New Delhi, Sep 1: Retail sales of onions continue at Rs 35 per kg and a total of approximately 669 metric tonnes (MT) of the staple vegetable has been sold to date, comprising 223 MT through bulk channels via the e-NAM portal and similar online platforms at prevailing mandi prices, and 446 MT through retail channels across the country, the government said on Tuesday.

The affordable onion sale is being organised through the NCCF, the NAFED, Kendriya Bhandar outlets, and mobile vans, ensuring affordable availability for consumers.

“Simultaneously, around 1,000 MT of onions are being transported by road to major consumption centres, based on prevailing market conditions and price trends, with the aim of improving availability and moderating seasonal price pressures,” the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution said in a statement.

Further, Rs 210 crore has been paid directly to around 3,400 farmers, ensuring timely payments.

The government said it has begun a calibrated release of onion buffer stocks through a hybrid transportation model comprising railway rakes (Kanda Express) and road transport to major consumption centres to ensure adequate availability and moderation of seasonal price pressures.

As part of this initiative, two Kanda Express consignments have been dispatched from Nashik. The first rake, carrying 450 MT of onions, reached Delhi in the late hours of August 27.

Of this, 140 MT was subsequently distributed across Varanasi, Lucknow, Chandigarh, and Amritsar, with the remaining quantity distributed across the Delhi-NCR region.

The second rake, carrying 840 MT of onions, reached Chennai on August 31. The Tamil Nadu government plans to distribute these onions through the Public Distribution System (PDS) against the requirement of 1 kg per card.

The onions are likely to be distributed across various districts of Tamil Nadu as per the proposed district-wise clustering:

Retail intervention efforts have expanded significantly across 19 cities, supported by the dispatch of over 30 trucks to ensure widespread availability, said the official statement.

The release of onions from buffer stocks has improved market availability and eased prices, particularly in centres where onion consignments have reached, such as Varanasi, Amritsar, Delhi and nearby markets. Prices have shown a decline from the day following the commencement of disposal, with increased supplies expected to further support price stability.

Mehsana, Sep 1: A constable posted at Satlasana Police Station in Gujarat’s Mehsana district and a local resident were allegedly caught accepting a Rs 83,000 bribe during an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) trap, after a person approached the bureau’s toll-free helpline 1064, officials said on Tuesday.

The accused have been identified as Kanji Chaudhary, a police constable posted at Satlasana Police Station, and Ashish Chaudhary, a resident of Chaudhary Vas in Navavas-Rajpur of Satlasana.

The ACB said the entire alleged bribe amount of Rs 83,000 was recovered during the operation.

According to the ACB complaint, a gambling case had been registered at Satlasana Police Station against the complainant and several other persons.

In connection with the case, the complainant and the others were required to appear at the police station.

The ACB alleged that accused police constable Kanji Chaudhary demanded Rs one lakh from the complainant in exchange for not assaulting the complainant and the others when they appeared at the police station.

Following negotiations, the alleged bribe amount was settled at Rs 83,000, with the payment agreed to be made on Monday.

Unwilling to pay the bribe money, the complainant contacted the Anti-Corruption Bureau through its 1064 toll-free number and lodged a complaint.

Based on the complaint, the bureau set up a trap on Monday (August 31). During the operation, the two accused allegedly remained in telephone contact with the complainant and accepted Rs 83,000 from him.

The transaction took place in the car of a friend of the accused on a public road opposite Suraj Complex in Satlasana.

The ACB team subsequently caught the accused at the spot and recovered the entire alleged bribe amount of Rs 83,000.

The ACB officials said that further legal proceedings were being initiated in connection with the alleged offence.

“The trap was conducted by D.B. Mehta, Police Inspector, ACB Field-3 (Intervening), Ahmedabad, along with his team,” officials said.

The investigation will continue to probe if there were similar instances involving the said cop in the past.

Kolkata, Sep 1: Trinamool Congress general secretary and Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, on Tuesday arrived at the Shakespeare Sarani Police station in central Kolkata to face interrogation in connection with the FIRs filed over the removal of an illegal billboard from the roof of his party office on Camac Street.

Banerjee arrived at the police station a little after noon. By then, a large number of Trinamool Congress supporters had already assembled in front of the said police station.

They shouted slogans when he arrived and went inside the police station. “As long as our general secretary is inside the police station, all of us will remain assembled there,” one Trinamool Congress activist told media persons.

The party’s Rajya Sabha member, Derek O’Brien, was supposed to appear at the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station on Monday and face the interrogation in the same matter. But he skipped the appearance, and instead his counsel sent a letter to Kolkata Police seeking seven more days for appearance.

However, Kolkata Police refused to give him seven days and served O’Brien a second notice to appear at the said police station by noon on Wednesday.

Abhishek Banerjee’s personal assistant, Sumit Roy, is also supposed to appear at the same police station by noon on Wednesday.

Tension broke out on Camac Street on August 27 after Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) staff, accompanied by police personnel, reached Abhishek Banerjee’s Camac Street office to remove the illegal billboard.

The KMC staff and police personnel faced stiff resistance from party activists led by Abhishek Banerjee, O’Brien and other Trinamool Congress leaders. Scuffles broke out between the cops and the party activists.

In the three FIRs filed at Shakespeare Sarani Police Station, the city police have accused the Trinamool Congress activists of not only assaulting the on-duty cops but also attempting to outrage the modesty of a female police officer.

In two of the three FIRs filed, Banerjee, O’Brien and other Trinamool Congress leaders, such as Humayun Kabir and Baishwanar Chatterjee, have been named. The police have arrested 14 people in this connection so far.