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Congress seeks to corner Vijayan in Assembly over CPI-M office bomb attack

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The Kerala Assembly on Monday witnessed curious scenes when the Congress-led opposition sought to move an adjournment motion on the ‘bomb’ attack of the CPI-M party headquarters last Thursday, but Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought to play down the incident and asserted that the “real culprits” will be found.

If there were any lapses on the part of the police, it will be found out, he added.

Seeking leave for the motion, Congress legislator P.C. Vishnunath said that they have to bring out this in the Assembly as no one from the treasury benches failed to raise the matter.

He also noted that in the wake of the attack, several Congress offices were attacked because just five minutes after the incident, Left Democratic Front convenor E.P.Jayarajan blamed opposition party workers.

Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan said that the law and order situation in the state has deteriorated and the worst affected have been his Congress workers.

“It’s been four days since the ‘bomb’ was hurled by a person on the party office which comes under the most guarded places in the capital city. Surprisingly on the day this took place, the customary police jeep which is always there was not there. Why this happened?” he asked.

“How could Jayarajan say in five minutes time that the Congress was behind this. Even more surprising was the statement from top party leader P.K. Sreemathi (who was in the party office) who said that there was a huge deafening noise. I had to call up our leader to ask if we sent a ballistic missile,” Satheesan said, sending members into splits of laughter.

In his response, Vijayan, however, decided to attack his arch-rival and State Congress President K. Sudhakaran, who also hails from his home town Kannur, and recalled all his previous.

“He (referring to Sudhakaran without taking his name) knows everything about bombs and a leading English magazine in the yesteryears had carried out a detailed article on bombs, which referred to him,” he said.

Vijayan went on to add that they are not a party which attacks party offices.

“When the office of Rahul Gandhi was attacked in Wayanad, we took instant action, when the Congress office was attacked in Kottayam, we arrested those who did it. In the attack on our state headquarters, we do not want to just come out with some culprit. The police will definitely bring the real culprit to book and that’s why there has been a delay. We will also examine if there was any lapse on the part of the police,” he said.

Following this, the motion was put to vote and failed to pass. Satheesan, then leading the entire opposition out of the house, said they are really thankful to the government for taking up this discussion for a discussion.

“Vijayan has not been able to give any answers to our questions. The government is rattled due to the various revelations and all this attacks of our offices is done with the full knowledge of Vijayan’s office,” he alleged before the walkout.

Crime

ED, J&K ACB raid multiple locations in Jammu in connection with land fraud

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Jammu, Aug 22 :The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and J&K Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday carried out raids at multiple locations in Jammu district in connection with a land allotment fraud.

These raids were carried out at locations in Jammu rural areas and the city, including Canal Road, targeting the residences of a personal assistant (PA) to a former minister, a Patwari, and several property dealers.

Official sources said the raids began early morning, and the fraud was done by the revenue officials and some influential people, including the former Minister’s PA.

The sources said that the ED launched the operations at nine locations, including eight in Jammu and one in Udhampur. The case is about land grabbing and corruption involving the custodian land.

Sources said the action has been initiated against Pranav Dev Singh, Patwari; Rahul Kai, Patwari; Akeel Ahmed, Naib Tehsildar, and several others.

“The case relates to the alleged illegal transfer and grabbing of the Custodian land, which belongs to evacuees from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, since 2022 onwards. Searches were carried out at residential and office premises of the accused persons to gather evidence of corruption, illegal property transactions, and possible money laundering,” said the officials.

The ED case is based on an FIR registered by J&K ACB (Central), which had flagged serious irregularities in land dealings involving government officials and private beneficiaries.

“Custodian land in Jammu has remained under scrutiny for years, with several complaints of fraudulent mutations, encroachments, and misuse of authority by officials in nexus with private parties,”, sources added.

More details were awaited.

The latest ED action is seen as part of a wider crackdown on corruption linked to state land in the region.

The ED on Thursday provisionally attached immovable property worth Rs 77.66 crore in connection with a Rs 200 crore bank loan fraud in which the beneficiaries had done blatant diversion of loan money to create assets beyond the purview of the sanctioned loan by utilising funds meant to be otherwise used for the bona fide purpose.

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National News

Maharashtra Govt Doubles Prize Money & Allowances For State Drama Competition

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Mumbai: In the State Drama Competition conducted by the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, the institutions participating are reimbursed for the theatre production expenses after staging their plays. Likewise, when a theatre troupe stages its play at a centre other than its original location, the artists are given a daily allowance. Cultural Affairs Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar has taken a landmark decision to double all these amounts, and the government resolution in this regard was issued today.

Every year, the Directorate of Cultural Affairs organizes the Maharashtra State Drama Competition. Under this competition, categories such as Amateur Marathi, Hindi, Musical, Sanskrit, Children’s Drama, Drama for Differently-Abled Children and Professional theatre are held.

Institutions and artists participating in the State Drama Competition are awarded cash prizes. Additionally, the institutions are reimbursed for production costs after staging the play. Furthermore, if a troupe stages its play at a centre other than its original place, the artists are paid a daily allowance.

For many years, the participating institutions and artists had been demanding an increase in prize money, production expenses and daily allowance. Responding positively to this long-pending demand, Cultural Affairs Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar has taken the decision to double these benefits, and a government resolution has been issued accordingly.

The increased amounts for prize money, production expenses and daily allowance outlined in the government resolution will be applicable starting from the 64th Maharashtra State Drama Competition, commencing on November 3, 2025.

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Crime

Delhi BJP MPs meet CM Gupta a day after attack to enquire about her health

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New Delhi, Aug 21: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday met all seven Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from the national Capital at her official residence in Civil Lines, a day after she was attacked by a man during a ‘Jan Sunwai’ programme.

On Wednesday, 41-year-old Rajesh Bhai Khimji Bhai Sakariya allegedly slapped and pulled CM Gupta’s hair at her Civil Lines residence. He has since been arrested and remanded to five days of police custody.

Additionally, CM Gupta has been provided Z+ security and the CRPF has been deployed outside her residence.

Sharing a photograph of the meeting, BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal said, “Today, along with all my fellow MPs from Delhi, I met our Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta and enquired about her well-being. The Chief Minister is completely healthy and, as always, is actively dedicated to the service of Delhi’s citizens.”

After meeting the Chief Minister, the MPs strongly condemned the attack.

BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri told Media, “It’s important to note that this minister never worried about her own safety. She was always concerned about the people… She has done a lot for my Lok Sabha constituency also. We used to advise her to increase her security, but she said she didn’t need to as she works for the people.”

Speaking to Media, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj said, “We visited Chief Minister Rekha Gupta at her residence to ask about her health. I want to assure the people of Delhi that Rekha Gupta is a very brave leader. Her morale remains completely intact. This cowardly and critical attack has not affected her work style in the slightest.”

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari also said that the CM’s public hearings will continue as usual as she “remains committed to the public.”

“She will meet people in the next sitting and resume work from tomorrow. Even today, after meeting people, she has been working. We will wait for the police investigation. Apart from that, our Chief Minister is now fine. Yes, she was injured, but she is in good health,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s Section 109 (attempt to murder), Section 132 (obstructing a public servant), and Section 221 (obstructing a public servant in discharge of public functions).

The police said a team from central agencies and the Special Cell is interrogating the accused to determine his motive.

Investigations revealed that Rajesh travelled from Rajkot to Delhi by train on Tuesday morning and stayed at Gujarati Bhavan in Civil Lines. He later went to CM Gupta’s private residence in Shalimar Bagh and mentioned this in a phone call to a friend.

Rajesh also has a criminal background, with at least five cases registered against him at Bhaktinagar Police Station in Rajkot. He was acquitted in four of them, while one case is pending in court, with the next hearing due on September 9.

Gujarat Police have been contacted for further details.

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