In a rare gesture, a thief turned up at the temple to return the precious ashtdhatu idol of Lord Ram within days of stealing it in Ayodhya. As per reports, the thief named Ajay Shukla surprisingly walked into the temple himself with the same idol that he had robbed on May 27.
Shukla broke open the lock when the priest had left the premises for an afternoon nap. He claimed to have been suffering from severe body ache since he lifted the idol from Shri Yugal Madhuri Kunj temple. He also alleged to be rattled by nightmares, making him lose his peace of mind. Shukla who is a resident of Gonda city confessed from the time of the theft nothing seemed to be going right with him. It is these unexplained intimidations that forced him to return the idol back to the shine within 5 days.
After returning the ashtdhatu idol to the priest, he is said to be relieved of the pain. However, he was not lucky enough to escape the police net and was nabbed.
Shockingly, the idol was stolen from Shri Yugal Madhuri Kunj temple in the high-security yellow zone of Ayodhya city. The theft was a challenge that had perplexed the city police. SP Jogendra Kumar had formed several teams, which were in the lookout for the culprit. That’s when Shukla walked into the temple on his own.
While the devotees and temple management were happy to receive their deity they were bewildered at his story prompting him to take this strange step.
Priest Raj Bahadur confirmed that Shukla walked the idol to the temple himslef. The idol will be placed back in the sanctum sanatorium after due rituals are performed.
On the other side, SP Kumar confirmed that Shukla has been arrested and the legal procedure has been initiated against him.
A video clip of a hawker selling toys on a train went viral recently where the hawker was making political commentary, which was quite hilarious.
Soon after, several media houses like the Indian Express and Times Now reported that the hawker was arrested for mimicking politicians, ‘including Prime Minister Modi’.
However, as it turns out, media connected two unrelated incidents and spread misinformation. The hawker has actually arrested for being a repeat offender for illegally hawking in trains and not because he mocked politicians, especially PM Modi.
In fact, the hawker Avdhesh Dubey was one among 9 men punished for similar offenses, thus ruling out the possibility that he was singled out for his funny act. He along with eight others were produced before the magistrate yesterday on 31st May.
Incidentally, Dubey was handed a jail term for the least days among all the accused, further pointing out that he was not singled out for any reason whatsoever. In fact, even this jail term and a fine was due to the fact that he was booked 7 times in the past by different Posts for unauthorized hawking, thus making him a repeat offender that attracted high quantum of punishment.
Prosecution details of Dubey, as accessed by OpIndia
Authorities further told OpIndia that Dubey was prosecuted by the Surat post itself 4 times and by Valsad post 7 times in the past (Update: Ministry of Railways has officially confirmed this). Despite such history, sources in the Railway Ministry told OpIndia that Avdhesh Dubey will get bail on Monday.
Railways officials reiterated that the action against Dubey was routine and it had got nothing to do with his utterances in the viral video.
One wonders how then the media houses linked the punitive action against him to the content in the video. If one watches the video, one would realise that Dubey, the hawker, was not mocking PM Modi at all.
The fake news was thus perpetrated on two levels:
That Dubey was mocking politicians ‘including PM Modi’. When one watches the video, it becomes evident that Dubey was not mocking PM Modi.
That Dubey was arrested for mocking politicians when in fact, he was arrested along with others for illegal hawking and that Dubey is a repeat offender.
Speaking at the event “How India Voted”, psephologist and ‘social activist’ Yogendra Yadav, who has often passed off his predilections under the pretext of psephology acknowledged the colossal error made by him and his friends in undermining the Modi wave in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections and expressed his frustration over the voting pattern embraced by the people.
“In my constituency of Gurugram, I had issued a very special appeal to people to ensure that the BJP is defeated at any cost. I said this Prime Minister is the biggest liar of a Prime Minister we have ever had in the history of our country. Voters didn’t listen to me one bit. I’m sad, I’m angry and I’m dejected. I want to hold them by their collars and say-you idiots,” Yadav lamented.
However, in an introspective tone, Yogendra Yadav asserted that such knee-jerk reaction by him and his friends in the last 3-4 days has been “fundamentally flawed”. Yadav was likely referring to the meltdown of many ‘neutral journalists’ and ’eminent personalities’ who had written PM Modi off and penned obituaries for the BJP government before the Lok Sabha elections 2019 begun only to realise that the PM Modi stormed back to power with an even greater majority than the 2014 verdict.
Yadav listed out the reasons for the “fundamental flaws” in thinking of those who belittled Modi and the BJP. “We conflate consequences with intentions. The consequences of this mandate are disastrous for the country but the intentions that go into the making of it aren’t diabolical at all. Unless we see this distinction, then there’s no space for politics in the country,” Yadav said.
Yadav asserted that there are 4 parameters in understanding the verdict of the 2019 General elections- Reasons for voters to vote for a political party, their intentions behind it, causes and the consequences of their choices. Yadav stated that those who were in shock and despair after the results were so dejected that they mixed consequences for the intentions and causes for the reasons. He admitted that those who got the 2019 elections wrong were disconnected with the reality as they didn’t bother to walk among the voters and understand their psyche.
Citing the reasons why voters voted for the BJP in an overwhelming number, Yadav highlighted that in PM Modi voters saw a strong and efficient man who was capable of strengthening the country. He added that the voters were fed up of the negativity surrounding the anti-Modi campaign which led them to sway in the BJP’s favour. Yadav also pointed out the voters completely discarded the caste arithmetic and those regional parties who relied on caste dynamics to beat the BJP. And lastly, Yadav reasoned that voters were more frightened with the leaders of the coalition against the BJP than the BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi.
Yadav also postulated that the people in this year’s elections rose above their self and voted selflessly rather than selfishly. “Compared to previous elections, most of the times in most elections people vote in a self-centred way. Some people vote in a way that rises above themselves. Strangely, ironically, painfully, more people voted selflessly than selfishly,” Yadav said.
Regarding the intentions, Yadav said that anxiety, resentment and aspirations among voters played a huge role in deciding their voting preference in this year’s elections. “Anxiety is about what would happen to this country. Resentment among the majority community about teaching the minority a lesson by reigning them a bit,” Yadav said.
In reference to the causes that shaped the voting behaviour of the people, Yadav presented his theory of four Ms that were instrumental for BJP to register a landslide victory. These 4 Ms are- Modi, Money, Media and Machinery. According to Yadav, Modi was pitched by the BJP as a strong leader while the opposition had several PM contenders with no definitive candidate. He alleged that unprecedented amounts of money was poured in by the BJP in running the election campaign and alleged that Media was captured by the saffron party. And at the end, Yadav concluded that the election machinery of the BJP is far more superior, dynamic, future-oriented than the opposition’s weak, outdated, and static machinery.
Stating the consequences of the electoral victory, Yadav continued his fear-mongering vis-a-vis Modi government. He asserted that the 2019 verdict indicates that Electoral authoritarianism will prevail and that elections will be the only democratic process to happen in the country. He said that the concentration of power will increase and there will be a steady decline of autonomous institutions. Yadav went on to compare PM Modi with Russia’s Putin, Turkey’s Erdogan foreboding that India might well be on that trajectory.
In his characteristic debonair, Yadav employed sophistries in trying to downplay his and other journalists’ failure in predicting an impending defeat for PM Modi and defended it by painting a picture of gloom as a consequence to voting for the BJP.
So while Yogendra Yadav endeavoured to offer a neutral analysis of how the country voted, it didn’t stop him from perpetuating his anti-Modi stance. Though he acknowledged that there have been monumental errors in reading the voter psyche but it didn’t deter him from prophesying doom after PM Modi’s re-election. Manifestly, Yadav is flustered that despite his repeated entreaties and desperate attempts to brainwash them against the Modi government.
Following the angry outburst of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over people chanting the slogans of Jai Shri Ram, the BJP has decided to send 10 lakh postcards with Jai Shri Ram written on them to Banerjee. BJP MP from Barrackpore constituency, Arjun Singh said that the postcards will be sent to Banerjee’s residence.
“We have decided to send 10 lakh postcards with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ written on them to the Chief Minister’s residence”, said Singh. He alleged that the police had lathicharged a group of BJP workers who were chanting Jai Shri Ram while holding a demonstration outside a place where TMC leaders were holding a meeting. A scuffle had reportedly broken out between the BJP and the TMC workers due to which the police had to lathicharge. The BJP has alleged that only BJP workers were beaten up by the police.
According to police, the people who were holding the demonstration outside the meeting venue shouted slogans and said that the presence of TMC leaders Jyotipriya Mallick, Madan Mitra, Tapas Roy, and Sujit Bose was harmful to peace in the area. Jyotipriya Mallick said that the State had not seen anything like this and that this was the culture of the BJP. “This is unprecedented. We had not seen this culture in Bengal. This is the culture of the BJP”, said Mallick.
However, Arjun Singh denied the allegation and said that the TMC leaders were talking nonsense because people rejected them. “The TMC leaders are talking nonsense. People rejected the TMC and this is their reaction”, Singh countered.
Recently a BJP worker who was chanting Jai Shri Ram while preparing for a victory procession of the party after winning elections was allegedly stabbed to death by TMC workers.
Congress MLA from Panaji Atanasio Monserratte has been booked by Goa police for molesting a woman during an anti-encroachment drive. The drive was conducted outside off-shore casinos anchored in river Mandovi. Panaji mayor Uday Madkaikar and former Panaji Mayor Yatin Parekh have also been booked along with Monserratte.
The complainant woman has alleged that Monserratte, Madkaikar, and Parekh abused her, touched her inappropriately and outraged her modesty. She has accused the trio of molesting her when a group was opposing the demolition of a staircase constructed by an off-shore casino operator.
As per reports, the Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP) has started a drive to pull down encroachments by off-shore casinos anchored in river Mandovi. As part of the drive, the three accused along with CCP workers had gone to visit one of the off-shore casinos, which had allegedly encroached a footpath.
North Goa Superintendent of Police, Chandan Chowdhary has confirmed an FIR has been registered in this matter. “Yes, Panaji police have registered a First Information Report against the three based on a complaint lodged by a woman who was protesting the partial demolition of a casino office’s facade,” he said.
The Congress MLA has however denied the accusation. “None of the persons named in the complaint was involved in any such action of outraging modesty,” he said.
Arun Abhay Gawas Desai, Sub-inspector Panaji police added that the woman in her complaint has also alleged that all the accused threatened to kill her.
The accused have been booked for voluntarily causing hurt (Section 323, IPC), assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty (Section 354, IPC), intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace (Section 504, IPC), criminal intimidation (Section 506, IPC) and word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman (Section 509, IPC).
The mind game has started, South African speedster Kagiso Rabada has called Virat Kohli immature just ahead of their clash on Wednesday in Southampton.
In an interview to Cricinfo, Rabada recalled his clash with Indian captain during one of the IPL matches this year between Delhi Capitals and Royal Bangalore Challengers.
In a war of words Rabada explained the incident, “I was just thinking about the game plan, really, but Virat, he hit me for a boundary and then he had a word. And then when you give it back to him, he gets angry. I don’t get the guy.”
Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who is known for his aggressive approach on the field, once said that aggression for him is to win a match at any cost. Rabada thinks Kohli is immature because he can’t take back the abuses.
“Maybe he does it because it gets him going, but that comes across as very immature for me. He is a phenomenal player but he can’t take the abuse. But those things can’t distract you,” Radaba said.
Rabada who praised Kohli in 2018 and called him the toughest batsman he bowled to, always ready to take on if someone sledges him.
“In fact, for me, it just wakes me up, if anything. If somebody comes to me and says, “I’m going to hit you. I’m going to clobber you. You are soft”, it wakes me up because – it’s a fight-or-flight response.”
Rabada is one of the most promising fast bowlers of the present time. South Africa has lost its first game of the World Cup and will be playing Bangladesh on Sunday and India on Wednesday.
Rajasthan police are on the look-out for a Muslim man named Imran Bhati who disguised himself as a Hindu to marry a Hindu woman. The couple who received huge dowry has, however, gone missing soon after their wedding on May 13. A case has been registered against him in Sikar.
It was later found that Bhati who introduced himself as Kabeer Sharma, a Brahmin, to the woman was already married with three children.
“Bhati introduced himself as an unmarried Brahmin to my daughter, proposed to her and then married her in the presence of his fake parents and fake relatives who too introduced themselves as Brahmins,” said the woman’s father.
He further added, “They even revealed their ‘gotra’. When I was fully satisfied, I fixed their marriage on May 13.”
Bhati and his fake relatives who attended the ceremony had smeared tilaks on their foreheads during their engagement ceremony. The couple later got married in Jaipur.
The father claimed that Bhati had sent his daughter back to his house within a few days of their marriage demanding an additional dowry of Rs 5 lakh. He was able to manage the sun of 2.5 lakh by borrowing it from a friend.
The father claimed that his daughter has been missing since May 17th along with the gold that was kept in the house.
After this incident, he is said to have visited Jaipur with the wedding photos of his daughter and her husband only to be shocked to learn the truth about Bhati.
All in all, he has paid Bhati a sum of Rs 11 lakh rupees in cash and another Rs 5 lakh in jewellery.
The Superintendent of Police has formed a special investigative team (SIT) to trace Bhati and his new wife. The police believe that the plot was masterminded and executed well and minute details were considered as even the videographers were selected by Bhati himself.
There are a number of instances from the past where Hindu women have either been duped or forcefully married to Muslim men. In May itself, a minor Hindu girl was abducted, forcefully converted to Islam and then married off. We had reported in April about two Hindu women were forcibly converted and married off in Kolkata.
Earlier today, recently inducted MoS Home G Kishan Reddy stirred a furore by claiming that Hyderabad is a safe zone for terrorists. Reddy stressed his point by stating that wherever in the country a terrorist incident happens, its roots are found in Hyderabad. The cabinet minister added that illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh are staying in the old city of Hyderabad.
“Wherever in the country, there is a terror incident, its roots are in Hyderabad. It has become a safe haven for terrorists in the country,” G Kishan Reddy said.
Speaking to the media, Reddy said, “India is not a dharma satram (free place to stay) for everyone. We will concentrate on preparing a National Citizen’s Register (NCR) to ascertain who all are Indians and who are living illegally in the country.”
Reddy also assured that the police force will be strengthened and modernised to tackle the menace of terrorism.” Our ultimate goal is the country’s integrity, unity and security. All terror supporters will be eliminated.”
However, his comments ruffled feathers of many political leaders, notably AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who slammed the Union Minister for categorising Hyderabad as a safe zone for terrorists. Owaisi said, “Since the last 5 years there is peace here, all festivals are peacefully celebrated here. I’d like to ask him in the last 5 years, how many times have NIA, IB and RAW gave in writing that Hyderabad is a safe zone for terror?”
Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM: Since past 5 yrs there is peace here, there are no communal riots, religious festivals are peacefully celebrated, it is a growing city and he is speaking like that. What enmity do they have with Telangana, Hyderabad? Do they not like that it is growing? https://t.co/s6fveylyVj
Reddy stood firm on his stance, saying that he didn’t say anything wrong when he claimed that there are places in the country where the terror activities are on the rise. Reddy asserted that the NIA has arrested terrorists in Hyderabad every 2-3 months and the terror activities are often traced back to Hyderabad.
MoS (Home) G Kishan Reddy: There are places in country where terror activities are on a rise. If an incident takes place in Bengaluru, Bhopal, its roots are traced to Hyderabad. State police, NIA have arrested terrorists in Hyderabad every 2-3 months. I didn’t say anything wrong. pic.twitter.com/EWvQiHJ8V9
The Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) said that such comments from a Union Minister send wrong signals to the Businesses who are planning to invest in the city. TRS leader Abid Rasool Khan reassured that his party has nothing against the government taking action against terrorists and alleged that Hyderabad is one of the safest and business-friendly cities in the country.
Signalling the alarming situation in Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal where incidents of violence are rapidly rising, another man was allegedly stabbed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers for chanting Jai Shri Ram in Panduranga village of East Burdwan district’s Ketugram area on May 30, 2019.
The victim Sushil Mondal was reportedly a BJP supporter and was chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ while preparing for a victory procession which was to be held on the day of swearing-in of Prime Minister Modi.
Mondal’s chanting of Jai Shri Ram slogans irked the TMC workers who asked him to stop shouting the slogan and take down the flags of the BJP. When Mondal refused to concede, he was repeatedly stabbed by the TMC workers. He was immediately taken to Ketugram Block hospital where he passed away.
Mondal’s wife has alleged that her husband was killed by the TMC workers who had been threatening him and forcing him to stop working for the BJP. She has lodged an FIR against all three suspects. “The three Trinamool workers in our village had been threatening my husband since the results were declared and asking him to stop working for the BJP”, she said.
However, the TMC leaders have denied the allegations and have labelled the incident as ‘the fallout of a family feud’.
Commenting on the incident BJP State President Dilip Ghosh said that such chanting Jai Shri Ram is a crime in the State. “It’s nothing new in Bengal. Chanting the name Lord Ram is treated as a crime here. Those who are committing these crimes will get appropriate answers in due time”, said Ghosh.
Inspector-in-charge of Ketugram, Abu Salim said, “We have received a complaint that named two persons. The accused are on the run. We are investigating the matter including the point whether it was a political murder”.
Mondal is the fifth person to have lost his life in political violence in West Bengal ever since the results of the Lok Sabha elections were announced on May 23.
Recently West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was also seen lashing out at the people and threatening to take action against the people chanting Jai Shri Ram.
On Wednesday, a group of local Muslims attacked a Dalit wedding procession in the Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh. The attack allegedly took place at 9 PM while the procession was passing in front of a mosque in Pipalarwa village. One person has been killed and several were injured.
Rajesh Malviya, one of the injured men who was a part of the procession, said, “It was all quite sudden. The wedding procession of Shaktiman, who is from Awalataj village of Dewas district, was on its way to the bride’s home. When it was passing in front of a masjid, some people started pelting stones on us, injuring several baaraatis in the attack. This happened right outside the local police station. So a few of us approached the cops for help”. However, the mob continued to attack the Dalits within the police station premises as well.
When the mob attacked Dharmendra Shinde, who was part of the procession, sought to intervene and pacify the mob. Unfortunately, he was killed on the spot after a large stone that was hurled at him hit his head.
Deepak Vaishnav, a Dalit activist said, “Shinde was trying to intervene, asking the mob to calm down. He was actually trying to understand the reason behind their anger, but they appeared in no mood to heed his pleas and attacked him.”
The injured were treated at a local dispensary. Two men who were seriously injured are being treated at a hospital in Dewas and their conditions have stabilised.
It has also been reported that the local Muslims objected to the loud music of the wedding procession and had attacked the wedding party as they refused to comply.
The police have imposed Section 144 in the area and FIR has been registered against 11 identified individuals and several other unidentified men.
“The administration has taken a proactive step to maintain law and order. We have already arrested four people in connection with the attack. We are getting complaints from both parties, and appropriate action is being taken,” said District Collecter Shrikant Pandey. He also added, “the administration is giving immediate relief of Rs 4.12 lakh to the deceased’s family.”
