Politics
‘Political vendetta’, RJD leaders question timing of CBI raids at Lalu prasad’s properties

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Friday reacted sharply over the raids conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in more than 15 locations of Lalu Prasad.
Sunil Singh, senior leader of the party and an MLC, slammed the CBI for conducting raids “on the direction of the Narendra Modi government”.
“Conduct raids at the places you want. You (CBI) will not get anything other than cow dung and Baba Ji Ka Thullu,” Singh asserted before the mediapersons in Patna.
“The act of CBI is a part of the political vendetta by the BJP to harass Lalu Prasad and his family,” he added.
Alok Mehta, another senior leader of the RJD and close to the Lalu family said: “The BJP is doing everything to stay in power in Bihar. It is involved in increasing communal tension in the society and diverting the attention from the real issues. Those who are pointing out real issues before the countrymen are getting harassed through the central agencies. They want to suppress the voice of a person who is vocal against the divisive politics of the BJP and RSS.”
Shakti Singh Yadav, another senior leader of the RJD said that the party will start a movement against the BJP in Bihar.
Earlier, the CBI registered a fresh FIR against Lalu Prasad in the alleged IRCTC scam during his tenure as the Union railway minister between 2005 to 2009. But the million dollar question arises here is what new proof the CBI obtained after 13 years against Lalu Prasad to register an FIR followed by raids at more than 15 places in Patna, Delhi, Gopalganj, and other places.
At present Rabri Devi and Tej Pratap Yadav are present in Patna. The CBI officials are quizzing Tej Pratap Yadav in his official residence. Tejashwi Yadav is in London for a conference while Lalu Prasad and his daughter Misa Bharti are in Delhi.
Timing and probable reasons of raids
The timing of the FIR and raids is important here, especially in the last one and half months. During the period of Ramzan, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav came very close to each other. Nitish Kumar went to the Rabri Devi residence for the Iftar party. When the JD(U)’s minority wing invited Tejashwi Yadav for the Iftar party, Nitish Kumar went to the car of Tejashwi Yadav to see-off him and then sat in his own car.
Sources have said that the BJP think tank got restless after Tejashwi Yadav announced a padyatra from Patna to New Delhi on the issue of caste-based census. The office of CMO Bihar immediately called Tejashwi Yadav for a close-door meeting with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. That meeting lasted one hour wherein no one was allowed inside.
Sources further said that Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav were discussing the formation of a new government in Bihar. For Nitish Kumar, the caste-based census could be an issue to leave the BJP and form a new government in Bihar with the support of the RJD.
After that meeting, Tejashwi was also looking calm. He claimed that the chief minister will call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue of caste-based census.
Nitish Kumar contested the 2015 election under the umbrella of Mahagathbandhan where the RJD was the elder partner with 81 seats in the Vidhan Sabha. Nitish Kumar came out of the Mahagathbandhan after the railway and IRCTC scams surfaced in 2017. Lalu Prasad was facing charges of recruiting a number of people in the Indian Railway on the basis of cash and land registry. Some of the job aspirants have registered their lands in the names of Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav. When the name of Tejashwi Yadav came in the FIR of CBI, Nitish Kumar broke the alliance and jumped into the ship of the BJP to form the government in Bihar. He broke the alliance with the RJD on the claim of zero-tolerance on corruption in his government.
JD(U) led by Nitish Kumar contested the 2020 Assembly election under the umbrella of NDA, but it’s seats were less compared to the 2015 poll. Nitish Kumar believes that the seats of his party came down due to BJP. Hence, the relationship of the JD(U) and BJP was sour from the beginning of this government. During the oath ceremony of Nitish Kumar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah came to Raj Bhawan, but these two leaders were not looking friendly at all.
For the BJP, its leaders know that Nitish Kumar has so many qualities but they also know that he can shift the goal post any time from the NDA to Mahagathbandhan. Caste-based census is one of the issues where the JD(U) and the BJP have difference of opinions and Nitish Kumar could utilise that point to change the government.
The Narendra Modi government knows Bihar is critical for him in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Hence, the BJP top leadership wants to stay in the government of Bihar. On the other hand, Nitish Kumar knows that if they stay with BJP, the performance of JD(U) in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and Vidhan Sabha 2025 may reach another low.
The JD(U) did not announce the name of R.C.P. Singh as a candidate for the Rajya Sabha. It was also a hint from Nitish Kumar to the BJP as everyone knows that R.C.P. Singh is having good connections with the top leadership of the BJP. The party has already announced the name of party old loyalist Anil Hegde for the Rajya Sabha seat. At present, the JD(U) has not enough strength to send two Rajya Sabha candidates.
The political experts believe that there is a message for Nitish Kumar as well here. It would not be easy for him to move away from the BJP and form a new government in Bihar with the help of the RJD. Nitish Kumar was also a Union railway minister in the past and allegedly sleeper scam took place during his tenure. The case of Bihar’s Srijan scam is also in the hands of CBI.
Maharashtra
Congress locks Mumbai ED office, Case registered against Congress workers

Mumbai: Mumbai Enforcement Directorate Police have registered a case against 15 to 20 Congress workers for protesting by locking the ED office. The protest was held at the ED office when it was on holiday and the Congress workers locked the already locked office. According to the police, the office was closed during the protest, but a case has been registered against Congress workers and protesters in this case. The protesters also raised anti-government slogans during the protest at the ED office and the protesters said that Modi sends the ED forward whenever he is afraid. Congressmen have continued to protest against the investigation and inclusion of their names in the charge sheet against Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case. Congressmen have protested in the same manner, after which a case has been registered. This case was registered by MRA Marg Police and the investigation is ongoing. No one has been arrested in this case, this has been confirmed by local DCP Praveen Kumar. Police have tightened security around the office following the protest.
Crime
Accused in air hostess sexual assault case was porn addict: Gurugram Police

Gurugram, April 19: Gurugram Police said on Saturday that the accused in the air hostess sexual assault case was a porn addict, an official said.
Gurugram Police Spokesperson Sandeep Kumar said that the accused used to watch porn videos habitually, which was also confirmed from the mobile phone recovered from him.
He said that during police interrogation, it was found that the accused has a B.Sc. (OT) degree from a private institute from the years 2019-2022, and he was an average student in studies.
“For the last five months, he was working as a treatment machine technician in the ICU of the hospital. The accused going to the victim at the time of the incident was confirmed from the CCTV cameras installed in the hospital,” he said.
The Spokesperson said that during interrogation of the accused, it was also found that he had watched porn videos before the incident and even after committing the crime.
“Which is also being confirmed from the search history of the accused’s mobile phone. He was produced before the court on Saturday, from where he was sent to judicial custody for further proceedings,” he said.
Meanwhile, the SIT on Friday nabbed the accused, after analysing at least 800 CCTV cameras installed inside and outside of the hospital, who sexually assaulted the woman when she was on a ventilator.
The accused was identified as Deepak (25), a native of Muzaffarpur in Bihar. The accused had been working as a treatment machine technician in the ICU of the hospital for the past five months and was arrested in the Sadar police station area on Friday.
An official privy to the investigation said that the accused has confessed to his crime in the matter.
“While investigating the incident, eight police teams checked the footage of 800 CCTV cameras installed in the hospital, and around 50 hospital staff, including doctors, were questioned about the incident. Keeping in mind the seriousness of the incident, the police teams investigated from every angle and collected a lot of information related to the incident, as a result of which the police got great success in identifying the accused who committed the crime,” said Arpit Jain, DCP (Headquarters).
On Thursday, Vikas Kumar Arora, Commissioner of Police, Gurugram, had constituted an SIT and ordered the identification and arrest of the accused.
As per the order of the Police Commissioner, an SIT was constituted under the leadership of Arpit Jain, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Headquarters, Gurugram, in which a total of eight different police teams were given special directions and deployed to collect information and evidence related to the incident.
Dr. Sanjay Durani, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, said in a statement that: “We have been informed that the police have identified a suspect who has been taken into custody in connection with the ongoing investigation concerning allegations of sexual assault on a patient. On the basis of information provided to us by the police, we have suspended the suspect employee. As we await the final outcome of the investigation, we will continue to provide full support to the police.”
Business
FM Sitharaman to showcase India’s economic dynamism during US, Peru visit

New Delhi, April 19: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to embark on an official visit to the US and Peru, beginning April 20, where she is slated to participate in multilateral dialogues to showcase India’s economic dynamism, as the country prepares a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US, it was announced on Saturday.
During her visit to the US, the Finance Minister will visit San Francisco and Washington, DC, from April 20-25, according to a Ministry of Finance statement.
In San Francisco, FM Sitharaman would deliver a keynote address at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, titled ‘Laying the foundations of Viksit Bharat 2047,’ followed by a fireside chat session.
The Finance Minister will also interact with top CEOs from prominent fund management firms during a roundtable meeting with investors, besides holding bilateral meetings with CEOs from top information technology (IT) firms based in San Francisco.
She will also participate in an event featuring the Indian diaspora in San Francisco and interact with the Indian community settled there, said the ministry.
In Washington, DC, FM Sitharaman will participate in the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meetings, the Development Committee Plenary, IMFC Plenary, and Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR) meeting.
On the sidelines of the Spring Meetings, she will hold bilateral meetings with her counterparts from several countries, including Argentina, Bahrain, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, and the US; besides meeting EU Commissioner for Financial Services; President, Asian Development Bank (ADB); President, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health (UNSGSA); and First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
During her maiden visit to Peru from April 26-30, the Finance Minister will lead an Indian delegation of officials from the Ministry of Finance and business leaders, highlighting the strengthening bilateral economic and trade relations between the two nations.
Beginning her visit in Lima, she is expected to call on the President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, and Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen, besides holding bilateral meetings with the Peruvian Ministers of Finance and Economy, Defence, Energy and Mines, and also holding interaction with local public representatives.
The Finance Minister will chair the India-Peru Business Forum meeting with prominent business representatives in attendance from both India and Peru.
FM Sitharaman will also hold an interaction with the Indian investors and businesses currently operating in Peru, as well as the Indian business delegation visiting Peru. The Finance Minister will also participate in a community event in Lima, where she will interact with the Indian diaspora living in Peru, according to the ministry statement.
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