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Sambhal mosque chief Zafar Ali’s arrest: Advocates stage ‘pen-down’ protest

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Sambhal, March 24: Advocates in Sambhal staged a ‘pen-down’ protest on Monday against the “unlawful” arrest of Shahi Jama Masjid Committee chief and senior lawyer Zafar Ali by the Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Ali was arrested in connection with criminal conspiracy for November 24 violence in the city, which left four people dead and several injured.

The police have accused Ali of inciting rioters and fabricating evidence to cause wrongful conviction, among other charges.

A couple of lawyers at the Sambhal court voice strong opposition to his arrest and also led a procession through the market, raising slogans against the police administration.

Speaking to the reporters, Advocate Shakeel Ahmad said, “Zafar Ali has been wrongfully arrested. There is no FIR against him, and the charges are baseless. He is our senior counsel, and all advocates are standing with him. If this oppression continues, protests will spread across Uttar Pradesh and the entire country.”

Ahmad further claimed that Ali had been arrested to prevent him from giving a statement against the police in court in Lucknow on Monday.

The lawyers also staged “pen-down” protest, refusing to carry out legal duties until Ali is released.

Advocate Amit Uthbal stated, “The entire advocate community is united against the police. We stand with Zafar Ali and will continue our protest.”

Following Ali’s arrest, heavy security has been deployed around Shahi Jama Masjid, with Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel stationed in the area. The administration is monitoring the city using CCTV and drone surveillance to maintain law and order. A flag march was also conducted as a precautionary measure.

Sambhal Circle Officer (CO) Anuj Chaudhary told IANS, “The route march is a routine procedure to ensure peace and order. Lawyers have the right to protest.”

Ali has been arrested under multiple penal provisions, including rioting, obstructing public servants, endangering public safety, and causing property damage. His arrest is linked to one of 12 FIRs registered against 159 individuals following the Sambhal riots.

According to police sources, Ali played a key role in planning the violence, which erupted after he was informed about a proposed survey of the historical mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). His role in inciting locals to oppose the survey, which was abruptly halted on November 19, 2024, is also under investigation.

During the violence, rioters allegedly used illegal foreign-made firearms, and incidents of gunfire, stone-pelting, and arson were reported in Nakhasa Tiraha, Kotgarvi, and Hindupura Kheda.

In the aftermath of the riots, several families fled the area, and around 300 properties remain locked. The police suspect that panic selling of properties occurred due to rumours of demolition, and individuals with criminal backgrounds took advantage of the situation to seize properties.

Maharashtra

Betting in IPL tournaments on with help of Mumbai Police: Maha LoP Danve

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Mumbai, March 25: Leader of the Opposition (LoP), in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve on Tuesday made a serious allegation that large scale betting was going on with the help of senior Mumbai Police officers during the ongoing IPL series.

During his speech on last week’s motion moved by the Opposition, LoP Ambadas Danve presented a pen drive to Council Chairman Ram Shinde.

“Those involved in betting include Mehul Jain, Kamlesh Jain and Hiren Jain. In addition, Pakistani players are being used by them for betting. After betting through an App called Lotus 24 in the recently-concluded Champions Trophy, all these people have now come to Mumbai for the IPL,” alleged Danve.

Danve criticised the Maharashtra government citing scams in the state’s transport undertaking, CIDCO, revenue, and health departments and also stated that there were corruption allegations against ministers and scams by officials.

He expressed his displeasure at the government’s working, saying that Maharashtra’s economic situation was heading towards an abyss.

Danve claimed that the state had not published the crime report of the last two years.

“About 564 various crimes have been registered in the state and riots have taken place. The graph of rape incidents has increased in Nagpur, Pune, Sambhajinagar. Nearly 22 rapes and 45 molestation incidents are happening every day. All these incidents are happening due to lack of fear of law,” Danve said.

Danve stated that prisons were overcrowded and added that there were 43,000 prisoners in various jails against the total capacity of 27,114 inmates.

He further claimed that there had been cases of fraud worth Rs 51,000 crore in the state. The rate of crime and cybercrime is increasing in the state and the cyber cell needs to be effective to prevent it, Danve said and cited various cases to argue that the law and order situation had deteriorated in Maharashtra.

“A man broke into the house of actor Saif Ali Khan and tried to rob and kill him. The accused in the murder of Beed Massajog Sarpanch is still absconding.

“The human rights commission’s report made it clear that Somnath Suryavanshi in Parbhani died due to beating by the police, but the government cannot take action against the people who beat Suryavanshi,” he claimed.

Danve also questioned what would be the plight of ordinary girls if Union Minister Raksha Khadse’s daughter was molested by some miscreants in Jalgaon.

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Mumbai Press Exclusive News

Dharavi fire, cylinder explosion, illegal parking, Mumbai Police registered a case

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Mumbai: After a fire broke out in Dharavi PMC Colony in Mumbai, the police have registered a case against those who parked illegally. This fire incident happened due to illegal parking and a truck loaded with gas cylinders. Mumbai Police has registered a complaint in this matter and investigation is going on. The area in Dharavi, Mumbai, where the fire incident took place, is known for large-scale illegal parking and the fire engulfed all the vehicles parked here. This also endangered the lives of people, so the police have registered a case against those who were negligent and illegally parked vehicles. This complaint has been lodged by a constable of Mumbai Police.

According to which, a gas cylinder loaded in a truck exploded due to illegal parking in Dharavi, after which Mumbai Police has registered a case for illegal parking of the truck and other violations of the law. At 9:50 am, the gas cylinder loaded in the truck caught fire, causing panic in the area. The truck was parked illegally in a double parking lot. Driver Babu Gopal Pujari had parked the truck here. It supplies gas cylinders of HP company and its owner is Vinod Suresh Kolkar, manager is Nakesh Subhash Navale, driver of tempo is Velu Nadarha, owner of truck is Anil Kumar Gulab Chandra Gupta, while illegal parking operators are Taufiq Sheikh, Tariq Zubair Sheikh. This accident and fire happened due to illegal parking here, so the police have registered a case against them.

Police have registered a case against 9 accused in this case and other drivers and owners who parked vehicles here. Police have registered a case against the accused. Case has been registered under sections 285, 287, 288, 324 and other sections. This accident happened in an illegal parking lot near PMG Colony in Dharavi. There was chaos in the area due to the explosion of gas cylinders loaded in the truck. The fire brigade vehicles have controlled the fire after a lot of effort. There was no loss of life in this, but the vehicles present there caught fire.

The police have registered a case in this matter and started investigation. In this case, the police has said that this incident happened due to illegal parking here and double parking was also done on the roadside.

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disaster

Second body recovered from Telangana tunnel

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Hyderabad, March 25: More than a month after a portion of the roof of a tunnel collapsed in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district trapping eight persons, rescue workers recovered a second body on Tuesday.

The body was brought out of the partially-collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in the afternoon and was shifted to a government hospital at Nagarkurnool. It was identified as that of project engineer Manoj Kumar of Uttar Pradesh.

The body would be handed over to the family of the deceased after the autopsy. Nagarkurnool district Collector Badavath Santosh said the state government would pay Rs 25 lakh to the family of the deceased.

This was the second body recovered from the tunnel since the accident that occurred on February 22.

The body of Gurpreet Singh, a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) operator from Punjab was recovered on March 9.

However, the search for the remaining missing persons was hampered by continuous seepage of water and slush.

Some rescue workers engaged in digging work in the last 50 meters of the 14-km-long tunnel noticed a foul smell from a spot near the loco train track on Tuesday morning and alerted the officials.

Various agencies involved in the rescue operation took up digging around the spot and recovered the body.

Multiple agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), and Anvi Robotics were continuing the operation to trace the remaining six persons.

The missing persons are Sri Niwas (UP), Sunny Singh (J&K), Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand.

The rescue workers continued digging at spots identified by the cadaver dog squad from Kerala. In hazardous areas near TBM, robotic technology is being deployed for safety reasons.

At a review meeting in Hyderabad on Monday, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy directed the officials to expedite the rescue operations.

He instructed Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari to appoint senior IAS officer Shiva Shankar Loteti as a Special Officer to continuously monitor the rescue operations.

The officials informed the Chief Minister that 25 agencies including various wings of the Central and State governments as well as private organisations are engaged in the rescue operations. A total of 700 personnel have been involved in the rescue operations.

The official said the rescue teams are removing the debris of collapsed rocks, dismantling TBM parts, and clearing soil mounds, silt, and water from the tunnel.

They explained that rescue operations were delayed due to poor air and light conditions as the accident occurred 14 kilometres from the inlet. About 30 metres of the accident area has been identified as the most dangerous zone. The officials also clarified that rescue operations will have to be carried out in the tunnel according to the scientific studies of the Geological Survey of India and the National Geophysical Research Institute.

The Chief Minister asked officials to take all necessary permissions from the Union government for the emergency works to be carried out in the tunnel.

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