West Bengal violence: BJP worker's death sparks more clashes

Agencies
July 7, 2017

Kolkata, Jul 7: Life was limping back to normalcy in the communal violence-hit areas of West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district as paramilitary forces marched on the streets, and internet and WI-FI services remained suspended in the affected pockets on Thursday.

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There were no reports of violence from Baduria, Banstala and Tetulia -- the worst affected areas in Basirhat sub-division, where some roadside shops opened and public transport commenced plying. Train services on the Sealdah-Basirhat line, which were disrupted over the past two days due to blockades, also normalised, a railway spokesman said.

However, a clash broke out between supporters of the ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP-RSS activists outside a government-run hospital here following the death of an injured patient from Basirhat earlier in the day.

The BJP and RSS leadership claimed the deceased - an active BJP worker - was killed, allegedly during the communal trouble.

A police officer said the Basirhat resident died due to multiple stab injuries, but did not confirm it was linked to the communal violence.

Some BJP leaders including actor turned politician Locket Chatterjee were stopped by a mob from entering the hospital to meet his family.

Later in the day, a mob surrounded the cars of state BJP president Dilip Ghosh and party's national General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and demanded they go back from the place.

Claiming the agitators were "Trinamool-backed hooligans", Ghosh said they were being forcibly stopped from meeting the deceased's family and some of their activists were "severely beaten up".

Police said a scuffle had broken out between the Trinamool and BJP-RSS activists. "The car of former BJP MLA Shamik Bhattachary was vandalised. No case has been lodged yet. No one has been detained," said a police officer.

Meanwhile, BJP chief Amit Shah formed a three-member delegation of MPs to look into incidents of communal violence in the state.

The delegation, headed by senior party leader Om Mathur, and comprising New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi and Baghpat MP Satyapal Singh, will visit the violence-hit areas on Friday to take stock of the ground situation.

The Left and the Congress also decided to send teams to the areas on Friday. The Left delegation would be led by politburo member Mohammad Salim, while state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury would spearhead the party delegatrion.

Amid the hectic political activity, the two-day old stand-off - in the aftermath of the violence - between Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi and the Mamata Banerjee government took a fresh twist with a senior state BJP leader calling him a "dedicated soldier" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brigade.

"Trinamool Congress thinks that bad-mouthing the Governor would bottle him up. But they are making a mistake here. He is a dedicated soldier of the 'Modi Vahini'. So, he will keep walking the path of truth," BJP national Secretary and former state President Rahul Sinha told reporters here.

The Trinamool was quick to latch on to Sinha's comments.

"There is nothing left to be said. He is the ignorant chief of an ignorant group," State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said about Tripathi.

"Today, the cat is out of the bag. We've been saying for the last few days that the Governor's house has been transformed into a BJP office and the Governor himself is involved in the process. The statement of Rahul Sinha officially certifies our claims," he added.

Rushing in to control the political fall-out of Sinha's remarks, Vijayvargiya said no one should doubt Tripathi's potential and scholarship, and accused the state government of attacking the Governor to divert people's attention from their failure in maintaining law and order.

In Basirhat, the roads were mostly deserted and the few locals who came out on the road said they wanted peace to be restored in the affected areas.

"We all want peace to be restored. People of all communities have been staying together for ages here. We want things to be that way," a pedestrian said while talking to a news channel.

"No fresh incidents of violence have been reported. There are enough police personnel and security forces deployed to avert any untoward situation," a Baduria police station officer said.

Armed paramilitary personnel were seen marching on the streets while a large number of state police personnel kept vigil at check posts and pickets.

Clashes had broken out after a Facebook post by a local youth went viral earlier this week.

Though the youth was arrested and the post deleted, trouble broke out and spread to several areas as trees were felled to put up road blockades, vehicles, including those of the police, torched and houses and shops damaged.

A number of police personnel sustained injuries during the clashes.

The central government has rushed 300 paramilitary personnel to control the situation.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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New Delhi, Mar 27: The government has objected strongly to remarks by a US State Department spokesperson on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest last week in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.

The External Affairs Ministry summoned Gloria Berbena, the US' Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, to a 40-minute meet at its office in Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. In a brief statement released shortly afterwards, the MEA warned of "unhealthy precedents and against "unwarranted aspersions".

"States are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others, and this responsibility is even more so in case of fellow democracies. It could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents," the External Affairs Ministry said.

"India's legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. Casting aspersions on that is unwarranted," the statement stressed.

On Tuesday the US State Department said it is monitoring reports of Mr Kejriwal's arrest, and called on New Delhi to ensure "a fair and timely legal process" for the jailed Aam Aadmi Party leader.

The US State Department's comments came, in turn, days after Germany's Foreign Office stressed that Mr Kejriwal, like any other Indian citizen facing charges, is entitled to a fair and impartial trial.

The Indian government reacted strongly to the comment, summoning the German envoy and labelling the Foreign Office spokesperson's remark "blatant interference in internal matters".

"We see such remarks as interfering in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary," the External Affairs Ministry said, "Biased assumptions are most unwarranted."

Asked about India's protest to Germany, the State Department spokesperson told Reuters, "We refer you to the German Foreign Ministry for comment on their discussions with the Indian government."

Earlier this month the Modi government also took exception to comments by its counterpart on the changes to the citizenship law, calling them out as "misplaced, misinformed, and unwarranted".

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last week in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam that has roiled his AAP and provoked furious protests from the opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Mr Kejriwal was this week sent to jail till March 28.

The Enforcement Directorate believes the now-scrapped liquor policy provided an impossibly high profit margin of 185 per cent for retailers and 12 per cent for wholesalers. Of the latter, six per cent - over ₹ 600 crore - were bribes and the money was allegedly used to fund the AAP's poll campaigns.

The ED has labelled the Chief Minister as a key conspirator in this case, but Mr Kejriwal and party colleagues arrested in this matter - ex-Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and former Health Minister Satyendar Jain - have all denied the charges.

The AAP and the opposition have hit out at the BJP-led central government for using central agencies, like the ED, to target rivals and critics before the general election. The AAP has criticised Mr Kejriwal's arrest on grounds it was timed to interfere with his plans to campaign for the party.

The BJP has dismissed claims it uses central agencies as described by the opposition.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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The Enforcement Directorate has filed a money laundering case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan, her IT company and some others to probe a case of alleged illegal payments made by a private mineral firm to her and the company, official sources said Wednesday.

The agency has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is expected to summon the people involved, the sources said.

The ED case has been booked after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), an investigative arm of the Union corporate affairs ministry, they said.

The case stems from an Income Tax Department investigation that alleged that a private company called Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd (CMRL), made an illegal payment of Rs 1.72 crore to Veena's company-- Exalogic Solutions-- during 2018 to 2019, even though the IT firm had not provided any service to the company.

The Karnataka High Court had last month dismissed a plea filed by Exalogic Solutions against the probe initiated by the SFIO.

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News Network
March 15,2024

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New Delhi, Mar 13: The Supreme Court on Friday took exception to the State Bank of India (SBI) for not disclosing complete details of Electoral Bonds, including unique alfa numeric numbers, furnished to the Election Commission for uploading on the website.

A five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud issued notice to the SBI seeking its response on Monday after the court was informed that the issuing bank for the Electoral Bonds has not disclosed unique alfa numeric number of each bond.

"They have not disclosed the bond numbers. It has to be disclosed by the State Bank of India. All details have to be provided by the SBI," the bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal said as per the Constitution bench judgment of February 15, 2024, all details were to be disclosed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted since the SBI was a party to the judgment, notice may be issued to it.

The court said the counsel for SBI should have been here.

"If you see the judgment, we have specified that bond numbers have to be provided," the bench said.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for the main petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

On an application by the EC, the bench said the details of Electoral Bonds furnished by the poll panel before the top court should be scanned and returned to it for the purpose of uploading on the website.

The Election Commission through advocate Amit Sharma filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to release data on electoral bonds furnished to the top court in terms of previous orders of April 12, 2019 and November 2, 2023.

As per March 11, 2024 order, the Election Commission on Thursday uploaded the data on electoral bonds furnished to it by the SBI.

However, in an application, the poll panel said it had furnished to the Supreme Court a number of sealed envelopes, containing details on EBs encashed by the political parties, during the course of hearing in the matter.

It sought a direction for the return of those sealed envelopes to comply with the directions to upload it on the website as per order of March 11.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had told the SBI to furnish details of purchasers of Electoral Bonds and names of political parties redeemed those instruments by March 12 to the Election Commission, rejecting its plea for extension of time until June 30 for the purpose.

It had then directed the Election Commission to publish the information provided by the SBI on its website on March 15.

In its February 15, 2024 judgment, the SC had declared the Electoral Bonds scheme, introduced in 2018 for donation to political parties, as "unconstitutional" for being violative of the right to information.

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