logo
Belekeri scam: ED raids houses of Congress MLA Sail, two businessmen

Belekeri scam: ED raids houses of Congress MLA Sail, two businessmen

KARWAR/HOSAPETE: The Enforcement Directorate raided the residences of Congress MLA Satish Sail in Karwar and two Hosapete-based businessmen on Wednesday morning, in connection with the Belekeri illegal iron ore export case. However, the MLA was in Bengaluru for the monsoon session when 20 officers in six cars arrived at his house at Sadashivgad early in the morning.
A Special Court for trying cases against elected representatives had sentenced Sail to seven years in prison with a fine of Rs 9 crore. Later, the Karnataka High Court had suspended his sentence. Sources said the raid continued till late Wednesday evening.
In Hosapete, the ED officers searched the houses and properties of businessmen Karadapudi Mahesh and Swastik Nagaraj from 5.30 am.
Mahesh, who also serves as a city municipal council member, resides in JP Nagar. He owns a free purified drinking water unit near Ballari Circle, where he also runs an office and a steel shop. ED officials were carrying out inspections at all three locations.
Nagaraj's residence is located in Rajeev Nagar, with his office and a steel shop near the APMC yard. Searches were under way on these premises as well. More than four teams conducted the raids. Further details are awaited.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

CM Hoists National Flag: Haryana to play key role in Viksit Bharat sankalp says Saini
CM Hoists National Flag: Haryana to play key role in Viksit Bharat sankalp says Saini

Hans India

time23 minutes ago

  • Hans India

CM Hoists National Flag: Haryana to play key role in Viksit Bharat sankalp says Saini

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini participated in the state-level Independence Day celebrations in Rohtak on Friday, unfurling the tricolour and calling on citizens to turn Atmanirbhar Bharat into a 'Jan Andolan' (people's movement). Extending greetings on the 79th Independence Day, Saini noted that India has risen to become the world's fourth-largest economy and, under the leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi must now aspire to claim the top position. This goal, he stressed, can be realised only by turning the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision into a nationwide movement. He urged people to adopt the spirit of Vocal for Local and Local for Global, encouraging industrialists, investors, scientists, and technicians to harness their skills in the service of national self-reliance. The Chief Minister inspected the parade, took the salute, and paid homage to martyrs at the Shaheedi Smarak. Families of freedom fighters were also honoured during the ceremony, which drew a large gathering of residents and officers. He shared that the present state government has increased the pension for freedom fighters and their widows to Rs. 40,000 per month, enhanced ex-gratia for war martyrs' families to Rs 1 crore, and provided government jobs to 410 dependents. Breaking colonial shackles The Chief Minister hailed the repeal of three colonial-era criminal laws after 70 years, noting these were designed to punish and control Indians. Outdated provisions have been removed, reflecting a modern legal framework. He cited recent military operations, including Operation Sindoor and Operation Mahadev, as evidence of India's indigenous technological and military strength, saluting the valour of the armed forces. Viksit Bharat Sankalp Saini said Haryana would play a key role in achieving the Prime Minister's vision of making India a developed nation by 2047. Haryana remains a leader in foodgrain contribution, manufacturing every second car on Indian roads and 52 percent of the country's tractors. Transparency and reform Highlighting his government's tenure, the Chief Minister said Haryana has freed citizens from discriminatory systems, rooted out corruption, and adopted a new e-governance model linking schemes to the Parivar Pehchan Patra. Over 100 government services have been digitised, ensuring transparency. The state is known nationally for merit-based recruitment, online transfers, educated panchayats, and the Antyodaya mission. Farmer welfare at the core The Chief Minister said that all crops are now procured at MSP, with Rs. 1.48 lakh crore transferred directly to 12 lakh farmers. Compensation worth Rs. 15,465 crore has been paid for crop losses in 10.5 years. The British-era abiyaana levy has been abolished, and the Agriculture Land Lease Act introduced to rebuild trust between landlords and tenant farmers. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, nearly Rs. 7,000 crore has been credited directly to farmers' accounts. Social Justice and Welfare The Chief Minister while highlighting the measures taken for social justices and welfare said that bifurcating SC reservation to benefit the most deprived, raising the OBC creamy layer income limit to Rs. 8 lakh, granting OBC-B reservation in panchayats and urban local bodies, allotting land in 1700 villages to the Prajapati community, providing Vivah Shagun of up to Rs. 71,000 under the Mukhyamantri Vivah Shagun Yojana, and constructing houses for the poor under PMAY and the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana are some of the key initiatives taken for social welfare. Besides this, he said that social security pensions have been raised to Rs. 3,000 per month, with benefits extended to 10 new disability categories, he said. Healthcare expansion The Chief Minister said that under the Ayushman Bharat–Chirayu scheme, free treatment has been provided to 22 lakh beneficiaries. Free dialysis is available for kidney patients in all government hospitals and medical colleges. Every district will have a medical college; 15 are functional and 9 are under construction. Women's empowerment The Chief Minister said that initiatives include the Lado Sakhi scheme, training women in drone operations, allotting one-third of ration depots to women, operating Atal Kisan Mazdoor Canteens and Vita outlets through women, and ensuring 50 percent representation in panchayati raj institutions. Thirty of the 80 new colleges opened in the state are for girls, who receive free education up to post-graduation, he said. Haryana redefining prosperity The Chief Minister said the last decade has been marked by inclusive growth, harmony, tolerance, and transformative changes that have made life simpler, safer, and more convenient. He assured that Haryana's future will also stand as an example of development, progress, and prosperity. On this sacred occasion, let us pledge to work tirelessly, guided by our great cultural traditions and high moral values, to build a Developed India and a Developed Haryana, he said. Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi hoisted the National Flag at his official residence in Chandigarh to mark the 79th Independence Day.

How Jinnah survived an assassination attempt in Bombay
How Jinnah survived an assassination attempt in Bombay

Scroll.in

time23 minutes ago

  • Scroll.in

How Jinnah survived an assassination attempt in Bombay

On a July day in 1943, Muhammad Ali Jinnah entered his secretary's room in his Malabar Hill bungalow to find a young man speaking with the secretary. The man was desperate for a meeting with the Muslim League leader. He hoped that if he could just speak to Jinnah, he might convince him to reach a compromise with the Congress and Mahatma Gandhi on the issue of India's partition. But instead of dialogue, there was violence. Aggravated by Jinnah's refusal to meet, the young man pulled a knife from his pocket and attempted to stab him in the throat. Jinnah managed to deflect the blade – just barely. He suffered a small puncture wound on his jaw and a gash across the back of his hand. His assailant, Rafiq Sabir Mozangvi, was quickly overpowered by the household staff and arrested by the Bombay Police. But one question lingered: who was this man, and had he travelled halfway across India to attack the leader of the Muslim League? Travels from Lahore The story begins weeks earlier in Lahore, when Mozangvi boarded a train to Delhi, driven by a burning political grievance. Although only 32, Mozangvi had lived many lives – working as an electrician, committing petty crime, serving short stints in prison, and shifting allegiances among the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League and the Ahrar Party. Eventually, he aligned with the Khaksar movement, a paramilitary group led by political theorist and Islamic scholar Allama Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi, who opposed the creation of Pakistan and believed Muslims could prosper in a united India. 'I decided to stay at Delhi for a day as I thought Mr. Jinnah might pass through there, but on making enquiries I was told that Mr. Jinnah was probably already in Bombay,' Mozaangvi told the Bombay Police in a statement. From Delhi, he took a train to Cawnpore, spending a few hours there, and then hopping on another train to Mughal Sarai. 'As I travelled all the way without a ticket, I found it necessary frequently to alight from the train and catch another train,' Mozaangvi said, 'and I eventually reached Bombay V.T. Station at sometime near 8 pm last night having travelled via Gwalior, Busaval, Bhopal, etc.' He wandered the bazaars at night, slept on the footpath, and bathed in a mosque – though he could not say exactly where, claiming his mind was 'obsessed with the object' of meeting Jinnah and discussing the 'political policy of the Muslim League'. He asked around for directions to Jinnah's house and was given a receipt by a Muslim League member bearing the printed address of Jinnah's bungalow on Mount Pleasant Road. Angry confrontation At the gates of the bungalow, Mozangvi told the security guard, a 'Pathan with a long moustache', that he wished to see Jinnah. He was escorted to Jinnah's secretary, AI Syed, who asked him to put his request in writing. As they spoke, Jinnah himself walked in and asked what the visitor wanted. From this point, accounts diverge. According to John Colville, the Commissioner of Police for Bombay, Mozangvi told 'Mr. Jinnah that he wanted to have an interview with him regarding the solution of the present political deadlock in the country and Mr. Jinnah's refusal to see Mr. Gandhi. Mr. Jinnah told him that he was very busy and had no time, and that Rafiq Sabir could make an appointment with his Secretary and could see him in a day or two.' This apparently enraged Mozangvi, who first punched Jinnah in the jaw and then tried to stab him. 'Mr. Jinnah warded off the blow and caught hold of the assailant's right hand with his left hand and in doing so sustained an incised wound on the back of his left hand one and half inches long skin deep,' Colville wrote in a letter to the Home Secretary. 'He also sustained a small punctured wound on the angle of the left jaw.' Jinnah's servants managed to subdue Mozangvi and summoned the police, who arrived promptly and arrested him. Mozangvi offered his own version of events. He claimed that when Jinnah entered the secretary's office, he pointed at him and said something in English. 'I stood up and saluted and explained to Mr. Jinnah that I had travelled a long way to see him and asked him to hear me,' Mozangvi said. 'Mr. Jinnah abruptly refused and pointed towards the door saying in English 'get out' or 'walk out.' I do not remember which expression he had used, but the purport of his words was that I should leave the place. I understand enough of the English language to know what was being said.' Mozangvi said he refused to leave and repeated his request for an interview. At that, Jinnah 'flew into a rage' and abused him, calling him a 'dog' and 'zalil (despicable)'. He claimed that Jinnah's servants tried to push him out of the room and struck him. 'I also used my fists in retaliation,' he said. 'Mr. Jinnah was standing nearby. During the struggle, I remembered a clasp knife that I had in my pocket and took it out in self-defence. I cannot say how Mr. Jinnah was injured.' During interrogation, Mozangvi insisted that his only purpose in meeting Jinnah was to urge him to speak with Gandhi. 'I have no real grudge against the Muslim League or against Mr. Jinnah personally, beyond my disapproval of certain points of policy followed by them.' He added that he believed Jinnah lacked sincerity in seeking a constructive dialogue with Gandhi. 'I disapprove of Mr. Jinnah's attitude in this matter and consider he is doing a disservice to Muhammedans and to India in general. On giving the matter considerable thought I came to the conclusion that Mr. Jinnah's true policy is one of self-aggrandisement and that he has no real desire to do anything towards ending the political deadlock in the country for the mutual benefit of all Indians.' Panic in Bombay The police report noted that Jinnah's injuries were not serious and were treated by Dr Massina on Pedder Road. Soon after, Jinnah addressed the press about the attack. 'Although it was a serious and well-planned attack, no serious injuries were inflicted on me,' he told Reuters. 'I do not want to say anything just now but I appeal to Muslims to remain calm and cool, and let us all thank Providence for this miraculous escape.' The news of the attempted assassination spread through Muslim neighborhoods in Bombay. Some shopkeepers shuttered their stores until Muslim League workers assured them there was no need to panic. 'All the newspapers, including the extreme Congress press, had condemned the attempt and congratulated Jinnah on his escape,' the Intelligence Bureau wrote in a confidential report. The Bombay Police contacted their counterparts in Lahore and requested that an officer be sent to interrogate Mozangvi to determine whether a broader conspiracy was at play, as the Muslim League alleged. 'I saw Mr. Jinnah shortly after the incident and in the course of conversation I questioned him as to whether in his opinion the action of the assailant was that of one man instigated by an idea which he developed in his own mind or whether it was an idea planted by someone else,' Commissioner Colvile wrote in a letter to the director of the Intelligence Bureau. 'Mr. Jinnah's opinion was that the idea had been planted there by Allama [Inayatullah Khan] Mashriqi, the Khaksar leader.' When Colville expressed his doubts, Jinnah replied that Mashriqi 'was a very indiscreet gentleman and also extremely pig-headed and obstinate'. The commissioner offered an alternative explanation. 'I suggested that a leader might convey to several of his trusted followers that Mr. Jinnah was an obstacle to Self-Government, and that if he were removed, their goal might be within reach. This small group might then have incited the assailant to commit this dastardly act,' Colville wrote. 'Mr. Jinnah doubted this and said that in his opinion Allama Mashriqi was so indiscreet and individualistic that it was not at all unlikely that he personally would have expressed such views to the assailant – and that the assailant, having absorbed the idea, decided to act on it.' The Criminal Investigation Department had a file on Mozangvi, revealing that he had lived in various parts of India, including Aligarh, where he ran a tea shop, and Calcutta, where he was wanted for theft in May 1943. He remained untraceable after the theft until he resurfaced in Bombay two months later. The file also revealed that Mozangvi had embezzled Khaksar funds in Cawnpore. The police found no direct evidence linking the assassination attempt to Mashriqi. Threat to life In November 1943, Mozangvi was sentenced to five years' imprisonment by the Bombay High Court. The court found no links between the attack and the Khaksar movement. Police records from 1943 reveal that there was another plot by members of the Khaksar movement to assassinate Jinnah that year. 'It was reported that one Abdul Rahim Dagh, a resident of Ambala district and Nazim Bab-i-Ali of the Delhi Khaksars, had called on Sadiq, alias Munir to Delhi, and detailed him to proceed to Bombay to murder Mr. Jinnah,' GAJ Boon, assistant director of the Intelligence Bureau, wrote in a December 1943 report. When members of the movement in Delhi heard about the plot, they immediately informed Mashriqi. 'It was reported that Allama Mashriqi ordered that the plan must be frustrated at all costs,' Boon noted. The bureau remained vigilant, monitoring individual Khaksar members who might attempt to assassinate Jinnah. 'While, therefore, there is no evidence at present that the Khaksars are planning to assassinate Mr. Jinnah, it remains true that the Khaksars are not particularly pleased with him and the possibility of an individual attempt to harm him physically cannot, in the circumstances, be entirely discounted,' Boon added. 'Fortunately Rafiq Sabir has received heavy punishment for his attack on Mr. Jinnah and this may deter others from repeating the performance.' Mashriqi, who opposed the partition of India until the end, would go on to become a citizen of Pakistan after its formation. He remained politically active until his death in 1963.

Coimbatore dentist held in 2016 Malappuram arms case is a terrorist, says NIA
Coimbatore dentist held in 2016 Malappuram arms case is a terrorist, says NIA

New Indian Express

time23 minutes ago

  • New Indian Express

Coimbatore dentist held in 2016 Malappuram arms case is a terrorist, says NIA

KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said that Dr Dinesh D, a Coimbatore-based dentist, is a hard-core terrorist who underwent training in sophisticated weapons, including automatic rifles, to further the activities of the banned terrorist organisation CPI (Maoist) as part of a larger conspiracy to wage war against the nation. The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had arrested him in 2021 from a clinic at Edayarpalayam, Coimbatore, where he was working as a dentist. The NIA stated that Dr Dinesh, the fourth accused, and the other accused persons had voluntarily convened a meeting and training camp in September 2016 in the reserve forest of Karulai in Malappuram district. During the camp, they handled arms, including automatic rifles, the central agency said while opposing the accused's bail plea before the Special Court for NIA cases in Kochi. Considering the gravity of the offence, the court recently dismissed the bail plea. Challenging the decision, the accused has approached the Kerala High Court, where the matter is pending consideration. According to the bail order, the Kerala Police and ATS Kerala had arraigned 25 accused in the case. Of these, eight have died in different incidents and four remain absconding. The ATS filed a chargesheet against five accused before the District and Sessions Court, Manjeri, on May 18, 2021. On August 19, 2021, the Union government directed the NIA to take over the investigation and the case was re-registered. The NIA investigation revealed that the accused persons numbered 1 to 28 had conspired with the proscribed organisation and conducted or attended training camps at various places in India to further its activities. The accused's counsel submitted before the Special Court that he has been in detention for more than four years and four months in connection with the case. Given the large number of documents, material objects, and witnesses, the trial is unlikely to be completed in the near future. It was argued that such prolonged custody violates the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store