Kolkata, April 17: A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Thursday, permitted a non-government organisation (NGO) to visit the communal violence-hit Murshidabad and distribute relief material among the affected people.

While granting permission to the NGO christened ‘Khola Hawa (Open Air)’, which was earlier denied permission by the district administration, the single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha observed that there was no rule that organisations other than government bodies would not have permission to distribute relief materials at any place.

She also observed that the existing law and order problem could not be an excuse for denying permission, since the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were already posted in Murshidabad.

The NGO approached the bench of Justice Sinha after the Murshidabad district magistrate denied permission for its members to visit the troubled spots in the district to distribute relief there. Parts of Murshidabad district in West Bengal have been on the boil last week after protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent.

In the petition, the NGO alleged that while the district administration was allowing different political parties to reach the troubled spots with relief materials, the permission to the organisation was deliberately denied.

The matter came up for hearing on Thursday afternoon. The counsel for the NGO argued that there was no reason for the district magistrate to deny the permission since the state Director General of Police had already claimed that the situation at Murshidabad was currently more or less normal. “The NGO members want to go there to distribute relief items like tarpaulin, food, and medicines to those affected,” the counsel of Khola Hawa argued.

Although the state government opposed the arguments, Justice Sinha finally accepted the argument of the counsel of Khola Hawa and permitted the NGO to visit the troubled spots and distribute relief items there.

However, she maintained that only three members of a relief team should visit any troubled spot at a time for the time being. At the same time, these three team members would have to inform the district magistrate at least 24 hours in advance about their visit. The visiting team members, as per the court order, should also not make any provocative statements during the process of relief distribution that might trigger tension in the area again.

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.

New Delhi, April 17: The top BJP leadership held an important meeting on Wednesday in Delhi regarding the party’s organisational elections, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The meeting, held at the Prime Minister’s residence, was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and BJP’s National General Secretary (Organisation), B.L. Santhosh.

The organisational reshuffle is expected to have a significant impact on the BJP’s electoral strategy ahead of upcoming polls.

Discussions also focused around the upcoming election for the BJP President.

According to party sources, the announcement regarding the election could be made within a week.

In addition to deliberating on the national leadership, the meeting also focused on organisational changes at the state level.

Sources said that the names of new state BJP presidents for states like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh were discussed.

The election for the BJP President was to be completed by February 2025, but was delayed due to state elections, including Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi.

The party may announce around half a dozen state unit presidents in the next two to three days.

“The election process for choosing the BJP President could begin any time after April 20,” the party sources said.

The election for the BJP President was supposed to take place in January. However, with April halfway through, it remains pending.

J.P. Nadda, who has been serving as the BJP President since January 2020, had his term extended beyond the three-year limit to ensure a smooth transition and proper preparation for the next leadership phase.

According to the BJP constitution, the term of the National President is generally three years, elected through consensus within the party.

Party insiders believe that the delay is due to the careful selection of a leader who can further strengthen the organisation.

BJP is looking for a young organisational structure and this could lead to ouster of some current General Secretaries being replaced by young faces, keeping in mind the future prospects of the party, party sources said.