Gujarat Confidential
Former Rajkot city BJP president Kamlesh Mirani has been handed over two responsibilities — one each in a Government of India-run company and the state party unit — within a span of 10 days this month. On May 16, Mirani was appointed as an independent director of Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSEL), a Government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Defence. A commerce graduate, Mirani would serve in the position for three years. GRSEL is one of India's leading defence shipyards, which builds and repairs commercial and naval vessels. On Monday, Mirani was also appointed in charge of byelection to the Visavadar assembly constituency which goes to poll next month on June 19.
Last week, an industrialist from Banaskantha district paid a unique tribute to his late mother on her death anniversary by organising a special free screening of recently released film Phule in Palanpur town. The industrialist, who requested anonymity, said that he chose to screen the movie as a fitting tribute to his mother on her death anniversary since it celebrates a couple that pioneered the work on social reforms, especially for women's education, against all odds. The film is based on the lives of social reformers Jyoti Rao Phule and his wife Savitri Bai.
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The Print
22 minutes ago
- The Print
Anubrata Mondal threatened a police officer & may go scot-free. It's a blot on TMC
Every other word in the audio clip is a four-letter expletive and has had to be bleeped out. Mondal's foul comments are legendary. He once publicly ordered TMC workers to bomb the police and to set fire to the homes of political foes. No action was ever taken against him. But in the leaked audio clip of a phone conversation that went viral last week, his language crossed too many Lakshman Rekhas. Mondal is heard warning a police inspector, Liton Halder, with physical harm and threatening his wife and mother with rape. Anubrata Mondal is one of Mamata Banerjee's favourites. Keshto, she calls him. The chief of the Birbhum wing of the Trinamool Congress, he ensures victory in every election. And he raises funds: he just spent two years in Tihar for links with cattle smuggling. For a party that boasts numerous women MPs, multiple welfare schemes for women, and is led by a woman, the whataboutery that followed is a blot. If a BJP leader can abuse Col Sofiya Qureshi or a Congressman's mother on public TV, then why target Mondal, was the TMC chorus. A few who condemned Mondal mumbled. Mamata should have publicly rebuked him and kept police morale up by ordering the strictest action. But she did not. Instead, the legal cell of Birbhum police sent a letter to the lead anchor of a top Bengali TV news channel, ABP Ananda. It threatened action 'without any further notice' if the channel continued to air the controversial audio clip as it 'tarnished the image of the police'. As if Mondal had not damaged the image of the police already with the abuse he had hurled at the inspector in charge of Bolpur police station, and then ignored police summons for days. Seemingly with impunity. The Anubrata Mondal case The police did file an FIR against Mondal, charging him with two cognisable offences—sexual harassment and use of criminal force to deter public servants from doing their duty—and two non-cognisable offences. These could put a common man behind bars or at least force the accused to seek anticipatory bail. But not Mondal. Summoned to the police station twice—on 31 May and 1 June—he sent a medical certificate prescribing him five days of bed rest. But the certificate, reports claim, is dubious. It was issued by a government doctor, not on his official pad but on the letterhead of a private medical college, allegedly in complete violation of service rules. The doctor has since been incommunicado, at least for the media. Displaying perhaps the only dash of diffidence in this drama, Mondal arrived at the police station on Thursday, sneaking in through the back gate in a friend's car, minus his trademark white SUV, security staff, and pilot. Two hours of interrogation later, he left looking unruffled. He reportedly told the police he had no memory of any conversation with Inspector Liton Halder at 11.30 pm on 28 May because he was not in his senses after taking his sleeping pills. Police have reportedly confiscated two cell phones of Inspector Halder, the recipient of the abusive call. Meanwhile, they have let the alleged abusive caller, Mondal, keep his own. Which begs the question: Who taped the phone conversation? Between abuses, Mondal is heard mocking Halder, saying, 'I know you are recording the conversation.' If that was so, did Halder also leak it? The police will address this issue eventually. Congress and BJP leaders are worried that Halder may end up suspended from service, and Mondal may go scot–free. Also read: Ashoka founder's letter shows we only celebrate moral courage if there's no real cost The Sharmistha Paloni case The Anubrata Mondal case has unfolded parallel to the case of Sharmistha Paloni, raising the question, are the police becoming overzealous, selectively? As Mondal walked out of the Bolpur police station on Thursday, the 22-year-old YouTuber, a Kolkata girl studying law in Pune, got interim bail from the Calcutta High Court. She had posted comments on social media that another Kolkata resident had found offensive to Muslims and complained to the police. Panoli had immediately deleted her post and apologised. But the West Bengal police labelled her an absconder, arrested her from her Gurugram workplace, and brought her to Kolkata, where she was sent to judicial custody. The police defended their action, which some felt was high-handed, and denied hounding the student. But it is now under the scanner after a twist in the tale. The Kolkata resident Wazahat Khan Qadri Rashidi, who had filed the complaint against Panoli, is now charged with the same offence: posting material on social media that is offensive, in this case, to Hindus. Rashidi is absconding, reportedly since Sunday. All eyes are now on how quickly the West Bengal police track him down. All eyes are also on how swiftly the police pursue the case against Anubrata Mondal, so that it is brought to a logical conclusion. Monideepa Banerjie is a senior journalist based in Kolkata. She tweets @Monideepa62. Views are personal. (Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
Time of India
22 minutes ago
- Time of India
Communal post case: Influencer Sharmistha Panoli walks out of jail; arrested over controversial video
NEW DELHI: A law student, Sharmistha Panoli arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through a social media video walked out of Alipore Women's Correctional Home on Friday, a day after the Calcutta high court granted her interim bail. Panoli was arrested by Kolkata Police on May 30 from a hotel in Gurugram for a video she had posted on 'Operation Sindoor', which was deemed communal in nature. Though she deleted the video and issued a public apology on May 15, an FIR was later registered against her at the Garden Reach police station in Kolkata. The Calcutta high court on Thursday noted that the complaint did not disclose any cognisable offence and granted her interim bail. Conditions of the bail include surrendering her passport, cooperating with the investigation, and furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000. The court also directed that she be given police protection, citing threats she had received after the video went viral. Panoli's arrest had sparked political backlash, with BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari calling it a case of 'police overzealousness' and 'atrocities'. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Eid wishes , messages , and quotes !
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Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Bengaluru Stampede: CM defends suspension of police commissioner, officers
Defending the suspension of Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda and other police officials for the stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium that killed 11 people, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said, prima facie those who have not fulfilled their responsibility properly have been suspended. While speaking to reporters, he accused BJP and JD(S) of doing politics on the issue. Responding to a question on BJP and JD(S) demanding his and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar's resignation and accusing them of making police officials a "scapegoat," Siddaramaiah said, "They are speaking for the sake of politics. I don't want to do politics in this matter. Prima facie those responsible, who have not fulfilled their responsibility properly have been suspended, " The Chief Minister on Thursday had announced the decision to immediately suspend the Circle Police Inspector of the Cubbon Park Police station A K Girish and Assistant Commissioner of Police C Balakrishna, Deputy Commissioner of Police of central division Shekhar H Tekkannavar, Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, who is in charge of the stadium, and Commissioner of Police Bengaluru city Dayananda. The suspension order said, "It is found that there has been on the face of it substantial dereliction of duty by these officers." The stampede occurred on Wednesday evening in front of the stadium, where a large number of people thronged to participate in the RCB team's IPL victory celebrations. Eleven people have died and 56 were injured in the incident. According to the suspension order, the CEO of RCB had intimated Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City on June 3 about holding the victory parade and celebrations on June 4, however, the office of Police Commissioner failed to give written reply to the organisers, rejecting the permission on the grounds of lack of time to prepare for such a huge event. It said, the RCB and the Cricket Association went ahead to tweet about the celebrations and inviting the fans to Chinnaswamy stadium without going through the usual practice of issuing tickets or passes, and despite the knowledge of these developments and expectation of huge turnout of cricket fans by the Police, steps were not taken to either have the event organised systematically at the stadium or give adequate information to the public to take necessary precautions for their safety or provide additional Police force for appropriate crowd management. Further, the situation was not discussed with the higher ups for taking necessary guidance and advice in the matter. As a result, the situation went out of control and brought a lot of misery, loss of precious lives and embarrassment to the Government, it added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
