Regional

Thiruvananthapuram, May 6 (IANS) For the first time after taking over the case of a Delhi youth setting ablaze passengers on a train bound to Kannur last month, the NIA on Saturday took the accused out for evidence collection.

The accused was taken to a petrol pump at Shornur and the railway station from where he boarded the train and later committed the crime after the train left the Kozhikode station.

The incident took place on April 2 when the train bound for Kannur left Kozhikode. Shahrukh Saifi, the 27-year-old Delhi resident, set a few passengers ablaze by dousing them with petrol in the moving train.

He later travelled on the same train to Kannur and after a few hours boarded a train from there and got down at Ratnagiri in Maharastra.

Three passengers who witnessed the incident jumped out of the moving train in fear and died, while nine others suffered burn injuries.

--IANS
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Hubbali (Karnataka), May 6 (IANS) Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said that the people of Karnataka are living and leading their life by working hard, and they do not need anyone's blessings.

She said this while responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement that if the BJP is not re-elected to power, the state would not get the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress leader addressed a huge public meeting here.

Sonia Gandhi said that the BJP was worried and perturbed over the Bharat Jodo Yatra of her son and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi as it was against those who were spreading hate.

She said that Karnataka, and even India cannot progress without ending the atmosphere of BJP's loot, lies, ego and hatred, adding that the BJP has turned into an arrogant political party.

The senior Congress leader said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trying to intimidate Congress workers in Karnataka.

She said that arm-twisting tactics would not work against Congress. She was referring to the Enforcement and Income Tax raids being carried out in the state against Congress leaders.

The Congress leader also recalled that she won from Bellary constituency 24 years ago, and how the people of Karnataka had treated her.

She also said that Karnataka had elected former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1978 from Chikmangaluru.

Sonia Gandhi said that the people of Karnataka are those who live with pride, and they would not accept corruption by the governments at the Centre and state.

She also said that it was the responsibility of people to strengthen their voice against the BJP government's "dark rule".

Saying that the BJP was rattled ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections, Sonia Gandhi said the party was using "all tactics and all kinds of repression against political opponents".

"Don't you think that dacoity has become the business of those in power? You had not given them power in 2018 but they robbed the government and captured it... and then, their 40 per cent commission," she said.

The Congress leader also made indirect reference to the letter written by the contractors association to the Prime Minister on the 40 per cent commission being charged for public works in the state.

Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who switched to the Congress from the BJP, was also present at the dais along with Sonia Gandhi.

--IANS
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Patna, May 6 (IANS) What would you do if bundles of currency notes are dumped in bulk in a drain? A similar thing happened in Bihar's Rohtas district where a number of people fished out currency notes from a drain in Moradabad village on Saturday.

A video of the incident went viral on social media where a number of people could be seen entering the drain and collecting currency notes in the denomination of Rs 2,000, Rs 500, Rs 100 and Rs 10.

The local villagers claimed that early in the morning, they saw bags containing currency notes inside the drain. Soon, a large number of people jumped in and started collecting the notes. They also claimed that notes were genuine.

The district administration is probing if the currency notes are genuine and who dumped them in the drain.

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 6 (IANS) The final opinion poll for the Karnataka Assembly elections conducted by C-Voter for ABP News indicates that the Congress is still in the pole position though the BJP seems to have closed the earlier gap in the last leg of campaigning.

A detailed analysis of the poll data across demographics and other categories in the major regions of the state suggests that the Congress is likely to win between 110 and 122 seats in the May 10 elections. The Karnataka Assembly has 224 members and a tally of 113 is required to form a simple majority government.

The party is projected to get 40.2 per cent of the vote share, up 2.2 per cent from what it managed in the previous Assembly elections in 2018. The BJP, which currently has a government in the state, is projected to win between 73 and 85 seats. In 2018, the saffron party had won 104 seats.

Interestingly, BJP's vote share is projected to remain the same at 36 per cent. Compared to the earlier rounds of the C-Voter poll, this is an improvement both in terms of seats and vote share.

The JD(S) is projected to win between 21 and 29 seats. In 2018, it had won 37 seats. The projected vote share for the JD(S) in 16.1 per cent, down almost 2 per cent compared to the 2018 elections.

Barring the Greater Bengaluru region, which sends 32 MLAs to the Karnataka Assembly, the Congress is projected to win more seats than the BJP in all the other regions of the state.

Interestingly, the BJP is projected to substantially increase its vote share in the Old Mysuru region, a stronghold of the JD(S), from 17 per cent in 2018 to more than 25 per cent this time.

But this seems to be resulting in a triangular fight which is helping the Congress.

Elections are scheduled in a single phase on May 10 and the results will be declared on May 13.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, May 3 (IANS) The residents in and around Chinnakanal in Idukki district, who had been tormented by Kerala's one of wildest elephants 'Arikomban', are again worried, as on Wednesday, the officials said that radio signals have not been received for hours now.

'Arikomban' was captured, radio collared and sent to deep forest on Saturday.

According to the officials, the last signal was received on Tuesday afternoon.

The eight kg radio collar that was put on the neck of the elephant soon after being captured, is tuned to send signals every hour, but the forest officials said that the last signal was received was at 2 p.m on Tuesday.

And the location of Arikomban at that time was around 10 kms from where it was captured.

On Saturday, after being captured it was taken and let off around 21 kms from the spot from where it was taken into custody after seven doses of tranquilisers.

The forest department is now contacting the company, which has supplied the radio collar, and according to experts at times the connection can get aborted due to the location and probably bad weather too, but they are now trying to track Arikomban using a VHF antenna.

And, what has turned out to be a dampener is the news that wild elephants have a characteristic of returning to its favoured place and with 'Arikomban' last spotted around 10 kms from where it was captured, the talk of the town is -- will it return.

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) In a major crackdown on criminals, the Dwarka District Police on Wednesday launched raid and search operations at over 20 locations in Delhi and Haryana.

An official said that the operation was aimed at targetting individuals, gangsters and associates involved in criminal activities.

During the raids, the police recovered a cache of weapons, cash and illegal substances from various locations.

"About Rs 20 lakh was recovered from a place in Delhi, and weapons seized from Jhajjar and other places in Haryana. Some people have been detained for questioning," a senior police official said.

The raids were carried out based on specific intelligence inputs and details about the recoveries from other places are still being collected, he added.

More details are awaited.

--IANS
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Lucknow, May 3 (IANS) The stage is set for polling in the first phase of the urban municipal polls in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday amid tight security arrangements.

According to the state election commission (SEC), people in 37 districts will vote in the first phase to elect 7,593 representatives, including 10 mayors and 820 corporators.

The second-phase polling will take place on May 11.

The two-phase elections will be a key test for the parties ahead of next year's Lok Sabha polls.

More than 2.40 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the first round of voting, officials said and added that all the posts are being contested on party symbols.

In the first phase, polling will be held for posts of 103 nagar palika parishad chairpersons and 2,740 nagar palika parishad members.

Apart from this, the voters in the first phase will also decide the fate of 275 nagar panchayat chairpersons and 3,645 nagar panchayat members.

Altogether 44,232 candidates are in the fray in the opening round.

State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar said that 85 representatives, including 10 corporators, have already been elected unopposed.

The districts where mayoral election will be held in the first phase are Saharanpur, Agra, Moradabad, Firozabad, Mathura, Jhansi, Prayagraj, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi.

Counting for both phases will be done on May 13.

For security arrangements during the first phase, 2 lakh men in uniform comprising 35 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces and 86 companies of PAC have been deployed.

Senior police officials said as many as 19,880 inspectors, 1 01 lakh head constables, 47,985 home guards and 7,500 trainee sub inspectors will also be part of the security paraphernalia.

Special DG, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar, said to ensure peaceful polling, so far 1,101 persons have been booked under Gangster Act while NSA has been slapped on another 14 who are already in jail and wanted bail ahead of the polling.

"Another 2,012 troublemakers have been externed from different districts in the state. Likewise, 6.48 lakh others were booked for breach of peace in the last 15 days," he said.

The Special DG said that as part of the exercise, 42 illegal factories making country made pistols were busted in which 2,958 arms and 4,500 cartridges were recovered. Similarly, low intensity explosives weighing 3,470 kg were seized.

Police also arrested 987 persons smuggling drugs worth Rs 37 crore, while 2.99 lakh litres of illicit liquor was seized and 766 booked for manufacturing/smuggling illicit liquor.

The police official added that 8.19 lakh vehicles flouting rules have been booked while 7426 others seized in violation of poll code across the state.

"Patrolling has been intensified near the polling centres and also in the districts going to polls on Thursday," he said.

--IANS
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Patna, May 3 (IANS) A 17-year-old boy was killed during a celebratory firing in Bihar's Bhojpur district, an official said on Tuesday.

The deceased, Aryan Kumar (17) was a son of a CRPF personnel.

He was watching a dance programme held during a marriage function where one Karia Yadav, under the influence of alcohol, fired several rounds. One of the bullets hit Aryan's neck.

He was declared dead on arrival at Sadar Hospital, Arrah, around 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

As per an eyewitness, some female dancers were performing on the stage. Karia Yadav got on to the stage, and started firing with a country-made pistol.

"We have identified the accused. He has been booked under the charge of murder. Raids are on to nab him," Saurav Kumar, the SHO of Chandi police station, said.

--IANS
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Shivamogga (Karnataka), May 3 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "not mentioning names of other leaders of his party during his speeches and talking only about himself".

"There is not only Narendra Modi in this world, there are other people as well," Gandhi said while addressing a gathering here on Tuesday.

"Modi ji, talk about your leaders, talk about Karnataka, talk about youths," he quipped.

"I came here and first of all, mentioned the names of senior leaders of our party. In BJP meetings, Prime Minister doesn't mention anybody. The way, I take the names of Siddaramaiah Ji, Shivakumara Ji, Kharge Ji... Modi Ji will never talk about any leader," the Congress leader asserted.

"He doesn't take the names of Yeddiyurappa Ji or Bommai Ji, as if they don't exist. Every person of Karnataka is asking - why doesn't Modi Ji ever take the names of BJP leaders," Gandhi said.

Gandhi's statement assumed importance as former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa hails from Shivamogga district.

"In Congress meetings, we never talk about violence or hatred. Our workers open 'shops of love' in the 'market of hatred'; they unite the country, spread brotherhood wherever they go. We respect all castes, all religion, all language," the Congress leader added.

"This (Shivamogga) is the constituency of Karnataka's Home Minister. There was huge corruption in recruitment exam for Police Sub-Inspector. Prime Minister Modi never takes the name of Karnataka's Home Minister. He talks only about himself... he doesn't utter a word about what Karnataka government did in the last three years," he said.

Gandhi further said that the BJP "stole the government in Karnataka three years ago by harming democracy".

He also mentioned about the Contractors' Association letter to the Prime Minister, where it was alleged that about 40 per cent commission is sought on every contract.

Gandhi further mentioned about the water dispute between Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka. "What did you do for Karnataka when floods came. And when Karnataka was being given lesser tax money than what was its due, what did you do for Karnataka?"

"The Prime Minister comes here, talks about how Congress has attacked him 91 times... The question is not about the Prime Minister, but about the people of Karnataka. Prime Minister Modi, you didn't talk about corruption, you didn't talk about the Home Minister or any other issue of Karnataka. At least tell what your government is going to do for Karnataka in the next five years," the Congress leader reiterated.

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested one more accused in the PFI Phulwarisharif Patna case related to the unlawful and anti-national activities of the banned organisation Popular Front of India (PFI), an official said.

The accused was identified as Anwar Rashid.

"His arrest followed detailed examination and analysis by the NIA of the various incriminating documents, digital devices and letters seized earlier during a search at his house on April 25," said the official.

With his arrest, the total number of arrests in the case has gone to 14.

The case was initially registered on July 12, 2022 at PS Phulwarisharif, District Patna, Bihar and re-registered by the NIA on July 22, 2022. The NIA has also filed a chargesheet against four accused on January 7, 2023.

"Investigations have revealed that Anwar is a former member of the banned organisation SIMI and is currently associated with several PFI members of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, including one Athar Parvez who was named in the FIR and arrested on July 12 last year," said the official.

The NIA said that Anwar was instrumental in preparing a secret group of ex-SIMI members to work for PFI, according to the NIA investigations. The prime agenda, under the banner of PFI, was to establish Islamic Rule in India as envisioned in the outfit's 'India 2047 Document'.

--IANS
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