News Analysis India

Tag: arrested

  • ‘Arrested without proper investigation’: RJD MP Manoj Jha on interim bail to Kejriwal

    Hailing the Supreme Court verdict granting interim bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, RJD MP Manoj Jha on Saturday said he was ‘happy’ with the reprieve for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as he was arrested without a ‘proper investigation’.

    Speaking to on Saturday, the RJD leader said, “He (Kejriwal) was arrested without a proper investigation just as (former Jharkhand CM) Hemant Soren-ji and several others. We are happy that he was granted (interim) bail and allowed to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. If he (Hemant Soren) gets bail, they (BJP) will be wiped out of Jharkhand as well.”

    Earlier, on Saturday, the Delhi CM was granted interim bail after 50 days of incarceration at the Tihar jail following his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in the excise policy case. The AAP supremo was arrested on March 21, after several hours of questioning.The Delhi CM was granted a 22-day reprieve, till June 1, on the condition that he shall not visit the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) or the Secretariat. AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther StatesAs per the court order, Kejriwal was asked to furnish bail bonds of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the same amount. He was asked to surrender on June 2, which coincides with the final day of polling for the 18th Lok Sabha.While granting Kejriwal interim bail, the apex court said he would not interact with any of the witnesses or have access to official files connected with the case.He also can’t “make any comment with regard to his role” in the present case, the bench ordered.The bench also made it clear that the grant of interim bail will not be treated as an expression of its opinion on the merits of the case or the criminal appeal which is pending for its consideration.

    Earlier, in April, AAP MP Sanjay Singh was released on bail from Tihar jail in the liquor policy case following an order by the apex court. Singh was released after spending over six months in jail in connection with the case.

  • Rahul Gandhi to be arrested after Lok Sabha elections: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, against whom an FIR has been registered here on the charge of instigating violence will be arrested after the Lok Sabha elections, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday. The Assam police suo motu registered the FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and several other leaders for “wanton acts of violence” here during the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ on Tuesday.

    ”We have filed an FIR. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) will conduct the investigation and he (Gandhi) will be arrested after the Lok Sabha elections”, Sarma said on the sidelines of a programme at Nazira in Sibsagar district.

    The Lok Sabha elections are due within a few months in the country. Director General of Police G P Singh said that the case has been transferred to the Assam CID for a thorough investigation through an SIT to be constituted by the Additional Director General of Police (CID).

    Sarma had instructed the DGP to register a case against Gandhi for provoking the crowd to break barricades in an attempt to enter Guwahati city during the Yatra on Tuesday leading to a scuffle with the police in which some senior Congress leaders, including the state party President Bhupen Bora and leader of opposition in the state assembly, and four police personnel were injured.

    The FIR was filed against Congress leaders under IPC sections that deal with criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, rioting, assault or criminal force to deter public servants from discharging their duty, damaging public property and others.

  • Maha: 111 people arrested during protest against refinery; Sena (UBT) says stop ‘atrocities’ 

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Police on Tuesday arrested 111 people, most of them women, during a protest against a proposed oil refinery at Barsu village in Maharashtra’s coastal Ratnagiri district, an official said.

    More than 100 women were among the protesters who tried to block a road in Barsu and Solgaon areas of the district, around 400km from Mumbai, by lying on the ground to stop government vehicles from entering the proposed site of the refinery, he said.

    The protesters were booked under IPC sections related to unlawful assembly, rioting, disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant, wrongful restraint and relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act, the official said, adding they will be produced before a court at Rajapur town in Ratnagiri district on Wednesday.

    Local residents fear the mega project will adversely affect the fragile biodiversity of the coastal Konkan region and also hit their livelihood.

    The Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) came out in their support and demanded an immediate end to “atrocities” against protesters.

    A government team was scheduled to conduct a survey at the site in Barsu and Solgaon areas of Rajapur, on Monday, but locals started staging protests, the official said.

    During the protest, women lay on the ground to prevent vehicles of the district administration and police from entering the areas, he said.

    Considering the law and order situation, hundreds of police personnel were deployed at the project site, the official said.

    Ratnagiri Superintendent of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni and other senior police officials were at the spot to avoid any untoward incident, he said.

    Opposition leader Ajit Pawar of the NCP earlier in the day demanded that protests by locals against the refinery project be handled sensitively and urged that the state government stop the survey work till a peaceful solution was found.

    Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut demanded an immediate end to “atrocities” against locals and asserted his party will not sit quietly on the issue and back the people.

    Talking to reporters, Raut alleged the protesters were being pressurised by Industries Minister Uday Samant with the help of police.

    “This is a government with a perverse mentality. They want a Jallianwala Bagh-like massacre. We are with people and the Shiv Sena (UBT) will not sit quiet,” Raut said.

    He said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde thinks he is a “messiah” of the poor, but has left on a three-day “leave” in a helicopter, a reference to the CM going to his hometown in Satara district.

    Shinde should instead take the helicopter to Barsu and meet the protesters there, said the Rajya Sabha member.

    Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former minister Aaditya Thackeray said, “The government should stop atrocities on people and also the soil survey.”

    The former state environment minister said the government should start a dialogue with the agitating local residents.

    The previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had put some conditions before giving a nod to the project which included taking the locals into confidence and explaining the details of the venture and its benefits, Thackeray said.

    MUMBAI: Police on Tuesday arrested 111 people, most of them women, during a protest against a proposed oil refinery at Barsu village in Maharashtra’s coastal Ratnagiri district, an official said.

    More than 100 women were among the protesters who tried to block a road in Barsu and Solgaon areas of the district, around 400km from Mumbai, by lying on the ground to stop government vehicles from entering the proposed site of the refinery, he said.

    The protesters were booked under IPC sections related to unlawful assembly, rioting, disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant, wrongful restraint and relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act, the official said, adding they will be produced before a court at Rajapur town in Ratnagiri district on Wednesday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Local residents fear the mega project will adversely affect the fragile biodiversity of the coastal Konkan region and also hit their livelihood.

    The Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) came out in their support and demanded an immediate end to “atrocities” against protesters.

    A government team was scheduled to conduct a survey at the site in Barsu and Solgaon areas of Rajapur, on Monday, but locals started staging protests, the official said.

    During the protest, women lay on the ground to prevent vehicles of the district administration and police from entering the areas, he said.

    Considering the law and order situation, hundreds of police personnel were deployed at the project site, the official said.

    Ratnagiri Superintendent of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni and other senior police officials were at the spot to avoid any untoward incident, he said.

    Opposition leader Ajit Pawar of the NCP earlier in the day demanded that protests by locals against the refinery project be handled sensitively and urged that the state government stop the survey work till a peaceful solution was found.

    Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut demanded an immediate end to “atrocities” against locals and asserted his party will not sit quietly on the issue and back the people.

    Talking to reporters, Raut alleged the protesters were being pressurised by Industries Minister Uday Samant with the help of police.

    “This is a government with a perverse mentality. They want a Jallianwala Bagh-like massacre. We are with people and the Shiv Sena (UBT) will not sit quiet,” Raut said.

    He said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde thinks he is a “messiah” of the poor, but has left on a three-day “leave” in a helicopter, a reference to the CM going to his hometown in Satara district.

    Shinde should instead take the helicopter to Barsu and meet the protesters there, said the Rajya Sabha member.

    Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former minister Aaditya Thackeray said, “The government should stop atrocities on people and also the soil survey.”

    The former state environment minister said the government should start a dialogue with the agitating local residents.

    The previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had put some conditions before giving a nod to the project which included taking the locals into confidence and explaining the details of the venture and its benefits, Thackeray said.

  • Liquor smuggler held with 56 boxes of liquor in UP

    By PTI

    BALLIA: Police here have arrested one liquor smuggler and recovered 56 boxes of liquor from a truck going to Bihar, police said on Monday.

    According to the police, the arrest was made on Sunday during the checking of vehicles near Pipardhala village, when 56 boxes (peti) of liquor were recovered from the mini-truck.

    The arrested person has been identified as Amajeet Yadav, a resident of Patna, who has been sent to jail.

    SHO of Kotwali police station Rajiv Singh said that the liquor was going from Ghazipur district (in UP) to Bihar.

    BALLIA: Police here have arrested one liquor smuggler and recovered 56 boxes of liquor from a truck going to Bihar, police said on Monday.

    According to the police, the arrest was made on Sunday during the checking of vehicles near Pipardhala village, when 56 boxes (peti) of liquor were recovered from the mini-truck.

    The arrested person has been identified as Amajeet Yadav, a resident of Patna, who has been sent to jail.

    SHO of Kotwali police station Rajiv Singh said that the liquor was going from Ghazipur district (in UP) to Bihar.

  • Man stalks Mumbai-based web series actor on her social media platforms, held

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: A 35-year-old man was arrested in suburban Andheri for allegedly stalking and harassing a 26-year-old web series actor on her social media platforms, police said on Monday.

    The actor, who worked in web series in Hindi and Bengali, has been facing the harassment for the last few months, a police official said.

    While interacting with her fans through live streaming on a social media platform recently, the actor had received obscene messages from an unidentified person, he said.

    She blocked the person on the platform but he started sending messages on her Instagram account. After a few days, he started tagging her and her husband with defamatory content on Twitter too, the official added.

    The accused person recently obtained the contact number of the actor and started to call her and also sent her text messages, the official said, adding he also stalked her in person.

    The actor approached DN Nagar police station and filed a complaint. The police registered a case and arrested the accused on Sunday, he said.

    MUMBAI: A 35-year-old man was arrested in suburban Andheri for allegedly stalking and harassing a 26-year-old web series actor on her social media platforms, police said on Monday.

    The actor, who worked in web series in Hindi and Bengali, has been facing the harassment for the last few months, a police official said.

    While interacting with her fans through live streaming on a social media platform recently, the actor had received obscene messages from an unidentified person, he said.

    She blocked the person on the platform but he started sending messages on her Instagram account. After a few days, he started tagging her and her husband with defamatory content on Twitter too, the official added.

    The accused person recently obtained the contact number of the actor and started to call her and also sent her text messages, the official said, adding he also stalked her in person.

    The actor approached DN Nagar police station and filed a complaint. The police registered a case and arrested the accused on Sunday, he said.

  • 30 Tana Bhagat tribals arrested, sent to jail for violence in Latehar civil court

    By PTI

    LATEHAR: Thirty persons belonging to the Tana Bhagat tribal community were arrested and sent to jail custody on Tuesday for the violent protest at Latehar civil court in Jharkhand after police registered a named FIR against total 228 people, police said.

    An FIR was also registered against 300 unknown persons in connection with the incident in which the police were brickbatted and 17 personnel were injured, the chief judge gheraoed for five hours and the entry and exit gates of the court blocked by the protesters.

    The secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Tana Bhagat Committee, Bahadur Tana Bhagat and its leaders Rajendra Tana Bhagat, Manoj Kumar Minz, Dharamdeo Bhagat, Dhaneshwar Toppo and Ajit Minz were among the accused named in the FIR for inciting the people, police inspector Amit Kumar said here.

    A strong police contingent remains deployed in and around the court as well as district collectorate to maintain law and order, he said.

    Besides, police is keeping strict vigil on all strategic points of the district headquarter town apprehending that Tana Bhagats may enter it again, Kumar said.

    Police had seized 22 motorcycles on Monday from the spot in naxalite-affected Latehar, about 110 kms from Jharkhand capital Ranchi after the incident, Kumar said.

    Trouble broke out on Monday when a 500-strong armed mob gheraoed the court for five hours accusing the district administration of ignoring constitutional provisions and demanded restoration of traditional rule as Latehar is under the 5th schedule of the Constitution.

    They brickbatted the police when its personnel tried to vacate the premises.

    The protestors also broke the door frame metal detector at the office of district judge in the court premises, he said.

    The police had closed the main entrance to the court based on an intelligence input but the protestors forced their way through the small gate beside the main entrance.

    Apart from Kumar, 16 police personnel including a sub-inspector, two assistant sub-inspector and three women constables were injured in the brickbatting by the tribals.

    This led to the police to burst tear gas shells and use the water canon to disperse the violent protestors.

    The protestors, who are activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Tana Bhagat Committee, claimed that the functioning of courts and employment and entry of outsiders in Latehar district is prohibited under the 5th schedule and threatened to continue their agitation till the demand for implementation of their traditional system was met.

    LATEHAR: Thirty persons belonging to the Tana Bhagat tribal community were arrested and sent to jail custody on Tuesday for the violent protest at Latehar civil court in Jharkhand after police registered a named FIR against total 228 people, police said.

    An FIR was also registered against 300 unknown persons in connection with the incident in which the police were brickbatted and 17 personnel were injured, the chief judge gheraoed for five hours and the entry and exit gates of the court blocked by the protesters.

    The secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Tana Bhagat Committee, Bahadur Tana Bhagat and its leaders Rajendra Tana Bhagat, Manoj Kumar Minz, Dharamdeo Bhagat, Dhaneshwar Toppo and Ajit Minz were among the accused named in the FIR for inciting the people, police inspector Amit Kumar said here.

    A strong police contingent remains deployed in and around the court as well as district collectorate to maintain law and order, he said.

    Besides, police is keeping strict vigil on all strategic points of the district headquarter town apprehending that Tana Bhagats may enter it again, Kumar said.

    Police had seized 22 motorcycles on Monday from the spot in naxalite-affected Latehar, about 110 kms from Jharkhand capital Ranchi after the incident, Kumar said.

    Trouble broke out on Monday when a 500-strong armed mob gheraoed the court for five hours accusing the district administration of ignoring constitutional provisions and demanded restoration of traditional rule as Latehar is under the 5th schedule of the Constitution.

    They brickbatted the police when its personnel tried to vacate the premises.

    The protestors also broke the door frame metal detector at the office of district judge in the court premises, he said.

    The police had closed the main entrance to the court based on an intelligence input but the protestors forced their way through the small gate beside the main entrance.

    Apart from Kumar, 16 police personnel including a sub-inspector, two assistant sub-inspector and three women constables were injured in the brickbatting by the tribals.

    This led to the police to burst tear gas shells and use the water canon to disperse the violent protestors.

    The protestors, who are activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Tana Bhagat Committee, claimed that the functioning of courts and employment and entry of outsiders in Latehar district is prohibited under the 5th schedule and threatened to continue their agitation till the demand for implementation of their traditional system was met.

  • Delhi Excise Policy case: CBI arrests businessman Vijay Nair 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The CBI arrested businessman Vijay Nair on Tuesday in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy scam case in which Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is also an accused, officials said.

    Nair, who was abroad for quite some time, was called for questioning at the agency office on Tuesday, they said.

    Sources said Nair was arrested for his alleged role in “cartelisation” and “conspiracy” related to alleged irregularities in the allocation of liquor licence in the national capital.

    The FIR has alleged that Arjun Pandey, an associate of Sisodia, had once collected about Rs 2-4 crore in cash from liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru on behalf of Nair, former CEO of Only Much Louder, an entertainment and event management company.

    ALSO READ: ED summons AAP’s MCD poll in-charge in excise policy scam case, claims Sisodia

    NEW DELHI: The CBI arrested businessman Vijay Nair on Tuesday in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy scam case in which Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is also an accused, officials said.

    Nair, who was abroad for quite some time, was called for questioning at the agency office on Tuesday, they said.

    Sources said Nair was arrested for his alleged role in “cartelisation” and “conspiracy” related to alleged irregularities in the allocation of liquor licence in the national capital.

    The FIR has alleged that Arjun Pandey, an associate of Sisodia, had once collected about Rs 2-4 crore in cash from liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru on behalf of Nair, former CEO of Only Much Louder, an entertainment and event management company.

    ALSO READ: ED summons AAP’s MCD poll in-charge in excise policy scam case, claims Sisodia

  • Bihar Ambulance Exposure case: Pappu Yadav arrested by Patna Police

    Pappu Yadav on Tuesday said that he has been arrested by Patna Police. This comes days after he had raised the issue of ambulances parked around and gathering dust at a ground in Bihar.

    Accompanied with his supporters, Yadav visited the place Friday where the ambulances were standing and after a tiff with the security men went inside and removed tarpaulin cover from the stationary ambulances.

    The former MP came down heavily on Rudy for not utilising the ambulances when Covid patients are dying for want of emergency services.

    “People are paying as much as Rs 12,000 to ferry Covid patients to hospitals even though the hospital maybe just 1 km away. There is an acute shortage of ambulances and the Saran MP has kept about 100 ambulances.

    “He has distributed some ambulances among his own men. There should be a probe into the matter. The MPLAD fund is public money,” said the Jan Adhikar Party chief.

    A supporter of Rudy has given a complaint to the police against the JAP leader for trespassing and vandalising the ambulances.

    An FIR has been registered against Yadav with the Amnour police station Saturday, Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar said.

    The incident triggered a war of words between Rudy and Yadav.

    Rudy, former union minister and sitting Lok Sabha member from Saran, said the ambulances were standing due to non-availability of drivers to ply them due of prevalence of Covid.

    He attacked Yadav for playing politics over the issue and threw a challenge to arrange drivers for use of the vehicles.

    Yadav retorted sharply and at a press conference in Patna paraded some drivers carrying their driving license who are prepared to run those stationed ambulances.

    He appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to prevent such activities and utilise services of these drivers who are ready to work.

    Yadav, a multiple times MP from Madhepura, carrying ‘Robinhood’ image has been seen helping Covid patients get oxygen cylinder and visiting hospitals to help the needy.

    Recently, a video had gone viral showing him stopping a truck in which bouncers were transporting medical oxygen cylinders to a private hospital in the state capital.

    JAP chief lost election from Madhepura in 2019 to JD(U) leader Dinesh Chandra Yadav.

  • 21 Indians awarded up to 20 years in prison by US court in call centre scam

    US authorities on Friday announced the sentencing of 21 members of a “telefraud scam” run out of India-based call centres that defrauded Americans and legal immigrants of millions by threatening them with arrest, deportation, imprisonment and fines for unpaid dues to the government.

    All the 21 sentenced are either Indians or naturalised Americans of Indian descent, and some of them have consented to be deported back to India after the completion of their jail terms, up to 20 years for some. All of them were linked to call centres based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

    Five of the convicts were sentenced on Friday by the same Texas federal court that had sentenced the rest earlier this week. Including the three sentenced earlier, this brings the total to 24, making it perhaps the single-largest arrest and sentencing of Indians and Indian-descent people in a single case.

    Announcing the sentencing, the US department of justice said 32 India-based conspirators were also named in the indictment but haven’t been arraigned yet — presumably because they remain in India. Five India-based call centers have also been named, with similar charges against them.

    Indian authorities have been cooperating in this case by arresting many people and shutting down call centers found involved. One of the main conspirators is Sagar “Shaggy” Thakkar, who was arrested by Mumbai police in April 2017. He was allegedly in touch with Hardik Patel, co-owner of one of the call centers and a key player who has been sentenced to over 15 years.

    They are said to have duped thousands of Americans of millions between 2012 and 2016, when they were put out of business, indicted, charged and arrested.

    The convicts sentenced this week are: Sunny Joshi, Miteshkumar Patel, Fahad Ali, Jagdishkumar Chaudhari, Dilip R Patel, Viraj Patel, Harsh Patel, Rajesh Bhatt and Bhavesh Patel on Wednesday; Jerry Norris, Nisarg Patel, Montu Barot, Praful Patel, Dilip A. Patel, Nilesh Pandya and Rajesh Kumar on Thursday; and Hardik Patel, Rajubhai Patel, Ashvinbhai Chaudhari, Bharatkumar Patel and Nilam Parikh on Friday.

    A global leader in the call-centre business, India has also emerged over the years as home to fraudsters and scammers who use the same business model to target Americans. One US law enforcement agency found Indians behind tech support — when a virus alert freezes the screen, the number provided for calling to unlock it has been traced to India on many occasions.

    “The stiff sentences imposed this week represent the culmination of the first-ever large scale, multi-jurisdiction prosecution targeting the India call centre scam industry,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions, announcing the sentencing. “This case represents one of the most significant victories to date in our continuing efforts to combat elder fraud and victimisation of the most vulnerable among the US public.”

    Recent immigrants and the elderly were the preferred targets of these fraudsters. Callers from India-based call centres would introduce themselves as officers of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS — the American version of the Indian income tax department) or the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS — the dreaded acronym for the US agency that oversees the entry, stay and exit of foreigners).

    The victims, picked from data brokers and other sources, were at times old women and men or recently naturalised immigrants still fearful of unannounced visits. The callers, trained to speak in an American accent, would “threaten (them) with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay alleged monies owed to the government”.

    Most victims paid up, agreeing to one of the payments methods offered by the scammers —buying a prepaid stored value card or by wiring money. Those arrested and charged in the US were mostly “runners”, operatives who collected the extorted money and transferred it to Indian accomplices through a complex set of procedures.

    Here is how the US justice department broke it down: “Once a victim provided payment, the call centres turned to a network of runners based in the United States to liquidate and launder the extorted funds as quickly as possible by purchasing reloadable cards or retrieving wire transfers.