Mumbai, July 1: Singer Reetu Sharma, who had performed at a function of Ketan Agarwal’s family on May 7, said that she is “constantly reminded” of his warm nature and words from that day as she demanded strict punishment for the accused.

An old video of Ketan Agarwal dancing with his and his fiancee – and murder accused — Siya Goyal’s parents at a family function in Pune was posted on Instagram by the singer on Tuesday night.

Among the two videos posted on social media, the first shows Ketan’s father, Vishal Agarwal, and Siya’s parents – Pravin Goyal and Pooja Goyal – standing close to each other along with other relatives, while Vishal Agarwal is seen grooving with singer Sharma.

Seconds later, Ketan is seen dancing with Siya’s father, Pravin, to a popular Bollywood song.

Speaking to media, Sharma noted that she was contacted by the Agarwal family through an event management company and has already performed in three to four functions of the family.

The singer further said that she got to know about the alleged murder of Ketan from the social media status of a member of the Agarwal family.

“This function was held on May 7 in Nashik. The occasion was the wedding ritual of Ketan’s cousin (paternal aunt’s daughter) which the Goyal family also attended,” she said.

Denying any sense of enmity between the families, she said: “Both families were happy and very much involved. In fact, both Ketan and Siya’s parents were dancing together and, as seen in the videos, Ketan’s father was even singing with me.”

Noting that the incident deeply impacted her, Sharma said: “I was constantly recalling Ketan’s face and his words from the function on that day. I cannot forget the style in which he told me ‘Maa’m, you are superb; amazing, and please take your lunch’, after the function. Because after such functions we are usually tired, but the way he kept on persuading me till I had my lunch keeps coming back to me.”

Meanwhile, sharing the video, the singer wrote: “On 7th May, we did a program in their family. Where you all can see they are all happily enjoying the program. How happy both the families were. We saw Ketan from our own eyes. Such an innocent child. Who knew this will happen to this beautiful soul (sic).”

Sharma called for strict punishment for Siya, saying: “Just because she did not like him doesn’t mean she can take someone’s life. She did think about her parents that if she ran with her boyfriend, society would blame her and her parents. But what about Ketan’s parents? She did not think what they will go through??”

“Why saying NO is more difficult than taking someone’s life? We want justice for Ketan! She should be pushed from that fort where she pushed Ketan and killed him,” she added.

Mumbai, July 1: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday questioned the renewed political debate over the number of soldiers martyred during ‘Operation Sindoor’, while recalling that both the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force had recognised the loss earlier and had paid tributes to the six personnel who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.

The controversy over Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement over “no soldiers” deaths in the Parliament, days after ‘Operation Sindoor’, started after six martyred jawans were immortalised by inscribing their names on the National War Memorial in the national Capital on Monday.

In a post on X, Chaturvedi said, “Am I the only one who recalls that during Op Sindoor, the then-DGMO, LG Rajeev Ghai, at an official Press briefing, had paid tribute to the 5 personnel who made the supreme sacrifice during the Operation. Also recall Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, having personally visited Sergeant Kumar’s family to pay his respects. And now, the National War Memorial has their names etched in stone as a tribute for their ultimate sacrifice. Where’s the confusion?”

Chaturvedi referred to the instance when General Rajiv Ghai, then a Lieutenant General serving as the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), had paid solemn tribute to the fallen heroes during an official Press conference on May 11, 2025.

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and his wife, Sarita Singh, had also personally visited the family of the late Sergeant Surendra Kumar, who laid down his life during ‘Operation Sindoor’, to pay their respects.

Chaturvedi’s remarks came as Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s ally in the INDIA Bloc, trained guns at the Centre and the Defence Minister, as it claimed that the latter tried to gloss over the supreme sacrifice of soldiers during ‘Operation Sindoor’, thus not giving them the respect and honour that the martyrs deserved.

Congress accused the Centre of deliberately misleading Parliament and demanded Rajnath Singh’s resignation.

The Ministry of Defence firmly rejected these allegations as factually incorrect and warned against politicising sensitive military matters.

The Ministry clarified that this statement was taken out of context. The Ministry explained that he was specifically countering a false, viral rumour spreading online that Indian Air Force pilots had been shot down, rather than denying ground casualties.

The six brave soldiers martyred in ‘Operation Sindoor’ include Subedar Major Pawan Kumar, Rifleman Sunil Kumar, Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar, Agniveer Murali Naik, Havildar Sunil Kumar Singh, and Indian Air Force Sergeant Surendra Kumar.

Five of these personnel belonged to the Indian Army, while one belonged to the Indian Air Force.

Their names are being inscribed at the National War Memorial to ensure that their supreme sacrifice remains alive in the nation’s memory forever.

Mumbai, July 1: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the BJP, claiming that its patriotism and Hindutva were nothing but a “sham”, resembling the “descendants of Ravana”.

“While Ravana may be considered vicious by the BJP, the text reminds the Hindu community that he was not a hypocritical Hindu and did not rob the donation boxes of Ram temples like the BJP,” the party said.

The Thackeray camp, in an editorial in the party’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, said if no one feels regret or grief after seeing Lord Ram looted, “the nation’s land stolen, and democracy and the Constitution plundered — and if people still believe this is true politics — then even a 13th avatar of Vishnu will not be able to save this country. This marks the extreme apex of the Kali Yuga, where selfishness, immorality, and corruption have been normalised.”

To substantiate its argument, the Thackeray camp said that while nationwide and global discussions intensify regarding the alleged looting of ‘Ram Dhana’ (donations) from Ayodhya, worrying news has emerged from Arunachal Pradesh, where China has reportedly taken control of several villages. The sentiments of Hindus are being exploited; even Lord Ram has not been spared by thieves, who reportedly enjoy the full protection of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it said.

Although gold and donations have been stolen from the Ram Mandir, the police are searching everyone except the prime suspects. A similar pattern is visible regarding China. When Sonam Wangchuk exposed that China had intruded and occupied Indian territory in Ladakh, the central ruling dispensation labelled him a traitor and jailed him. Now, China has entered Arunachal Pradesh, stated the editorial.

According to the editorial, the indigenous ‘Nah’ tribal community, living along the border of the Upper Subansiri district in Arunachal Pradesh, has explicitly stated that China has encroached upon Indian territory. “This land is now under the control of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). China has intruded deep into the Taksing revenue area of Subansiri, violating the international border. Despite local tribal communities repeatedly raising their voices against China’s expansionism on Indian territory, nobody seems concerned about Indian borders or national security,” noted the editorial.

The editorial further observed, “While ‘Bangladeshi infiltrators’ is turned into a major election issue in West Bengal, China’s incursions into Arunachal and Ladakh are tolerated silently. This exposes severe vulnerabilities in India’s defence framework.”

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP have remained tight-lipped about this Chinese land-grabbing.

“While PM Modi is on a foreign tour, China has actively intruded into Arunachal. Even Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has failed to offer an official clarification on the matter. Instead, PM Modi and his associates find satisfaction in stealing the cultivated political ground of opposition parties. Their daily routine involves breaking opposition parties and poaching MLAs and MPs — which they brand as ‘national service’. At the same time, when China steals Indian land, their consciousness of patriotism and Hindutva fails to awaken. Those who speak aggressively against Pakistan and Bangladesh surrender before China’s military might. China previously intruded into the Galwan Valley and killed 20 of our jawans, yet PM Modi did not feel the need to launch any retaliatory operation for this Chinese offence,” noted the Thackeray camp.

The editorial said that now, “even as donation boxes disappear from Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir, the BJP’s ‘fake Hindutvawadis’ shamelessly boast, ‘We are the true custodians of Hindutva’. Even when China occupies Indian land, these same individuals maintain the arrogance to claim, ‘There are no patriots in India besides us’.”