
Surat CP invokes PASA against 14, including ex-councillor
Surat: Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut has invoked the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) against 14 persons, including three-term Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) councillor Prakash Desai.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
The former councillor, who was accused in three FIRs filed by Udhna police for
, was shifted to the Rajkot jail after the PASA order.
Desai was first arrested by Surat special operations group (SOG) police for allegedly accepting extortion money at his house. The complainant reportedly recorded a video of Desai in the act. According to police, Desai would 'misuse' the Right to Information (RTI) Act and would lodge complaints with the SMC to extort money from businessmen, traders and school owners, threatening them with the demolition of their properties.
Desai previously served three terms as an independent councillor from the Udhna ward.
In addition to Desai, the history-sheeter Sajid Kothari, alias Sajju Kothari, was also booked under PASA and sent to Bhuj jail. Kothari has a criminal history involving 35 cases, including attempted murder, extortion, abduction, rioting, Arms Act violations, prohibition offences and gambling. This is the seventh time Kothari has been jailed under PASA.
He has also been charged under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GujCTOC) Act twice and was previously externed from Surat due to his alleged criminal activities.
The others booked under PASA are history-sheeters Rajuram Bishnoi, Shravan Bishnoi, Dipak Yadav, Sunil Sadashiv, Shana Parveen Shaikh, Mehul Parmar, Durgesh Sinh, Alpesh Lashkari, Jitu Tank, Dilip Rathod, Mahesh Nayka and Rizwan Khan.
These persons have been shifted to jails in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhuj and Mehsana.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Hindustan Times
35 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
3 minor girls raped in Goa's Calangute; guest house owner, manager among 4 held
Police have arrested the owner and the manager of a guest house in North Goa district where three minor girls were allegedly raped by two men, taking the number of those held in the case to four, officials said on Thursday. The girls, aged 11, 13 and 15 and residents of the same building, were allegedly raped by two men at the guest house located in Calangute area on June 7 and 8. The five had checked-in at the guest house together, they said. The two older girls are sisters. The girls' parents filed complaints on June 8 that they had gone missing a day earlier. Police formed multiple teams, and rescued them on the same day from the guest house while arresting Altaf Mujawar (19) and Om Naik (21), an official earlier said. Two more persons - guest house owner Rajat Chauhan (31) and manager Mansoor Peer (35) - were arrested on Wednesday night, Superintendent of Police (North) Rahul Gupta told PTI on Thursday. They were arrested for accommodating the minor girls at the guest house without verification and consent of their parents, thus violating laws and abetting the crime, he said. All the four accused have been booked under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Goa Children's Act, the police said. "We are sealing the guest house and moving for cancellation of its license. The guest house management and owners will not be spared if they give room to a child in the absence of any family or relatives accompanying him or her," the SP said, cautioning all such facilities in the state.


Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
Singer Mangli arrested during drug bust at b'day bash
Hyderabad: Famous Tollywood singer Mangli was arrested on Wednesday after police raided a private birthday party she hosted at Tripura Resort near Irlapalli in Chevella, on the city outskirts. During the raid, police discovered drugs and imported liquor at the venue. Of the 48 guests tested, nine tested positive for drug use. Police also seized foreign liquor from the resort premises. A case has been registered against Mangli and several others under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Additionally, Mangli has been charged with organising the event without obtaining prior permission or necessary clearances. Nearly 50 guests reportedly attended the party, including Mangli's family, industry colleagues, and well-known Telugu personalities.


The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Assam will deport 'foreigners' even if their names feature in NRC: Himanta
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the State government's current policy is to push back foreigners even if their names are found in the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The way the NRC was carried out in Assam leaves a lot of scope for doubt, and it cannot be the only document for determining a person's citizenship, Mr. Sarma said. The NRC, an official record of bonafide Indian citizens living in Assam, was updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court and released on August 31, 2019, leaving out more than 19 lakh applicants. However, it has not been notified by the Registrar General of India, leaving the controversial document without any official validity. ''Many people had entered their names in the NRC by using unfair means. So we have adopted the policy of pushing back (foreigners) if the authorities are absolutely convinced that the persons concerned are foreigners,'' the CM said on the sidelines of a programme in Darrang on Wednesday. 'Doubtful' citizens A large number of people have been picked up from across Assam since last month on suspicion of being doubtful citizens, as part of a nationwide drive, and many of them were pushed back to Bangladesh. Some of them returned after the neighbouring nation refused to accept them as their citizens. ''Personally, I am not convinced that the presence of a name in the NRC alone is enough to determine that someone is not an illegal migrant,'' he said. Asked whether a section of officials did not carry out the NRC exercise with due diligence, Mr. Sarma said that is a possibility. Harsh Mander Mr. Sarma alleged that social activist and author Harsh Mander had camped in Assam for two years, and sent some youths from the state to America and England for education and encouraged them to manipulate the NRC. "These matters came to my knowledge after I became the chief minister,'' he said. Mr. Sarma, speaking on detection and deportation of foreigners, during a special assembly session on June 9, had said the state government will implement the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, for the purpose, which allows the district commissioners to declare illegal immigrants and evict them.