Bengaluru, April 22: The Bengaluru Police lodged an FIR against an Indian Air Force officer on Tuesday in connection with a road rage incident involving him and a bike rider.

The case was registered under the jurisdiction of the Byappanahalli police station. The FIR has been filed against Wing Commander Shiladitya Bose. Earlier, the bike rider, Vikas Kumar, was arrested in connection with the case. The incident came to light after Bose uploaded a video on social media claiming he was attacked by a local youth for not speaking in Kannada.

However, later CCTV footage revealed Bose overpowering the bike rider, banging, kicking, and punching him.

The FIR has been filed under IPC Sections 109 (attempt to murder), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 304 (snatching forcefully), 324 (mischief), and 352 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace).

The complaint was lodged by Vikas Kumar, a call centre employee. According to him, while he was returning a friend’s bike, a car touched his vehicle. “When I questioned why they hit the bike, the officer kicked it. When I objected, he continuously assaulted me. When I tried to call my friend, he snatched my phone and threw it. He also threw away the bike keys and attempted to choke me,” Kumar alleged.

The incident escalated after Kannada organisations condemned the officer’s video and the alleged assault, criticising him for giving the issue a Kannada versus Hindi language twist. After Kumar’s arrest, they also slammed the police for taking one-sided action.

DCP East D. Devaraju had stated earlier that the incident occurred around 6 a.m. on Monday while the Air Force officer was travelling from DRDO Quarters to the Bengaluru International Airport. “An altercation broke out between the officer, his wife, and the biker. His wife, Squadron Leader Madhumita Das, was driving the car. The situation escalated, and we have CCTV footage along with videos taken by bystanders,” he said.

“It’s a clear case of road rage. Both parties could have avoided the incident. Around 6.30 a.m., they came to the police station, and the SHO advised them to seek first aid as they were bleeding,” he added.

He also stated that Bose had left for the airport due to a delay. “Once he went live on social media, we traced the details and contacted Madhumita Das at the DRDO quarters. She later came to the police station and filed a complaint. This is a clear road rage incident,” DCP Devaraju reiterated.

Ranchi, April 22: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday carried out searches at 16 locations across Jharkhand and Bihar in connection with an alleged money laundering case linked to a massive land scam involving 117 acres of forest land in Bokaro.

The raids began early in the morning and were spread across Ranchi, Bokaro, and Ramgarh in Jharkhand, as well as some locations in Bihar.

The operation is part of the ED’s ongoing probe into illegal land transactions and suspected laundering of proceeds from the sale and purchase of forest land.

The case, originally registered at the Sector-12 police station in Bokaro earlier this year, pertains to the alleged illegal transfer and sale of approximately 117 acres of forest land. The Jharkhand CID had initially taken up the investigation, which revealed major irregularities.

The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the Jharkhand Police, also probing the 2022 forest land scam, found that 74.38 acres of land belonging to the Forest Department in Bokaro were illegally allotted to a private company by administrative officials.

According to CID findings, the land mafia in alleged collusion with some personnel of Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL) tampered with land records. It was further discovered that the land in question had not been properly handed over to the Forest Department by BSL, which created loopholes exploited by the accused parties for illegal transactions.

Following the revelations, the case was handed over to the ED for investigation under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Sources indicate that the ED is likely to summon and question several individuals, including officials from the Forest Department and BSL, in connection with the case.

The agency is also examining financial trails to ascertain how the proceeds from the land transactions were laundered and who the key beneficiaries were.

Kolkata, April 21: The Calcutta High Court, on Monday, observed why the West Bengal government and West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) are taking time to implement the order by the Supreme Court (SC), cancelling 25,753 teaching and non-teaching jobs in state-run schools.

Acting on a contempt-of-court petition filed against the state government and WBSSC for not implementing the apex court order, Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi also directed the state government and the commission to explain to the court within a day.

The next hearing on the matter will be on April 23, and the state government and the commission will have to submit their explanations on the same day.

Last year, the same division bench of Justice Basak and Justice Rashidi cancelled 25,753 teaching and non-teaching jobs, which is the entire panel of WBSSC for 2016. The state government approached the SC challenging the order.

Earlier this month, the SC division bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar upheld the order of the Calcutta High Court and also accepted the observation that the entire panel had to be cancelled because of the failure on the part of the state government and the commission to segregate the “genuine” candidates from the “tainted” ones.

Thereafter, the contempt of court petition was filed at the same division bench of the Calcutta High Court, accusing the state government and the commission of not even initiating the termination of jobs of those who have already been identified as “tainted” by the commission itself.

During the hearing in the matter on Monday, the division bench observed that there will be problems if even the “tainted” candidates continue receiving their salaries.

On Monday, the division bench also raised the question of why the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials are not interrogating those candidates who have already been identified as “tainted.”

The division bench also observed that the CBI should find out how those who were paid money by the “tainted” candidates against jobs.

On Wednesday, the CBI counsel will also have to give an explanation to the court in the matter.