Huawei and its suppliers from using American technology and software.

In an action that could ramp up tensions with China, the US administration on Friday decided to block shipments of semiconductors to Huawei Technologies from major global chipmakers. The US Commerce Department said it was amending an export rule to “strategically target Huawei’s acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain US software and technology.”

The new rule, which will be effective from in September, will bar companies around the world from using American-made machinery and software to design or produce chips for Huawei or its entities. The companies can now apply for a license to continue supplying those products, but the administration could deny permission those requests.

Huawei, which needs semiconductors for its widely used smartphones and telecoms equipment, is the latest victim of the trade-wars between the United States and China. According to the US Commerce Department, Huawei has been using US software and technology to design semiconductors, despite being placed on a US economic blacklist in May 2019.

The rule change will not only affect Huawei, the world’s no. 2 smartphone maker, but also Taiwan’s TSMC, a major producer of chips for Huawei, Apple and Qualcomm. US govt has allowed wafers already in production to be shipped to Huawei, but those shipments have to be completed within 120 days from Friday. Wafers that will go into production from Friday will come under the new rule.

Most chip manufacturers rely on tools and equipment produced by US companies like KLA, Lam Research and Applied Materials, and also chip designs developed by American companies.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department has extended a temporary license that was set to expire Friday allowing US companies, many of which operate wireless networks in rural America. These companies are allowed to continue doing business with Huawei till August 13.

Threat to US national security

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement said that the rule change is to “prevent U.S. technologies from enabling malign activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests”. He added that Huawei and its affiliates “have stepped-up efforts to undermine these national security-based restrictions.”

The Commerce Department said the rule will allow wafers already in production to be shipped to Huawei as long as the shipments are complete within 120 days from Friday. The chipsets will need to be in production by Friday or they are ineligible under the rule.

The United States administration has already placed Huawei and 114 affiliates on its economic blacklist citing national security concerns.

Last month, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had initiated the process of shutting down the US operations of three state-controlled Chinese telecommunications companies, citing national security risks. 

US President Donald Trump threatens to cut ties with China

In a sign of further deterioration of ties between US and China, US President Donald Trump on Thursday had said that he had lost interest in speaking to President Xi Jinping and went on to suggest that his country could even cut ties with the China following the outbreak of deadly pandemic of the Wuhan Coronavirus.

Donald Trump, speaking to Fox News on Thursday, had said he was very disappointed with China’s failure to contain the disease and that the pandemic had cast a shadow over the US-China trade deal.

US administration to withdraw billions of dollars worth American pension fund investments from China

Just yesterday, Donald Trump administration had decided to pull out billion dollars worth of American pension fund investments in China. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump confirmed that his administration has asked for the withdrawal of billions of dollars of pension fund investments in China as a response to China’s failure to notify the world regarding the Chinese Coronavirus.

Gujarat: Migrant workers bow down to their ‘Karmabhoomi’ before leaving for their hometown on Shramik Express, promise to return back

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: Migrant workers bow down to their ‘Karmabhoomi’ before leaving for their hometown on Shramik Express, promise to return back

On Friday, a scintillating picture of a migrant worker Krishnavati, bowing down to the land of Gujarat before boarding the Shramik Express, went viral on social media. The migrant workers who hailed from Uttar Pradesh were stranded in Ahmedabad, amidst the Coronavirus lockdown.

On being facilitated transportation to their hometown, an elated Krishnavati told Desh Gujarat, “I was stuck in Ahmedabad due to the lockdown. I hail from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh. Thanks to PM Modi! We are able to return back to our homes. We have received all facilities from the Government. We have reached the station via a special bus and now travelling by train.”

She further reiterated, “Gujarat has given us everything. We will be back.” At 2:25 in the video, Krishanvati and another migrant worker could be seen bowing to the land of Gujarat that has been the source of their livelihood.

Shramik Trains to the Rescue

In a remarkable development, the Indian Railway operated 145 Shramik special trains from across India on Thursday. An official from the Ministry of Railways had revealed that in this mission to send the migrants back to their native places, the Indian Railways had helped close to 2.10 lakh migrant labourers to return back to their homes on Thursday.

United States stands with India, US President Donald Trump announces that America will donate ventilators to India and together ‘beat the invisible enemy’

OpIndia Staff
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United States stands with India, US President Donald Trump announces that America will donate ventilators to India and together ‘beat the invisible enemy’

US President Donald Trump has said that the United States will send a lot of ventilators to India.

“I spoke to Prime Minister Modi and we have a tremendous supply of ventilators,” he said.

He even tweeted late last night that the United States stands with India and PM Narendra Modi during this pandemic. “We’re also cooperating on vaccine development. Together we will beat the invisible enemy!” he tweeted.

Responding to the same, PM Modi said that the pandemic is being collectively fought by us and it is important for nations to work together.

“More power to India United States friendship!” PM Modi said.

India stood by the US

Ever since the Chinese pandemic coronavirus began to spread across the United States, US President Donald Trump has been advocating the use of the drug and had presented hydroxychloroquine as a “game-changer” even though his health advisers had voiced uncertainty about its efficacy against novel coronavirus.

Hydroxychloroquine, an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria, is seen as a viable therapeutic solution by President Trump to coronavirus. India is the biggest producer and exporter of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that is in much demand for the potential use in helping treat patients of the novel coronavirus. 

Soon, India had banned export of hydroxychloroquine. However, in April this year, hours after India banned the export, US President Donald Trump sought PM Modi’s help allow the sale of Hydroxychloroquine tablets ordered by the US to treat the growing number of coronavirus patients in his country. After requests from several nations, India had finally announced that it will relax the blanket ban and will allow export of specific consignments on a case-to-case basis to certain nations.

NDTV reporter asks ‘migrant worker’ to pose and walk again while crossing river Yamuna. Watch video

OpIndia Staff
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NDTV reporter asks ‘migrant worker’ to pose and walk again while crossing river Yamuna. Watch video

NDTV on Friday posted a video on its Twitter account where the reporter could be heard asking a ‘migrant worker’ crossing the river Yamuna to enter Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh from Haryana’s Kalanaur to ‘walk again’, perhaps for a better footage.

However, NDTV has now deleted this video from social media. You could watch the video here:

As soon as the video starts, at around 2 seconds into the video the reporter shooting the video asks the man to walk back a few steps and walk again. The ‘migrant worker’ then takes a few steps back and pauses to pose. He then walks again after receiving cue from the reporter.

The fact that the ‘migrant worker’ was asked to pose and walk again was spotted by alert netizens who questioned the authenticity of the clip.

Netizens also called out the insensitivity of the journalist who asked the said ‘migrant worker’ to step back and pose.

In its defence, NDTV posted a ‘clarification’ stating that the above unedited footage of the reporter asking the ‘migrant worker’ to pose and walk by again was sourced from a stringer.

NDTV airs the show with edits

Some hours later, when NDTV aired the video on television and shared a clipping of journalist Vishu Som’s show, the part where the reporter asked the ‘migrant worker’ to step back and walk in again was edited out without any clarification.

In fact, the clip played in Som’s show shows the ‘migrant worker’ walk right after the had stepped back and posed in the above video.

Media ‘creating news’

Last year in January, India Today journalist was caught directing a crowd to ‘appear excited’ about then Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra officially joining the grand old party. The reporter can even be seen making the persons present chant and rehearse the slogans before she went on to report. Recently, Ujjain based NGO had claimed that Dainik Bhaskar made a 10-year-old girl pick up grains from the road for a photo-op. The NGO had claimed that Dainik Bhaskar staged the act. In the video evidence recorded by the NGO the mother says that in order to make a sensational story which would garner viewership for his publication, the photographer purposely scattered the grains on the road and asked the girl to pick it up.

Defence Minister Rajnath warns about non-traditional threats in the sea, commissions three new coast guard vessels

OpIndia Staff
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Defence Minister Rajnath warns about non-traditional threats in the sea, commissions three new coast guard vessels

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh warned about non-traditional threats in the sea on Friday. Therefore, all the agencies related to maritime security must work mutual coordination. The Defense Minister was speaking on Friday on the occasion of the commissioning of the three coast guards ships in Goa through video conferencing. With the inclusion of a patrol vessel named ‘Sachet’ and two interceptor boats C-450 and C-451, the Coastguard fleet now has a total of 150 ships.

The Sachet is the first in a series of five offshore patrol vessels designed and built by Goa Shipyard Limited, the interceptor boats have been built by Larsen & Toubro’s Hazira shipyard.

While speaking through video conference, Rajnath Singh said that with the involvement of three ships, coastguards will play an important role in the search and rescue operations along with protecting our country’s maritime borders from terrorism, smuggling, and drug-smuggling.

The defence minister also tweeted that the new coast guard ships commissioned today will add to their strength in responding to the threats of Maritime terrorism, Drug trafficking, smuggling and challenges of maritime law enforcement and Search and Rescue cover to Mariners in distress.

The responsibility of the Coast guard is to protect the Exclusive Economic Zone that is along the coasts of the country. There are also 200 nautical miles of Special Economic Zone in the country. The Special Economic Zone is an area assigned by the legislature to be used for business through tax relief, flexible labor laws, etc. While Exclusive economic Zone is in the ocean/sea over which a state has exceptional rights with respect to investigation and utilization of marine assets. The navy is guarding the deep sea ahead of it.

The maritime police of the states are also deployed to protect the coast. Ports are responsible for CISF and DSC (Defence security corps). Due to the presence of many agencies, The ICGS Sachet is the first in the series of five offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and has been designed & built indigenously by Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL). It is fitted with state-of-the-art navigation and communication equipment.

Due to the presence of many agencies, the Defence minister stressed on coordination among them all.

FIR No. 59: Delhi Police slams The Wire for ‘dull-witted’ fake news report, says journalist was in a ‘frenzy’ to allege ‘bias and discrimination’

OpIndia Staff
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FIR No. 59: Delhi Police slams The Wire for ‘dull-witted’ fake news report, says journalist was in a ‘frenzy’ to allege ‘bias and discrimination’

The Delhi Police has slammed The Wire for a report where the far-left propagandists had accused the Police and the Judiciary of bigotry against the Muslim community. In its rejoinder, the Police said that the reporter had mixed up two completely different cases to claim that a Hindu and a Muslim man had been booked in the same case and yet had been treated differently. In reality, the two were completely different cases entirely and the journalist mixed them and drew far-fetched conclusions from it. However, it cannot be said with any certainty that this was indeed a mistake and not a deliberate distortion.

The Delhi Police said that the reporter in a “frenzy to buttress a hypothesis of bias and discrimination”, mixed up two completely different FIRs having the same number, i.e. 59, which were filed on two different dates, one on the 6th of March 2020 filed by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police and the other on the 26th of February 2020 by the Special Cell. The former was related to the Delhi Riots case which is still under investigation under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act while the latter was filed in connection with the Arms Act, the investigation in which has been completed, charge-sheet has been filed and the matter is now subjudice.

The statement by the Delhi Police on The Wire report

The Delhi Police said that in the court order of the second case, where the co-accused was a Muslim man, all the details are available. The statement said that The Wire journalist “cherry-picked” portion to lend an air of credibility to the “piece of fiction”. It further called The Wire report a work of “journalistic adventurism” where the author had conjured “an entirely new and hitherto unheard of” interpretation of a provision of the UAPA.

The statement said, “It is quite distressing to note that while forging two distinct cases of two different FIRs into one fanciful story of “Single FIR, Double Standard”, the author dispensed with the usual journalistic norm of cross-checking facts from an authorised source.” “It is requested that this rejoinder be taken into consideration and be published and tweeted with equal prominence, in line with the best professional ethics of objective journalism,” it added.

Delhi Police statement on The Wire

What was The Wire report about?

The Wire report was published under the headline, “Delhi Communal Violence: Jail for Pregnant Safoora, Bail for ‘Gun Supplier’ Sirohi” asked the question, “How can a person who was found in possession of illegal arms during a riot be granted bail in a riots case when others from whom nothing was recovered are still behind bars?” The report was written by Seemi Pasha, a notorious conspiracy theorist.

Since the initial publication of the report, a clarification has been added that reads, “Though both Safoora Zargar and Manish Sirohi are being proceeded against under FIR 59/2020, which is being handled by the Delhi Police Special Cell, there are in fact two FIRs of the same number which the Special Cell is handling. The first is dated February 27, 2020, and relates only to Manish Sirohi, and the second is dated March 6, which relates to Safoora and some others. In an earlier version of this story, both FIRs bearing the same number were erroneously treated as one.“

As expected, the propagandists have not shied away from the initial conclusions that were drawn on the basis of a completely false piece of information. Thus, although the very basis of the report has changed, the conclusions have been retrofitted in order to ensure that the propaganda still stays afloat. Thus, quite clearly, when the objective has been pre-decided, facts don’t matter.

General Secretary of Congress student wing NSUI makes Hinduphobic remarks on Facebook, deactivates account on being called out

OpIndia Staff
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General Secretary of Congress student wing NSUI makes Hinduphobic remarks on Facebook, deactivates account on being called out

Social media on Friday was awash with the screenshots bearing the Hinduphobic comments made by one Shokit Ali Shaheen, who claims to be the General Secretary of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Indian National Congress.

“Hindu is terrorist religion on Earth’, “There are 57 Islamic countries and Islam is shining in the whole world….Quran is the guide of science…”, “Hindu only spreading religion pollution in our India….inshallah my India will become Islamic State” were few of the Hinduphobic and supremacist comments made by Shaheen on Facebook after which screenshots of his anti-Hindu and inflammatory remarks went viral on the social media.

Facebook profile of alleged NSUI General Secretary Shokit Ali Shaheen

The alleged General Secretary of NSUI’s Facebook profile page read that he hails from Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir and had studied from ‘Degree College Rajouri and went to Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya(JNV). Shaheen also described himself as a “Scientific Thinker” and his current city of residence was mentioned as Delhi.

Speaking the same language as the Pulwama terrorist who rammed his explosive-laden vehicle in CRPF convoy killing 40 CRPF personnel, Shaheen ridiculed Hindus as a community known for consuming cow dung and cow urine. In another comment, Shaheen said while Muslims transformed India into a golden sparrow, Hindus had only constructed toilets.

However, soon after screenshots of appalling remarks made by Shaheen went viral on social media, his Facebook page was deactivated. Perhaps, spooked by the prospect of having to face the consequences of making incendiary remarks against the Hindu community, Shaheen promptly deleted or temporarily deactivated his Facebook account. It could also be highly probable that Shaheen’s Facebook account had a raft of other Hinduphobic posts and comments which forced him to pull down his account altogether instead of just removing the aforementioned comments.

Congress has normalised anti-Hindu hatred

It is not just a mere coincidence that Shaheen has been allegedly associated with the Congress party’s Student Union. Congress leaders, for a long time now, have been normalising hatred against Hindus by brazenly making anti-Hindu remarks.

Recently, Congress’ disdain for Hindus was exposed when a Congress functionary was found by making a gau-mutra jibe to mock Hindus. While the world was struggling to cope from the menace of coronavirus, Lavanya Ballal, the social media coordinator of the Mahila Congress made a gau-mutra barb by quoting a tweet which said that Far-right hucksters were selling fraudulent coronavirus ‘cures’. Ballal quoted the tweet saying “India has Gau Mutra”.

Most recently, Congress leader from Goa had made allegedly derogatory remarks against the Hindu God Parshuram. “Lord Parshuram who is the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu greatly revered and worshipped by the Hindu community. Jalmi had termed Lord Parshuram a terrorist and a rapist thereby causing great anger among the members of the Hindu community,” Hindu Yuva Sena said. He was later arrested by the Crime Branch of Goa police for allegedly uttering objectionable statements against a Hindu God.

Congress has a long and decorated history of manifesting anti-Hindu leanings. It was Congress that moved heaven and earth to concoct the “Saffron Terror” narrative by falsely implicating Sadhvi Pragya and even Lt Col Purohit. It was Congress which wanted to pass the Communal Violence Bill which basically ensured that only Hindus would be considered perpetrators and never a Muslim, should there be any communal violence. The bill was formed by people who were associated with various foreign-funded NGOs.

Furthermore, it was former Congress president and Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi who declared mythical “saffron terror” as being more dangerous than LeT. It was P Chidambaram and Sushil Kumar Shinde who called Hindus terrorists with no proof or reason. It was Manmohan Singh who said Muslims have the first right on our country’s resources.

Update: On Saturday, 16th May, 2020, Poonch Police took to Twitter to inform that an FIR with regard to the above viral posts on social media was registered on 12th February 2020.

The NSUI leader was arrested and later bailed out. “Further sharing of this post will invite legal action,” the District Police Poonch Twitter account informed.

Hooghly violence: 125 people arrested and explosives recovered, prohibitory orders revoked

OpIndia Staff
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Hooghly violence: 125 people arrested and explosives recovered, prohibitory orders revoked

As many as 125 people have been arrested by the police in connection with the horrifying communal clashes in Hooghly’s Telinipara region in West Bengal that took place after videos of Hindu houses being set on fire had gone viral on social media. The police have also withdrawn prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC imposed in the clash-hit areas.

According to Subrata Gangopadhyay, DCP Headquarters, Chandannagar, Hooghly, about 125 have been arrested in the case and a huge cache of bombs was recovered. He also added that a woman has been arrested for posting an objectionable video on social media.

Besides, Internet Services which were snapped in the wake of the communal flare-up in Hooghly, have also been partially restored, said a senior police official.

“There has been no report of violence in the district since Thursday. We have revoked (prohibitory orders under) section 144 of the CrPc as the situation has improved. Internet services have been partially restored,” Chandannagar Police Commissioner Humayun Kabir told PTI.

While shops and marketplaces were allowed to resume their business, Kabir asserted that police will continue to closely monitor Telinipara, the epicentre of the clashes.

“It was earlier decided that Internet services will remain suspended till May 17th. However, after evaluating the current situation, we have come to the conclusion of lifting the restrictions on the Internet in some areas. We will soon take a call on the phase-wise restoration of Internet services in other parts of the district,” the official said.

Communal clashes in Hooghly

Clashes erupted in Telinipara in Hooghly district of West Bengal after Muslims in the locality allegedly refused to follow lockdown orders. As reported by Swarajya, a number of Muslims who had returned from Ajmer had tested positive for coronavirus. However, they were not following the lockdown orders. The Hindus of the area got alarmed by this and put up barricades to stop outsiders from entering the area. However, as reported by Swarajya, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said that the Muslims broke the barricades and insisted on entering the Hindu-majority area. After Hindus objected, the Muslims attacked the Hindus, Chatterjee reportedly said.

Chandannagar Police Commissioner Humayun Kabir, however, had claimed that the communal clashes were triggered after Muslims were allegedly taunted by ‘corona’ jibes. He claimed that following the verbal spat, the Hindus barricaded the public toilets used by the Muslims which led to violence. Bombs were tossed and shops plundered in Telinipara and its adjoining Chandannagar and Sreerampore areas, following which the law enforcement officials baton-charged the miscreants and brought the situation under control.

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