New Delhi: Some of the rioters used a WhatsApp group to coordinate with each other during north-east Delhi riots in February and killed nine Muslims after they refused to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’, Delhi police has alleged in its charge sheets filed in a court here.
The accused were part of a WhatsApp group — Kattar Hindut Ekta — that was created on February 25 to take revenge on Muslims, the charge sheets said, adding that they used it to coordinate with each other and provide, men, arms and ammunition to each other.
The creator of the WhatsApp group is still absconding, police said in the charge sheets.
‘Kattar Hindut Ekta’ group was created on February 25 at 12.49 Hrs. Initially there were 125 members in this group, out of these 125; total 47 had exited the group by March 8, it said.
The charge sheets were filed before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Kumar Gautam on June 29 for the alleged bludgeoning of nine people — Hamza, Aamin, Bhure Ali, Mursalin, Aas Mohd, Musharraf, Akil Ahmed, and Hashim Ali and his elder brother Aamir Khan — to death.
During the investigation, it has been established that a group of Hindus comprising of accused persons – Jatin Sharma, Rishabh Chaudhary, Vivek Panchal, Lokesh Solanki, Pankaj Sharma, Prince, Sumit Chaudhary, Ankit Chaudhary and Himanshu Thakur, along with other identified and unidentified rioters – became active in Ganga Vihar/ Bhagirathi Vihar area since the morning of February 25 to 26 midnight and bludgeoned nine Muslim persons to death and injured several persons in Bhagirathi Vihar and other area, police said in the charge sheet.
The final report further said, It shows that they were actively involved in rioting and attacking other community people belonging to different religion i.e. muslim and during riots they killed many people by attacking them.
Their modus operandi was, they used to catch the people and ascertain their religion by asking name, address and by their document i.e. Identity Card and they were forcing them to call ‘Jai Shri Ram’ many times.
The person who was not calling ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and carrying the identity of Muslim identity, they were bluntly attacked and thrown into the Main Ganda Nala (dirty drain), Bhagirathi Vihar, Delhi, it said.
The court has put up the matter for consideration on July 13.
According to the police report , one of the accused, Lokesh Solanki, on February 25, messaged in the WhatsApp group: Brother Lokesh Solanki this side from Ganga Vihar area if any Hindu need any back up then do contact. We have men, arms and ammunitions. I have just killed two Muslims in Bhagirathi Vihar area and thrown them in drain with the help of my team.
In the first case, on February 26, one Hamza was killed by the rioters while he was coming from Mustafabad to Bhagirathi Vihar about 9.15 PM, police said.
He was then thrown in sewage near E Block Bhagirathi Vihar. An FIR was lodged in this regard at Gokalpuri police station, in North East Delhi on March 3, it said.
In the second case, one Aamin was killed and thrown into a sewage on February 25 by the rioters near C Block Bhagirathi Vihar.
In the third case, one Bhure Ali was killed near C block Bhagirathi Vihar on February 26.
On February 25, betweeen 4-4.30 PM, one Mursalin was killed and thrown in Bhagirathi Vihar Nala (drain) in Johripuri puliya (bridge) and his scooter was set on fire.
Police said on February 25, at about 7 to 7.30PM, deceased Aas Mohd was killed by the rioters and thrown in a drain in Bhagirathi Vihar/Johripur pulia (bridge).
On the same day at about 8 PM, police said rioters cut the electricity and in the dark, they attacked the house of Musharraf, grabbed him and dragged him out into the street and they beat him to death and threw him in the open drain.
Later on February 26, at about 9.30 PM, one Akil Ahmed was killed by the rioters, police said and added that on the same day, at about 9.40 PM, one Hashim Ali and his elder brother Aamir Khan was killed by the rioters.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while at Leh, said in a clear warning to China without naming it, that the “age of expansionism is over.”
Addressing India’s armed forces, he said, “The age of expansionism is over, this is the age of development. History has been witness that expansionist forces have either lost or were forced to go back.”
This assertion by Modi in the Ladakh region is extremely significant given the ongoing tension at the LAC with China in eastern Ladakh, barely 18 days after a violent stand-off.
While China has been concerned about India ramping up infrastructure in the Ladakh region, Modi on Friday hinted India is not reviewing that. “We have increased expenditure on development of infrastructure in the border area by three times,” Modi said.
He also paid his tributes to the martyrs of the Galwan Valley clash.
In what can be seen as India’s unequivocal assertion that its restraint should not be seen otherwise, he invoked Lord Krishna, “We are the same people who pray to Lord Krishna but who plays flute. But we are also the same people who follow the same Lord Krishna who carries the ‘Sudarshana Chakra’.
In fact, there has been more than one time when Modi mentiomed Galwan Valley that witnessed one of the most violent India-China clashes recently. Modi said, while addressing India’s armed forces in the Ladakh region that from Galwan’s icy waters to every mountain peak, all are witness to the valour of Indian soldiers. He praised the bravery of the of the 14 Corps which he said has become a tale to discuss in every household.
Sources said that Modi reached Ladakh early morning and was briefed by the Army, Air Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at one of the forward locations in Nimu. Located at 11,000 feet above sea level, Nimu is among the tough terrain, surrounded by the Zanskar range and on the banks of the Indus.
The Prime Minister, accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, will also interact with injured soldiers at the military hospital in Leh, in what will be a morale booster for the forces.
On June 17, Modi had stated that the sacrifice made by 20 soldiers who went down fighting against the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops at Galwan Valley on June 15 night “will not go in vain”.
He also said that while India wants peace, it will give a “befitting reply” if provoked. “India’s integrity and sovereignty is supreme for us, and no one can stop us from defending it. Nobody should have any iota of doubt about this,” said Modi. “Indian troops went down fighting (“maarte, maarte mare hain”),” he had said.
New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a circular on Friday extending the suspension on scheduled commercial international flight operations to and from India till July 31.
The development comes exactly a week after the suspension on oversees air services was extended till July 15.
The regulator said the validity of the earlier circular has been extended till 11.59 p.m. IST of July 31.
“However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis,” the circular read.
Last month, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that re-commencement of international flight services will depend on factors like ‘border acceptance’ norms in the arriving country and the traffic demand.
That time, he hinted at the prospects of bilateral bubble arrangements, which will allow some international operations between countries.
At present, healthy demand for evacuation flights have been witnessed in the North America-India sector.
Passenger air services were suspended on March 25 due to the nationwide lockdown to check the spread of Covid-19, although domestic air services has resumed in a phased manner from May 25.
Currently, airlines are only allowed to deploy 45 per cent of their total capacity.
New Delhi: Hindustan Times suspended a journalist for her tweets on Hindu god Lord Krishna on Thursday after Twitterati had called her tweets ‘derogatory and Hinduphobic’.
Srishti Jaiswal had written on June 29: “Because this is what Krishna did. He was a womanizer, a f***boi, and commitment phobic maniac. And I am a Hindu and I’ve read mythology.”
HT tweeted, “Hindustan Times does not endorse Srishti Jaswal’s comments which were made on her personal Twitter handle and in her personal capacity. She has been suspended from duties with immediate effect and a code of conduct committee has been set up to look into the matter.”
Hindustan Times does not endorse Srishti Jaswal’s comments which were made on her personal Twitter handle and in her personal capacity. She has been suspended from duties with immediate effect and a code of conduct committee has been set up to look into the matter.
A complaint was registered against her by a man calling himself Gautam Aggarwal, ex-IT Head of BJP IP Extension Mandal, Zila Shahdara, Delhi, who wrote: “Working with such Media platform and having such views being posted publicly can lead communal disharmony and religious animosity.”
Filed complaint against @08srijas for her derogatory Tweet against Lord Krishna & hurting #Hindu sentiments
Beijing: Chinese tech giant unicorn ByteDance Ltd. is anticipating a loss of over USD 6 billion after three of its apps, including the hugely popular video app TikTok, were banned by India this week, a media report here said.
Besides Tiktok, India banned on Monday 58 other apps with Chinese links, including the popular UC Browser, for engaging in activities prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”. The ban came in the wake of the ongoing stand-off along the Line of Actual control in eastern Ladakh with Chinese troops.
The USD 6 billion amount is most likely more than the combined losses for all the other Chinese apps banned by India, China’s Caixinglobal.com reported, quoting sources close to the company’s senior management.
ByteDance became one of China’s latest homegrown technology companies to run into growing resistance from foreign governments wary of the perceived ties to the Chinese government and concerns about protecting user data, it said.
Describing India’s ban of 59 China-developed apps as unprecedented, the report said it is a huge blow to the global expansion of TikTok, which is touted as the most popular Chinese app overseas. India is its largest market in terms of users outside China, where the service is called Douyin.
The ByteDance apps banned were its short video platforms TikTok and Vigo Video, as well as its social networking app Helo. Tencent’s messaging platform WeChat and five of its other apps were also banned. Other big tech China firms, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc., also had their products banned.
All the 59 apps have now been removed from Apple Inc. and Google LLC’s app stores for the Indian market.
TikTok was downloaded in India 611 million times in this year’s first quarter, equating to 30.3% of its total downloads worldwide in the quarter and nearly double the total number of India downloads for all of 2019, the report quoted another publication, SensorTower, as saying.
The consequences of India’s latest decision could be more long-lasting, analysts told Caixin.
Responding to the Indian government’s move, TikTok said it would fully comply with the decision. ByteDance employs over 2,000 full-time local staff in India.
New Delhi: The national capital on Friday was jolted by tremors of an earthquake. In July, Delhi was hit with a quake for the first time this year.
Earthquake of magnitude 4.5
According to the National Centre for Seismology, the earthquake of magnitude 4.5 had an epicentre 63 km southwest of Gurugram, Haryana. The earthquake struck at 7:00:48 PM IST at a depth of 5 km from the surface.
The shocks lasted for a few seconds.
Tremors were felt across Delhi and in the nearby regions of Noida and Ghaziabad as well.
Earlier earthquakes
On May 29, Delhi was hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 on the Richter Scale with an epicentre in Rohtak, Haryana.
On May 15, Delhi was hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 2.2 on the Richter Scale hit 13km NW of New Delhi and earlier on May 10 a medium-intensity earthquake of magnitude 3.4 had hit the capital with an epicentre near Northeast Delhi’s Wazirpur area.”
The same area was also the epicentres of the earthquakes of magnitudes 3.5 and 2.7 respectively which hit on April 12 and April 13.
Hyderabad: Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali turn out to be COVID-19 conqueror after he was discharged on Friday after recovering from corona virus. He was admitted to the Apollo hospital with Corona symptoms and he proved out to be positive. His, family members rushed him to hospital after he complained of fever last week.
The hospital management discharged him after he recovered from the COVID-19. His son and grand son were too affected with the virus.
Aftre the discharge Home Minister had thanked everyone for their prayers and wishes that resulted in quick recoverey. In a message Mahmood Ali told that there is no need for panic if anyone is get affected with the corona, a good diet,timely medication and confidence could beat the corona virus.
He had advised the public to be cautious, concentrate on personal hygiene and adhere to physical distancing norms.
Earlier other TRS leaders Muttireddy Reddy, Ganesh Gupta, Bajirady Reddy Govardhan, Deputy Speaker T. Padmarao Corona have been affected.
New Delhi: National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-UG (NEET-UG) and Joint Entrance Examination-Main (JEE-Main) exams have been postponed. JEE Main examination will be held from 1st to 6th September whereas, NEET UG exam is scheduled to be held on 13th September.
As per the new schedule, JEE Advanced examination will be held on 27th September.
Earlier dates of NEET UG, JEE Main exams
Earlier, NEET UG was scheduled to be held on 26th July whereas, the scheduled dates for JEE Main exam were 18, 20, 21, 22, and 23 July.
The HRD Ministry has postponed the exams amid coronavirus pandemic.
HRD Minister’s tweet
Union Cabinet Minister for Human Resource Development, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank tweeted, “Keeping in mind the safety of students and to ensure quality education we have decided to postpone #JEE & #NEET examinations. JEE Main examination will be held between 1st-6th Sept, JEE advanced exam will be held on 27th Sept & NEET examination will be held on 13th Sept.”
Keeping in mind the safety of students and to ensure quality education we have decided to postpone #JEE & #NEET examinations. JEE Main examination will be held between 1st-6th Sept, JEE advanced exam will be held on 27th Sept & NEET examination will be held on 13th Sept. pic.twitter.com/klTjtBxvuw
— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 3, 2020
The decision to postponed was announced after receiving the recommendation of a panel constituted by Union HRD minister.
Earlier through social media, e-mails and other means, parents and students have requested HRD Ministry and NTA to postpone the examinations.
Hyderabad: If you are staying at home and you sneeze or feel sore throat then it is not necessary that you are affected with coronavirus. It could be because of some sort of allergy and can be treated easily.
Fear and panic prevail among people due to coronavirus outbreak in the country and around the globe. People are becoming panicky if someone sneezes or coughs near them. But it must be noted that sneeze and cough could also be the symptoms of some sort of allergy if you are confined to home.
4th July is celebrated as Allergy Day. Medical experts say that sneeze should not be linked to COVID-19 because sneeze and cough can develop due to allergy from dust and other things.
Senior pulmonologist Dr Subhakar Kandi told that 4.3 million people die of indoor pollution. They face respiratory problems while being indoors also. He said it is not right to link respiratory problems to coronavirus because there are several patients in the world who face respiratory illness and they are being treated.
But during these COVID times people suffering from respiratory illness are being denied or delayed treatment by linking the symptoms to Covid-19 as a result many such patients are dying.
Dr Kandi further said that people already suffering from respiratory illness or allergy must stay at home as a precaution. They should pay attention towards the treatment prevent any emergency situation.
New Delhi: – An investigation published this week by American news agency Associated Press (AP) has drawn international attention, and condemnation of China. The AP says it has found that the Chinese government is taking draconian measures to slash birth rates among Uighurs and other minorities as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population in the far west region of Xinjiang. The AP further says that Beijing, on the other hand, was encouraging some of the country’s Han majority to have more children.
China has denied the allegations as “baseless”. The Communist government is already facing widespread criticism for holding Uighurs in detention camps. It is believed there are about one million Uighur people and other mostly-Muslim minorities detained in China, in what the government defines as “re-education” camps.
The latest revelation has prompted a global outcry with call for United Nations probe into this “demographic genocide”. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of European, Australian, North American, and Japanese politicians from across the political spectrum, demanded an independent UN investigation.
From India, none other than Rahul Kanwal, the high-profile news anchor of India Today TV, has come forward to highlight the sufferings of Muslim minority in China.
Today, he ran an exclusive 20-minute programme based on AP investigation and a live interview of a German scholar Adrian Zenz who specialises on Xinjiang re-education camps. He is a senior fellow in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Minnesota, US. Based on his own research, Zenz gave a chilling account of the sufferings of Uighur women who are forced to abort and even their uteruses are removed. He called on the world to take appropriate measures to stop this. Kanwal’s programme also referred to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan who in his speech at the United Nations had lectured the West on Islamophobia was but was keeping mum at Chinese atrocities against its Muslim minority.
Fair enough. A journalist must raise his voice whenever and wherever someone is discriminated against. But it should not be selective. This is the same Rahul Kanwal who just three months back became part of a campaign to demonise Muslims in the wake of Tablighi Jamaat episode. He contributed by airing a concocted story on three madrasas of Delhi NCR (National Capital Region) and falsely linking them to Tablighi Jamaat. Later, a fact-check by Newslaundry revealed that whatever claims he made was fake. He “stung” caretakers of the madrasas and claimed that they were violating national lockdown rules. He told his viewers that children were crammed into small rooms where no social distancing norms were being followed. He also claimed that teachers had bribed police to hid children from public glare.
Newslaundry spoke with the three men stung by Kanwal as well as Delhi police officials and found that Kanwal had fabricated the facts. The students of the Madrasas, all from Bihar, were not hiding, they were rather stuck because of the lockdown announced by the prime minister on short notice of just four hours. They had train reservation for April 11, but because of the lockdown declared on March 24 and government directive for students to remain wherever they are, they had no option but to remain in the madrasas.
Madrasas are run on community donations and their students come from poor families. By cornering them at a time of extreme distress he added to their miseries, including endangering their lives. Because of anchors like Kanwal, Muslims faced physical attacks and social boycotts throughout the country.
Now this man is crying foul on the sufferings of Chinese Muslims. Who would believe him? If only he had shown same concerns for Muslims at home.
London: Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father and trainer, Abdulmanap, passed away due to coronavirus complications on Friday at a Moscow hospital aged 57.
According to a report in RT Sport, Abdulmanap suffered a heart attack after being diagnosed with coronavirus. He had fallen ill in late April and tested positive for the deadly virus after being treated at a millitary hospital in Moscow.
“Abdulmanap suffered two strokes, in his heart (a heart attack) and brain,” family friend Ramazan Rabadanov told Russian outlet Championat as per Daily Mail.
“They managed to treat his heart, but not his brain, so he didn’t emerge from a coma. The situation was too serious, it was already too late.
“The doctors did everything they could, they even tried to connect him with the President (Putin), but his condition was too serious.”
Abdulmanap oversaw his son beat every opponent so far inside the octagon as Khabib currently holds a 28-0 record on the circuit.
Khabib’s father had also accompanied him during their meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after he beat Conor McGregor in 2018, which still remains one of the most watched fights in the history of the sport.
Hyderabad: Tomato prices in Hyderabad witnessed a sharp rise due to the dip in supply.
As per the report, a few days ago, the wholesale price of tomato was Rs. 8 per kg. Now, it is being sold at the rate of Rs. 45 per kg in wholesale market and Rs. 50-70 per kg in retail market.
The prices may go up further till the end of the current month.
Reason for rise in tomato prices in Hyderabad
Selection Grade Secretary of the Agricultural Marketing Committee, Bowenpally, Srinivas Lokini said that the prices went up due to decline in supply.
The supply went down due to the fact that the tomato season in Telangana State is between October and March.
Demand responsible for rise in tomato prices in Hyderabad
In order to meet the demand, tomatoes are being procured from the neighbouring states including Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Apart from decline in supply, coronavirus is also responsible for rise in tomato prices in Hyderabad as pandemic has disrupted the supply chain.
Not only in Hyderabad but also in Delhi, the tomato prices increased. In the national capital, its price is Rs. 70 per kg.
Crop failure in the rainy season and the late arrival of tomatoes in the mandis are responsible for the rise in the capital city.
New Delhi: Not all patients with Covid-19 need ventilators. For nearly one hundred days, confirmed cases of Covid-19 in India’s cities were being admitted to hospitals, irrespective of the severity of disease.
This blunder with no clinical justification crushed the entire health systems, doctors said to Indian Express. The hospitals were rendered incapable of caring for tens of thousands of other patients with non-Covid-related diseases.
There are a finite number of possibilities that can occur, when someone is exposed to Covid-19.
Asymptomatics: Of all who get exposed to Covid – 19, most will be asymptomatic: they will show no symptoms, but will continue to spread it.
Presymptomatics, mild: Of the few that are symptomatic, all will first be pre-symptomatic. This is the roughly two-day interval in which they will be contagious, will spread the virus, but will not have developed symptoms. Eventually they will develop one or a combination of the Covid-19 symptoms we recognise: loss of smell or taste, cough, fever, and so on.
Most of these symptomatic cases will only have mild symptoms not in need of any treatment, except what physicians appropriately call “symptomatic management”, with medications to simply manage the fever and cough and body aches. Home remedies may help with some of this although there is no evidence that they alter the course of the disease.
Symptomatics, moderate: Of the remainder, some will develop moderate symptoms, and some will develop severe disease. Only these two categories need sophisticated medical intervention.
Those with moderate symptoms will benefit from oxygen therapy, and “pronation,” which means lying on your belly, instead of your back. Doing so opens up the air chambers in the back of your lungs that are normally collapsed, thereby providing more oxygen to your blood.
For those with moderate severity a principle intervention is oxygen — which can be delivered through a mask and tube connected to a portable oxygen tank. Many people with lung diseases have them at home. There is no clinical justification to take up ICU beds for these patients. They do not need ventilators, or intensive care specialists.
Severe cases: We have observed that the shortness of breath in patients with Covid-19 can progress abruptly, and these patients need ventilators. These breathing machines are highly complex systems that need skilled technicians to run them, and require that patients have a flexible plastic tube advanced into their trachea (windpipe), typically by an anaesthesiologist or emergency physicians or intensivists.
The patients then have to be kept sedated with a precisely dosed intravenous medication an overdose of which can easily kill the patient. And finally, plasma donated from Covid-19 survivors has also played its role.
New Delhi: Literary organisations like Sahitya Academy, Booker Prize or Nobel Prize in Literature should pay attention to what journalist Ravish Kumar is saying these days in his prime time TV show: The ‘writers’ in the ranks of Delhi Police deserve literary awards for the kind of fiction they are producing post-Delhi riots. They are imaginative; they are creative; and they have skill to produce stories that create waves. This is what a writer does and wins accolades for. The capital’s policemen must not be denied their due, people say.
Those who raised provocative slogans gave ultimatums to police and incited people to attack a particular community have been left untouched and even provided police protection. But those who suffered at the hands of rioters, those who came to the rescue of victims, provided them relief and shelter and treated the injured free of cost have been booked by police under stringent laws.
To justify their injustices meted out to the riot victims, it is alleged that the police are using their imagination and creating fiction. Details of the cases coming to us through media reports are shocking and hilarious as well. Latest in the series is a report in today’s Indian Express. It says a scrutiny of the confessional statements of those booked reveals a pattern: Nine of the 12 accused have statements near identical — words and sentences are repeated ad verbatim. Three of the remaining accused have distinct statements where they talk of how they got a pistol and one admits that he started “indiscriminate firing on Hindus.” These statements, recorded under Section 161 Cr PC and attached in the charge sheet, are not substantive evidence but can be used to corroborate or contradict evidence during the trial. The charge sheet has been filed in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Karkardooma, says the Express.
Matching statements of four
The newspaper has given matching statements of four accused, Azad (24), Rashid/Monu (20), Ashraf Ali (29) and Mohd Faizal (20), related to riots in northeast Delhi’s Seelampur locality:
Azad: “In the last few days, there were protests against CAA and NRC; my friends told me those who don’t have evidence (to prove citizenship) will be evicted from the country. On the basis of this, on 24 February, in Seelampur, riots had begun; and slowly it spread across Jamnapar. At around 2-3 pm, many people started gathering at Shiv Vihar Tiraha and started pelting stones at Hindu houses. Hindus also started pelting stones at us; this went on for quite a long time.”
“….At Mustafabad, many people had gathered and stated that Muslims will be evicted from the country and today we have to show them the strength of Muslims. Along with the entire crowd, I also got carried away by what the crowd was saying…The crowd gathered at Shiv Vihar, where Hindu pelted stones at us, we threw stones at them. From our side, the crowd was sloganeering: kill them, we will not leave the Kaafirs today. I got carried away and started pelting stones. I continued to pelt stones for a long time.” “…After this, the crowd started climbing onto the godown of Anil Sweet shop and Rajdhani School and indulged in stone pelting. I returned to my house in the night and stayed there. I committed a mistake, please forgive me.”
Monu: “In the last few days, there were protests against CAA and NRC; my friends told me those who don’t have evidence (to prove citizenship) will be evicted from the country. On the basis of this, on 24 February, in Seelampur, riots had begun; and slowly it spread across Jamnapar. At around 2-3 pm, many people started gathering at Shiv Vihar Tiraha and started pelting stones at Hindu houses. Hindus also started pelting stones at us; this went on for quite a long time.” “….At Mustafabad, many people had gathered and stated that Muslims will be evicted from the country and today we have to show them the strength of Muslims. Along with the entire crowd, I also got carried away by what the crowd was saying…The crowd gathered at Shiv Vihar, where Hindu pelted stones at us, we threw stones at them. From our side, the crowd was sloganeering: kill them, we will not leave the Kaafirs today. I got carried away and started pelting stones. I continued to pelt stones for a long time.” “…After this, the crowd started climbing onto the godown of Anil Sweet shop and Rajdhani School and indulged in stone pelting. I returned home after 7-8 hours and stayed there. I committed a mistake, please forgive me.”
All these sentences are repeated, ad verbatim, in the confession statements of Ashraf Ali and Mohd Faisal.
Matching excerpts for two
Similar is the pattern in the confessionalal statements of Mohammed Shoeb (22) and Shahrukh (24) related to the riots in the Jafrabad locality.
Shoeb: “There were protests against CAA and NRC; my friends told me those who don’t have evidence (to prove citizenship) will be evicted from the country. On the basis of this, on 24 February, in Jafrabad, riots had begun; and slowly it spread across Jamnapar,” “…At around 3 pm, many people started gathering at Shiv Vihar Tiraha and started pelting stones at Hindu houses.”
“…At Mustafabad, many people gathered and started saying Muslims will be evicted from the country, and today we have to show them the strength of Muslims. I also started sloganeering and others who were with me also started sloganeering against the Hindus. After this, the entire crowd, started sloganeering, to set fire, throw out the kaafirs and Naare Takbir, Allah Hu Akbar; and started throwing marbles and stones using a slingshot at Hindu houses.”
Shahrukh: “There were protests against CAA and NRC; my friends told me those who don’t have evidence (to prove citizenship) will be evicted from the country. On the basis of this, on 24 February, in Jafrabad, riots had begun; and slowly it spread across Jamnapar,” “…At around 3 pm, many people started gathering at Shiv Vihar Tiraha and started pelting stones at Hindu houses.”
“…At Mustafabad, many people gathered and started saying Muslims will be evicted from the country, and today we have to show them the strength of Muslims. I also started sloganeering and others who were with me also started sloganeering against the Hindus. After this, the entire crowd, started sloganeering, to set fire, throw out the kaafirs and Naare Takbir, Allah Hu Akbar; and started throwing marbles and stones using a slingshot at Hindu houses.”
Matching excerpts for three
The statements of Tahir (38), Parvez (34) and Rashid (22), constitute a similar matching set, identical to the statements above with a minor addition.
Tahir: “In the last few days, there were protests against CAA and NRC; my friends and experts told me that those who don’t have evidence (to prove citizenship) will be evicted from the country. On the basis of this, on 24 February, in Jafrabad riots had begun; and slowly it spread across Jamnapar…” “…At around 3 pm, many people started gathering at Shiv Vihar Tiraha and started pelting stones at Hindu houses.”
“…At Mustafabad, many people had gathered and started telling that Muslims will be evicted from the country, and today we have to show them the strength of Muslims. After this, the entire crowd, started sloganeering, to set fire, throw out the kaafirs and Naare Takbir, Allah Hu Akbar; and started throwing marbles and stones using a slingshot at Hindu houses.”
These paragraphs from Tahir’s statement are repeated ad verbatim in the confessional statements of both Parvez and Rashid. The statements differ in the weapons used. Azad and Ashraf Ali said they had a “wooden balla”; Monu said he had an “iron rod;” Faizal claimed he had a “stick.” Shoeb, Shahrukh, Tahir, Parvez, and Rashid claimed that they had “stored” lathis at their homes.
NEW DELHI: “I am scared that these people will kill me and my family like they killed my father. I am mustering all my strength to register this complaint. I request you that legal action be taken against the accused and me and my family be given protection,” Sahil Parvez wrote on 19 March in a complaint at the Idgah relief camp set up in the aftermath of the northeast Delhi riots.
At the time of his father’s death on 25 February, the FIR only had section 302 of the IPC (murder) attached, however after Sahil’s detailed complaint, which he claims were not paid heed to earlier, relevant sections were added to the existing FIR. Consequently, over twenty men were questioned and 16 arrested from North Ghonda.
The Quint has confirmed these sixteen accused were either active members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), post-holders (zimmedaar), or had visited the local shakha on and off.
Parvez’s father’s (on the left) with members of his neighbourhood. His son Sahil says his father was working with two NGOs. (Photo: The Quint)
They were all arrested on charges of murder (Section 302), rioting (Section 147), rioting armed with deadly weapon (Section 148), being part of an unlawful assembly (Section 149) and criminal conspiracy (Section 120 B) on 9 April, the relatives of the accused and the lawyer of the victim confirmed to The Quint. The charge sheet in the case has also been filed.
This reporter spoke to the victim and assessed the complaints as well as the FIR. We also reached out to the RSS for their side of the story. The Sangh has claimed they are being targeted and the police probe shows that ‘neither did they make an attempt to ascertain the facts nor did they take any action against the Muslims involved in the riots.’ A detailed statement from the RSS side is also a part of this story.
24 and 25 February: Petrol bombs, bullets and abuses
In the complaint from 19 March, which bares the Bhajanpura police station stamp of receipt, Parvez has detailed two days of violence in his locality in north east Delhi on 24 and 25 February. He says that the violence started on 24 February at around 12:00 noon when people in the area began screaming slogans like ‘Mulle, ka**e murdabaad, Kapil Mishra zindabaad, ‘desh ke gaddaro ko goli maaro saalon ko’.
Upon hearing all this, Parvez saw some of the accused outside the street armed with lathis, sticks, guns, iron rods, swords and petrol bombs.
He goes on to say: Till late at night these people were constantly attacking the homes of Muslims with petrol bombs, stones and bullets. They also kept abusing us all night. Those who were trying to go out to reason with them and try to bring peace to the area, these men would also attack them.
(Photo: Screenshot of the violence in north Ghonda area on 24 and 25 February night)
Sahil witnessed his father being killed
Writing about the evening where his father was shot, Sahil says:
In the evening at around 7:00 pm (the next day on 25 February) when me and my father went out to offer prayers, in the street ahead of us outside Sushil, Jaiveer, Devesh Mishra (gali 8) and Naresh Tyagi were standing with swords, guns and sticks in their hand. When he saw my father, Sushil shot bullets towards us. My father fell on the floor and I ran to save my life.
He claims that from a distance he saw Devesh and Jaiveer come close to his father, kick him and take things out of his pocket. ‘They kept screaming that today they will not let us stay alive,’ he wrote.
RSS members say ‘targeted for their ideology’
After a day long interrogation on 9 April, 22 people were called to an SIT Crime Branch office in Dwarka, out of which 16 were finally arrested.
Devesh Mishra, who has been named by Parvez in his complaint, has not been arrested or charge sheeted yet. He has been working with the Sangh since 1996 and for the last eight years has been the Yamuna Vihar district in-charge for the RSS. Recently he was moved to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and is now their district vice president.
He told The Quint, “People are being targeted here. All of those who were targeted are connected by the same ideology.” Explaining why he has not been arrested, despite being named, Mishra said that he was not in Delhi from 23 to 27 February, “I was in Etawah with my family and I can prove it,” he said.
When this reporter reached out to Sahil regarding this, he said, “I saw the man (Devesh Mishra) with my own eyes and I have written what I saw. I believe in the law. Despite being discouraged by people saying that nothing will happen, I have written everything in this complaint at a huge personal risk.”
Another person named in the complaint, but not arrested, is Subhash Tyagi. When asked if the accused were related to the Sangh, he said, “We do keep in touch with people from the Hindu community as where we stay, there is one side where the Muslim community lives and on the other side the Hindu community lives. Is it wrong to be related to the Sangh? They are not criminals. They do good work and think about the development of the country.”
When asked how Devesh and Subhash were related to the Sangh, Devesh explained, “VHP, where I am now, is a part of the RSS. Since 1996 I worked for the Sangh, then later, I was asked to take responsibility of the VHP in the district. Just like Subhash Tyagi was sent to Hindu Manch after a while.”
While Devesh was not arrested, two of Subhash’s brothers are among the sixteen who have been arrested. “My brothers Uttam Tyagi and Naresh Tyagi were arrested by the police on 9 April. We are trying to see now what we can do, people from a particular ideology are being targeted,” he said.
The 16 accused who are members of the Sangh
“All the innocent accused are active workers of the RSS,” an RSS functionary has told The Quint in a detailed response to the allegations, mentioned at the end of this story.
Devesh and Subhash also explained to this reporter how the sixteen accused were related to the RSS.
Starting from Subhash’s real brothers, Uttam Tyagi and Naresh Tyagi, this reporter was told how Uttam had responsibilities in the Sangh, has been a long time pracharak and would give a lot of his time to their activities, while Naresh Tyagi, his second brother was also regular and an active member.
Another accused, Hariom Mishra, had the responsibility to conduct a shakha every morning in north Ghonda. While the fourth accused, Rajpal Tyagi, was a mathematics teacher and used to regular visit the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Park shakha every morning. “He was not given more responsibilities as he was a teacher and only had so much time,” Devesh explained.
We have covered four accused till now.
Now among those who were active and regular members of the Sangh, along with their families, are Pawan (son of Mohanlal), Suresh Pandit, Sonu alias Amit Sharma (son of Om Prakash Sharma) and S Maheshwari (son of Chandra Maheshwari bijliwale). This brings us to eight.
Other than that brothers Atul Chauhan and Virendra Chauhan, Deepak Kumar, Sushil and Uttam Mishra were all people who visited the RSS Shakha on and off and especially helped campaign for the BJP during the elections, Devesh confirmed. These constitute the thirteen.
The remaining three include Jaiveer Tomar and Chiranjeev. Both were supporters of the Sangh and their ideology, while the third, Sandeep Chawla, they said was not regular in the circles of the Sangh. In a statement given to The Quint, an RSS functionary has confirmed that all 16 are members of the RSS.
Devesh lashed out at RSS, VHP, Hindu Jagran Manch
(Photo: The Quint)
Getting furious at the inaction of the state-level workers of the RSS, VHP, Hindu Manch, BJP MLAs, MPs, Mishra had written a Facebook post on 25 April where he said, “It has been sixteen days since innocent sixteen swayamsevaks, when will the representatives of the Sangh wake up?”
In another post written around 20 May, Devesh said that 16 innocent Hindus were being jailed and these workers or elected representatives do not care about them.
These innocent men have been jailed but ‘those who claim to protect the interests of Hindus, the RSS, VHP, Hindu Jagran Manch, BJP leaders have turned a blind eye,’ the post read.
Speaking about how he has been a swayamsevak since 1996, Mishra said, “Today I am very sad looking at the way the RSS representatives are behaving.” He also asked, “How can the members of the Sangh who call us their family eat or sleep? When in our families, one or two-odd people are lodged in jail.”
The post reads: “If the Sangh’s leadership tries and talks to Amit Shah directly, the 16 innocent men will be released.”
Threats from everywhere
While the investigation into Parvez’s complaint was still going on, the arguments on the charge are yet to take place. Speaking to this reporter from his native village, he says he is being pressurized to withdraw his complaint.
In the 19 March complaint, he had reiterated the same fears. He wrote: “They told me that if I open my mouth then my entire family will be killed with bullets. They said if I go to the police, they will know in a minute. I am scared that these people will kill me and my family like they did to my father. I request you that legal action be taken against the accused and me and my family be given protection.”
Sahil has said his father was a known person in the locality who would often help people in need. (Photo: The Quint)
Then again in a letter dated 16 May, also accessed by The Quint, Parvez wrote that many of the accused he named were still not arrested.
“I gave a written complaint with names regarding my father’s death. However till now many of the people have not been arrested. They are threatening to kill me. They are saying that I must write that I made a mistake in giving these names and that I cannot recognise the accused. They also claim to have close proximity with the police department and home ministry,” he wrote.
RSS says conspiracy to drive Hindus away, VHP says focus on Muslims
While the 16 accused are members of the Sangh, the one current VHP post holder, Devesh Mishra, has not been arrested as yet.
The Quint reached to a senior RSS Delhi functionary who sent a three-page response to the allegations. Some of the excerpts are:
“This action by crime branch inspector Richpal Singh Meena and Bhajanpura SHO RS Meena is a conspiracy against workers associated with the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.”
They go on to narrate 16 points of which some are being added here (read the full response and its translation at the end of the article):
During the inquiry, Sushil Nayan who was summoned to the Crime Branch, was offered Rs 2 Lakh by Inspector Richpal Singh Meena to give testimony against the other accused.
A conspiracy was hatched to frame Devesh Mishra in the murder of Parvez Alam even though he was away from Delhi along with his family in Etawah between 23 and 27 February. This proves that 16 Swayamsevaks of the Sangh are being framed in this manner.
All the innocent Hindus framed in this case are from prominent and socially respectable families. Due to this, IO Richpal Singh Meena has framed them after taking money from Muslims.
All the innocent accused are active workers of the RSS.
Behind the targeting of Sangh workers, there is a pre-planned conspiracy by the Muslim community to create an atmosphere of fear against the Hindu community so that they can be driven away, because this is a Muslim majority area.
The behaviour of IO Richpal Singh Meena and Bhajanpur SHO RS Meena proves that they suffer from a bias against the RSS ideology and Hindutva. Because neither did they make an attempt to ascertain the facts nor did they take any action against the Muslims involved in the riots.
This reporter has reached out to special commissioner of police (crime) Praveer Ranjan, Delhi Police PRO MS Randhawa and Inspector RS Meena for a response. We also told then we can send them a copy of the allegations for a response. This copy will be updated as and when they respond.
Speaking to The Quint regarding Mishra’s case, Vishwa Hindu Parishad international Joint General Secretary Surendra Kumar Jain said, “I feel like you are dragging Devesh’s name unnecessarily in the case. The policemen have themselves interrogated and let him go. If the complainant takes anyone’s name, and till the time the person is not hung to death, only then will the secular people of the country breathe easy. I find it shocking, that when the police has let him go, then why only on the basis of the complaint is this happening? Then you also forget the nature of the riots that happened. How Muslims were brought from Deoband and western Uttar Pradesh to burn and kill people. I feel you should concentrate on this instead.”
The full statement by the functionary of the RSS:
RSS functionary’s response
The points that have not been mentioned in the sub-head above have been mentioned in this translation here, ensuring the response is carried in full.
Sir, regarding the Northeast Delhi riots of 24-25 February, I would like to draw your attention to the police action against innocent Hindus due to the connivance of Dwarka Crime Branch Inspector Richpal Singh and SHO Bhajanpura police station. This action by crime branch inspector Richpal Singh Meena and Bhajanpura SHO Richpal Singh Meena is a conspiracy against workers associated with the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
For example:
Crime Branch Inspector Richpal Singh Meena and Bhajanpura SHO Richpal Singh Meena made the make-shift office of the crime branch at the residence of Anees Malik, who is accused in the 2008 riots and the 24-25 February riots, and Pappu Malik. Because of this, they hatched a conspiracy against the people of RSS.
Subhash Tyagi Ji was unwell from 25 and 28 February, he was also troubled in this matter.
During those days, the 16 people who are being framed, their own homes, shops and cars were set on fire by Muslim rioters.
The identity of the Muslim rioters has been disclosed to the police through photos and videos but no action has been taken against them as yet. This proves that Inspector Richpal Singh Meena has extorted a lot of money from Muslim rioters.
Inspector Richpal Singh Meena summoned a large number of people to come for inquiry but let them go after taking money from them.
There are discrepancies in the charge sheet (in the name of providing relief). From many people, including Pawan’s father and Amit Sharma’s father, the IO took a a huge amount of money.
Due to the connivance of IO Richpal Singh Meena and SHO Bhajanpura, an FIR was filed against Sushil Nayan to present him as guilty.
IO Richpal Singh Meena has used only phone locations to frame 16 workers of the RSS. (All of their homes are nearby).
Not once did IO Richpal Singh Meena try to verify that just as Devesh Mishra is being framed, whether it is true that the 16 RSS karyakartas are also innocent.
IO Richpal Singh Meena, despite not having any solid evidence (footage or video), has framed innocent people.
Hyderabad: Osmania University colleges will remain closed till July 31. These include all the campus, constituent, district post-graduate colleges and affiliated colleges of the Osmania University. Reopening of the colleges will be considered only after July 31.
The decision to extend closure of educational institutions, including libraries till July 31 has been taken following the instructions from the State government.
In the light of central government’s decision and the recommendation of advisory committee of Human Resource Development ministry, all the on-campus colleges and other educational institutions affiliated to the university under its jurisdictions, including libraries will not function till July 31.
Osmania University administration told that hostels and mess of the university will also remain closed during the period.
Reopening of the colleges will be considered by the ministry after taking stock of the coronavirus situation in the month of July.
The ministry is said to have sought suggestions and solutions from the authorities regarding the steps to be taken if the situations doesn’t become normal and the sources that could be used to continue the studies.
Hyderabad: Coronavirus has now entered Pragathi Bhavan – the official residence of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Five employees working in Pragathi Bhavan have tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, July 2. Pragathi Bhavan is the official residence of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
The employees reportedly developed COVID-19 symptoms following which they underwent coronavirus tests and were found positive for the virus. Pragathi Bhavan was immediately sanitised after the matter came to light.
Meanwhile CM KCR is staying at his Gajwel house along with his family members. Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali also tested positive for COVID-19 and underwent treatment at Apollo Hospital. He has been now kept in 14-day home quarantine. Earlier, Telangana Deputy Speaker Padma Rao Goud also tested positive for COVID-19.
Besides three Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLAs also contracted coronavirus.
According to another source, at least 20 employees working in Pragathi Bhavan, including security personnel and outsourcing staff contracted the virus in the last one week.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected almost all the government offices. It hit the BRKR Bhavan which houses the GHMC office, Metro Rail Bhavan, Hajj House which houses Waqf Board and other minority institutions.
New Delhi: The joint secretary of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Krishna Gopal will be holding a meeting on July 17 in New Delhi. He will be addressing more than 600 candidates who have successfully passed civil services exams trained by Sampkalp (training institute).
14 Samkalp across country
RSS has 14 Samkalp across the country, three of them are in New Delhi. Among the candidates who are UPSC toppers are Tina Dabi of Delhi and Athar Aamir of Anantnag.
Prakash, the coordinator at Samkalp says the success rate of their candidates is high. He adds that Dabi and Aamir came to Samkalp after passing Union Public Service Commission’s written exam. They were trained at Samkalp for mock interviews for the final leg of UPSC examination. He further states that interview is the last and the most decisive stage of the examination, and Samkalp has the best staff to guide and train. Reported The Economic Times.
Among Samkalp’s mentors and advisers are former governors, retired IFS officers, IAS officers and retired Generals. There is a list of their well-wishers on their website.
“Now each state and cadre has civil servants who owe their success to Samkalp. In the next 10 years, we hope to have a bureaucracy that will genuinely contribute to nation-building with true Indian values and ethos. This is what we are working towards,” an RSS leader said. He and other RSS leaders did not want to be identified. The Economic Times has reported.
646 out of 1078 got coaching at Samkalp
The Economic Times further added that according Samkalp’s coordinator “60% successful candidates were associated” with the institute. Out of the total of 1,078 candidates who were short listed this year 646 got coaching at Samkalp at some stage of the examination or the other.
The coordinator also claimed that of the top 100 candidates about 76 were associated with Samkalp. He also asserted 5,000 serving bureaucrats had been coached by Samkalp in some form.
Hyderabad: Blaming private labs for the sharp rise in the number of positive cases in Telangana, the state government has temporarily suspended private laboratories from undertaking COVID-19 tests.
Earlier the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had permitted 18 private laboratories and 10 government-run laboratories to conduct Covid-19 diagnostic tests in Hyderabad.
Telangana government accusing certain private labs of contaminating the samples and noting disparity in numbers, suspended private labs to temporarily suspend Covid-19 tests. They were also accused of violating the testing protocols and lacking infrastructure. The team set up by the government to conduct inspection reportedly detected major discrepancies in handling of Covid-19 tests.
Telangana on Friday recorded the highest-ever single day Covid-19 positive cases of 1,892 that took the total tally to 20,462 positives to date.
New Delhi: A growing number of cases of gangs luring businessmen into honey traps and then extorting money are being reported in Delhi-NCR. Several active gangs have been busted by the Delhi and Gurugram Police during the nationwide lockdown period.
19-year-old girl lodged sexual assault case
In a recent case, when a 19-year-old girl came to the Krishna Nagar police station in Shahdara district and lodged a sexual assault case against a local businessman, the cops didn’t find any reason to suspect her. They registered the case and apprehended the accused. However, during the course of the investigation, the police got suspicious of the victim as her statements had inconsistencies.
Later, during the investigation, it was revealed that the victim was demanding money from the son of the accused. The police team then started working on different angles, including the possibility of the man being honey trapped, and the girl being a part of a racket. The police questioned the victim about her family and residence. She introduced a woman as her elder sister and provided an address to the police.
“When we inquired further, we got to know that the victim has no siblings. The team got suspicious and the so called sister was interrogated thoroughly. During sustained interrogation, she confessed that the victim is not her sister. She further confessed that she along with two others hatched a criminal conspiracy to trap the businessman of Gandhi Nagar in a sexual harassment case to extort money,” said Amit Sharma, DCP Shahdara.
According to the police, as per the plan she introduced herself as Priya to the businessman and another girl introduced herself as the sister of Priya and they both trapped the businessman after exchanging numbers.
“They demanded Rs 20 lakh to settle the case and extorted Rs five lakh in advance to become hostile in the court,” the officer said.
Two other associates were also arrested and they both confessed that they registered similar cases against different people in various police stations of Delhi following the same modus operandi.
Complaints of extortion
In a second case in Jagatpuri, a couple was arrested after two complaints of extortion reached the police station.
In one case, the man and a 24-year-old woman entered the office of a businessman and demanded Rs 10,000 per month failing which they threatened to implicate him in a false case of sexual assault. The deal was set at Rs 2,500 per month. But the businessman approached police. The same couple then trapped a share market employee and demanded money from him to settle the case. Both the accused, Prakash Mandal and the woman, have been arrested.
Honey trap rackets
The honey trap racket seems to have spread wide in the NCR. Not just Delhi, similar cases have been reported in adjoining Gurugram also.
In June, two men were arrested from the Gadoli Khurd village in Gurugram’s sector 10 for their alleged involvement in honey trapping several real estate agents in the city and Delhi.
The people involved in the racket seem to exploit the victim’s fear of loss of reputation. Many do not even approach the police and end up paying extortion amounts to the honey trap gangs.
