News Analysis India

Tag: Ghaziabad

  • UP Police sends legal notice to Twitter India MD over Ghaziabad assault video incident

    By ANI
    GHAZIABAD: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday sent a legal notice to the Managing Director of Twitter India Manish Maheshwari regarding the viral video of the assault on an elderly man in Loni. The MD has been asked to record his statement after the microblogging site “let the anti-social messages go viral”.

    According to the legal notice, the managing director has been asked to come to the Police Station Loni Border and record the statement over the matter within seven days.

    “Some people used their Twitter handle as a tool to spread hatred in the society and Twitter Communication India and Twitter Inc did not take any action against it. They let the anti-social messages go viral,” the notice sent to the managing director read.

    ALSO READ | SP worker booked over ‘communal’ video, FIR says Facebook didn’t fact-check clip

    This comes after when Twitter has lost its status as an intermediary platform in India as it does not comply with new IT rules. According to the sources, Twitter is the only social media platform among the mainstream that has not adhered to the new laws.

    Now, instead of being considered just a platform hosting content from various users, Twitter will be held directly editorially responsible for posts published on its platform.

    The implication of this development is that if there is any charge against Twitter for alleged unlawful content it would be treated as a publisher – not an intermediary – and be liable for punishment under any law, including IT Act, as also the penal laws of the country, sources stated.

    Earlier, a senior-level team of Delhi Police’s Special Cell questioned the Twitter India managing director Manish Maheshwari at Bengaluru over the ‘Congress toolkit case’ matter on May 31.

    The Delhi Police had earlier sent a notice to Twitter, seeking an explanation from the microblogging platform to explain the rationale and share all the information on how it described the toolkit as manipulated media.

    The police had also visited the Twitter India offices in Lado Sarai, Delhi and Gurgaon on May 24 with the notice over the tagging some of the posts on an alleged Congress “toolkit” against the Central government, as “manipulated media”.

    The Uttar Pradesh Police had confirmed that there is no communal angle in the incident in Loni and arrested five accused of assaulting the 72-year-old man. The police also stated that action would also be taken against the complainant for providing wrong facts.

    The UP Police on Tuesday filed FIR against nine entities, including Twitter India in connection with the Loni incident.

    In the FIR, the Police had said, “There is no communal angle to the incident in Loni where a man was thrashed and his beard was chopped off. The following entities — The Wire, Rana Ayyub, Mohammad Zubair, Dr Shama Mohammed, Saba Naqvi, Maskoor Usmani, Salman Nizami — without checking the fact, started giving communal colour to the incident on Twitter and suddenly they started spreading messages to disrupt the peace and bring differences between the religious communities.”

  • Ghaziabad case: SP worker booked over ‘communal’ video, FIR says Facebook didn’t fact-check clip

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad Police has booked a Samajwadi Party worker here over a “communal video” of an elderly Muslim man alleging attack by some young men, with the FIR also mentioning that Facebook let the “misleading” clip circulate without making efforts to verify it.

    The FIR, however, does not mention Facebook as an accused in the case in which opposition Samajwadi Party’s worker Ummaid Pehelwan Idrisi has been charged with promoting enmity and breach of peace by circulating the video on social media and giving it a “communal colour”.

    On his Facebook account, Idrisi identifies himself as a Samajwadi Party worker and has posted purported pictures of him with party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

    Requesting anonymity, an SP office-bearer confirmed that Idrisi was a member of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) board during the SP government, and is still a party worker.

    The case was lodged at the Loni Border police station Wednesday evening, a day after the Ghaziabad police booked Twitter, a news website, some journalists and opposition Congress politicians, in a separate FIR over circulation of the video.

    Filed on the complaint of a local policeman, the FIR states that Idrisi had “unnecessarily” made the video — in which Abdul Shamad Saifi narrates his ordeal — with an intention to “create social disharmony” and shared it on his Facebook account.

    “He shared on his social media account the video which had religious context to it without verifying the truth of the matter. It gave the incident a communal colour and was an attempt at disrupting social harmony,” stated the FIR, which has been seen by PTI.

    The FIR has been lodged under sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups on ground of religion, class etc), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (public mischief).

    Idrisi has also been booked under provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, according to the FIR.

    The FIR, lodged only against Idrisi, mentions that social media giant Facebook “also did not make any efforts to fact-check this entire episode and let the misleading video circulate”.

    Five accused — Kalloo Gurjar, Parvesh Gurjar, Adil, Intezaar and Saddam alias Bauna — have been arrested so far in connection with the attack on Saifi, Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad Rural) Iraj Raja said on Wednesday.

    The Ghaziabad police maintained that the incident took place because the accused were unhappy over the ‘tabeez’ (amulets) sold to them by Saifi.

    The police also ruled out any communal angle in the episode.

    In the video that triggered nation-wide reaction, Saifi purportedly says he was attacked by some young men and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ even as the district police said he did not make any such allegation in the FIR.

    This FIR about the assault and illegal confinement was lodged on June 7, two days after the incident, on the complaint of Saifi, a resident of Anoopshahar in adjoining Bulandshahr district.

  • Ghaziabad assault case: FIR against Samajwadi Party functionary for circulating ‘communal’ video

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: A Samajwadi Party functionary here has been booked for allegedly promoting enmity and breach of peace by circulating a “communal” video of an elderly Muslim man being attacked by some young people earlier this month, officials said.

    They said that the FIR against Ummaid Pehelwan Idrisi was lodged at the Loni Border police station Wednesday evening.

    Filed on the complaint of a local policeman, the FIR states that Idrisi had “unnecessarily” made the video — in which Abdul Shamad Saifi narrates his ordeal – with an intention to “create social disharmony” and shared it through his Facebook account.

    “He shared on his social media account the video which had religious context to it without verifying the truth of the matter. It gave the incident a communal colour and was an attempt at disrupting social harmony,” the FIR stated.

    The FIR has been lodged under sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups on ground of religion, class etc), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (public mischief).

    Idrisi has also been booked under provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, according to the FIR. So far five accused — Kalloo Gurjar, Parvesh Gurjar, Adil, Intezaar and Saddam alias Bauna — have been arrested in connection with the attack on Saifi, Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad Rural) Iraj Raja said on Wednesday.

    The Ghaziabad police maintained that the incident took place because the accused were unhappy over the ‘tabeez’ (amulets) sold to them by Saifi, and ruled out any communal angle.

  • Twitter, Rana Ayyub among nine booked by UP Police over Ghaziabad viral video

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: Police here have booked Twitter, a news portal and six people for circulating a video in which an elderly Muslim man says he was thrashed and asked to chant “Jai Shri Ram”.

    Police claimed that it was done to create communal unrest.

    The FIR names Twitter Inc, Twitter Communications India, news website The Wire, journalists Mohammed Zubair and Rana Ayyub, Congress leaders Dr Sama Mohammad, Salman Nizami, Masqoor Usmani and writer Saba Naqvi.

    “These people did not verify the truth of the matter and shared it online with a communal angle with an intention to disrupt public peace and create a divide between religious groups,” the FIR states.

    The FIR was lodged at the Loni Border police station in Ghaziabad around 11.30 pm on Tuesday on the basis of a complaint lodged by a local policeman.

    The police action came within hours of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath exchanging remarks on Twitter over the incident.

    Meanwhile, the Press Club of India (PCI) also took note of the police action and demanded that the FIR naming the journalists should be quashed because it shows “vendetta” of the Ghaziabad police to create a “sense of terror” in the media and society at large.

    “The PCI appeals to the government of UP to intervene in the matter at the earliest to ensure that journalists are not made easy targets of police high handedness by filing FIR against them,” it said in a statement.

    In a video clip, which surfaced on social media on June 14, the elderly Muslim man, Abdul Shamad Saifi, is heard saying he was thrashed by some young men and asked to chant “Jai Shri Ram”.

    However, the Ghaziabad police has ruled out a communal angle.

    It said the accused were unhappy about a “tabeez” (amulet) he sold to them.

    Ghaziabad (Rural) Superintendent of Police Iras Raja said on Wednesday that three people — Kalloo Gurjar, Parvesh Gurjar and Adil — have been arrested for assaulting Saifi.

    Police are also looking for others involved in the case including those identified as Polly, Himanshu, Arif and Murshid, he said.

    The FIR states that the Ghaziabad police had issued a clarification statement with facts of the incident but despite that the accused did not remove the video from their Twitter handles.

    The police had also clarified that those who attacked Saifi included Hindu as well as Muslim men and the incident was a result of personal issues between them and not communal, it said.

    “Besides, Twitter Inc and Twitter Communications India did not take any measures to remove their tweets,” it added.

    The FIR has been lodged under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between groups on ground of religion, class etc), 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

    Earlier on Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said, “I am not willing to accept that true devotees of Lord Ram can do such a thing.”

    “Such cruelty is far removed from humanity and is shameful for both society and religion,” the former Congress chief had tweeted in Hindi tagging a news report on the Ghaziabad incident.

    Sharing a screenshot of Gandhi’s tweet, Adityanath had said, “The first teaching of Lord Ram is speak the truth, which you have never done in your life.”

    “You should be ashamed that even after the police telling the truth you are spreading poison in society. In the greed of power, (you) are shaming humanity. Stop humiliating and defaming the people of Uttar Pradesh,” the chief minister had said in a tweet in Hindi.

  • Rail roko: Asked to end agitation, farmers feed sweets, shower UP Police with flowers in Ghaziabad

    By ANI
    GHAZIABAD: Members of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Thursday showered flower petals on police personnel and offered them sweets when the latter appealed to farmers to end their ‘Rail roko’ agitation on Thursday at Modinagar in Ghaziabad.

    Farmers protesting against the Centre’s new agricultural laws blocked tracks in several parts of the country including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajashtan and Karnataka during their agitation that started at noon today.

    Utkal Express that plies from Odisha’s Puri to Uttarakhand’s Haridwar was stopped at Ghaziabad railway station with farmers blocking the tracks at Modinagar railway station.

    Protesters were seen on railway tracks protesting against the new farm laws in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur, Palwal of Haryana, Jammu’s Channi Himat area and Fatehpur Sahib of Punjab.

    ALSO READ | Proof that protest not limited to Punjab and Haryana: Farmers on ‘rail roko’

    There were reports of a few passengers falling ill due to non-working of AC of the trains which were stopped by protesters at Jagatpur railway station in Rajasthan.

    Farmers under the aegis of the United-Kissan Front demonstrated at railway track in Jammu’s Channi Himat area with slogans against the newly enacted farm laws.

    Farmers also protested on railway tracks in Fatehpur Sahib of Punjab.

    In the agitation staged by workers of Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik) at Patna Junction railway station, a train was blocked by the agitators. Protesters were lying down on the railway tracks and they climbed up the engine of the locomotive.

    Meanwhile, the Indian railways reported that, initially the train schedule was affected but in most zones there was no train stoppages.

    “Rail roko agitation passed off without any untoward incident. There was negligible or minimal impact on running of the trains across the country. Train movement in all zones is normal now. Few trains were stopped in some areas but now train operation is normal,” it said.

    “Around 25 trains have been regulated so far. There has been minimum effect on rail services due to the agitation,” Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar said.

    The Railways had deployed 20 additional companies of the Railway Protection Special Force in view of the protest.

    Entry and exit at four metro stations, including Tikri border, were shut by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for nearly four hours today. The Tikri Border metro station is near the site where the farmers are protesting against three new agriculture laws of the Centre.

    DMRC tweeted to inform commuters about the closure of entry and exit at these four stations.

    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha had last week announced a nationwide to press for its demand to repeal the farm laws. Farmer unions demonstrated ‘rail roko’ agitation between 12 pm to 4 pm on Thursday in different parts of the country.

    After the tractor rally and ‘chakka jaam’, ‘rail roko’ has been the major protest by the farmers against the three farm laws.

    Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November last year, against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. 

  • Roof collapse in UP cremation ground: Shocked families prepare for second funeral in two days

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: Arvind Kumar, a resident of Delhi, had gone to Muradnagar in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday to attend his grandfather’s funeral.

    His family is now preparing for a second funeral in two days after the roof of a shelter at the cremation ground collapsed, killing him and 22 others.

    “Everything is finished for us,” said an inconsolable Rakesh Kumar, the elder brother of Arvind.

    “I called my brother over his mobile. Someone else picked the phone and informed me about the roof collapse.

    I rushed to the spot. It took two hours to pull his body out of the rubble. He was declared dead soon after we reached the hospital,” he added.

    His mother, who narrowly escaped the accident, is inconsolable as she waited outside the mortuary of MMG district hospital for her 36-year-old son’s body.

    Twenty-three people, most of them attending a funeral, were killed and 15 others injured when the roof of a shelter at a cremation ground in Uttar Pradesh’s Muradnagar collapsed on Sunday, police said.

    Several people had taken shelter under the recently constructed structure while it rained.

    The dead, all of them men, were mostly relatives or neighbours of Jai Ram, who was being cremated at that time, officials said.

    Jaiveer Singh (50), hailing from Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, who was attending the funeral of his brother’s father-in-law, also lost his life.

    His brother Umesh Kumar said, “It took us one-and-a-half hours to rescue him. The administration used a crane to get the bodies out. Jaiveer was talking to me all this while.

    But he couldn’t make it and was declared dead.” While some complained of the lack of facilities at the hospital and accused the local administration of callous attitude in dealing with the incident, others demanded that the contractor responsible for the construction of the shelter at the cremation ground be arrested.

    “This shelter was built just a month or two ago. It collapsed following the first rain. The contractor should be put behind the bar immediately,” said another relative of Jaiveer.

    Uddham Singh (25), who had gone with his friends to attend the last rites of his neighbour, said he saw two people dying in front of him.

    “I was unconscious for the first 20 minutes. When I got back in senses, I saw my friends getting me out of the rubble. I am in pain now, but hopefully will recover soon,” said Singh, who had injuries in his shoulder and foot.

    The local people were the first to arrive at the cremation ground in Muradnagar’s Ukhlarsi village in Ghaziabad district, adjoining the national capital.

    Police followed by a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) unit also then reached the spot, pulling out the dead and the injured from the debris.

    Apart from the 23 dead, 15 others were admitted at different hospitals, Ghaziabad (Rural) Superintendent of Police Iraj Raja said.

    At least 18 of them had been identified by the evening.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the deaths.

    “I express my condolences to the near and dear ones of those who lost their lives in this accident, and also hope for a quick recovery of the injured,” Modi tweeted in Hindi.

    Adityanath announced Rs 2 lakh as financial relief for the families of each man killed.

    The chief minister also directed Meerut’s Divisional Commissioner and Additional Director General of the police zone to submit a report on the incident.

    Union minister V K Singh, who is a Member of Parliament from Ghaziabad, and several senior police and administration officials visited the accident site.

    Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Atul Garg, who is the local BJP MLA, met some of the injured at the government hospital here.

  • 19 dead in roof collapse at Ghaziabad cremation ground 

    Express News Service
    GHAZIABAD: Tragedy struck a cremation ground where 19 people were killed when the roof of a shelter collapsed in Muradnagar township in Ghaziabad district neighbouring Delhi on Sunday. 

    “17 people have died so far while 38 people have been rescued after a shed collapsed in Muradnagar. We have started a probe and will take strict action against those found responsible for the tragic incident,” said Anita C Meshram, Meerut Divisional Commissioner while talking to media persons. 

    According to local sources, over 40 people were trapped in the debris. The police and administration team arrived at the spot on receiving information and rescued and rushed them to Ghaziabad District Hospital.

    The sources claimed that around 100 people had gathered at the spot as they were part of the funeral procession of a local resident of Dayanand Colony, who died on Saturday. As the last rites were being performed, the roof of the shed came down crashing due to rains. While a few got trapped in the rubble, some managed to save their lives by running. It was chaos and clamour all around. 

    The building structure at the cremation ground was not very old and it is feared that the incident took place because the building was constructed in an area where frequent water-logging takes place. 

    Meanwhile, UP CM Yogi Adityanath announced the ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to next kin of the deceased while extending his condolences. He also instructed the Meerut Divisional Commissioner Anita C Meshram and ADG, Meerut Zone to submit a report regarding the incident.Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also expressed grief over the tragic incident in Muradnagar. 

  • Rains increase with rain in Delhi, visibility also reduced, NCR wind improves

    Many areas of Delhi received rain on Saturday morning. Due to which there was an increase in cold. This is the first rain of the winter season. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the cold will increase further. The Meteorological Department has forecast that there may also be rains around South Delhi, South West Delhi, Dwarka and Indira Gandhi International Airport for the next few hours.

    Along with this, there is a possibility of rains in North East Delhi, East Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Chapraula, Modinagar, Pilkhuwa, Narela, Loni-Dehat, Hindon Air Force Station, Chandpur, Bijnor, Naziabad and Saharanpur.

  • Border seals, bus, train and metro service of Delhi affected due to farmer movement

    There is going to be a huge demonstration of farmers of Punjab and Haryana on Thursday-Friday in the country’s capital Delhi. These farmers are strongly opposing the recently passed agricultural law. It is being claimed that thousands of farmers can perform in Delhi today under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Union.

    The police has also made complete preparations to prevent farmers from entering Delhi. The Delhi Police has turned down all demands of farmer organizations to hold demonstrations in the capital. Delhi Police has said that if farmers gather in Delhi during the Corona transition, then legal action can be taken against them.

    In view of the widespread performance of farmers, the Delhi Metro has made some changes in its timing. Due to this, the metro service from Delhi to Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gurugram will be closed till 2 pm.

    To prevent farmers from accumulating, Section-144 has been imposed in many places in BJP-ruled Haryana. Haryana Transport Minister Moolchand Sharma has said that the bus service to Punjab has also been stopped for November 26 and 27. The bus service coming from Chandigarh to Haryana has also been canceled for two days so that farmers from Punjab cannot come to Delhi. Although the convoy of farmers has traveled to Delhi.