India

Pauri/Dehradun, Sep 27 (IANS) Patwari Vaibhav Pratap Singh has been suspended with immediate effect for negligence in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, Pauri Garhwal District Magistrate (DM) Vijay Kumar Jogdande said on Tuesday.

Along with this, a department inquiry has also been recommended against the Patwari.

The suspension order was issued by the DM after the preliminary investigation report by the Yamkeshwar sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) was received on Monday, according to which the Patwari did not act on the missing compliant filed by Ankita's father.

The SDM's report also indicted Vaibhav Pratap Singh, against whom several complaints were received.

Vaibhav Pratap, who went on leave after handing charge to another person, has been suspended for negligence in the Ankita murder case. Along with this, the investigation into the case has been handed over to Lansdowne SDM.

After he went on leave, Vivek Kumar, the Patwari of Kandakhal outpost from the nearby area, was given charge on September 20. The role of Vaibhav Pratap was under suspicion. Not only this, Ankita's family members and all the opposition parties were also blaming the Patwari for going on sudden leave.

On September 18, Vanantra Resort receptionist Ankita Bhandari had gone missing. On September 19, the accused, Pulkit Arya, the owner of the resort, informed Vaibhav Pratap , the sub-inspector (Patwari) of revenue police posted at Kandakhal post.

Vaibhav Pratap also contacted Ankita's family members on the basis of her identity documents. Despite that, he went on a four-day leave even before registering a missing complaint. On September 20, the charge of the outpost was given to Vivek Kumar.

Vivek Kumar immediately registered a missing complaint. On September 21, the revenue police sent a recommendation to Pauri DM to transfer the matter to the police.

Taking immediate action, the DM transferred the case to Laxman Jhula Police on September 22. Within 24 hours, the police arrested Pulkit Arya, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta.

--IANS
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Srinagar, Sep 27 (IANS) One terrorist was killed in an ongoing encounter - the second in two days - between terrorists and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Tuesday, police said.

"One terrorist killed. Operation in progress," police said.

Earlier Jammu and Kashmir Police in a tweet, quoting Additional Director General Police Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar, said that two local terrorists of proscribed terror outfit JeM were trapped in the ongoing encounter in Ahwatoo area of Kulgam. Both the trapped terrorists are involved in several terror crime cases.

A Pakistani terrorist belonging to terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Muhammed was killed in an encounter between terrorists and security forces at Batpora area in Kulgam on Monday.

Tuesday's firefight started after a joint team of police and security forces got an input about the presence of terrorists in that area, and cordoned it off. At this, terrorists hiding there started firing, and security forces retaliated.

There have been a series of encounters between terrorists and security forces across Kashmir in the recent past in which many terrorists have been eliminated.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) In a latest development in the alleged excise policy scam in Delhi, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made its first arrest on Tuesday by nabbing businessman Vijay Nair.

Sources told IANS that Nair was arrested from Delhi and now the CBI will seek his custodial remand.

Nair, the former CEO of Only Much Louder, an entertainment and event management firm, and one of the prime suspects in the liquor scam, had gone to London. He returned to join the probe and was placed under arrest.

The CBI has alleged that Nair was actively involved in the irregularities in framing and implementing the excise policy for the year 2021-22.

Nair was reportedly a volunteer of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and allegedly helped party leaders by organising events and also managed their social media handles.

On behalf of Nair, Sameer Mahendru, Director of Indospirits, allegedly paid around Rs 2-4 crore to Arjun Pandey, an associate of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

There are allegations that Arun Ramchandra Pillai, a resident of Kokapet in Hyderabad, used to collect undue pecuniary advantages from Mahendru for onward transmission of money to accused public servants through Nair.

--IANS
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Dehradun, Sep 27 (IANS) Amid the ongoing probe in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, the family of main accused Pulkit Arya has gone missing. Three accused including Pulkit Arya have been arrested so far in connection with the murder.

Ankita (19), who worked as a receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand's Pauri district, was reported missing a few days ago. On Saturday morning, her body was recovered.

People are continuously protesting against Pulkit's family in Haridwar. After this Pulkit's father, brother and other family members locked the house and left. However, the SIT of the local police has not reached his house yet.

It is said that the investigating agency can also interrogate other family members in Haridwar. Along with this, searches can also be conducted at many places. The SIT has sought the possible criminal record of Pulkit Arya from Haridwar police.

The state government maintained that there will be no laxity in the matter, and the strictest action will be taken against those guilty in the case.

--IANS
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Ahmedabad, Sep 27 (IANS) The Ahmedabad Crime Branch has arrested a person for providing access to new Indian cellular numbers to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which the Pakistani spy agency was using to fetch sensitive defence information from retired personnel.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Prem Vir Singh told media persons on Tuesday that Abdul Wahab Pathan of Ahmedabad is arrested for conspiring against the nation.

Pathan used to get local sim cards activated in his or his relatives' names and share the cellular numbers with Shafqat Jatoi, a former officer of Pakistani High Commission to India.

Jatoi was using these numbers to make fake profiles on Whatsapp and sharing them with ISI operartives.

Singh further said that ISI operatives using the fake Whatsapp profile reach out to retired defence officers and jawans and seek information from them illegally.

During primary investigation, police have found that ISI operatives have created fake websites in the name of www.ksboard.in, www.desw.in and www.kavach-apps.in, which was used to mislead retired officers and jawans to seek information from them.

Police have registered case against Pathan and others under various sections of Information and Technology act.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) In a big setback to Uddhav Thackeray's faction, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stop the Election Commission from deciding the claim of Eknath Shinde group to be the real Shiv Sena.

After a day-long hearing, a constitution bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud dismissed the interlocutory application filed on behalf of Thackeray's faction. The apex court's decision is very significant in view of the impending Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, where both Shinde and Thackeray factions would like to contest the poll.

The bench -- also comprising Justices M.R. Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and P.S. Narasimha -- said there would not be any stay on the proceedings before the Election Commission on intra party dispute and 'bow and arrow' symbol of the party. "We direct that there would be no stay of the proceedings before the Election Commission of India," it said.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, A.M. Singhvi and Devadatt Kamat represented the Thackeray's faction. Sibal submitted that Shinde cannot approach the EC once he has incurred disqualification, saying "I challenged the very locus of the person who moved the EC".

Sibal clarified that Shinde has incurred disqualification as his various acts amounted to "voluntarily giving up membership of the party" under the Tenth Schedule, and he also violated the party whip, which is also covered by the Tenth Schedule.

The Thackeray camp vociferously argued that since disqualification of Shinde and the MLAs supporting him was pending, therefore EC cannot consider their application over the party and the symbol. However, the top court declined to entertain this contention.

Senior advocates Maninder Singh, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, and Mahesh Jethmalani, assisted by advocate Abhikalp Pratap Singh, argued for the Shinde faction.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar represented the Election Commission.

Shinde's faction counsel argued that under Article 324 of the Constitution, the EC possesses plenty of powers to deal with any situation which arises in relation to political parties and several party members have sent their representations to the EC supporting the Shinde group.

Kaul submitted that the nature of enquiry under Tenth Schedule and the Symbols Order are different.

Shinde's faction counsel claimed a hopeless minority sought to remove him from the party, and contended that the Speaker, under the Tenth Schedule, has to exercise power to determine disqualification of a member and he cannot decide on the split or merger within a political party. Shinde faction counsel vehemently argued that a party member's right to move the EC cannot be taken away.

The EC counsel argued that it worked independently, and its functions are different when compared with the Speaker. The counsel added that it can decide who held the majority in the party.

Shinde and his faction had rebelled against Thackeray, which forced him to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister.

Shiv Sena's General Secretary Subhash Desai had moved the apex court saying that Shinde and other MLAs, have purportedly initiated proceedings under para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 (Symbols Order) seeking to be recognised as the "real Shiv Sena" by the EC. Desai added that they are also claiming the right to use the election symbol of "bow and arrow" allotted to Shiv Sena.

Thackeray faction claimed that since the disqualification matter is pending in the apex court, Shinde faction are trying to illegally cobble up numbers and fabricate an artificial majority in the organisation.

The apex court, on July 11, asked the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker not to go ahead with proceedings on the disqualification petitions.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) In a first, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari unveiled the miniature of the state-of-the-art EV charging station conceptualised by the National Highways for EV (NHEV).

The NHEV miniature model of the charging station is the first ever such model in the industry which has been conceptualised as a comprehensive wayside amenities plaza that can reimagine and replace the existing traditional petrol pumps and wayside amenities on the highways. This comes as a successor to the initiative of EODB which strives at upgrading 5000 km of national highways to E-highways through its pilot project called the National Highway for EV.

The pilot project is currently conducting its concluding phase of technical and commercial trials with buses and long-range electric SUV on the Delhi-Jaipur stretch from September 9. This would add a 278 km stretch to the previously conducted 210 km TECH-trial run between Delhi-Agra in 2021 to accomplish technical trials of a total 500 km across four states -- UP, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan -- in its pilot phase.

During the inaugural address, Nitin Gadkari said "Since the last 3-4 years I have been talking about electric vehicles and have been answering many questions like what would happen if we break down with an electric vehicle? However it didn't happen and with gradual increase in confidence the technology questions got answered. Now there are waiting lists for electric cars and scooters and I can say that electric is the fuel of the future. Currently electric double decker AC bus costs are coming to Rs. 60 per km, non AC Rs. 39 per kilometre and for normal electric AC bus Rs. 41 per km and diesel bus is costing Rs. 115 per km. If you can bring business class comfort in an electric bus with trolley on economical ticket cost to passengers, it will make public transportation more competent for users".

"The pilot has already covered a 10% stretch between Agra-Delhi-Jaipur in two phases, out of its total 5000 km highways that India aims to upgrade as E-highways in the next 2 years. The NHEV team is slating its plan to install pre-fabricated modules of these station's electrical and structural infra, soon after commissioning its pilot phase. So that new stations in expansion phase can be speedily installed within 90 days from their allocations." said National Program Director, Ease of Doing Business Abhijeet Sinha, also Project Director NHEV at EODB Services.

The revealed miniature has brought out the operational and financial comparison between a 'Charging Station' and 'Petrol Pumps', showing an imperative impetus on Public Private Partnership to build nationwide charging infrastructure. It showcased all the key indicators like ease in setting-up and minimal licensing, bankable and fundable world-class 'Relay Service' fleet models and the highest possible utilisation of infra and assets within a minimal breakeven period of 40 months.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Veteran Congress leader Margaret Alva has slammed senior leaders of the party in Rajasthan and asked them to shun personal ambition.

Without taking names, she said the happenings were disappointing.

"The events unfolding in #Rajasthan are deeply disappointing, unfortunate & unnecessary. Senior leaders in the state must be prepared to sacrifice personal ambition & take their cue from @RahulGandhi who has shown what the Congress needs the most right now is selfless service," tweeted Alva on Monday.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting called on Sunday at Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's residence was cancelled as more than 90 MLAs loyal to the Gehlot threatened to resign, while demanding the new CM face be picked from their group.

"The MLAs want either Gehlot or his pick to be Chief Minister instead of Sachin Pilot," Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas told the media.

Gehlot reportedly received a call from Rajya Sabha MP K.C. Venugopal, who asked him to "handle the situation" but the Chief Minister told the Congress' central leadership that it was "not in his hands".

Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Pilot, meanwhile, is believed to be the central leaders' choice for the chief ministerial position.

A delegation from the Gehlot camp went to meet senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, who is in Jaipur as an observer for the CLP meeting.

These include state Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Mahesh Joshi.

Maken, speaking to the media, said: "We are not going to Delhi as of now. We have been asked to take feedback from each and every single MLA."

Meanwhile, sources said that the Congress high command has called both Gehlot and Pilot to Delhi.

--IANS
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Chandigarh, Sep 26 (IANS) Seven tourists were killed and 10 injured in a road accident in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district, police said on Monday.

The tourists, largely belonging to Uttar Pradesh, were travelling when a Tempo Traveller (UP 14 HT 8272) skidded off the road and rolled down the hill near Jalori Pass in Banjar subdivision on Sunday night.

Most of the injured were admitted to the Regional Hospital in Kullu town, some 200 km from the state capital.

The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, an official told IANS.

The administration had a tough time extricating the victims of both the accidents from the badly mangled vehicle.

People in the area began rescue operations even before authorities reached the spot.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) After the action taken by the various central investigating agencies against the extremist organisation -- Popular Front of India (PFI), the demand for banning the latter has started growing louder with each passing day.

The Muslim Rashtriya Manch, an affiliate of the right wing organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has demanded an immediate ban on the PFI from the Central government after holding a meeting with other nationalist organisations.

The RSS Muslim wing has asked the Union government: "If the PFI has become so dangerous, then why is it not being banned at the earliest? Why are the organisation's bank accounts not being frozen yet? Why are its properties not being attached? Why strict action is not being taken against the leaders, office-bearers and representatives of the PFI on the basis of their involvement in violence-related incidents?"

However, a few days ago the Union government told the Supreme Court that PFI is being banned in several states and it is going to impose a ban on the extremist organisation.

After a meeting with other nationalist organisations, Mohammad Afzal and Shahid Akhtar, the National Convenor of Muslim Rashtriya Manch, described PFI as a more dangerous terrorist organisation than SIMI and said that the evidences recovered during the raids conducted by the central investigating agencies are enough proof to ban this organisation. Hence, the government should immediately ban the PFI by taking strictest action against it.

The Rashtriya Muslim Manch Media In-charge Shahid Saeed said that all the evidences found against the PFI clearly shows that it is a terrorist organisation which receives funding from foreign countries and slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad' are raised in the rallies conducted by it.

--IANS
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