Pune, Sep 16: Pune Police have registered separate cases against two house owners for allegedly renting out their flats to Yemeni nationals for the past seven to eight years, without informing the police.

According to police, the tenants’ passports had expired and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRO) had issued restriction orders against them. Their passports have been deposited with the authorities.

The cases were registered at Kondhwa police station under relevant provisions after the house owners allegedly violated police orders by concealing information about the foreign nationals staying at their properties.

Senior Police Inspector Santosh Khetmals of Kondhwa police station told media that deportation proceedings against the Yemeni nationals have been initiated by the FRO.

In the first case, a case was registered against house owner Khan Faheema Jabbar, 55, a resident of Ghorpade Peth, for allegedly renting out her flat to a Yemeni family without informing the police.

In the second case, house owner Jabbar A. Sattar Khan, 62, also a resident of Ghorpade Peth, was booked for allegedly renting out his flat to another Yemeni family without informing the police.

Police said further action in the matter is being taken in coordination with the FRO.

This is however not the first such incident in Pune.

Earlier, on August 13, the special branch of Pune City Police arrested and detained 11 Yemeni nationals and two Afghan nationals from Yevalewadi, Phursungi and Kondhwa for allegedly staying illegally in India.

In 2022, Pune Police had deported a six-member family from Yemen, comprising three adults and three minor children, after they were found to have overstayed in India.

The police had identified the deported Yemeni nationals as Alkharraz Waled Abdurabu Ateq, 37, his wife, Heba Yahya Mohammed Hussen, 33, his brother, Shawqi Abdurabu Ateq, 34, and his three minor children.

Agartala, Sep 16: In a major narcotics haul, the Tripura Police have seized highly addictive methamphetamine tablets worth over Rs 40 crore and arrested a drug peddler on Wednesday.

Informing about the drug seizure, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, in a post on his X, said, “A major breakthrough in our fight against drugs ! In a significant operation, North Tripura Police under Panisagar Police Station seized 50 kg of Yaba tablets valued at approx. ₹40 crore, a major blow to the illicit drug network.”

“This success reflects the unwavering commitment of our police and security forces to protect our youth and society from the menace of drugs and strengthens our mission towards a Nasha Mukt Tripura,” said CM Saha, who also holds the home portfolio.

Police said that the seized drugs were suspected to have been smuggled from Myanmar, and through Mizoram, the narcotics entered Tripura to be smuggled to neighbouring Bangladesh. Tripura shares a 109 km interstate border with Mizoram, and the 856 km international border with Bangladesh.

The methamphetamine tablets, also known as Yaba or “party” tablets, contain a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine and are misused as high-dosage drugs in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries, besides India.

The drugs were banned in India. Various types of cough syrups containing codeine phosphate are also commonly misused and illegally smuggled into Bangladesh.

Mizoram and Manipur have emerged as major drug-trafficking corridors in the Northeast due to their long and porous international borders with Myanmar and proximity to the Golden Triangle, one of the world’s major illicit narcotics-producing regions. Six districts of Mizoram and five districts of Manipur share around 910 km of unfenced international border with Myanmar.

CM Saha had earlier said that his government follows a zero-tolerance policy towards the drug menace. “Law enforcement agencies must take all-out measures to curb drug-related activities,” he had said.

The Chief Minister also said that the state government has decided to set up drug de-addiction centres in all eight districts of Tripura, with Rs 20 crore earmarked for each centre. He said the Union Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has already sanctioned Rs 198 crore to set up a special drug de-addiction centre at Bishramganj in Sepahijala district.

New Delhi, Sep 15: The Patiala House Court on Tuesday granted three weeks’ interim bail to self-styled “influencer” Swatantra Bhardwaj, who is in judicial custody in connection with the alleged assault of the father of a minor activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar.

Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler of the Patiala House Court passed the order granting Bhardwaj interim relief.

The development comes a day after the court had reserved its order on Bhardwaj’s regular bail plea. During the hearing on Monday, the court had questioned the Delhi Police on whether Bhardwaj had used caste-indicative words at the time of the alleged incident. The prosecution had submitted that the initial complaint did not mention the use of any such language and that the allegation was made subsequently when the complainant’s statement was recorded again, following which provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were added to the FIR.

Bhardwaj’s counsel had sought bail, while the prosecution opposed the plea. Bhardwaj is accused of assaulting Sanjay Kumar, father of a minor protester, during a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in July.

The police had earlier said that the injuries sustained by the victim were “simple” in nature and were allegedly caused by a steel bracelet.

The FIR invokes relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and provisions relating to criminal intimidation.

The development comes days after the Patiala House Court had declined an out-of-turn hearing on Bhardwaj’s bail plea and listed it for September 14.

Bhardwaj was held in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district on September 4, hours after representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) met senior Delhi Police officials and demanded his arrest.

The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by Bhardwaj challenging his arrest in the alleged assault case.

A Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja rejected the petition after the Delhi Police submitted that it was not maintainable as Bhardwaj had already been sent to judicial custody.

The CJP had also demanded the invocation of an attempt-to-murder charge, with the police stating that the provision would be considered after obtaining an expert medical opinion.

A separate FIR was also registered against Bhardwaj under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on the complaint of the minor activist, who alleged online rape threats and harassment.

The controversy erupted after a purported viral video in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had physically assaulted the father of the minor activist during the Jantar Mantar demonstration and allegedly said that he was let off because of his “political connections”.

Bhardwaj later told the media that he had allegedly acted in self-defence.

Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP-RV) chief Chirag Paswan had said that his name was “misused” by Bhardwaj in the purported video. Paswan had said that he filed an official complaint against Bhardwaj and would ensure justice for the minor victim and her family.