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From courts to politicians, bulldozer under attack in Assam, Tripura

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Besides other parts of the country, the BJP’s bulldozer politics has also drawn severe criticism both from the political spectrum and the courts in the northeastern states specially in Assam and Tripura.

During his recent three-day (May 8-10) visit to Assam, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that 10,700 bighas encroached upon by infiltrators have been freed.

The Assam government has also cleared over 3,800 hectares of forest land of encroachments during the past few years.

Before Assam’s BJP led government’s eviction drive, the saffron party led Tripura government after coming to power in March 2018 bulldozed a large number of opposition party offices across Tripura.

The Assam government had last year undertaken eviction drives in different districts to free government land encroached by hundreds of people for years. Various opposition parties including the Congress had criticised the BJP government for evicting the people without making alternate settlements.

In one of the violent eviction drive, two persons, including a 12-year-old boy, were killed while 20 others were injured after a mob clashed with the police in Darrang district on September 23 last year.

A video of the clashes, which went viral, also showed a photographer engaged by the Darrang district administration stomping on the body of a man shot by the police.

The eviction drive was launched by the police and the district administration to vacate 4,500 bighas (602.40 hectares) of government land, allegedly encroached upon by several hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslim families in Darrang district.

Hearing a public interest litigation filed by Debabrata Saikia, Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly, the division bench of the Gauhati High Court headed by the then Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia (who was recently elevated to the Supreme Court) had termed the Darrang district incident as “a big tragedy and very unfortunate” and directed the state government to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.

“This was a big tragedy, very unfortunate. Those who are guilty, if at all, must be punished, no doubt about that. Khoon zameen par gir gaya (blood has been spilt),” the Chief Justice had remarked.

The court wanted to know whether the National Rehabilitation Policy is applicable in Assam, and directed the state government to file a detailed affidavit in the entire matter within three weeks.

The Assam government had ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident.

Assam government officials said that around 800 families of Bengali-speaking Muslims were unlawfully occupying about 4,500 bighas (602.40 hectares) of government land for many years and the government recently decided to use the land for agricultural purposes by removing the settlers.

Besides various opposition parties including the Congress and the Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the All Minority Organisations Coordination Committee, which includes the All Assam Minority Students Union and the Jamiat-e-Ulema, among others, had organised a series of agitations against the eviction drive.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier claimed that the Popular Front of India (PFI) was involved in the Darrang violence.

Besides Sarma, other BJP leaders accused the migrant Muslims of encroaching upon a huge area in Assam.

Muslims comprise 34.22 per cent of the 3.12 crore population of Assam, of which 4 per cent are indigenous Assamese Muslims and the remaining are mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims.

Muslim votes are the determining factor in at least 30 to 35 seats out of Assam’s total 126 Assembly seats.

Of Assam’s 34 districts, 19 districts have 12 per cent or more Muslim population, and in six districts (out of these 19 districts), the Muslim population constitutes 50 per cent or more.

In Tripura, after the BJP government wrested power from the Left parties defeating the CPI-M led Left Front, it bulldozed 185 CPI-M party and Left trade union offices across the state alleging that all these party offices were set up on government land.

The BJP government had also demolished eight Congress party offices in different districts.

CPI-M central committee member Jitendra Chaudhury said that BJP governments across the country tried to enforce one party rule.

“The BJP not only bulldozed the physical structures of the opposition parties, they also bulldozing the society, mindset of the people, communal harmony and the democratic structures of the country. They are not maintaining the demarcation between the party and the government,” Chaudhury told IANS.

Supporting the BJP government’s stand and action, the party’s Rajya Sabha member Manik Saha said that the government has been doing its work as per the law.

“If any party or individual occupying the government lands and properties, these should be vacated by the law enforcing agencies. A few of our party offices were also removed in Tripura,” Saha, who is also the president of the BJP Tripura unit, told IANS.

After coming to power in the politically important Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC), the civic body led by Dipak Majumder evicted many hawkers from shops in the capital city.

Almost all opposition parties and civil society activists criticized the AMC’s action.

They argued that without making alternate arrangements and rehabilitation of the hawkers, the authority should not do this unilaterally.

Crime

B’luru molestation case: Accused hid for 10 days with help from home guard girlfriend

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Bengaluru, April 17: Interesting details have emerged regarding the arrest of the accused in the Bengaluru molestation case of two women. Police nabbed the accused, Santosh Daniel, 10 days after the incident, in Kerala, and it has emerged that his home guard girlfriend helped him hide.

After the CCTV footage of the incident went viral, it became a major challenge for the police department to crack the case quickly.

Sources reveal that the accused was in a live-in relationship with the female home guard. Daniel had sexually harassed two young women and then escaped — later seen enjoying life in Kerala. The police have expressed shock over the home guard supporting the accused even after knowing about his act of molestation.

Sources reveal that shockingly, the molester was guided by his lover home guard on how to avoid the police after the incident.

Daniel was found having a good time at a resort in Kerala along with the female home guard at the time of arrest.

To confuse the police, the accused kept moving across four to five jurisdictional limits in Bengaluru. He used a Dio scooter and rode through the lanes of Suddguntepalya, Tilaknagar, and MICO Layout police station limits.

The police tracked his movements and launched a search operation. Just when they thought he was still in Bengaluru, he escaped to Kerala. He fled to Kerala with the female home guard from the Bellandur police station.

Though she was married and had a child, the home guard had stayed away from her husband for Daniel, according to sources. She had been in a live-in relationship with Santosh for three years. The home guard allegedly helped Daniel escape. She even accompanied him to Kerala. Initially, the couple went to Hosur, in Tamil Nadu, located close to Bengaluru.

Upon realising that the police were on their trail, they abandoned the bike in Hosur and fled to Salem. From Salem, they moved on to Kerala.

Police sources stated that the home guard had devised a master plan to avoid detection by police. She advised Daniel not to use his mobile phone. She also suggested folding the scooter’s number plate so it wouldn’t be visible.

When his movements could not be tracked, the special police teams continued their investigation in other directions. The accused, Daniel, was finally caught due to his traffic violation records. The police, who had gone through around 1,000 CCTV footage, identified him through a traffic violation.

They traced the number plate of a bike found at the crime scene, which led them to the suspect. It was the bike that eventually revealed Daniel’s identity. In the initial days of the investigation, the police traced the accused by tracking his bike.

The police sought help from the transport department during the process.

The Southeast Division police wrote to the transport department regarding the Dio scooter. They inquired about how many Dio scooters of that colour were registered in the city. With help from the transport department, the police got more clues about the accused.

Using the vehicle number, they traced Daniel’s home address. The police knocked on the door of Daniel’s house in Galburga Colony, Jayanagar. That’s when they found out that the accused was on the run. Karnataka Police arrested the accused on April 14.

Currently, Daniel is in police custody and being intensely interrogated. The police department has officially not revealed any details about the female home guard yet.

According to the police, they examined over 1,600 CCTV footage clips to track down the accused. Two special teams were formed, and based on technical leads, they searched for him in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The investigation began based on a complaint filed by a resident, Lokesh Gowda.

A video showing two young women being targeted by the accused in the early hours in a residential locality went viral on social media. The 17-second video showed two women walking down a deserted street flanked by houses on both sides. A tall, well-built man approaches them from behind, pushes one of the women aside, sexually harasses the other, and then escapes. The video also captures the visibly shaken women standing briefly to catch their breath before quickly leaving the scene.

The incident occurred at around 2 a.m. on April 4 in the jurisdiction of the Sadduguntepalya police station. The video went viral on April 6.

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Crime

SP MP Ziaur Rehman Barq appears before judicial commission over Sambhal violence

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New Delhi, April 16: Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Ziaur Rehman Barq on Wednesday appeared before the three-member judicial commission in Lucknow, which is probing the violence that erupted in UP’s Sambhal on November 24, last year.

The violence took place during a court-mandated ASI survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, and Barq has been accused of delivering an inflammatory speech that allegedly incited unrest.

Speaking ahead of his appearance, Barq maintained his innocence and expressed faith in the judiciary.

“Today, I am appearing before the committee. I hope we will get justice,” the SP MP said. “I will answer the questions they will ask. And I am going with the hope that we will get justice,” he added.

Barq has consistently denied the allegations, calling them unfounded and politically motivated.

Former high court judge Justice DK Arora, former chief secretary Amit Mohan Prasad and ex-DGP Arvind Kumar Jain are the members of judicial commission, constituted by the state government on November 28, last year.

Barq had previously appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on April 8 in connection with the same case.

The judicial commission is currently recording statements from key individuals to determine the causes of the unrest and the roles, if any, played by public representatives.

The commission is also expected to record statements of Jama Masjid managing committee chairman Zafar Ali, currently lodged in Moradabad prison. He was arrested by the Sambhal police for allegedly orchestrating violence in the district during ASI survey of the mosque.

The incident in question dates back to November 24, 2023, when clashes broke out during a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. Several individuals were booked in connection with the violence.

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Crime

Nashik: Many injured in stone pelting after rumors spread about the religious place

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Nashik, April 16: Police were pelted with stones in Kathe Gali area of ​​Nashik on Tuesday night. The incident took place when the electricity was cut off in the area and taking advantage of the darkness, the mob suddenly started pelting stones on the police and vehicles parked nearby. In this violent incident, three to four policemen were injured, while five vehicles were also damaged. The cause of the ruckus is being said to be a rumor about a religious place.

The police had to take immediate action to bring the situation under control. Around 500 policemen were deployed at night so that the situation does not deteriorate further. It is being told that around 400 to 500 people were present at the time of commotion. The police have also changed the traffic routes in the area to avoid any untoward situation. Administrative and police officials together kept a close watch on the situation and patrolling continued throughout the night.

Sources said that the root of this whole matter is a controversial religious site, which has been under tension for the past few days. The municipality had on April 1 issued a notice on an unauthorized construction following a court order, which said that the administration would take appropriate action if the construction itself was not removed. Despite this warning, the religious site was not removed, causing discontent among the local people and all kinds of rumours.

Officials said that some religious places in the area were constructed without permission and notices were given to remove them, after which the incident took place. All such unauthorized religious places will be removed in the next two days. Nashik Police says that police are taking action to maintain peace in the entire area. Police and administrative personnel are still present in the area and the situation is being monitored.

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