India

Chennai, Dec 15 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu Prison Department shifted 23 people, accused of the murder of BSP state president K. Armstrong, to Puzhal Central Prison on Sunday, due to security reasons.

They were previously lodged in the Poonamallee Sub-Jail.

K. Armstrong, who was also a lawyer at the Madras High Court, was brutally murdered on July 5 in front of his under-construction home at Perambur, near Chennai.

An eight-member gang, led by Ponnai Balu, the brother of slain gangster Arcot Suresh, claimed responsibility for the murder and surrendered to the police the same evening.

Balu confessed that the murder was carried out in "retaliation" for the killing of Arcot Suresh, which he alleged was planned and executed by Armstrong.

However, a special investigation team, formed by Chennai City Police Commissioner M. Arun, discovered that three gangs had colluded to plan the murder.

Armstrong was hacked to death by Ponnai Balu and his associates.

Further investigations revealed that notorious gangster Nagendran, who has been behind bars for 26 years, and another gangster, Sambhav Senthil, conspired and financed the murder.

Police said Nagendran held a grudge against Armstrong, accusing him of hindering the political career of his son, Ashwathaman, a lawyer and state office-bearer of the Tamil Nadu Youth Congress.

Ashwathaman, who is also an accused in the case, has since been dismissed from the Congress party's primary membership.

Sambhav Senthil, on the other hand, reportedly had disputes with Armstrong over real estate dealings.

Twenty-seven individuals have been arrested in connection with the case, out of which 23, including Ponnai Balu and Ashwathaman, have now been transferred to Puzhal Central Prison.

Interestingly, Sambhav Senthil and two of his close associates, Krishna Kumar and Appu, remain at large.

Senthil, classified as an "A+ history-sheeter" at the Washermenpet police station - a designation reserved for those accused in multiple murder cases - has been absconding since the incident.

Sources within the Chennai Police said that they have specific leads on Senthil's whereabouts and are confident of apprehending him soon.

The police have submitted a comprehensive 5,000-page chargesheet to the magistrate court.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, Dec 15 (IANS) Former Minority Commission Chairman Anwar Manipaddy on Sunday refuted the bribery charge levelled by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, saying the Congress leaders have been offering him bribes to suppress the Waqf encroachment report.

CM Siddaramaiah on Saturday alleged that BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra "tried to bribe" the former Minority Commission Chairperson during the previous government with Rs 150 crore to suppress a probe into the Waqf property encroachment.

Speaking to the media, Anwar Manipaddy stated that if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has any genuine concern and love for Muslims, he should hand over his report on the Waqf encroachments to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“The offer in this regard was made by the Congress. They asked me to settle in the US as I had the Green Card. Vijayendra never said that he would give Rs 150 crore. In 2012, when I was the Minority Commission Chairman, I had never heard of Vijayendra’s name. He was the Vice President of the party,” Anwar stated.

“I remember talking to him about the implementation of the report since his father B.S. Yediyurappa was the CM. I criticized Vijayedra then for various reasons, but he has not made any offer of Rs 150 crore to me. After I followed the presentation of my report in the Assembly, then CM Yediyurappa placed it in the session,” Anwar stated.

“The Congress leaders had made offers for three to four years. But I had rebuked them and sent them back. Now, they fear talking to me. The Waqf has a total land of 54,000 acres. In this, 27,000 to 28,000 acres are encroached. The Waqf board presently has 23,000 to 24,000 acres of land with it. Issuing notices to farmers claiming the ownership of 1.60 lakh acres to the Waqf board is being done by the Congress government and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with an intention to create strife between Hindus and Muslims,” Anwar Mannipaddy slammed.

“My findings given in 7,000 pages about the encroachment of Waqf properties by the powerful, including Congress leaders, is just the tip of the iceberg. If the CBI starts a probe, the illegalities and encroachments will run up to 70,000 pages,” Anwar Mannipaddy stated.

“The Congress tries to use money and muscle power on me to suppress the report. My personal secretary Ateeq’s retirement benefits were withheld and the court had given him relief. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is being pressured from all sides over the Waqf issue. He is trying to hide everything and bringing up the name of Vijayendra to divert the issue of encroachments,” he stated.

CM Siddaramaiah in his press statement on Saturday demanded the CBI probe against Karnataka BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra for trying to hush up the Waqf scam report by allegedly offering Rs 150 crore to former Minority Commission Chairman and BJP leader Anwar Mannippady.

Vijayendra has dismissed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's bribery allegations as "baseless".

Responding to the allegations, Vijayendra questioned, "You (CM Siddaramaiah), who is terrified of CBI and ED investigations, have questioned the Governor's approval for prosecution and tried in vain to protect yourself legally by hiring senior lawyers from New Delhi. After facing humiliation due to the High Court's verdict, what moral standing do you have to demand a CBI investigation against others?"

--IANS

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Bengaluru, Dec 15 (IANS) Three accused in Atul Subhash's suicide case -- his wife, her mother and brother -- who were arrested by Bengaluru Police, have been sent to 14-day judicial custody, officials said here on Sunday.

A senior police officer said Atul Subhash’s wife Nikita Singhania was arrested from Haryana’s Gurugram and her mother Nisha Singhania and brother Anurag Singhania were nabbed in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.

The accused persons were produced before the court and were sent to judicial custody for 14 days. After nabbing the accused persons, the Karnataka Police brought them to Bengaluru on Saturday late at night.

More details are yet to emerge in the case.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that Atul Subhash had planned to commit suicide 15 days before taking the extreme step. He had written the death note three days ago and searched legal matters on Google.

The police registered an FIR against the accused persons under Sections 108, 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) on December 9. Bikas Kumar, the deceased Atul’s younger brother had lodged a police complaint alleging abetment to suicide with the Marathahalli police in Bengaluru.

The FIR was lodged against Subhash’s wife Nikita Singhania, mother-in-law Nisha Singhania, brother-in-law Anurag Singhania and relative Sushil Singhania. The police are yet to arrest the fourth accused, Sushil, in the case.

Bikas Kumar alleged in the complaint that false cases were lodged against his brother Atul Subhash by the accused and had demanded Rs 3 crore to settle the case. He had also alleged that his brother Atul Subhash was taunted in the court during the proceedings that he had to either give Rs 3 crore or commit suicide.

Nikita’s family had alleged that the deceased Atul Subhash demanded a hefty dowry from her family which resulted in the death of her father.

Subhash, who was working with an automobile company in Bengaluru, allegedly committed suicide as a demand of Rs 3 crore was made for a divorce settlement. He ended his life at his apartment in the early hours of December 9, leaving behind a 90-minute video and a 40-page death note, explaining how harassment by his wife Nikita Singhania and her family compelled him to take the extreme step.

The note left by him read: "If the court decides that the corrupt judge and my wife and other harassers are not guilty, then pour my ashes into some gutter outside the court. Don't do my 'asthi visarjan' till my harassers get punished."

However, the family collected the 'asthis' from the Bengaluru crematorium where Subhash’s final rites were conducted. The family stated that the ashes would be taken to Patna, from where the family originally hails from and it will be immersed into the river as per the traditions.

The suicide note, under the headline "Justice is Due", addressed to his 2-year-old child, read: "Now with me gone, there will not be any money to loot and I hope that they might start to look at the facts of the cases. Someday, you shall know the real face of your mother and her greedy family.

"I pray that they don’t devour you and your soul. I often laugh when I remember that I started saving money for a car when you go to college. Silly me. Remember this always that you don't owe anything to anyone. Don’t trust the system." Subhash further listed out his last wishes in the note. "All my case hearings should happen live and people of this country should know about my case and learn the terrible state of the legal system and misuse of law these women are doing."

He also requested to allow the suicide note and videos as his statement and evidence.

"I fear that the judge might tamper with the documents, put pressure on witnesses and can adversely affect other cases. Based on my experience, the Bengaluru courts are relatively more law-abiding than Uttar Pradesh courts. I request to run the cases in Karnataka in the interest of justice and keep her in the judicial and police custody in Bengaluru till the trial goes on," the note read.

He further wrote: "Give the custody of my child to my parents who can raise him with better values. Don’t let my wife or her family come near my dead body. Give maximum punishment to my harassers though I don’t trust our legal system too much. If people like my wife are not put behind jail, they would be more emboldened and will put more false cases on other sons of society in the future.

"To wake up the judiciary and urge them to stop harassment of my parents and my brother in false cases. There shall be no negotiations, settlements and mediation with these evil people and the culprits must be punished," the letter read.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) Shiv Sena(UBT) MLA Aditya Thackeray on Sunday alleged that former Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and two other former ministers were involved in a Rs 12,000 crore road scam and should not be included in the cabinet.

Thackeray urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to exclude Shinde and two other ex-ministers from the cabinet due to their alleged involvement in the road scam.

In a post on X, Thackeray wrote, "If the bjp government is serious about acting on the road scam, they must keep the then illegal cm shinde and 2 guardian ministers of Shinde’s regime- Lodha and Kesarkar, out of the cabinet."

He alleged that the BJP was also speaking about the bad road work and had sought an SIT probe.

"More so, the fact that the bjp is also speaking about shoddy road work and asking for SIT only proves my point- the shinde regime indulged in 2 road scams worth ₹12,000 crores," Thackeray further wrote in the post.

He said that this was Mumbai’s hard-earned money which has been wasted "for contractors and politicians to fill their pockets."

Thackeray claims in the post that he has been exposing them for the past two years.

"I exposed them for the past 2 years, but the bjp supported that regime. For a clean start, I urge CM Devendra Fadnavis ji to start a formal inquiry into the road scam," he said.

The Cabinet expansion of the new BJP-led Maharashtra government is likely to take place in Nagpur on Sunday, with several new faces expected to be inducted into the council of ministers.

The ambitious project, aimed at repairing 700 km of roads to address Mumbai's perennial pothole problem, was initiated after Shinde became the Chief Minister and handled the Urban Development portfolio.

Thackeray also alleged there was cartelisation of contracts when Shinde was the Chief Minister and handled the Urban Development portfolio. "The BJP has now demanded an SIT probe into the contracts awarded for the construction of roads. We demand an EOW probe into this," Thackeray had said earlier.

Mumbai BJP Chief Ashish Shelar has also raised concerns over the issue, meeting Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani on Friday to demand the formation of an SIT. Shelar also called for a detailed audit involving experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai and Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) to evaluate 40 per cent of the concretised road patches on a randomised basis.

--IANS

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Srinagar, Dec 15 (IANS) Cold wave conditions are expected to intensify further in Jammu and Kashmir as the Meteorological (MeT) office issued an advisory on Sunday forecasting light snow in the higher reaches on December 22.

The minimum temperature was minus 3.4 degrees Celsius in Srinagar city on Sunday while it was minus 3.8 in Gulmarg and minus 4.8 in Pahalgam.

Jammu city had 6.6, Katra 8.4, Batote 6, Banihal 1.8 and Bhaderwah 3.9 as the minimum temperature.

The MeT office has forecast generally cold, dry weather till December 21 and generally cloudy sky with light snow over higher reaches towards late evening/night of December 21st to 22nd early morning.

“In view of fresh snowfall, Sub-freezing temperatures and icy conditions over roads of important passes and higher reaches, Tourists/travellers/Transporters are advised to follow Administrative/Traffic advisory”, the MeT office said.

Due to the biting cold, fewer people and vehicles are seen on the roads in the morning and towards the evening in Srinagar and other towns of the Valley.

The 40-day-long period of harsh winter cold called the ‘Chillai Kalan’ will start on December 21 and end on January 30. During this period of intense winter cold, the gap between the maximum and the minimum temperature narrows down adding to the chill factor.

Most water bodies also freeze partially during the Chillai Kalan as the cold wind blows from the lakes, rivers and streams into the mainland.

Overgarment called the ‘Pheran’ remains the choice of locals during the bitter cold. People keep an ember-filled firepot woven in a willow wicker basket called the ‘Kangri’ under the Pheran for instant warmth.

Due to shortages of electricity, the traditional attire and the Kangri continue to be the best bet for Kashmiris to beat cold during the winter months.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday slammed Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 100-minute speech in Parliament boring, and said the Wayanad MP was making such remarks as "she is new to this".

Priyanka had termed the speech 'boring' and compared it to sitting for a 'double period of mathematics' in school.

Reacting to Prime Minister Modi's speech on Saturday, Priyanka said, "The PM has not spoken anything new. He has bored us. It took me decades back. I felt like I was sitting in that double period of Mathematics."

Speaking to IANS, Union Minister Rijiju said, "Maybe she doesn't understand what PM Modi was saying, but everything he said was correct. He outlined 11 mantras for making India a 'developed nation.' This is not for any single party but for everyone. We all have to follow it."

He added, "We must unite and work together to achieve the goal of 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047. Whatever PM Modi says, we need to unite and make India a 'developed nation.' I am confident we will achieve this by 2047."

Union Minister Rijiju also expressed his enthusiasm for the 'TB Mukt Bharat Awareness cricket match' being held at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi.

He stated, "I am very happy that we have gathered together for this match. I am fully confident that TB will lose, and the country will win."

A 20-over cricket match is currently underway, with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's team facing off against Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar's team.

The match started at 9 a.m. on Sunday and is being broadcast live on Doordarshan's sports channel and Sansad TV.

Team 'Lok Sabha Speaker XI' is led by Anurag Singh Thakur, while 'Rajya Sabha Chairman XI' is led by Kiren Rijiju.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) The 'One Nation, One Election' Bill, officially known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, will not be tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Revised Business List of the Lower House for the day does not mention the Bill.

The first list had scheduled the Bill for Monday. It mentioned, "... Arjun Ram Meghwal to move for leave to introduce a Bill further to amend the Constitution of India. Also to introduce the Bill."

The Minister was also to move 'The Union Territories Laws (Amendment)Bill, 2024 to amend the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

The first amendment Bill was to conduct simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies and another Bill was for aligning the elections for Assemblies in Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir and Puducherry.

Now, with the revised list not mentioning the Bills, it is being surmised that the One Nation, One Election Bill will not be tabled on Monday. The session as per the schedule ends on December 20. Sources said the Bills could be brought later this week, or the government can always bring in the legislative agenda at the last minute through ‘Supplementary List of Business’ with the permission of the Speaker.

On Thursday, the Union Cabinet approved the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill), 2024. The same was circulated to MPs on Friday evening.

The report was prepared by a high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The committee submitted its findings in March, noting the challenges posed by prolonged election cycles.

The report suggested that simultaneous elections could ensure policy stability, alleviate voter fatigue, and boost electoral participation. The 18,626-page report was prepared in 191 days reflecting extensive discussions with stakeholders and experts.

After the cabinet approval, several opposition leaders questioned the proposal saying it was impractical and an attack on federalism. They raised concerns over the government's plans to introduce the ‘one nation, one election bill' in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

The revised business list does not mention the Bill. It, however, mentions that the law minister will move The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2024.

The Bill will enable reservation of seats in accordance with Article 332 of the Constitution for effective democratic participation of members of ScheduledTribes and to provide for the readjustment of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Goa, in so far such readjustment is necessitated by the inclusion of certain communities in the list of the Scheduled Tribes in the State of Goa.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) Investigations have revealed that the driver of the bus crash in Maharashtra's Kurla in which seven people were killed and several others injured, was not under the influence of liquor.

Driver Sanjay Dutta More whose blood sample was sent for testing to check the presence of alcohol was found negative.

Further investigations were on.

The police are primarily considering it an intentional incident, but why the driver did this has yet to be known.

On Saturday, the police recorded statements from people from the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) administration.

Statements of 40 people have been recorded and investigation was being held on its basis, the police said.

On December 9, the BEST bus mowed down 49 people, killing seven, and crashed into over 30 vehicles.

The incident occurred around 9.30 p.m. in the crowded Kurla West market when More sped the bus and rammed into at least 25 vehicles spreading havoc in the area.

A magistrate court in Kurla has sent the bus driver to police custody till December 21.

According to the BEST, the driver had lost control of the 12-metre-long electric bus.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased and full medical treatment expenses of all the injured in the tragedy, while Deputy CM Ajit Pawar assured that the matter would be thoroughly probed and the guilty shall be punished.

The BEST announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of the deceased and set up a probe committee headed by Chief Manager Ramesh Madavi.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aditya Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Working President Supriya Sule, Congress Working President M. Arif Naseem Khan and other Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders demanded a complete enquiry into the tragedy and the most stringent action against the culprits.

--IANS

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Jammu, Dec 15, (IANS) A Pakistani drone carrying narcotics has been intercepted by the BSF at the international border in the Arnia sector of Jammu, BSF on Sunday.

"On Dec 14, 2024 at about 2010 hrs, a smuggling attempt was foiled by the alert troops of BSF Jammu deployed in Arnia Sector of Jammu, wherein BSF troops intercepted the Pakistani drone and recovered a Pak drone along with 495 grams of narcotics substance," the statement said.

BSF spokesman said on Sunday that a Pakistani drone carrying 495 grams of high-grade narcotic substance has been seized by the BSF.

“The quadcopter entered India from across the border and was seized from the Chinaz Border Outpost area in the Arnia sector of the IB in Jammu district late Saturday”, BSF spokesman said.

"The relentless dedication and sharp vigil of BSF Jammu personnel have once again defeated nefarious design of anti-national elements, showcasing their unwavering commitment to the nation's security," the statement read.

Not just narcotics but Pakistan has been sending drones laden with weapons from across the border.

There have been a series of encounters between terrorists and security forces across Jammu and Kashmir in the recent past in which many terrorists and their commanders have been eliminated, as Pakistan is trying to step up infiltration at the LoC and send consignments of weapons.

There have been several instances of weapon dropping by drones from Pakistan near the international border in Jammu for terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir.

The BSF has recovered several weapon caches in the recent past and foiled the designs of terrorists and their handlers across the border.

Only two days back, IG BSF Jammu frontier told a news conference that after an effective anti-drone system was put in place, the threat of drones being used from across the international border for drug and arms smuggling had been taken care of.

It must be mentioned that drones are used by handlers of terror sitting across the border to send in weapons and narcotics to be picked up by over-ground workers (OGWs), terrorist sympathises or the terrorists themselves to disturb peace in J&K.

Most drone operations from across the border have been thwarted by the BSF. The army has also seized drones along the line of control (LoC) in the past.

J&K has a 740 km long LoC and over 1200 km long international border with Pakistan.

While the army is alert to foiling infiltration bids at the LoC, terrorist activities are now spreading across other areas of Jammu and Kashmir, areas that were relatively free from such incidents until a few years ago like the Chenab valley, Udhampur and Kathua that were declared militancy-free.

The relentless anti-terror operations in Kashmir have pushed terrorists to the mountains where they hide and wait for the right time to carry out attacks on security forces.

Analysts add that a comprehensive strategy is needed to address the increasing militancy in Jammu involving enhanced intelligence gathering and better coordination among security forces.

The series of terror attacks also goes on to highlight the urgency of reassessing and strengthening the security grid to ensure the safety and stability of the region.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) In a significant feat for the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, the scheme has achieved more than 6.85 lakh installations to date, and is set to surpass a decade’s solar growth in about a year.

Since its launch in February this year, the scheme with 685,763 installations has already reached 86 per cent of what was installed in a decade before that.

The key demand came from the 3-5 kW load segment at 77 per cent installations, while 14 per cent was in the segment higher than 5kW. Gujarat showed the highest installations followed by Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.

Gujarat witnessed the maximum number of solar installations under the initiative at 2,86,545. Maharashtra stands next with 1,26,344 installations, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 53,423 installations.

Around 1.45 crore registrations have been done so far under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, according to a statement in Parliament. The scheme aims to supply solar power to one crore households by March 2027.

It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the aim of achieving 1 crore rooftop solar installations in the residential sector by fiscal year 2027 with an allocated budget of Rs 75,021 crore.

As of now, the states with an increasing number of installations include Tripura, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.

In order to popularise the PM solar scheme at the grassroots, Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats have been incentivised to promote rooftop solar systems in their jurisdictions. At the same time, the scheme is leading to more income, lower power bills and employment generation for people.

With a goal to benefit one crore households, the programme is also expected to save the government Rs 75,000 crore annually in electricity costs.

The scheme offers a subsidy of up to 40 per cent to households, making renewable energy more affordable and accessible.

The government is also partnering with all stakeholders including REC, DISCOMs, and vendors, among others, with an aim to resolve any challenge on the way to a successful implementation of the scheme.

--IANS

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