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Who is Zubair: UP says facts twister, not fact-checker; SC grants him bail in 6 FIRs

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Earlier this week, the Uttar Pradesh government told the Supreme Court that Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair made graded payments for his tweets to inflame communal passion — more vicious the tweet the higher the payments — and admitted receiving Rs 2 crore.

However, uninterested by UP counsel’s vehement arguments, the Supreme Court said it does not see a reason for deprivation of his liberty to persist any further and granted him interim bail in all the six FIRs registered by the Uttar Pradesh Police. From his arrest to release, Zubair had occupied the media spotlight. Zubair, who is a self-proclaimed fact-checker, is employed with Pravda Media Foundation promoted Alt News.

Uttar Pradesh’s Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad pressed in the Supreme Court that Zubair is a person who, instead of informing the police of hate speech, has been taking advantage of speeches and videos having potential of creating a communal divide and he had shared them repeatedly. The counsel claimed his tweets are meant to inflame communal violence, which actually took place, in certain localities of Uttar Pradesh, where videos of crimes were used along with comments to incite communal elements to indulge in violence.

The UP’s counsel urged a bench headed by justice D.Y. Chandrachud to impose a bail condition that Zubair should not tweet, adding that there are doubts if he can be called a journalist. However, refusing to restrain Zubair from tweeting, the top court said, “It is like telling a lawyer that you should not argue. How can we tell a journalist that he will not write?” The UP counsel reiterated, “He is not a journalist…” Justice Chandrachud further added that if he violates any law by tweeting, then the authorities can proceed against him as per law.

At 6 p.m. the same day, the self-proclaimed fact-checker, who had put the spotlight on former BJP leader Nupur Sharma for her remarks on the Prophet, quietly walked out of the Tihar jail wearing a baseball cap, and a full mask. However, his release from the jail does not resolve the mystery about his identity, which remains far from over. A single question created a raze on the social media: who is Mohammed Zubair? Where does he come from?

Zubair co-founded fact-checking website Alt News, along with former software engineer Pratik Sinha in 2017 to combat fake news. According to police and security agencies, Zubair, aged between 39-40 years, is a resident of Bengaluru, who holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Telcom Engineering from private M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT). He has travelled to Saudi Arabia and Australia.

Zubair has a family with a wife, kids, and parents. He completed his engineering degree in 2005. He then joined Airtel Enterprises in Bengaluru as an engineer and worked there for two years. Zubair, then worked in CISCO-HCL company for one year before joining Nokia-Siemens Network (NSN) in 2008 and travelled the entire country, including all big metros as part of his job. Zubair worked for the NSN for a decade.

In 2015, he met Pravda Foundation Director Pratik Sinha and his mother Nirjhari Sinha. Pratik Sinha’s father Mukul Sinha ran a campaign against then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over Gujarat riots. Pratik’s father, who was a scientist and also trained as a lawyer, went on to represent victims of the communal riots in Gujarat and he also took on the Narendra Modi government through sustained cross-examination in the Nanavati-Shah Commission which investigated the Godhra train carnage, riots and alleged fake encounters that followed.

It was after this meeting that Zubair and Pravada Foundation joined hands to set up Alt News by labelling it as a fact-checking website.

On July 20, giving out details on Zubair’s controversial credentials claiming to be fact-checker, the UP counsel told the Supreme Court that under the guise of fact-checking, Zubair is promoting malicious and provocative content, and she also pointed at violence in Uttar Pradesh, Ghaziabad-Loni incident, which took place after his tweet, which was a video of an old man beaten by some people.

The counsel added that Zubair took advantage of this video, tweeted it to lakhs of his followers and added sentences which inflamed violence. The counsel said he had given a written apology saying that without checking facts he had gone ahead and added that Zubair was using Twitter as a medium to spread disinformation and creating communal tension by twisting facts. The counsel reiterated in the Supreme Court that he is not a journalist!

Crime

Accused in air hostess sexual assault case was porn addict: Gurugram Police

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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.”

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Business

FM Sitharaman to showcase India’s economic dynamism during US, Peru visit

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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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National News

We can’t live like this: Women break down before NCW chief in riot-hit Murshidabad

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Kolkata, April 19: Women in Dhuliyan, one of the worst-affected areas in West Bengal’s minority-dominated Murshidabad district, have urged the Centre to set up permanent Border Security Force (BSF) camps in violence-hit pockets to ensure their safety following recent communal unrest over protests against the Waqf Act.

On Saturday, a delegation from the National Commission for Women (NCW), led by its chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar, visited Dhuliyan to meet those affected by last week’s violence, most of whom are Hindus.

Several women broke down during their interaction with the delegation and pleaded for the permanent deployment of central forces.

“We won’t survive without permanent BSF camps here. If needed, we are ready to offer our own land and homes for setting them up,” said a woman, sobbing and touching the feet of a delegation member.

The NCW team assured locals that their concerns would be conveyed to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

“We are here to stand with you in this moment of crisis. The whole country is watching and supporting you. We will submit a detailed report to the Centre and include the demand for permanent BSF presence in this region,” a delegation member told the women.

Even before Saturday’s visit, NCW member Archana Majumdar had stressed the need for permanent Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) camps in the region.

“The women victims in Murshidabad have clearly expressed the need for permanent CAPF deployment to ensure their dignity and safety. We will raise the issue with the Union government,” Majumdar said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Murshidabad district administration has prepared a preliminary report on property damage. According to initial estimates, over 250 houses and 100 shops — mostly owned by Hindus — were vandalized during the unrest.

“This is just the initial estimate. The actual figure may rise as we complete the detailed assessment,” said a senior district official.

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