India

New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) The investigation that followed the major crackdown on the Popular Front of India by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has revealed that a number of dummy organisations were floated by the radical outfit to fool the agencies and to evade arrest.

Sources claimed that PFI members knew that the government will take action against them due to their suspicious activities and hence they created a number of dummy organisations to mislead the intelligence agencies.

"The Campus Front of India, Rehab India Foundation, National Women's Front, All India Legal Council, SDPI -- these are all dummy organisations created by the PFI," the sources said.

The sources also claimed that the PFI members were allegedly trying to carry out attacks on BJP and RSS leaders.

Both the ED and the NIA have claimed that PFI was collecting funds from abroad, which were to be used to impart terror training and carry out anti-national activities.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) A convict in the Bilkis Bano case has told the Supreme Court that the petition challenging Gujarat government's remission order is "speculative and politically motivated".

The plea filed by Radheysham Bhagwandas Shah said: "This court not only on the ground of locus and maintainability, but also on the ground of such speculative and politically motivated petition, should dismiss the said plea with heavy hand and impose an exemplary cost so that such politically motivated petition by strangers are not encouraged in the future."

The plea cited a number of the top court judgments, including Janata Dal vs H.S. Chowdhary (1992), Simranjit Singh Mann vs UOI (1992) and Subramanian Swamy vs Raju (2013), in which it was consistently held in clear terms that a third party who is a total stranger to the prosecution has no 'locus standi' in criminal matters.

The convict also referred to the apex court judgment dated May 13, 2022 on the merits of the case, which after hearing all the parties came out with a categorical judgment that only the Gujarat government's policy of premature release would be applicable, which prevailed at the time of conviction and not a subsequent policy at the time of consideration of remission.

Shah was challenging the plea filed by former CPI-M MP Subhasini Ali, journalist Revati Laul and professor Roop Rekha Verma against the release of 11 men convicted for the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and multiple murders during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

A similar plea was also filed by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.

On September 9, the apex court had directed the Gujarat government to file all records, which formed the basis for granting remission to all the accused in the case. It directed the state government to file its response within two weeks and also asked advocate Rishi Malhotra, representing some of the accused, to file a response.

Shah's plea contended that if such type of third-party petitions are entertained by the apex court, it would not only unsettle the settled position of law, but would also be an open invitation to any member of the public to jump in any criminal matter before a court of law.

Shah argued that the plea is nothing but a gross abuse of Article 32, as on one hand, the petitioners plead that they do not have the copy of the remission order and yet without ascertaining the reasons for grant of remission, the petitioners have sought quashing of the remission order.

It further argued that the apex court had categorically held that a total stranger in a criminal case cannot be permitted to question the correctness of a decision, and if that was to be permitted, any and every person could challenge a criminal prosecution/proceeding recorded day in and day out by courts even if the person convicted do not desire to do so and are inclined to acquiesce in the decision.

"Interestingly enough, neither the state nor the victim nor even the complainant has approached this court, and thus it is respectfully submitted that if such cases are sought to be entertained by this court, a settled position of law would certainly become an unsettled position of law," Shah's plea added.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 24 (IANS) Former Union minister and in-charge of BJP's Kerala unit, Prakash Javadekar on Saturday slammed the Left government in the state, blaming it for the violence that took place on Friday during the PFI-called state-wide shutdown.

"It was a black day for the state, hundreds of vehicles were damaged and people were held hostage. The Left government here has to answer. Arrests took place in several states but it was only in Kerala all this happened. The state government has failed to give protection to the people here," Javadekar said while speaking to the media here.

This is Javadekar's first visit to the state after being appointed the Kerala in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

He said that both the CPI-M and PFI are hand in glove, and help one another.

"At various local bodies here these two parties work together. The statement made by CPI-M Lok Sabha member A.M. Ariff (Alappuzha) is one which helps the PFI. The CPI-M is also yet to condemn the attacks," he said.

"Even Rahul Gandhi has not named PFI... and we do not know why he is hesitant to do so. K. Sudhakaran (state Congress president) has got votes from the PFI," added Javadekar.

The senior BJP leader has arrived a day before party national president J.P. Nadda's scheduled visit to the state for two days.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that members of Popular Front of India (PFI) had allegedly collected a large amount of cash to the tune of Rs 120 crore to carry out attacks on important personalities.

ED sources claimed that Prime Minister Narender Modi was also on the radar of PFI, which had planned to attack the Prime Minister during a rally in July 2020. However, due to some reason, PFI didn't go ahead with the plan.

The sources claimed that the PFI members had even planned to organise a terror camp to execute an attack on Modi.

The sources said that around Rs 120 crore were collected by the PFI to carry out attacks and create unrest and riot-like situation in the country.

The ED had arrested a PFI member named Shafeequr Payeth from Kerala, who was produced before a special court in Lucknow on Friday. The remand paper of the ED, which has been accessed by IANS, said that the PFI was planning to carry out attacks on important personalities.

"In the past few years, PFI collected around Rs 120 crore, including cash coming from abroad. The cash was deposited in different bank accounts belonging to PFI," the remand paper read.

It added that some part of the money was allegedly used in North-East Delhi riots in 2020. The money was also about to be used to purchase arms and ammunition to create unrest and carry out terror acts in Uttar Pradesh.

The sources also said that PFI has scores of active members in the Gulf countries.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Sep 24 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) which has recently submitted its first chargesheet in the multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam, has tracked a proxy mobile number used by former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee while engaging in "important communications" related to the recruitment process.

According to ED sources, both Partha Chatterjee and his close associate, Arpita Mukherjee used multiple numbers and multiple mobile phones, all of which were seized by the ED sleuths.

"While checking the different mobile phones of the two, our officers tracked a particular SIM card, which though used by Partha Chatterjee was not registered in his name," an ED official said.

On enquiry from the service provider, the sleuths came to know that the as per documents required to be submitted at the time of taking a mobile phone connection, that particular SIM card and number was registered in the name of a "non-Bengali lady" whose name the ED official refused to disclose.

The connection was taken from an outlet near Partha Chatterjee's ancestral residence at Naktala in south Kolkata.

Sources said that although the ED sleuths questioned Partha Chatterjee about the identity of the woman on whose name the number was registered, the former education minister repeatedly denied having any knowledge about her.

It was learnt that the ED in the first chargesheet has mentioned about Partha Chatterjee using a proxy number to make special communication pertaining to the WBSSC recruitment process.

ED sources said Chatterjee used this particular number mainly to communicate with Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya who was recently removed from the chair of the president of West Bengal Board of Primary Education following an order by the Calcutta High Court.

"The proxy number was used deliberately to hide his identity while making such communications," the ED official said.

Manik Bhattacharya has already approached the Supreme Court against his removal and also with demanded quashing the Calcutta High Court order for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers in the state.

Both Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee are currently in judicial custody.

--IANS
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Chandigarh, Sep 24 (IANS) Amid a war of words between the government and the Governor's office, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday said it was condemnable that Governor Banwarilal Purohit has sought details of legislative business for the proposed Assembly session on September 27.

His assertions come in the wake of the Governor seeking details of legislative business to be taken in the Assembly session called by the government on September 27.

Reacting to this, Cheema, who was the Leader of Opposition in the previous state government, said the Governor's office is constantly interfering in the work of Punjab and not allowing an elected AAP government to work freely.

"I want to ask the Governor to check the record of his office and tell the people how many governors have asked the ruling government to provide information about the purpose of summoning an assembly session. Till today, no governor did it. Only he is doing so, because he is working at the behest of the BJP."

Responding to the purported "war of words", the Governor in a missive to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said, "After reading your statements in today's newspapers, it appears to me that perhaps you are 'too much' angry with me. I think your legal advisors are not briefing you adequately.

"Perhaps your opinion about me will definitely change after reading the provisions of Article 167 and 168 of the Constitution, which I'm quoting for your ready reference."

Finance Minister Cheema lashed out at the BJP for trying to stop the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab through the Governor's office and said the BJP "is afraid of growing popularity of AAP in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh ahead of the Assembly elections in the both states".

He said AAP "is dedicatedly working for the welfare of people and after Delhi and Punjab now there is a wave for change in other states".

"The AAP is becoming a major threat to the BJP in the forthcoming elections and that's why they are now scared."

Cheema told the media that in many states like Maharashtra, Goa and Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP toppled governments after buying ruling MLAs under its devious "Operation Lotus".

They are intimidating Opposition MLAs with the CBI, the ED and through money. "They are murdering democracy."

"But this operation has been stopped by AAP, first in Delhi and now in Punjab. Due to this, the BJP has now opted for another tactic and is using the Governor's office to stop AAP," Cheema added.

He also attacked the opposition and said the Congress, the BJP and the Akali Dal do not have any issue against AAP that's why they were running away for any debate in the Assembly session.

"They don't want the elected government to work for the welfare of Punjabis," he added.

Chief Minister Mann clarified that the Governor or President consent before any session of legislature is a formality.

"In 75 years, no President/Governor ever asked list of Legislative business before calling session. Legislative business is decided by BAC (Business Advisory Council) and speaker. Next Governor will ask for all speeches also to be approved by him. It's too much," Mann tweeted.

Joining the issue, another Cabinet Minister Aman Arora termed it "unfortunate and condemnable".

Arora told the media that in the past 75 years no President or Governor has ever asked for the list of legislative business before calling the session.

"This is happening for the first time because the Punjab Governor is clearly working in cahoots with the BJP and the Congress to weaken the democratic system and stop the Aam Aadmi Party government from working for the welfare of common people," he said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) The National Broadband Mission (NBM) under the Ministry of Communications on Saturday tweeted (and later deleted) that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially roll out the 5G services in India on October 1 -- the same day when the India Mobile Congress (IMC) kicks off which will heavily focus on 5G and related domains.

All the top telecom honchos -- including Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani and Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises Sunil Bharti Mittal -- are scheduled to join the keynote address at the sixth edition of the IMC that will take place at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, from October 1-4.

"Taking India's digital transformation & connectivity to new heights, Hon'ble PM, @narendramodi, will roll out 5G services in India; at India Mobile Congress; Asia's largest technology exhibition," read the screenshot of the tweet (now deleted from the NBM handle).

The event will see participation from telecom gear manufacturers and other industry stakeholders, in the presence of IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

According to sources, the government may showcase some successful 5G testbeds being run in the country by Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea at the IMC 2022, jointly organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

During his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the Prime Minister had said that the 5G services will be launched in India soon.

Vaishnaw last month said the government expects 5G services to be rolled out in the country by October 12, and the Centre will make sure that the prices are affordable for the consumers.

Vaishnaw said that installations are being done and telecom operations are busy with the seamless rollout of 5G services.

The government will ensure that the 5G plans remain affordable for the public, the minister said.

The 5G services would be rolled out in a phased manner and during the first phase, 13 cities are likely to get the 5G internet services.

The cities are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.

Just like 3G and 4G, telcos will soon announce dedicated 5G tariff plans and according to industry experts, consumers may pay more to access the 5G services on their devices.

An immediate tariff war with the launch of 5G is unlikely, but it "will be competitive as India continues to be a price-conscious market".

--IANS
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Kolkata, Sep 24 (IANS) Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police on Saturday arrested Peer Mohammad, a suspected spy of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), from Kalimpong, the hill resort city in the northern part of Kolkata. The process has started for bringing the accused to Kolkata for interrogation purposes.

STF sources said that they doubt that Peer Mohammad, who had regular links with ISI made the hills in North Bengal its base because of the presence of a number of bases of the Indian army in the region. The STF sleuths have recovered a number of documents including maps of different pockets of West Bengal, multiple mobile SIM cards, laptop and mobile phones from the possession of Peer Mohammad.

"A number of diaries have also been recovered from his possession and we expect to decipher crucial information after properly examining the items seized," said an STF official. Preliminary investigation has revealed that Peer Mohammad used to be in touch with the senior officials of ISI and Pakistan Army using high-end technology.

STF sources further said that they received information about Peer Mohammad hiding somewhere in the state using multiple fake identity proofs, from different central agencies. "We have been hunting him for quite some time and finally our sleuths were able to nab him from Kalimpong," the STF official said.

It is learnt that he used to pose himself as an agent who arranged loans at easy installments to local people and through this, he easily developed his network in the area.

During the last two months, the STF sleuths had arrested six Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) activists, whose main tasks were to look after fresh recruitment and strengthen AQIS's sleeper cell network in the state.

--IANS
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Dehradun, Sep 24 (IANS) Outrage in Rishikesh grew over the alleged killing of Ankita Bhandari with people setting a factory of the prime accused on fire on Saturday.

Ever since the recovery of Ankita's body on Saturday morning, people are demanding death sentence for the accused.

A mob at AIIMS, Rishikesh, vandalised Yamkeshwar MLA Renu Bisht's car. Sensing the situation to be grim, Renu Bisht left the city.

The prime accused in the case is Pulkit Arya, son of former state minister Vinod Arya.

The BJP has expelled Vinod Arya and Pulkit's brother Ankit Arya from the party.

Ankit Arya has also been removed from the post of Deputy Chairman of the Uttarakhand Other Backward Classes Commission with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, the Opposition burnt Uttarakhand government's effigy and demanded strict punishment for the guilty.

On Friday, the protesters had vandalised Pulkit's resort. On the direction of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the resort has been razed to the ground.

Expressing deep grief over the incident, Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan said: "This is a heart-breaking incident that shames humanity. We have lost a daughter of Uttarakhand for which we all are sad."

She also expressed condolences to the bereaved family.

The Speaker said that the state government and she herself are with Ankita's family, assuring that justice will prevail and the gulity will be punished.

"Now we have to think as to how much the revenue police is effective in the area. Should revenue police be given policing rights. Strict decisions need to be taken about probing all the illegal resorts," she said.

Pulkit and his two aides have been sent to 14-day judicial custody.

Teams of Municipal Council and Revenue Department have reached Pulkit's place where Vinod Arya said, "We will cooperate with the administration."

--IANS
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Dehradun, Sep 24 (IANS) The body of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, a staffer at an Uttarakhand resort who went missing a few days ago, was found on Saturday in a canal. The discovery prompted the BJP to suspend the father and brother of the prime accused in the murder case.

The prime accused is BJP leader Vinod Arya's son Pulkit, who was arrested with two others on Friday.

The party has suspended Vinod Arya, a member of the national executive of BJP OBC Morcha, as well as his other son Ankit, a minister of state.

Ankita, a resident of Dobh in Srikot, used to work at the resort owned by Pulkit Arya in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal. She went missing on September 18.

Following the recovery of the body from the Chilla canal, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered an SIT probe led by DIG P. Renuka Devi to probe the murder.

Taking to Twitter, Dhami said: "Today morning, Ankita's body was recovered. Heart-broken with this heart-wrenching incident."

On directions of the Chief Minister, the resort has been razed to the ground.

Strict action will be taken against the officers who were involved in the illegal construction of the resort, Dhami said.

"It is our resolve that the those guilty of this heinous crime will not be spared," he added.

Ankita's family had lodged a missing complaint on September 21 with the revenue police and on the District Magistrate's direction, the matter was transferred to regular police the next day.

Taking cognisance of the incident, Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police, Uttarakhand, had directed the Superintendent of Police, Pauri for a speedy investigation into the incident.

Following the arrest of the accused, they told the police that after murdering Ankita, they threw her body in the canal.

Under the guidance of DGP Uttarakhand, the SDRF commenced a search operation. Deep divers were also deployed to look for the body at the bottom of the canal

The search operation resumed this morning during which the body was found.

The body has been handed over to the district police.

--IANS
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